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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/41729-h.zip b/41729-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..bcffcd6 --- /dev/null +++ b/41729-h.zip diff --git a/41729-h/41729-h.htm b/41729-h/41729-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..96f8eb5 --- /dev/null +++ b/41729-h/41729-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,5535 @@ +<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd"> +<HTML> +<HEAD> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1"> +<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Kisington Town, by Abbie Farwell Brown</title> +</HEAD> +<BODY> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Kisington Town, by Abbie Farwell Brown + +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: Kisington Town + +Author: Abbie Farwell Brown + +Release Date: December 28, 2012 [EBook #41729] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK KISINGTON TOWN *** + + + + +Produced by Meredith Dixon and Melissa Reid + + + + + +</pre> + + +<P><IMG SRC="images/KTCover.jpg" ALT="[A boy sitting on a bed, reading. A castle is visible through the window behind him.]"></P> + +<P>By Abbie Farwell Brown</P> +<p>By Abbie Farwell Brown<BR> + Kisington Town. Illustrated. <BR> + Songs of Sixpence. Illustrated. <BR> + Their City Christmas. Illustrated. <BR> + John of the Woods. Illustrated. <BR> + Fresh Posies. Illustrated. <BR> + Friends and Cousins. Illustrated. <BR> + The Star Jewels and Other Wonders. Illustrated. <BR> + The Flower Princess. Illustrated. <BR> + The Curious Book of Birds. Illustrated. <BR> + A Pocketful of Posies. Illustrated. <BR> + In the Days of Giants. Illustrated.<BR> + The Book of Saints and Friendly Beasts. Illustrated. <BR> + The Lonesomest Doll. Illustrated.</p> + +<p> Houghton Mifflin Company + Boston and New York</p> + +<A NAME="frontis"></A> +<p><IMG SRC="images/KT1.jpg" ALT="[A boy sitting on a bed, reading. A castle is visible through the window behind him.]"><BR> +[Frontispiece: THERE WERE WIDE WINDOW-SEATS AND CUSHIONS]</p> + +<H1>Kisington Town by Abbie Farwell Brown</H1> + +<p>"Blessed are the peacemakers."</p> + +<p>With Illustrations</p> + +<p><IMG SRC="images/KT2.jpg" ALT="[A seal: Argent, an enhaloed lion argent, passant et rayonnant.]"><BR> +[Illustration: <EM>Le Lion Passant</EM>]</p> + +<p>To the Best of Readers<BR> +Whose Pleasant Voices taught me the Love of Books<BR> +Dear Father : Dear Mother</p> + +<p> O for a book and a shadie nook <BR> + Eyther in-a-door or out, <BR> + With the greene leaves whisp'ring overhede, <BR> + Or the street-cryes all about, <BR> + Where I may Reade at my ease, <BR> + Both of the Newe and Olde <BR> + For a jollie goode Booke, whereon to looke, <BR> + Is better to me than Golde! -- Old Song</p> + +<H2>CONTENTS</H2> + +<P> <A HREF= "#chapter1">I. HAROLD</A><BR> + <A HREF= "#chapter2">II. THE SIEGE OF KISINGTON</A><BR> + <A HREF= "#chapter3">III. RED REX</A><BR> + <A HREF= "#chapter4">IV. THE DRAGON OF HUSHBY, PART I</A><BR> + <A HREF= "#chapter5">V. THE DRAGON OF HUSHBY, PART II</A><BR> + <A HREF= "#chapter6">VI. THE DRAGON OF HUSHBY, PART III</A><BR> + <A HREF= "#chapter7">VII. THE BARGAIN</A><BR> + <A HREF= "#chapter8">VIII. THE WONDER-GARDEN</A><BR> + <A HREF= "#chapter9">IX. THE KING'S COAT OF ARMS</A><BR> + <A HREF= "#chapter10">X. THE LION PASSANT</A><BR> + <A HREF= "#chapter11">XI. HOPE</A><BR> + <A HREF= "#chapter12">XII. THE HERMIT GNOME</A><BR> + <A HREF= "#chapter13">XIII. HAROLD'S LUNCHEON</A><BR> + <A HREF= "#chapter14">XIV. THE ROBBER</A><BR> + <A HREF= "#chapter15">XV. THE BANDAGED HAND</A><BR> + <A HREF= "#chapter16">XVI. THE KING'S PIE</A><BR> + <A HREF= "#chapter17">XVII. THE MYSTERY OF THE PIE</A><BR> +<A HREF= "#chapter18">XVIII. LITTLE BEAR: AN OJIBWAY LEGEND</A><BR> + <A HREF= "#chapter19">XIX. THE RED KING'S VISIT</A><BR> + <A HREF= "#chapter20">XX. THE BEAR'S DAUGHTER</A><BR> + <A HREF= "#chapter21">XXI. RED REX AND KING VICTOR</A><BR> + <A HREF= "#chapter22">XXII. THE BOOKS CONQUER</A></P> + +<p>Note: The tales of "The Wonder-Garden" and "The King's Pie" are here +reprinted by courteous permission of the publishers of <EM>St. Nicholas</EM>, +in which magazine they originally appeared. The tales of "The Dragon of +Hushby," "The Lion Passant," and "Little Bear," are reprinted by kind +permission of the publishers of <EM>The Churchman</EM>. The Icelandic legend +of "The Bear's Daughter" is sketched from notes of a talk by Vilhjalmir +Stefánsson, the explorer, who is lamented as lost on the late +unfortunate voyage of the Karluk to Arctic waters.</p> + +<H2>ILLUSTRATIONS</H2> + +<p><A HREF= "#frontis">THERE WERE WIDE WINDOW-SEATS AND CUSHIONS</A>--Colored frontispiece. <BR> +<A HREF= "#haroldreading">HAROLD BEGAN TO READ FROM THE RED-AND-GOLD BOOK</A><BR> +<A HREF= "#giantprincess">SHE LOOKED BAD-TEMPERED</A><BR> +<A HREF= "#goldencoach">THE MAIDENS WOULD PAUSE TO LOOK AFTER THE GOLDEN COACH</A><BR> +<A HREF= "#salesman"> HE STOOD IN THE DOORWAY TALKING WITH THE STRANGER</A></p> + +<p>From drawings by Ruby Winckler</p> + +<A NAME= "chapter1"></A> +<H2>I: HAROLD</H2> + +<p>Once upon a time there was a peaceful Kingdom which you will hardly find +upon the map. In one corner of the Kingdom by the sea was the pretty +little Town of Kisington, where a great many strange things had happened +in the past, the chronicles of which filled the town library.</p> + +<p>On the High Street of Kisington lived a boy named Harold, who was chief +of all the boys in town. He could run faster, jump higher, solve a +problem more quickly, and throw a ball farther than any other lad of his +age. He was tall and straight and broad-shouldered. His hair was brown +and curly, and his eyes were sky-color,--sometimes blue, sometimes gray, +sometimes almost black. All the boys liked Harold, especially Richard +and Robert, his chums. And Harold liked all the boys and their doings; +especially these same two, Robert and Richard.</p> + +<p>Harold was the son of a poor widow; one of the poorest in the Kingdom. +But though she was so poor, the mother of Harold was determined that her +son should be a scholar, because he liked books. And she worked early +and late to earn the money for his education.</p> + +<p>When Harold was not in school or playing out of doors with the other +boys, he always had a book in his hand. Often this happened in the town +library, where Harold loved to go. But almost as often it happened at +home. For though Harold liked to read to himself, he liked quite as well +to read aloud to his mother, who ever since she was a tiny child had +always been so busy taking care of other people that she had never found +time to learn to read for herself. The greatest happiness of her life +came in the evening when her work was done. Then she could sit in a cozy +chair in their cottage and hear her boy read the exciting books which he +got from the library of Kisington. And the other boys--especially +Richard and Robert--liked also to hear Harold read; for his voice was +agreeable and he read simply and naturally, without any gestures or +tremulous tones, without pulling queer faces such as make listeners +want to sink through the floor with embarrassment.</p> + +<p>Every time Harold read a story aloud he liked it better than before; +every time he read aloud he read better than he had done the last time, +until there was nobody in Kisington, not even the Librarian himself, who +was so good a reader as Harold. But the other boys were not jealous, +Harold was so good-natured and always ready to read to them.</p> + +<p>The Librarian was a very important personage indeed in Kisington. You +see, this was a peaceful Kingdom, where books were more thought of than +bullets, and libraries than battleships. The Librarian wore a splendid +velvet gown with fur upon the hood, and a gold chain around his neck +with a medal, and he was second in importance only to the Lord Mayor +himself.</p> + +<p>One summer evening the windows of the cottage where Harold and his +mother lived were wide open, and Harold was reading aloud to her. For a +wonder, they were quite by themselves. The Librarian, who was a lonely +old fellow without chick or child of his own, happened to be passing +down the High Street when he heard the sound of a voice reading. It +read so well that he stopped to listen. Presently he tapped on the door +and begged to be invited within the better to hear the reading. The +widow was very proud and pleased, you may be sure. She bade the +Librarian welcome, and Harold continued to read until curfew sounded for +every one to go to bed. The Librarian patted him on the head and asked +if he might come again to hear such good reading. He came, in fact, the +very next night.</p> + +<p>After that Harold usually had an audience of at least two on the long +evenings, even when the other boys were busy. The Librarian became his +fast friend. He liked to come to the little cottage better than anywhere +else in the world, except to his own library. But at the library he in +turn was host, and Harold became his guest. And he showed Harold many +wonderful things in that library of which no one but the Librarian knew +the existence,--strange histories, forgotten chronicles, wonder-tales. +Gradually Harold became almost as well acquainted with the books as was +the Librarian himself; though, of course, he did not at first understand +them all. Nothing happens all at once. The other fellows called Harold +the "Book-Wizard."</p> + +<p>The library was a beautiful building on the main square, close by the +Lord Mayor's house and the belfry, where swung the great town bell. It +was open freely to every one, from morning until night, and any one +could always get any book he wanted, for there were many copies of each +book. The caretakers always knew just where to find the book one wished. +Or the reader might go in and choose for himself; which is a pleasanter +thing when you have forgotten the name of your book, or do not know just +which book you want most until you have looked about.</p> + +<p>The shelves of the library were nice and low, so that, no matter how +little you were, you could reach the books without standing on tiptoe or +climbing a dangerous ladder. And everywhere in the library were +well-lighted tables to put books on, and cozy chairs, and crickets for +your feet, and cushions for your back. There were wide window-seats, +too, where between chapters one could curl up and look down into a +beautiful garden.</p> + +<p>The air of the library was always sweet and clean. The books were always +bright and fresh. There was no noise, nor dust, nor torn pages, nor +cross looks to disturb one. The people who took care of the books were +civil and obliging. It was indeed a very rare and unusual library. No +wonder Harold and the Librarian and all the other citizens of Kisington +loved it and were proud of it and used it very often.</p> + +<A NAME= "chapter2"></A> +<H2>II: THE SIEGE OF KISINGTON</H2> + +<p>Now, when Harold was about twelve years old, a terrible thing befell his +city. Red Rex, ruler of the neighboring land across the border, decided +to make war on this peaceful Kingdom, just for fun. He was a fierce and +powerful King, and he had a fierce and powerful army, always ready, +night and day. One morning, without any warning whatever, they marched +right up to the walls of Kisington, which were never defended, and laid +siege to the city. They began to batter the gates and mine the walls and +fire into the city arrows and cannon-balls, or whatever were the +fashionable missiles of that long-past day. The peaceful city was in +danger of being utterly destroyed.</p> + +<p>The people of Kisington were greatly distressed. Though they were brave, +they did not want to fight. They had no time for fighting, there were so +many more interesting things to attend to: agriculture and commerce, +science and art and music, study and play and happiness, all of which +come to an end when fighting begins. They did not want to fight; but +neither did they want their beautiful city destroyed, with all its +treasures.</p> + +<p>There was no telephone, no telegraph in those days. Messages went by +horses. It would be days before help could come from their own King +Victor, who lived in the Capital City. In the mean time what could be +done to save Kisington? The Lord Mayor set the great bell to tolling in +the belfry, and this called together the Chief Citizens in the hall of +the library to consider the emergency.</p> + +<p>"Alas!" quoth the Lord Mayor, trying to make himself heard in the horrid +din that was arising from the city gates, "our fair city is threatened, +and will be taken in a few hours unless we can devise some plan of +wisdom. Force we have not, as you all know. Force is the argument of +barbarians. Already a missile has knocked down the statue of Progress +from the portal of the library, and I fear that the whole building is +doomed. For it is at our library that the enemy seem to be directing +their malice."</p> + +<p>A groan of anguish answered him. Then the Librarian spoke up. "Ah! the +misguided King! He does not love books. If only he knew the treasures he +is threatening to destroy! He cannot understand."</p> + +<p>"No. He knows not what he does," said the Lord Mayor solemnly. "He is +war-mad and cannot understand anything else. If he had been brought up +to love peace and learning and progress better than war and blood, he +would be a different man. He would be seeking to know our books in love, +not to destroy them with hate. If he had but read our Chronicles, surely +he would not wish to put an end to this our unique treasure."</p> + +<p>The Librarian started at his words and jumped to his feet. "You give me +an idea, my Lord Mayor!" he cried. "Can we not cause him to change his +mind? Can we not interest him in our books, enthrall him in the +Chronicles of Kisington, so that he will cease to make war? Can we not +at least gain time until our King Victor and his allies shall come to +our aid?"</p> + +<p><EM>Boom!</EM> went the cannon, and <EM>Crash!</EM> the statue of a great poet fell +from the portal of the library.</p> + +<p>The Lord Mayor shuddered. "It is an idea," he agreed. "There is a faint +hope. Something must be done, and that quickly. How shall we begin, Sir +Librarian?"</p> + +<p>The Librarian turned to the shelves behind him and took down at random a +book bound in red-and-gold. "Here, let us begin with this," he said. "It +may not be the best of all our Chronicles, but if the warlike King can +be induced to read it through, it may serve to hold his wrath for a +space."</p> + +<p>"Who will go with the volume into the enemy's camp?" asked the Lord +Mayor dubiously.</p> + +<p>"We must send our best reader," said the Librarian. "Red Rex must hear +the tale read aloud, the better to hold his unaccustomed attention."</p> + +<p>"Surely, you are the best reader, Sir Librarian," urged the Lord Mayor +generously. "How we all admire your style and diction!"</p> + +<p><EM>Crash!</EM> The rainbow window above their heads was shivered into a +thousand pieces.</p> + +<p>The Lord Mayor turned pale. "We must make haste!" he urged, pushing the +Librarian gently by the elbow.</p> + +<p>"Nay," said the Librarian coolly, releasing himself. "There is one who +reads far better than I. It is a young boy, the son of a poor widow +living on the High Street. Harold is his name, and he reads as sweetly +as a nightingale sings. Let us send for him at the same time when our +messenger goes to King Victor."</p> + +<p>"Let it be done immediately!" commanded the Lord Mayor.</p> + +<p>This happened on a Saturday, when the boys were not at school. But on +account of the bombardment of the city, the Lord Mayor had already given +orders that every child should remain in his own home that morning. So +Harold was with his mother when the messenger from the Lord Mayor +knocked on the door of the little cottage in the High Street, and Robert +and Richard did not know anything about it.</p> + +<p>"Come with me!" said the messenger to Harold. "You are needed for +important service."</p> + +<p>"Oh, where is he going?" cried the poor, trembling mother, holding back +her boy by the shoulders.</p> + +<p>"He is to come directly to the library," said the messenger. "The +Librarian has a task for him."</p> + +<p>"Ah! The Librarian!" The mother sighed with relief, and let her hands +fall from the shoulders of Harold. "To that good man of peace I can +trust my son, even amid this wicked bombardment."</p> + +<p>When Harold came to the library with the messenger, they found the +beautiful portal of the building quite destroyed, and the windows lying +in pitiful shattered fragments. They entered under a rain of missiles, +and discovered the Leading Citizens gathered in a pale group in the +center of the hall, under a heavy oak table.</p> + +<p>"My boy!" said the Librarian, with as much dignity as possible under the +circumstances. "We have sent for you, believing that you only can save +our beautiful library, our books, our city, our people, from immediate +destruction. Will you risk your life for all these, Harold?"</p> + +<p>Harold looked at him bravely. "I do not know what you mean, sir," he +said, "but gladly would I risk my life to save the precious books +alone. Tell me what I am to do, and I will do it as well as a boy can."</p> + +<p>"Well spoken, my brave lad!" cried the Librarian. "You are to do this"; +and he thrust into the hand of Harold a red-and-gold volume. "Even as +the boy David of old conquered the Philistine with a child's toy, so you +may perhaps conquer this Philistine with a story-book. Go to the savage +King yonder, with a flag of truce; and if you can win his ear, beg to +read him this, which is of an importance. If you read as well as I have +heard you do ere now, I think he will pause in his work of destruction, +at least until the story's end."</p> + +<p>Harold took the book, wondering. "I will try my best, sir," he promised +simply.</p> + +<A NAME= "chapter3"></A> +<H2>III. RED REX</H2> + +<p>A committee of the First Citizens led Harold to the city gate. He wished +to say good-bye to his mother, and to Richard and Robert; but there was +no time. Presently a watchman raised a white flag above the wall. +Thereafter the noise of the besiegers ceased.</p> + +<p>"A truce, ho!"</p> + +<p>"What message from the besieged?"</p> + +<p>"One comes to parley with your King."</p> + +<p>"Let him come forth, under the flag of truce. He will be safe."</p> + +<p>Bearing the white flag in one hand and the gorgeous book in the other, +Harold stepped outside the gate. The foreign soldiers stared to see so +young a messenger, and some of them would have laughed. But Harold held +up his head proudly and showed them that he was not afraid, nor was he +to be laughed at.</p> + +<p>"I am the messenger. Pray bring me to the King," he said with dignity.</p> + +<p>A guard of fierce-looking soldiers took him in charge and marched him +across the trampled sward, between the ranks of the army, until they +came to a little hillock. And there Harold found himself standing in +front of a huge man with bristling red hair and beard, having a mighty +arm bound with iron. His eyes were wild and bloodshot. He sat upon the +hillock as if it were a throne, and held a wicked-looking sword across +his great knees, frowning terribly.</p> + +<p>"Well, who are you, and what do you want with me?" growled the Red King. +"A queer envoy this! A mere boy!"</p> + +<p>"The City Fathers have sent me to read you something, please Your +Majesty," said Harold, trying to look brave, though his knees were +quaking at the awful appearance of the War-Lord.</p> + +<p>"Is it a war message?" asked Red Rex, eyeing the red-and-gold book +suspiciously.</p> + +<p>"You must hear and judge," answered Harold.</p> + +<p>"Very well," grumbled the Red King. "But waste no time. Begin and have +done as quickly as may be."</p> + +<p>Harold began to read from the red-and-gold book; but he had not gone far +when Red Rex interrupted him.</p> + +<p>"Why, it is a tale!" he roared. "Thunder and lightning! Do they think +this is a child's party? Go home with your story-book to your nursery +and leave me to deal with your city in warrior fashion."</p> + +<p>"I come from no nursery!" protested Harold, squaring his shoulders. "I +am no molly-coddle. No boy can beat me at any game. I am instructed to +read you this, and I must do so, unless you break the truce and do me +harm."</p> + +<p>"Who ever heard the like of this!" thundered Red Rex. "Here am I making +real war, and this boy interrupts me to read a tale! What a waste of +time! I read nothing, boy. War dispatches are all I have taste for. Does +this concern war?"</p> + +<p>"It has everything to do with this war," said Harold truthfully. "It is +very important, and they say I read rather well."</p> + +<p>"When did you learn to read rather well?" questioned the Red King +sulkily. "I never learned to read well, myself, and I am thrice your +age. I never have had time. At your years I was already a soldier. +Fighting was the only sport I cared for. Reading is girls' business."</p> + +<p>"A lot of good things are girls' business, and boys' business, too," +said Harold loyally. "But please hear me read about the fight, Your +Majesty."</p> + +<p>"About a fight;--it is a long time since I heard a story about a fight, +written in ink," said the Red King musingly. "But I have myself seen +many fights, written in red blood."</p> + +<p>"This is a story different from any you ever read," said Harold. "It is +a story no one ever heard read before, outside Kisington. Will Your +Majesty permit that I begin?"</p> + +<p>Red Rex hummed and hawed, hesitated and frowned. But he was a curious +King, as well as a savage one, and his curiosity triumphed. "What ho!" +he shouted to his guard at last. "Let there be a truce until I give word +to resume the fighting. I have that which claims my attention. Boy, I +will hear the story. Plant the flag of truce upon this hillock and sit +down here at my feet. Now!" He unfastened his belt and sword, took off +his heavy helmet and made himself comfortable, while his men lolled +about in the grass near by. Harold seated himself at the feet of the Red +King, as he was bidden; and opening the red-and-gold book began to read +in his best manner the story of <EM>The Dragon of Hushby</EM>.</p> + +<A NAME= "chapter4"></A> +<H2>IV. THE DRAGON OF HUSHBY, PART I</H2> + +<p>Long, long ago, in the days when even stranger things befell than we see +nowadays, travelers brought news to the little town of +Kisington-by-the-Sea. They said that the terrible Dragon of Hushby had +wakened again from his fifty years' nap; had crept out of his cave in +the mountain, and was terrifying the country as he had done in the +grandfathers' times. Already he had destroyed ten horses; had eaten one +hundred head of cattle, six fair maidens, and twelve plump little +children. Besides which he had killed three brave men who had dared to +fight with him. But now no one ventured near the cave where the dreadful +creature lived, and the land was filled with horror for which there +seemed to be no hope of relief.</p> + +<A NAME= "haroldreading"></A> +<P><IMG SRC="images/KT3.jpg" ALT="[Harold, seated on the grass, is reading to Red Rex, whose armed troops can be seen behind him.]"><BR> + +[Illustration: HAROLD BEGAN TO READ FROM THE RED-AND-GOLD BOOK]</P> + +<P>Moreover, so the travelers said, the King proclaimed that whoever should +put an end to the terror of Hushby might ask of his sovereign whatever +reward he chose, even the hand of the King's daughter. Now when this +news came to Kisington there was great excitement. For Hushby Town was +not far distant from the market-place of Kisington. People gathered in +groups talking in whispers of the Dragon, and looking fearfully out of +the corners of their eyes as they spoke. Who could tell when the +creature might wander in their direction, as the Chronicles recorded +that he had done once, long ago, when he had destroyed the daughter of +him who was Lord Mayor at that time? Kisington had special reasons, you +see, for longing to hear that a hero had conquered the Dragon.</p> + +<p>Of all the people in Kisington who heard the news, the one most excited +thereby was a lad named Arthur. He did not look like a hero, for he was +short, and small, and ugly. For this reason no one had ever thought him +especially brave. Most people expect heroes to be great, big men. Arthur +was held to be of little account in Kisington. But though he was a +little fellow, he had a great heart. All his life he had loved tales of +bravery and adventure, and he longed to be a. hero. Besides, he thought +it would be a. fine thing to marry the King's daughter, who, like all +princesses, must be very beautiful.</p> + +<p>Arthur lived by himself in a castle which had once belonged to his +uncle. Now that uncle had been an Amateur Magician; that is, he was +always doing things with flaring fires and queer bottles, messes of +strange liquids and horrid smells,--hoping to learn how to turn old iron +into gold, or to discover some other useful secret. No one ever heard, +however, of his accomplishing anything; until one day, with a <EM>Bang!</EM> he +blew himself up.` And every one heard of that. His will gave all his +Amateur-Magical stuff to Arthur--all his forges and bellows and bulbs +and bottles, the syrups and nasty smells. But Arthur cared nothing at +all about Amateur Magic, and scarcely ever went into the desolate tower +in one wing of the castle, where his uncle's laboratory was gathering +dust.</p> + +<p>But after news came about the Dragon of Hushby, things were different. +An idea had come into Arthur's head. "Oh, dear!" he said to himself. "If +only I could find something which would make me big! Only a giant could +kill the Dragon of Hushby, he is so huge and terrible. Perhaps my uncle +may have discovered a secret which would turn me into a giant!"</p> + +<p>Eagerly he hurried to the deserted room. Everything was draped in dusty +cobwebs, and when he opened the door the rats went scuttling in all +directions. All among the bottles and boxes and books and bundles he +sought and sought for some discovery which should help him. But though +he found many other curious things, he found not what he sought. Though +he poked in every dark corner and read carefully the labels on every +phial, and the recipes in every book, he found no Secret for Growing +Big. He could have learned, had he wished, "How to Make a Silk Purse Out +of a Sow's Ear"; "How to Make a Horse Drink"; "How to Make an Empty Sack +Stand Upright," and other very difficult things. But all these secrets +were of no use to Arthur, and he thought that his uncle had wasted much +valuable time in making these discoveries. Which, indeed, was true.</p> + +<p>Arthur grew more and more discontented every day. But one morning, quite +by accident, he hit his elbow against a hidden spring in a certain +knot-hole of the wall in the dusty laboratory. Immediately a secret +panel opened, and there behind it was a secret cupboard. In the cupboard +was the secretest-looking package, wrapped in a velvet cloth. Arthur +unrolled it eagerly and found a little leather case. When the case was +opened, he saw inside a bit of glass set in gold, with a handle. It +looked quite like a modern reading-glass--only reading-glasses were not +invented until many, many years later. "What can this be?" said Arthur +to himself. And taking up the glass he looked through it. Wonderful! +Everything suddenly seemed to become small--just as it does nowadays +when we look through the wrong end of an opera-glass. But Arthur had +never seen an opera-glass, you know; this was so many hundreds of years +ago.</p> + +<p> Arthur looked around the room, and everything had suddenly become so + tiny that it made him laugh. In the window a huge spider--as big as his + hand--had been spinning her web. Now she was no larger than a dot. A + rat scampered across the floor, and as Arthur looked it shrank to the + size of a fly! A bird flew past the window, singing, and it grew + smaller as it flew, while its voice became tinier and tinier till it + sounded like the buzzing of an insect. Amazed, Arthur took down the + glass from his eye. Instantly everything appeared again of its natural + size--all except the spider and the rat and the bird. They remained + tiny as they had seemed through the glass. Arthur had magicked them!</p> + +<p>"Ho!" cried Arthur. "This is some of my uncle's Amateur Magic. He had, +indeed, discovered how to make living things grow small. Alas! That +helps me little. I am small enough now. But if only it worked the other +way I might become a giant. What a pity! what a pity! Stay--perhaps if I +reverse the glass something better may be done!"</p> + +<p>He was about to turn the glass over and raise it to his eye again, when +he spied a bit of parchment in the box. On it were scribbled some words, +in faded ink.</p> + +<p>"A Wondrous Device to Make the Living Small. Thrice More May It be Used +Before Its Virtue Fades."</p> + +<p>"Ah!" said Arthur, laying down the glass. "Then, as I feared, the glass +can only make things smaller. But I have an idea! What if I should look +with this glass upon the Dragon of Hushby? Would he not shrink as the +spider and the rat and the bird have done? Yes; and then I should no +longer have need to be a giant, for I could tame him, even I myself in +my proper form! It is a good thought. I may yet be the hero of +Kisington. But I must be careful of the precious glass and not waste its +powers. 'Thrice more may it be used,' so says the scroll. Once, then, +for the Dragon, and two times more for accidents that may happen."</p> + +<p>Without more ado Arthur made ready for his great adventure. For arms he +took but two things--the magic glass in his wallet, and a butterfly-net +over his shoulder. In truth, the little fellow looked more like a +schoolboy bound for a holiday in the woods, than a hero in quest of +honor.</p> + +<p>Now, first, without saying aught of his intent to any in Kisington, he +journeyed to the Capital City, to gain the King's permission for the +trial.</p> + +<p>With the handle of his butterfly-net he thumped upon the door of the +King's palace and said: "Open! I wish to speak with the King!"</p> + +<p>The warders looked at him and laughed; he was such a strange little +figure. "What do you want of the King?" they asked.</p> + +<p>"Tell him that I come to seek his favor before I go forth to conquer the +Dragon of Hushby."</p> + +<p>"Ho, ho!" roared the warders. But they went and told the King what +Arthur said. "He is mad, Your Majesty," they added. "He is a little +fellow, armed with a butterfly-net. Ho, ho!"</p> + +<p>The King laughed, too. But he was curious to see this champion. So he +had Arthur admitted. With his net over his shoulder, Arthur marched into +the long hall, between the rows of tittering courtiers, and knelt before +the King. "So you intend to slay the Dragon of Hushby?" said the King. +"It needs a giant for that deed. What will you do, forsooth, you little +fellow, with your butterfly-net?"</p> + +<p>"Your Majesty," said Arthur, "do you not remember how David was a little +fellow, when with a stone he slew the giant Goliath? Well, I am another +little fellow; but I have a stone in my pocket with which I mean to tame +a foe more terrible than David's was. And as for this net--wait, and +you shall see!"</p> + +<p>"Very well," said the King, laughing, "I will wait and see. But what +reward shall you ask if you are successful?"</p> + +<p>"Your Majesty," said Arthur politely, "may I ask to see your daughter? I +have heard that the Dragon-Slayer may hope to win her hand."</p> + +<p>At these words of Arthur's the King burst into a roar of laughter, and +clapped his knee, as though it were a mighty joke. And all the courtiers +held their sides and shook with mirth. But Arthur was angry, for he did +not see that he had said anything funny.</p> + +<p>"Ho! ho!" roared the King. "Heralds, bid my daughter Agnes to come +hither. He! he! For there is one who wishes to see her. Ha! ha!"</p> + +<p>While the room was still echoing with laughter, the heralds entered with +the King's daughter, and Arthur saw why every one had laughed. The +Princess was a giantess,--a head taller than any man present,--and +though she was very beautiful, her face was hard and cold, and she +looked bad-tempered. When she walked, the floor trembled, and when she +spoke, the glasses shivered.</p> + +<p>"Who wishes to see me?" she said in a deep voice, crossly.</p> + +<p>"Heavens!" said Arthur to himself, "this is a Princess, indeed! It will +be more of a task to tame her than any dragon. But she is very handsome, +and I have my magic glass. When we are married I will turn her into a +nice little girl, just the size for me. So all will be well."</p> + +<p>The King pointed to Arthur with his scepter. "Behold our champion," he +said, chuckling. "My daughter, it is for you to hope that this brave +fellow may slay the Dragon of Hushby. For in that case I vow to make you +his wife."</p> + +<p>"Huh!" said the Princess, looking down at Arthur and frowning. But +Arthur advanced and made a low bow to her. "For such a great prize, Your +Highness," he said, "a man would venture much."</p> + +<p>At these words the Princess looked crosser than ever, and tossed her +head. "Take care that the Dragon does not swallow you at a mouthful, +Dwarf!" she said, very impolitely, and every one laughed.</p> + +<p>Arthur turned red with anger. "I will take care," he said. "And I shall +win what I will and conquer where I choose. Farewell, my lady. We shall +have more words hereafter, when I come to claim you for my wife."</p> + +<p>"You shall have her if you win her," said the King.</p> + +<p>But, of course, no one thought there was any hope for the little fellow. +They believed him to be mad, and when he had gone they nearly died, +laughing at the huge joke. The Princess laughed loudest of all.</p> + +<p>Proudly Arthur set forth upon the King's errand, with the magic glass in +his pocket, and the butterfly-net over his shoulder. A number of merry +fellows followed him from the court to see the issue of his mad +adventure. For they thought there would be a thing to laugh at ere the +end of the matter. They jested with Arthur and gibed pleasantly at him. +But he answered them gayly and kept his temper, for he knew that they +meant no harm.</p> + +<A NAME= "giantprincess"></A> +<P><IMG SRC="images/KT4.jpg" ALT="[The king, on his throne, is introducing Arthur to his giant daughter, who towers above him.]"><BR> +[Illustration: SHE LOOKED BAD-TEMPERED]</p> + +<p>But with them journeyed one of a different sort. And this was Oscar, a +burly ruffian, whose joy was in evil, and who followed Arthur hoping for +a chance to rob him, since he seemed a fool who had some precious +treasure in his wallet, which he was forever handling. Him Arthur did +not like, and he watched Oscar, but had no words with him.</p> + +<A NAME= "chapter5"></A> +<H2>V. THE DRAGON OF HUSHBY, PART II</H2> + +<p>After a time, Arthur and his band came to the town of Hushby, and were +received with wonder; for the people thought them all mad, especially +Arthur, with his butterfly-net and his boast to slay the Dragon. But +they treated him gratefully, as one who sought to be their deliverer, +albeit shaking their heads over his small stature and slender strength.</p> + +<p>Arthur slept that night at the inn, intending to seek the Dragon on the +morrow. And about the inn, on benches, on the curbs of Hushby streets, +and under the trees, slept the merry jesters who had followed Arthur +from the King. And Oscar thought to rob Arthur while he slept; but he +was prevented.</p> + +<p>In the night came the Dragon down from his cave in the mountain, and +rushing up the village street nearly caught Oscar as he was climbing in +at the window of the inn. Oscar fled barely in time. But the Dragon +caught and ate in one mouthful two of the merry band of jesters, so that +they jested no longer. Then there was a great outcry and panic. But +Arthur slept soundly through it all, dreaming of the Princess, and how +fair she would be when he had made her his wife and had magicked her +with the glass.</p> + +<p>In the morning bright and early Arthur came down to table. He found the +landlord and all the people white and trembling.</p> + +<p>"Oh, sir!" cried Mine Host in a whisper. "Behold, the Dragon has +descended from the mountain in the darkness and has eaten two of the +King's men this night. His appetite is whetted, and we hear him roaring +afar off. It is a sign that he will soon again make another descent upon +us. In the name of St. George, haste to save us!"</p> + +<p>Arthur listened and heard the far-off thunder of the loathly worm. But +he did not tremble. He only drew himself up to his last inch and +frowned, fingering the magic glass in his wallet.</p> + +<p>"First will I breakfast," he said. "And then will I go forth to rid you +of this pest. Bring on the morning meal."</p> + +<p>When he had eaten heartily, even to the last crumb, Arthur arose and +took his butterfly-net in hand.</p> + +<p>"Farewell, noble youth!" cried Mine Host, with tears in his eyes. For +Arthur had paid his score generously, and the landlord did not expect to +see the little fellow again. The landlord's fair daughter, Margot, stood +weeping, with the corner of her apron to her eyes. For she admired the +brave lad mightily. She was a very little maid, no taller than Arthur's +shoulder, and he looked at her kindly when he saw her weep.</p> + +<p>"What a fair, sweet maid!" he said to himself. "If it were not for the +King's daughter, I would choose her for my Lady, and ask her to give me +the blue ribbon from her hair to wear in my cap. But that may not be. I +must win glory for the King's big daughter."</p> + +<p>He patted Margot on the head and said debonairly: "Farewell! And have a +goodly dinner ready against my return. For I shall bring with me a +Dragon's appetite."</p> + +<p>So he spoke, jesting upon the terrible subject. Margot wept harder than +ever, and his other hearers shuddered. Some of the people followed him +afar off. But when, nearer and nearer, they heard the Dragon's roars +shaking the hills, they turned about and fled back to the village, +leaving Arthur to go his way alone.</p> + +<p>Arthur was not afraid. He strode on manfully until he came to the valley +which led up the mountain where the Dragon lived. And as he strode he +whistled. Presently there was a roar and a rumble and a rattle, and +Arthur stopped whistling. Nearer and nearer it came, and at last, down +from the rocks writhed the terrible Dragon himself. And he was far worse +to look upon than Arthur had imagined.</p> + +<p>He was as big as twenty elephants, and he was green, covered with +shining scales. His eyes glowed like the head-lights of two engines, and +revolved horribly in his head. Steam and fire belched from his huge +mouth, and he snapped his long, sharp teeth disgustingly. He was a +terrifying sight as he writhed toward Arthur. Dreadfully he roared, +lashing right and left with his tail, which uprooted the trees and +bushes and dislodged the rocks on either hand till they came tumbling +down in an avalanche. His hot breath scorched everything about him, and +Arthur began to feel faint by reason of the poison in it. But he stood +quite still, waiting for the Dragon, and fingering his magic glass. It +was to be a mighty experiment.</p> + +<p>Arthur waited until the Dragon was only a few yards away. Then he put +the glass to his eye and stared hard at the beast; stared, and stared, +and stared.</p> + +<p>Such rudeness made the Dragon very angry. He roared louder than ever and +came rushing toward Arthur at redoubled speed. But behold! As Arthur +gazed at him the creature began to grow smaller and smaller. First he +was no bigger than an elephant, though still terrible. Then he shrank to +the size of a crocodile; then of a lion; and finally, when he was only a +few feet away, he was no bigger than a cat, snarling and spitting +fiercely as ever.</p> + +<p>By this time the Dragon began to see that something was wrong. He did +not know that he himself was changed, but it seemed to him that Arthur +had swelled. It seemed to him that Arthur was a terrible giant; and, for +the first time in his five thousand years of life, the Dragon was +afraid!</p> + +<p>Suddenly he turned tail and began to run away, all the while growing +littler and littler in quite a ridiculous fashion. But Arthur was after +him valiantly. Now the Dragon was no bigger than a lizard, making a +funny squeak as he wriggled through the bushes. His eyes shone like tiny +lucifer matches, and his mouth smoked like a cigarette. But for this it +would have been hard to see him as he scuttled through the moss and +under the ferns, trying to escape from Arthur's terrible eye.</p> + +<p>At last Arthur saw that it was high time to lay aside the magic glass, +unless he wished the Dragon to escape by "going out" altogether, which +would never do. For he must take the creature back to the King.</p> + +<p>Now was seen the use of the butterfly-net which Arthur had brought all +the way from Kisington. With this in his right hand Arthur chased the +absurd little Dragon under a stone, and finally threw it over the +wriggling body, just as one would catch an insect. Hurrah! There was the +creature tangled in the net, hissing as loudly as a locust. The terrible +Dragon of Hushby was caught!</p> + +<p>Arthur took from his wallet a reel of thread and tied the Dragon +securely, so that he might not escape. And then, chuckling to himself, +he strode back to Hushby pulling the Dragon behind him, just as a little +boy drags a toy horse by a string. It was a very funny sight!</p> + +<p>When he drew near the inn, Margot ran out to meet him with tears of joy +in her eyes, for she had been watching for him all this time. Then all +the other people came running out, and they cheered lustily when they +saw that Arthur was quite unharmed.</p> + +<p>"But what of the Dragon?" they said.</p> + +<p>"This of the Dragon!" cried Arthur, drawing from behind him the +struggling creature. "Here is the famous Terror of Hushby. Behold what I +have done to him!"</p> + +<p>Folk could scarce believe their eyes. This wriggling little lizard, +could he really be their famous Dragon? Then they saw his tiny, fiery +eyes, and the smoke coming from his funny little mouth; and they knew it +must be a really, truly Dragon. A great silence fell upon them, and +every one looked at Arthur in awe. They believed that he must be a +wizard who had magicked the Dragon of Hushby. But after that they fell +to rejoicing, because now no longer had they anything to fear. Arthur +had become the hero of Hushby.</p> + +<p>They set him on a seat and carried him on their shoulders around the +village, with singing and shouting and huzzaing. And the Dragon went +with him, spitting and hissing and lashing his absurd little scaly tail +inside a cage made of fine wire. Arthur enjoyed all this greatly. But +especially he enjoyed the eyes of little Margot, which followed him, +full of admiration. And he said to himself, "It is a fine thing to be a +hero. But I wish I had not asked for the King's daughter as my reward. I +could choose better now!"</p> + +<p>When night came Arthur slept once more at the inn, with the Dragon in +his little cage beside the bed. Arthur slept soundly, because he was +happy and his heart was honest. But the conquered Dragon did not sleep. +You see, his conscience was bad,--he had eaten so many poor and +deserving persons. And that gives the worst kind of indigestion.</p> + +<p>There was another who did not sleep. And this was Oscar, the wicked. He +had seen the Dragon when Arthur showed him to the people, and he knew +that the strange little beast was a treasure worth far more than gold or +jewels. For there was not another like it in the whole world. He meant +to steal the miniature Dragon and carry it to a far land, where he could +exhibit it in a museum and gain much wealth and honor. Of course, Oscar +meant also to claim that this was a young Dragon which he had taken in a +brave struggle with its parents, whom Oscar had killed. In that way, he +would become a famous hero.</p> + +<p>In the dead of night, when all the inn was quiet, Oscar softly climbed +up the trellis to the window of the room where Arthur slept. In the +darkness two tiny red spots showed him where the Dragon writhed and +wriggled restlessly. Stealthily Oscar reached out his hand to take the +Dragon. But when he did so the Dragon gave a hiss which he meant should +shake the house, but which really was no louder than the chirp of a +cricket. It was loud enough, however, to waken Arthur. The hero sprang +from the bed to guard his treasure.</p> + +<p>Oscar drew his dagger and rushed upon Arthur. But Arthur had been +careful to sleep with his hand upon his trusty weapon. Swiftly he put +the magic glass to his eye and looked at Oscar. And lo! the wicked man +shared the Dragon's fate. Gradually he shrank and shrank, and though he +struck fiercely with his dagger it was of little moment; for Oscar was +soon but two inches high, and his dagger's prick was like that of a pin, +which made Arthur laugh.</p> + +<p>Arthur was merciful, and did not put him out entirely, as he could +easily have done. Dropping the glass from his eye he picked up in his +thumb and finger the little fellow, struggling like a beetle, and put +him under an overturned pint-pot for safe keeping. There Oscar remained +until morning, a restless neighbor of the restless Dragon.</p> + +<p>But Arthur said to himself, "I have used the magic glass twice. I must +be careful, for it can be used only once more before its virtue fades; +and that chance must be saved to make my Princess little, since, alas! I +must marry her and not dear Margot." Then Arthur went back to bed and +slept soundly until morning.</p> + +<p>On the morrow Arthur said nothing about this night's event to Mine Host +nor to the admiring crowd who came to see him set forth on his +triumphant journey to the King. He tied Oscar with thread and put him +into his wallet, where the wicked fellow snarled and scolded in a chirp +that no one could hear. As for the Dragon, Arthur fastened a tiny gold +chain about his neck and secured it to his doublet, so that the creature +could crawl up and down his shoulder but could not get away. He looked +like one of the little chameleons which ladies sometimes wear; though +why they like such unhappy living ornaments I cannot tell.</p> + +<A NAME= "chapter6"></A> +<H2>VI. THE DRAGON OF HUSHBY, PART III</H2> + +<p>Amid hurrahs and blessings and a rain of flowers, Arthur said farewell +to Margot, who loved him, and to Hushby, which he had delivered from the +Terror; and once more he journeyed to the King. But this time he went as +a hero, whose fame had traveled before him.</p> + +<p>The King sent heralds and soldiers to meet him, and a golden chariot to +bring him to the city. When Arthur reached the palace he found a great +banquet prepared, and the King himself came to welcome him and led him +to the place of honor. But the Princess Agnes was not there.</p> + +<p>As for the Dragon, every one was mad with delight over the wonderful +little creature. When the King saw him he laughed so that his crown +nearly fell into the soup. He delighted to tickle the Dragon's tail and +hear him spit and hiss like a little tea-kettle. He liked the Dragon +much better in this small edition, for he was more conveniently handled. +They placed the Dragon's cage in the center of the table, where every +one could see him, and the Dragon glared fiercely with his little red +eyes, but no one was afraid. How times had changed since this was the +Terror of Hushby!</p> + +<p>Then the King said: "Brave Arthur, this Dragonet is the choicest +treasure of my kingdom. I will keep him in a cage of gold beside my +throne, and strangers will come from the ends of the world to see him. +It will make my reign famous for all time, and I am very grateful to +you. You are a clever fellow, and perhaps, since you have tamed a +Dragon, you can tame my daughter as no one else has been able to do,-- +not even the late Queen or myself. Now, then, to keep my promise. What +ho, heralds! Lead forth the maid."</p> + +<p>The heralds blew a joyous blast on their trumpets and went to fetch the +Princess Agnes. Arthur found himself thinking of little Margot at the +inn, and how sadly she had looked after him when he went away. But he +knew that, being a hero, he must accept the responsibilities of that +position and marry the Princess. He felt nervously in his wallet for the +magic glass, for he said to himself:</p> + +<p>"Since I must marry this giantess, between whom and me is little love, +let me be sure that I can make her small like myself; else there will be +no happiness in my family. As soon as we are wed I will stare at the big +girl until she shrinks into the proper size, as did Oscar and the +Dragon."</p> + +<p>Arthur felt into the corners of his wallet for the magic glass--but it +was not there! Hurriedly he searched again. It was gone! What was to be +done? Must he, then, marry the giant girl and be a slave to her cruel +temper all his life? Horrible thought! What had become of the glass? +Suddenly he remembered Oscar, who had also been put into the wallet. +Oscar likewise was gone!</p> + +<p>Arthur saw what had happened. With his little dagger Oscar had cut the +threads which bound him and had escaped, taking the magic glass with +him.</p> + +<p>"What makes your face so pale, brave Arthur?" asked the King jokingly. +"Is it the thought of your dainty little bride?"</p> + +<p>Even as Arthur opened his lips to answer, there came a shrill cry from +beneath his very nose. Looking down he saw Oscar standing on the table +and peering over his beaker of wine. In both arms he held the magic +glass, and he was turning its shining eye upon Arthur himself.</p> + +<p>"Revenge!" cried the little fellow, fiercely. "Revenge! I have learned +his secret. I will gaze him smaller and smaller, until he goes out. +Nothing can save him!"</p> + +<p>Before Arthur could move, Oscar pressed his face to the glass and began +to stare as through a window, his malicious eyes fixed upon Arthur's +face. With horror Arthur waited to feel himself shrink. He looked about +fearfully at the other guests, expecting to see them appear to swell +into giants as he himself grew tiny. He stared at Oscar again, who +should now seem larger than himself.</p> + +<p>But what was this? Nothing happened. The guests were staring +open-mouthed with surprise, but they were of the usual size, Oscar was +still a tiny dwarf. Arthur rubbed his eyes and looked again. Still +nothing happened. The glass seemed to have lost its magic!</p> + +<p>Suddenly, Arthur saw what it meant. The magic of the glass was to last +only for three trials. Once, before he knew its worth, he had wasted it +upon the spider, the rat, and the singing bird. Once the Dragon had felt +its power. Its third and last spell had turned Oscar into a midget. Now +its virtue was gone. It was but a piece of ordinary crystal, and Oscar's +wicked plan was foiled!</p> + +<p>With a squeal of rage Oscar threw the glass crashing upon the floor, and +stamped his foot, which made everybody laugh. It was as if a tiny mouse +had stamped.</p> + +<p>The King stretched out his hand and took up the little fellow curiously. +"What is this strange insect?" he asked. "Your Majesty," said Arthur, +"he is Oscar, a villain who seeks to mischief everybody. I have punished +him as I punished the Dragon, because he tried to rob me of my most +precious treasure. He can do no more harm, I think."</p> + +<p>"Oscar!" said the King. "Indeed, I know him well. More than once has he +done evil in my city, and I have long meant to punish him. You are a +clever fellow to handle him so tactfully. And now, we will dub him +'Companion of the Dragon.' He, too, shall have a little cage of gold and +shall live with the Dragon for his neighbor. A quaint pair they, Arthur! +I thank you for them. But where is my daughter, and why does she delay?"</p> + +<p>With horror Arthur heard these words. He had forgotten the Princess. +Alas! The glass had lost its power. How then was he to magic her and +make her small, as he had hoped to do? How was he to tame this terrible +big girl and make her a nice little wife? Arthur wished that he had +never set out to be a hero; he awaited the approach of his bride with +terror far greater than he had felt in the Dragon's glen.</p> + +<p>Presently the heralds came back to the King, and their faces were very +grave. "Your Majesty," they said, "we cannot bring the Princess. She has +gone; she has fled from the Kingdom with the first royal coachman, who +was a handsome young giant after her own heart. Even now they must be +far beyond the border of the neighboring Kingdom. She was heard to say +that she would have no dwarf for a husband, however great a hero he +might be. And when she knew what had happened to the Dragon of Hushby, +she was afraid."</p> + +<p>There was silence in the banquet hall. Then the King struck a blow on +the table with his fist that made the Dragon hop and hiss nervously, +while Oscar fell over and bumped his head on a salt cellar. "Well," said +the King, "so be it! She was an ill-tempered jade, and I could do +nothing with her. You are well rid of her, brave Arthur. But how can I +amend this insult to your dignity? Ask of me whatever you choose, and it +will not be enough."</p> + +<p>Now, instead of looking sad, Arthur's face was shining with joy at his +narrow escape. "Your Majesty," he said, "I ask no amend. The lady had a +right to her choice, and I hope she may have a giant happiness. Since +this royal marriage may not be for me, I must look elsewhere. But I have +had enough of adventure and of magic, and I shall now retire into +private life."</p> + +<p>"Some reward you must have, nevertheless," said the King. "You shall +retire nobly. Arise, Sir Arthur! I make you Knight of the Dragon, Lord +of the Hushby Marches, and Earl of Kisington. Moreover, whomsoever and +wheresoever you choose to wed, I myself will attend the nuptials and +will bestow upon the bride a countess's crown of diamonds. Long live the +hero of Hushby and Earl of Kisington!"</p> + +<p>"Long live the hero of Hushby and Earl of Kisington!" echoed all the +guests. The Dragon hissed spitefully and lashed out with his tail, but +no one paid any attention to him. Oscar, sulking with elbows on knees, +groaned squeakily. But no one paid any attention to him either.</p> + +<p>Everybody was thinking of Arthur, and how wonderfully he had become a +hero. But Arthur himself was thinking of little Margot at the inn, and +how sweet her face would look under the coronet of a countess. And +Arthur grinned happily.</p> + +<A NAME= "chapter7"></A> +<H2>VII. THE BARGAIN </H2> + +<p>You must not suppose that Harold read this whole story to the besieging +King without pause. When he reached the end of the first part of the +tale, Harold closed the red-and-gold volume and looked up.</p> + +<p>"Go on!" urged the Red King. "Why do you stop, boy?"</p> + +<p>"It is the end of the volume," said Harold.</p> + +<p>Red Rex frowned. "Surely, not the end of the tale!" he cried. "Why, you +have stopped short in the middle! That Oscar was up to some trick, I +know. I want to hear what happened next."</p> + +<p>"I am sorry, Your Majesty," repeated Harold. "It is the end of the +volume. The rest of the tale is told in another book."</p> + +<p>The Red King's eyes blazed with anger. "Why did you not bring the other +book with you?" he roared.</p> + +<p>"I was not sure that Your Majesty would like the tale," said Harold. +"Besides, they will allow one to take from the library but one book at a +time from a set of volumes."</p> + +<p>"Then you must return and get the next volume immediately," commanded +Red Rex. "I must know what happened to Arthur in his quest of the +Dragon. Take the flag of truce and go back to Kisington; and let it not +be long ere you return!"</p> + +<p>"I am sorry, Your Majesty," said Harold, "but it is too late to take out +another book to-day. The rules of the library are very strict."</p> + +<p>"Now, did any one ever hear anything so absurd as this!" thundered the +Red King, stamping like a bad-tempered child. "What is a mere library, +forsooth, to have rules which I may not break?"</p> + +<p>"You have rules for your army, do you not?" suggested Harold.</p> + +<p>"I should say, verily!" growled Red Rex; "strict, stern rules."</p> + +<p>"Well, a library is an army of books," answered Harold; "a peaceful army +intended to help people and to make them happy; not to kill them. Our +noble Librarian, who is general of a mighty army of books, must have +rules as stern and strict to keep his army useful and efficient. If Your +Majesty desires the rest of the tale you must wait until to-morrow."</p> + +<p>"I will destroy the whole town first!" roared the angry King.</p> + +<p>"Then you will never learn the end of the tale," retorted Harold.</p> + +<p>It looked as if Harold were in great danger, in spite of the flag of +truce. Red Rex stormed and ranted, and his soldiers stood ready with +their weapons to do whatever he should bid them. But after a while the +warrior's wrath somewhat calmed itself, and shortly he began to chuckle +noisily.</p> + +<p>"True!" he said. "If I destroy the library I shall not know the end of +that tale. That would be a calamity! Well, it is now too late to resume +the siege to-day. I may as well continue the truce until to-morrow. But +see that you return early in the morning, with the rest of the tale."</p> + +<p>Once more Harold shook his head. "I must go to Church to-morrow +morning," he replied. "It is Sunday, you know. Surely, you do not fight +on Sundays, Your Majesty?"</p> + +<p>The Red King looked at him sideways. "I had forgotten Sunday," he said. +"I have mislaid my calendar. Now, you remind me,--no, I suppose not. No, +I do not fight on Sundays."</p> + +<p>"I thought not!" said Harold, relieved. "It would not be quite knightly, +would it? I will return to-morrow afternoon, as soon as I have had my +dinner; and then we will go on with the story of the Dragon of Hushby. +Good day, Your Majesty!"</p> + +<p>"Good day!" growled Red Rex, watching him march away between the files +of soldiers. "Youngster!" he called after the boy, "be sure you bring +back the right volume."</p> + +<p>Harold waved his hand in assent.</p> + +<p>Now, when Harold told the Librarian and the other Leading Citizens what +he had done, they were greatly pleased; for they saw that their city was +safe for at least eighteen hours, while their mounted messenger went +speeding to King Victor. Harold's chums Robert and Richard were so +excited they could not sleep that night. Harold's mother was as proud as +a peacock when he told the story to her; though it was with some dread +that she looked forward to his return on the morrow into the camp of the +fierce besieger. But Harold said:--</p> + +<p>"I shall be quite safe, Mother. Never fear! Red Rex is too much +interested in my story to hurt me. When he forgets war he is a different +man. He is almost pleasant, Mother!"</p> + +<p>"What a stupid King he must be to choose war for his pleasure!" said +the mother. "But suppose he cannot wait for to-morrow afternoon? Suppose +he should decide to take the city and win the library for himself, so +that he can read all the books at his leisure. What then?</p> + +<p>"Mother," said Harold, "I believe Red Rex has no joy in reading for +himself; no more than you have,--though he may not have your excuse."</p> + +<p>"La la!" cried the mother. "What a King is that who has no key to the +treasury of books! You are richer than he, my son. With all his armies, +you are more powerful than he, my dear son!"</p> + +<p>On the Sunday, after dinner, Harold's friends escorted him to the gate; +and as before he went to the Red King under the flag of truce. In his +hand he bore the second volume of red-and-gold. Red Rex received him +sulkily, yet with a certain eagerness.</p> + +<p>"Well, boy, have you brought the book?" he asked. "I have been thinking +of that tale all the night long, all this morning long. Come, let us +hear what happened next to Arthur and the Dragon." Then Harold began the +second part of the tale. Red Rex kept him at it, and would not let him +rest until he had quite finished both the second and the third parts of +the story; though Harold had meant to gain time by reading only the +former on that occasion.</p> + +<p>But when he had quite finished, Red Rex sat up, rubbing his hands +together. "It is a good story!" he declared. "That Arthur was a brave +fellow. I am glad I did not destroy your library until I had heard about +him. But now I can return to the siege without delay. I give you +warning, my boy! Do not go back to that doomed town. Desert those +peace-lovers and come with me to be a fighter, like Arthur."</p> + +<p>"Arthur fought wicked Dragons, not men," said Harold. "I would not +desert if I could. I, too, am a peace-lover, and there is too much in +Kisington from which I could not part. Besides, I must return this book +safe and sound to the library, even if it is to be destroyed soon after, +or I shall be fined. My poor mother can ill afford to pay fines for me!"</p> + +<p>"But there will be no one left to fine you," retorted the Red King. "The +whole city will be destroyed,--the library, the Librarian, the Lord +Mayor, and all! What a ruination it will be!" He rubbed his hands +gleefully.</p> + +<p>Harold shuddered, but he was firm. "What a pity!" he said. "You really +should know our Librarian. And there are still many fine books which +Your Majesty ought to hear. You will never know them if they be +destroyed now; their duplicates exist nowhere."</p> + +<p>"There are none so good as the tale you have just finished, I warrant!" +cried Red Rex.</p> + +<p>"Oh, many far better than that, Your Majesty!" said Harold. "Indeed, +that is one of the least important.--Did you ever hear of the +Wonder-Garden, Your Majesty?"</p> + +<p>"The Wonder-Garden!" echoed the Red King; "no, that I never did. What +means a 'wonder-garden,' boy?"</p> + +<p>"Ah, that you will never know, for it is another of the secret tales of +Kisington," said Harold. "It is all about a Mermaid, and a Lord Mayor's +son, and a fair stranger maiden, who--now I bethink me--might be from +your own land across the border. The Wonder-Garden was hers."</p> + +<p>"A maid from my land, with a wonder-garden!" mused Red Rex. "I would +fain learn of her. I dare say there is good fighting in this tale also. +Come, boy; will you read me that tale to-morrow?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, Your Majesty; if you will give your kingly word that the truce +shall last until the story be finished," replied Harold.</p> + +<p>"Ho-hum!" the Red King hesitated. He mumbled and he grumbled; he winked +and he blinked. But at last he said grudgingly, "Well, I promise. No +soldier shall advance, no weapon shall be discharged until I have heard +the tale of your Wonder-Garden."</p> + +<p>With this promise, Harold joyfully hastened back to the beleaguered +city. Kisington was safe for another day! The Lord Mayor and the +Librarian shook hands and went to congratulate Harold's mother.</p> + +<p>As for Red Rex, he dreamed that Harold had bewitched him with a +red-and-gold book; as perhaps he had done. Were not Richard and Robert +at that moment clapping Harold on the shoulder and declaring that he was +indeed a "Book-Wizard"? This is the tale which Harold read to Red Rex on +the following day; the story of <EM>The Wonder-Garden</EM>.</p> + +<A NAME= "chapter8"></A> +<H2>VIII. THE WONDER-GARDEN</H2> + +<p>There never were seen such beautiful gardens as bloomed in +Kisington-by-the-Sea. Not only every chateau and villa had its parterres +spread with blooming rugs of all colors; but each white-washed cottage, +every thatched hut, boasted its garden-plot of dainty posies. Each had +some quaint device or some special beauty which distinguished it from +the others. For there was great horticultural rivalry in +Kisington-by-the-Sea.</p> + +<p>Now this was all because Hugh, the Lord Mayor, who was very fond of +flowers, had offered a prize for the prettiest garden in the town. The +Lord Mayor himself lived on a hill in the center of the town, in the +midst of the most beautiful garden of all. It flowed down the hillside +from the summit in ripples of radiant color,--roses and lilies, pinks +and daffodils, larkspur and snapdragon. All the flowers of the land were +there, and many foreigners beside.</p> + +<p>Through the garden wound the yellow driveway by which the Lord Mayor +passed in his golden coach. He loved to drive slowly down this road, +sniffing the fragrance of his flowers; and then out through the streets +of the town, observing the beautiful gardens on every hand,--the result +of his own love for flowers.</p> + +<p>When the Lord Mayor saw all the fair maidens down on their knees in the +flower-beds, watering the buds with their little green water-pots, +nipping off dead leaves, pulling up scrawny weeds, coaxing the delicate +creepers to climb, he would rub his hands and say:--</p> + +<p>"Ah, this is good! This is very good indeed! We shall have the most +beautiful town in the world, blossoming with flowers, and the most +beautiful maids in the world, blossoming with health and sweetness like +the flowers they tend. It will be hard to tell which is the fairer, the +maidens or the flowers. Hey! Is it not so, my son?"</p> + +<p>Then he would chuckle and poke in the ribs the young man who rode beside +him.</p> + +<p>The Lord Mayor's son was very good to look upon; tall and fair, with +curly golden locks and eyes as brown as the heart of a yellow daisy. +When he drove through the town with the Lord Mayor, the maidens down on +their knees in their garden-plots would pause a moment from their chase +of a wriggling worm or a sluggish slug to look after the golden coach +and sigh gently. Then they would turn back to their Bowers more eagerly +than before. For there was the prize!</p> + +<A NAME="goldencoach"></A> +<p><IMG SRC="images/KT5.jpg" ALT="[Two gardening women turning their heads to look as a coach passes by behind them.]"><BR> +[Illustration: THE MAIDENS WOULD PAUSE TO LOOK AFTER THE GOLDEN COACH]</p> + +<p>You see, the Lord Mayor's son was himself part of the prize to be won. +The Lord Mayor had vowed that Cedric, his son, should marry the girl who +could show by late summer the most beautiful garden in +Kisington-by-the-Sea. Moreover, he promised to build a fine palace to +overlook this prize garden, and there the young couple should live happy +ever after, like any Prince and Princess. And this was why the maids +worked so hard in the gardens of Kisington-by-the-Sea, and why the +flowers blossomed there as no flowers ever blossomed before.</p> + +<p>Now one day the Lord Mayor drove through the village in his golden coach +and came out upon the downs near the seashore. And there, quite by +itself, he found a little cottage which he had never before seen: a tiny +cottage which had no sign of a garden anywhere about it,--only a few +flowers growing in cracked pots on the window-sills, and on the bench +just outside the door.</p> + +<p>"What!" cried the Lord Mayor, stopping the coach. "What does this mean? +There should be a garden here. I must look to the reason for this +contempt of my offer." And he jumped down from the coach and rapped +sharply upon the door.</p> + +<p>Presently the door opened, and there stood a girl, all in rags, but so +beautiful that the Lord Mayor's son, who was sitting languidly in the +golden coach, shut his eyes as one does when a great light shines +suddenly in one's face.</p> + +<p>"Hey!" cried the Lord Mayor, frowning. "Why have you no garden, girl? +Have you no pride? Do you not dream to win the prize which I offer?"</p> + +<p>"I am a stranger," said the maiden timidly. "No one has told me of a +prize. What may it be, my Lord?"</p> + +<p>"It is a prize worth trying for," said the Lord Mayor. "The hand of my +son there, and the finest palace in the land for the mistress of the +prize garden. Does that thought please you, girl? If not, you are +different from all the other maidens."</p> + +<p>The girl lifted her eyes to the golden coach and met the gaze of Cedric +fixed upon her. "I love flowers," she said. "I had once a little garden +in my old home. But now I am too poor to buy plants and bulbs and +seedlings. How, then, shall I make a garden to please Your Lordship?"</p> + +<p>"I will send you plants and bulbs and seedlings," said the Lord Mayor's +son, leaning forward eagerly. "You must make haste, for September will +soon be here, when the gardens will be judged."</p> + +<p>"Thank you, fair sir," said the girl. "I shall love my garden dearly, if +you will help me."</p> + +<p>Now when the Lord Mayor and his son had returned home, Cedric hastened +to keep his promise. For Gerda was the fairest maid in Kisington-by-the +Sea, and already he loved her so dearly that he hoped she would win the +prize and become his wife. He sent her the most beautiful flowers that +he could find, and transplanted from his father's garden its choicest +seedlings; he brought shrubs from the city market.</p> + +<p>The meadow between Gerda's cottage and the sea was transformed as if by +magic, and became a mass of rare and lovely flowers. The choicest +foreign plants, the gayest native blooms, the shyest wild posies, all +were at home in Gerda's lovely garden over which the sea-breeze blew. +But Gerda herself was the fairest flower of them all. She watched and +cared for her garden tenderly, and like the garden she grew fairer every +day, she was so happy. She did not know how the other gardens grew, for +she did not go to see. But sometimes the Lord Mayor's son came, +disguised as a gardener, to see how the flowers fared. And he said that +she had the most beautiful garden in all Kisington-by-the-Sea, and he +hoped that she would win the prize; which was very encouraging.</p> + +<p>No one else knew about Gerda's garden. It was far from town, and no one +dreamed that a stranger had come to live there. Besides, the neighbors +were so busy, each with her own affairs, that they had no time to go +about or ask questions, or gossip; which was a good thing.</p> + +<p>No, I am wrong. One person had discovered the open secret. In a villa +not far from the Lord Mayor's house dwelt a Countess who was very rich +and proud. Until Gerda came she had boasted the finest garden in +Kisington, after the Lord Mayor's, made by a whole army of gardeners +whom she kept at her command. She was quite sure of winning the prize, +and it made her very gay, though she cared nothing at all about flowers. +She left all the care of her garden to her gardeners and scarcely ever +wandered down its lovely walks. But she longed to marry the Lord Mayor's +son and live in a palace. It was the palace that she coveted as a prize, +and the honor of being the Lord Mayor's daughter; to ride in the golden +coach!</p> + +<p>She cared no more about Cedric himself than she did for her lovely +flowers.</p> + +<p>One day this Countess, who had very sharp eyes, spied the Lord Mayor's +son, in his disguise, going past her villa with his arms full of curious +flowers such as were never before seen in Kisington-by-the-Sea. And +because she had unusually sharp eyes the Countess knew who he was. +"Aha!" she said to herself. "This is strange! Cedric is meddling with +some garden. I must look into this!" Secretly she followed Cedric +through the village and out to the seashore until he came to Gerda's +garden. And there she saw him walking with the fair stranger up and down +among the flowers. The secret was discovered.</p> + +<p>The Countess was a very wicked woman. When she looked over the +transformed meadow and saw the beautiful garden which Gerda had made, +she nearly died of rage. She knew at once that against this one her own +garden had no chance of winning the prize. She stamped her feet in +jealous fury and cried:--</p> + +<p>"She shall not have the palace! She shall not ride in the golden coach! +She shall not marry the Lord Mayor's son! I will see that she shall +not!"</p> + +<p>The Countess stole home with wicked wishes in her heart and wicked plans +in her head. The next day but one was the day of the award, so she had +no time to lose. That night when every one was asleep she crept out of +her villa and along the road by which she had followed the Lord Mayor's +son, to Gerda's garden. Everything was quiet and peaceful. The flowers +looked very fair in the moonlight, breathing drowsy perfumes. But the +wicked woman cared nothing at all for them. Taking a great pair of +shears from her cloak she moved quickly in and out among the garden +beds, cutting and slashing the precious flowers and trampling them under +foot.</p> + +<p>When she had finished her cruel work, not a single bud lifted its head +from the ruin. The flower-beds looked as though a tempest had swept +over them. Poor Gerda's garden was quite destroyed! The Countess +chuckled as she hurried home through the night: "We shall see now who +wins the prize!"</p> + +<p>The next day Cedric thought that he would visit the garden of sweet +Gerda in which he had taken such an interest. Dressed in his gardener's +green smock he went through the town, whistling happily as any yokel. +But when he reached the little cottage by the sea, he ceased to whistle. +Gerda was sitting upon the doorstone weeping bitterly.</p> + +<p>"What is the matter, Gerda?" asked Cedric anxiously, and he sought to +comfort her. She could only sob:--</p> + +<p>"Oh! My dear garden! Oh! My poor flowers!"</p> + +<p>With a sinking heart Cedric ran to the garden close, and there he saw +all the ruin that the wicked Countess had wrought.</p> + +<p>"Alas! Who has done this?" he cried. But Gerda could not tell.</p> + +<p>Cedric's heart was nearly broken. For he loved Gerda so dearly that he +thought he could not live if another should win the prize. To-morrow +would be the day that would determine his fate. What could they do? +Suddenly he had an idea.</p> + +<p>"Farewell, Gerda!" he cried, and without another word he strode away.</p> + +<p>Then Gerda wept more bitterly than ever. She thought that the Lord +Mayor's son was angry with her because her garden was destroyed. This +was worse even than the loss of her flowers.</p> + +<p>But Cedric was far from angry with her. He had gone away in order to +think and plan. He had one hope. He remembered that he had a friend who +had once promised to help him in his time of trouble. The time had come.</p> + +<p>That very night when the moon rose over the water, Cedric went down to +the sea and stood upon a rock and recited this charm:--</p> + +<p> "Mermaid, Mermaid, rise from the sea! + I am in trouble. Hasten to me!"</p> + +<p>Hardly had he spoken the words when there was a little ripple in the +water at his feet, and a beautiful Mermaid appeared, clinging to the +rock over which the waves dashed prettily in the moonlight. And she +said:--</p> + +<p>"Lord Mayor's son, you have spoken the charm which I taught you, and I +have come from the bottom of the sea. I have not forgotten how once a +cruel fisherman caught me in his net, and how you had pity on me and +took me to the ocean and set me free. Then I promised to help you, if +ever you should be in trouble. What is your grief, Lord Mayor's son?"</p> + +<p>Then Cedric told her about Gerda's garden and its mishap. "Ah! She must +be the sweet, ragged maid who used to sit upon the rocks and gaze down +into my ocean," said the Mermaid. "She has a good heart and loves the +sea. Early this morning I heard her weeping bitterly for her lost +flowers and for you. She loves you dearly, Lord Mayor's son, and I love +you both. What shall I do to help you?"</p> + +<p>"Dear Mermaid," said Cedric eagerly, "can you find out the cruel person +who has destroyed Gerda's garden? And can you restore the garden itself +before to-morrow? I ask these two things of you."</p> + +<p>"It is easy to find the jealous woman," said the Mermaid. "Her you will +know at the right time. But the garden is another matter. However, I +will do my best for the two whom I love. And now, farewell!" With that +word she slid down the rocks, and in a little splash of spray vanished +into the sea.</p> + +<HR> + +<p>Now came the day when the Lord Mayor was to judge the gardens of +Kisington-by-the-Sea. In all the towers the bells were ringing merrily, +and on every side the flowers and the fair maidens were blooming their +brightest. Through the town rode the Lord Mayor in his golden coach +drawn by six prancing white steeds, their necks wreathed with flowers; +and behind followed a great rout of townsfolk, eager to see the gardens +judged. In the Lord Mayor's coach sat Cedric by his father's side. He +was dressed all in white, as became a bridegroom, and in his hands he +carried a huge bouquet of white roses. His cheeks were white, too, for +he was anxious to know what this day should bring, and what maiden was +to receive the bridal bouquet.</p> + +<p>Through the town the merry procession moved, and stopped in turn before +each garden, at the gate of which a sweet maid waited, her little heart +going pit-a-pat beneath her prettiest gown. The Lord Mayor inspected +each garden carefully, making notes in a little white-and-gold book. And +each fair maiden gazed at the handsome Cedric and hoped that the Lord +Mayor was writing down her name to be his daughter-in-law!</p> + +<p>But all the gardens were so beautiful that it seemed impossible to +choose between them. In each the Lord Mayor looked and looked, smiled +and nodded,--"Very good! Very good, indeed! Beautiful, beautiful, +beautiful! I am truly proud of the fair flowers and the fair maids of +Kisington-by-the-Sea. Surely, never such were seen before!"</p> + +<p>Then he noted his little memorandum, made a low bow to the maiden, and +mounting into the golden coach, whirled away to the next garden. At +last, when they had gone quite around the village, they came to the +villa of the wicked Countess. The crowd murmured admiringly. There was +no doubt about it; hers was certainly the finest garden of all. When the +Lord Mayor saw the gay parterres and fountains, the shady alleys and +cool grottoes, the wonderful flowers and shrubs growing luxuriantly +everywhere, he clapped his hands with pleasure and said:--</p> + +<p>"Ah! This is Paradise, indeed! Here surely we must look for our bride. +Countess, I congratulate you!"</p> + +<p>The Countess was dressed in a most costly gown of white satin and +velvet, as though she were sure beforehand that she was to be the bride. +She arched her neck and smiled maliciously at the Lord Mayor's son, in +whose eyes was no love for her.</p> + +<p>"I shall be proud, indeed, to ride in your golden coach!" she said.</p> + +<p>Cedric had grown very white, and he looked at the Countess with disgust. +She was so much less fair than Gerda, and her eyes so wicked! Must he +marry her, after all? Yes, unless the Mermaid had wrought a miracle in +Gerda's ruined garden. To that hope he still clung. "Father," he said +earnestly, "before you judge that this lady has won the prize, remember +that there is one more garden to visit. Have you forgotten the stranger +maiden who lives beside the sea, and how you bade her make a garden as +the other maids were doing? Let us first go there, for she may be +waiting."</p> + +<p>"Ho, ho!" laughed the Lord Mayor; "I had in truth forgotten the pretty +beggar. It is absurd to dream that she should have a garden worth +visiting after that of our Countess here. Yet we will go to see, and do +her justice."</p> + +<p>The Countess laughed shrilly. "A beggar's garden!" she cried. "That +must, indeed, be a wondrous sight!"</p> + +<p>"Do you come with us, my lady," said the Lord Mayor politely. "Sit here +by my son's side in the Lord Mayor's coach. For I trow that here will +soon be your rightful place as his bride."</p> + +<p>Now it pleased the Countess to ride in the Lord Mayor's coach; and it +pleased her more that she was to see the shame of Gerda and the +disappointment of Cedric when Gerda's pitiful little garden should be +judged. So with a great rustle of satin and lace she gave her hand to +the Lord Mayor and mounted proudly into the golden coach. But Cedric sat +beside her pale and silent, little like a happy bridegroom. With a +snapping of whips and tooting of horns off they went, rattling through +the streets of the town, out over the downs toward the sea.</p> + +<p>Behind them followed the townsfolk in a great crowd, wondering +exceedingly whither the Lord Mayor was leading them. For they knew of no +garden here. Presently, with another flourish and a cracking of whips, +amid the barking of dogs and the shouts of little boys, the Lord Mayor's +coach drew up in front of the tiny cottage by the sea. And the people +wondered more than ever. For there was no garden anywhere to be seen.</p> + +<p>The Lord Mayor alighted, chuckling as if it were all a great joke, and +helped down the Countess, who was grinning maliciously. Last of all +Cedric descended and stood waiting while the Lord Mayor with his staff +knocked three times upon the door.</p> + +<p>Presently the door opened, and there stood Gerda, dressed all in a gown +of sea-green silk, with a string of pearls about her neck and a pink +coral wreath in her hair. She was so beautiful that all the people in +the crowd cried "Oh!" with a sound like the wind in the top of a pine +tree, and the Lord Mayor himself fell back a step, staring in surprise. +The Countess turned saffron yellow and bit her lips with envy; but still +she smiled; for she knew what she had done to Gerda's garden.</p> + +<p>As for Cedric, he stood and gazed as though his eyes were glued to fair +Gerda's face, until after a bashful silence of a moment she spoke.</p> + +<p>"You have come to see my garden," she said. "It is not like other +gardens, but I think it is very beautiful. Will you come with me?"</p> + +<p>She led them around the cottage to the meadow beside the sea where once +had been the beautiful little garden which the Countess had destroyed. +But what was this? Where were the lawns and hedges and beds of flowers? +Where was the green grass? Gone! Over the spot lay a sheet of rippling +water, reflecting the Summer sky.</p> + +<p>"What does this mean?" said the Lord Mayor, turning sternly to Gerda. "I +ask to see a garden, and you show me a pool of water. Girl, do you jest +at the Lord Mayor?"</p> + +<p>"Nevertheless, this is my garden, sir," answered Gerda gently, "and a +fair garden I think you will find it, if you deign to look closely."</p> + +<p>"Nonsense!" said the Lord Mayor crossly, and "Nonsense!" sniffed the +Countess with her nose in the air. But Cedric stepped forward with his +eyes shining, for he wanted justice done.</p> + +<p>"Father," he begged, "let us go nearer, as the maiden asks, and look at +this which she calls her garden. Mayhap we shall find something new to +Kisington-by-the-Sea."</p> + +<p>For when Cedric saw how sweetly the maid was dressed in colors and +tokens of the ocean, his heart leaped with hope that the Mermaid had in +some mysterious way redeemed her promise.</p> + +<p>"Very well," said the Lord Mayor, frowning. "Let us see what this +foolish whim betokens. Show us your garden, girl."</p> + +<p>Down the slope they went, followed by the gaping crowd which cast +curious looks upon Gerda as she walked by the side of the Lord Mayor's +son. "Tell me, what has happened, Gerda?" he asked her, speaking low so +that no one else might hear.</p> + +<p>"Last night," she whispered, "I went to bed weeping for my lost flowers +and my lost hope. But at midnight I was awakened by the roaring of the +sea. It grew louder and louder, and at last a great wave seemed to burst +over the sea-wall and come foaming up even to the cottage door. I was +frightened sorely. But in the midst of my terror I heard a soft voice +cry:--</p> + +<p>'Fear not, gentle Gerda, and weep no more for your lost flowers. The +gardeners of the sea have come to restore your garden. And there will be +a fine gown for you. Look for it upon the doorstone in the morning. +Farewell!' That was all.</p> + +<p>The sea ceased its roaring, and peacefully I fell asleep. In the morning +I found upon the doorstone this green gown. And when I looked upon the +plot where late my poor little garden bloomed, I saw this. Behold!"</p> + +<p>As she spoke they came to the edge of the pool. A chorus of wonder arose +from the crowd. The Lord Mayor stood with hands raised gazing down into +the pool; and every one else was gazing too, with eyes of admiration.</p> + +<p>The water was as clear as glass, and one could see to the very bottom of +the hollow which had once held Gerda's unlucky garden. Now the basin was +floored with polished mother-of-pearl, with beds and borders of colored +shells in lovely patterns. There were lawns of many-hued ocean moss, +bordered by shrubs of coral, blossoming in every form and size and +color,--spikes and clusters, daisy-stars and bell shapes, all the +variety of a flower-garden. Sea-anemones and other living plants opened +and shut their tender petals. Delicate sea-ferns like maiden-hair and +flowering grasses grew upon rockeries of coral. Hedges of sea-weed, +green and brown, yellow and pink, waved their fronds gently in the water +as leaves do in the air. And to and fro among the branches of sea-trees +moved glittering shapes of gold and silver, pink and pale blue. These +were the rainbow fishes,--birds and butterflies of ocean, their delicate +fins moving more gracefully even than wings can do.</p> + +<p>Dear little sea-horses raced up and down the coral alleys, and luminous +forms moved among the sea-weed, lighting the garden with living +lanterns. Here and there were grottoes of coral and pretty arbors, and +the garden was thronged with a multitude of curious sea-creatures even +the names of which no man knows. For the gardeners of Cedric's friend +the Mermaid had scoured the ocean to find the rarest and most beautiful +wonders which grow in a deep-sea garden, such as no mortal eye ever +sees.</p> + +<p>After a time the Lord Mayor recovered breath to speak. "Maiden," he +said, "however you came by this wondrous ocean-garden I do not care to +ask. It is enough that we have such a treasure in Kisington-by-the-Sea. +Among all our lovely gardens it is the fairest. Among all our curious +flowers these living ones are rarest. I therefore judge that to you +belongs the prize."</p> + +<p>Then a great cheer arose from the border of the pool where the folk were +bending eagerly to study the wonders in the waters below. Even the +maidens whose gardens had not won the prize cheered,--all except the +Countess. She ground her teeth with rage, for she saw that her wicked +plot had been in vain.</p> + +<p>The Lord Mayor stepped forward and took Gerda's hand. "Come hither, my +son," he said, "and take this fair stranger to be your bride. In this +spot where her little cottage stands, I will build for you a beautiful +villa."</p> + +<p>With a happy face Cedric took Gerda's hand in one of his, and with his +other gave her the great bouquet of roses. "I obey my father's wish," he +said. He needed not to tell that it was his own wish, too.</p> + +<p>Thereupon every one cheered again, waving caps and handkerchiefs, for no +one could help loving the beautiful pair and wishing them happiness. +Only the Countess stood silent and frowning, looking ugly as a goblin.</p> + +<p>When the shouting had ceased, Gerda stepped forward and spoke sweetly to +the people. "Kind friends," she said, "I am a stranger to your town, yet +my garden has been judged worthy of the prize. But I am sorry for the +fair maidens who have so long and faithfully tended their lovely +flowers. To me it seems that they also should have a reward. In my +garden grows a hedge of plants bearing precious fruit,--the pearl +oysters, which you see gaping with the white pearls in their mouths. I +would have each maid come and take one for her own."</p> + +<p>There was great rejoicing and murmuring of thanks as the maidens came +forward one by one and bent over the pool to choose each a precious +pearl. The Countess alone hung back. "Come hither, Countess," said the +Lord Mayor, when he saw that all others had been rewarded save her only. +"Come hither and choose your pearl. You should, indeed, have the finest, +for your garden would have won the prize but for these sea-wonders by +which it was outdone."</p> + +<p>"Choose, fair lady," said Gerda, smiling kindly. But the Countess would +not come. "I have pearls enough of my own," she snapped. "I need no +charity from a beggar!"</p> + +<p>"What!" cried the Lord Mayor, frowning. "Such words are not meetly +addressed to my daughter-in-law. Nay, they show an evil heart, +Countess!"</p> + +<p>"Say that she shall do this, Father," cried Cedric, stepping forward +eagerly, for he seemed to hear a secret whisper from the Mermaid +prompting him; "else we shall think that she was the wicked one who +destroyed another's garden in the hope of winning the prize herself."</p> + +<p>At this challenge the Countess came forward sullenly to the edge of the +pool. To take the nearest pearl she had to bend low, until her face drew +close to the water. Suddenly, the watching crowd saw a flash and a +splash and heard a shrill scream. The Countess rose, shrieking horribly. +A huge crab had fastened himself to her nose, and not easily could she +be freed from this unwelcome ornament! At last they tore away the crab, +but the tip of the Countess's nose was gone, and she wore a scar always, +even to the end of her unhappy days.</p> + +<p>This was the Mermaid's punishment for her cruel harm to Gerda's garden.</p> + +<p>But Gerda and Cedric lived happily ever after in the beautiful villa +which the Lord Mayor built for them on the edge of their wonder-garden +beside the sea. And sometimes the Mermaid herself came there to visit +them, and to bring them some new precious thing from the watery world +where she dwelt.</p> + +<A NAME= "chapter9"></A> +<H2>IX. THE KING'S COAT OF ARMS</H2> + +<p>The Red King could not disguise his pleasure in the tale of the +Wonder-Garden, though he grumbled when he found there was to be no +fighting in it. When Harold had finished reading the story, Red Rex +patted him on the head and said gruffly,--</p> + +<p>"Good, my boy! You do, indeed, read a tale as well as one would wish. +But tell me, now; in what part of Kisington is the place where this +Gerda had her Wonder-Garden? Is it far from here?"</p> + +<p>"Nay, not far from here," said Harold. "About a mile from our library, +by the sea, stands the villa where Gerda and the Lord Mayor's son lived +happily ever after. I could show Your Majesty the place, if you were not +unfortunately at war with our city."</p> + +<p>"I would fain see that place," said Red Rex thoughtfully. "I have a +fancy that Gerda, indeed, came from my land. I have heard a legend that +one of my great-great-grandfather's own sisters was stolen by the +gypsies, and carried away to a far country. It might well be that she +ran away from those gypsies, and escaped to this Kingdom, and that it +was she whom the Lord Mayor found living lonely by the sea."</p> + +<p>"It might well be so!" said Harold. "Oh, Your Majesty! How exciting! +Then the Lady Anyse, who lives now at that villa, may be your own +far-off cousin."</p> + +<p>"She may be, indeed," mused the Red King. "What like is she, Harold?"</p> + +<p>"She is tall, and handsome, and has red hair like Your Majesty," said +Harold. "I have seen her often when I went to visit the Garden."</p> + +<p>"The Garden?" exclaimed Red Rex. "Does the Wonder-Garden, then, still +exist?"</p> + +<p>"Not quite the same as in the day of Gerda and Cedric," answered Harold, +"but yet a wonder-garden. It is called 'The Aquarium' now, and is one of +the public gardens of Kisington, given to the town by the will of Cedric +and Gerda. The Lady Anyse has it under her care."</p> + +<p>"Verily, I should like to visit it and see both its wonders and my +long-lost cousin," muttered the Red King.</p> + +<p>"What a pity that you are making war upon our city!" exclaimed Harold. +"There are so many fine things that cannot be while there is war."</p> + +<p>"Yet war must be," answered Red Rex. "And I must be at it straightway." +He rose and flourished his sword with a determined air.</p> + +<p>"But at least you will spare the east of Kisington, where the +Wonder-Garden lay, and not fire gums or arrows in that direction?" +suggested Harold, pointing eastward. The Red King followed the direction +of his finger.</p> + +<p>"Yes, that I will promise," said Red Rex, after a moment's hesitation. +"I promise that; lest otherwise I might injure my own blood royal. +Because I am King I must not forget that!" He swelled his chest proudly.</p> + +<p>"<EM>Noblesse oblige</EM>!" murmured Harold. "It was the motto of the Lion +Passant."</p> + +<p>"I know that motto well; and what of a lion passant?" inquired Red Rex. +"A lion passant is one of the emblems in my own royal coat of arms!"</p> + +<p>"Then, Your Majesty has not heard the tale of the Lion Passant?" asked +Harold, feigning surprise. "It is one of the best known in our land. You +will find your royal lion in the arms of our city of Derrydown; and +there is a tale to account for that."</p> + +<p>Harold began to smile as if the memory of the tale pleased him.</p> + +<p>Red Rex frowned. "It is too late to hear that tale to-night," he +murmured.</p> + +<p>"Yes, Your Majesty," agreed Harold. "Besides, I cannot tell it by heart. +I should have to get the book from our generous library. I can read it +better; there is so much in the manner of the writing. It is a pity Your +Majesty is in such a hurry to fight, or I might bring that book hither +to-morrow and read you the pleasant tale."</p> + +<p>The Red King fidgeted. "I am losing time at a terrible rate!" he +growled. "Think of what harm I might be doing! When have I wasted hours +like this, you wheedling boy?"</p> + +<p>"I do not think these hours are wasted. It is war that wastes," said +Harold.</p> + +<p>"Fudge!" retorted Red Rex; "we must have war. Was that lion a red lion, +Harold?"</p> + +<p>"A red lion, Your Majesty," nodded Harold.</p> + +<p>The Red King grew excited. "I must, then, hear about him!" he cried. "It +is my duty.--What ho, there!" he shouted to his men who were making +ready to continue the siege. "I have changed my mind. We will not fight +for another day. Take this boy back to the city, and proclaim continued +truce until he returns to us."</p> + +<p>"Your Majesty is wise," said Harold with shining eyes. "I think you will +not be sorry to hear the tale of the Lion Passant."</p> + +<p>So the crisis was delayed for another day; and Kisington blessed Harold. +They made a feast at the poor widow's cottage from presents sent by the +Leading Citizens. Richard and Robert sat at the head of the table, one +on each side of Harold, and all his other boy and girl friends sat down +the sides of the table, and he told them all about his adventure with +the besieging King. One and all begged him to let them go with him on +the following day. But this, of course, Harold could not promise. He was +the only one who could read well enough to charm the War-Lord. They all +wished that they had learned to read as well as Harold.</p> + +<p>When on the morrow Harold returned to the Red King, this is the story +which he read from one of the peaceful books of Kisington--the story of +<EM>The Lion Passant</EM>.</p> + +<A NAME= "chapter10"></A> +<H2>X. THE LION PASSANT</H2> + +<p>A long time ago, in one of the narrowest side-streets of Kisington, +stood an old curiosity shop, full of strange things. It was a dark +little den inside, so dark that the outer sunshine made the old shopman +blink as he stood in the doorway talking with the stranger. The stranger +was a Medicine Man, and he had just sold a bottle of his famous Elixir +of Life to the old shopkeeper.</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir," said the Medicine Man, as he turned to go, "you will find my +Magic Elixir all that I claim it to be. It will bring back youth and +beauty to the aged. It will give sight to eyes that see not, hearing to +deaf ears, speech to the tongue-tied and motion to limbs that have never +moved before. It will also cure whooping-cough."</p> + +<p>"I hope so," said the old man in an eager voice. He had heard only one +word in six of the stranger's talk. "I hope so, for I need it very much. +Shall I take it all at once, or--" But already the Medicine Man was +halfway down the road, with the gold coin which the old man had given +him safe in his deepest pocket. The old man returned into his shop, +blinking more than ever, and stumbling over the piled-up rubbish as he +went. It was an abominably crowded little room. Each corner, each shelf, +each hook in wall or ceiling was occupied. Everything was piled high or +filled up with something else.</p> + +<p>In the midst of all kinds of curiosities, the Lion Passant stood +waiting. He had been waiting there so many years that the Old Curiosity +Shop man had quite given up hope that any one would ever come for him. +The Lion was very old; older than the shop, older than the old man who +kept it, older than anything else in the shop--and that was saying much.</p> + +<p>The Lion was cobwebby and scarred; but, notwithstanding, he was a fine +figure of a beast. He had been finely carved out of oak and colored a +warm gules, though now somewhat faded. He was carved in the attitude of +marching along a parti-colored pole of gules and silver. His dexter paw +was raised in the air, his red tongue hung out and his tail was curved +gracefully over his back. There was something which I cannot exactly +describe of grand and dignified about the Lion Passant,--what the books +call a "decayed gentility."</p> + +<A NAME="salesman"></A> +<p><IMG SRC="images/KT6.jpg" ALT="[The plump antiques dealer stands in the door while the thin and jaunty salesman speaks to him.]"><BR> +[Illustration: HE STOOD IN THE DOORWAY TALKING WITH THE STRANGER]</p> + +<p>The old man stumbled and blinked his way toward the door at the rear of +the shop. He was eager to try the Elixir of Life and become young again, +and he hurried faster than was wise in the shadowy labyrinth. Just as he +was opposite the Lion Passant, he caught his foot in a sprawling chair +and stumbled forward, with both arms stretched out to save himself. Away +flew the bottle of Elixir, <EM>smash</EM>! against the head of the Lion Passant. +The glass shivered into a thousand pieces, and the precious golden drops +went trickling down over the carved beast, over the table, onto the +floor, where it made a dusty pool about the feet of a cracked china cat.</p> + +<p>"Oh, me! Oh, me!" groaned the old man. "All my precious youth wasted, +and no money left to buy more! Oh, me! What an unlucky day it is!" And +he stumbled out to tell his wife all about it. Now, as soon as he had +left the shop, strange things began to happen there.</p> + +<p>"Marry, come up!" exclaimed the Lion, licking his red tongue. "I am +a-weary of this. My leg is asleep." And he set down the dexter paw, +which he had been holding in that position for four hundred years or +more.</p> + +<p>"Wow!" cried the China Cat from the floor. "My cracks are growing +together again! I believe I am as good as new!" And she arched her back +and yawned.</p> + +<p>The Lion lashed his tail once, to be sure that he could really do it, +and looked about the shop in disgust. "I must away!" he said.</p> + +<p>"Oh!" cried the Cat, lazily, beginning to lick her paw, as if she had +always been doing so since the discovery of China. "You are so restless! +Where are you going?"</p> + +<p>The Lion stepped gingerly down from his striped pole to the table, and +from there to the floor. As he did so, he seemed to increase in size, so +that by the time he had reached the shop door he was as large as an +ordinary lion. "I am going to seek <EM>Them</EM>," said the Lion, with dignity. +"I am, as you see, a Lion Passant, the crest of a noble house. Many +years I have been separated from my people. I have waited for Them to +come for me. Every time the shop-bell tinkled it has waked an echo of +hope in my heart. But They do not come; I must, then, go to Them." He +sighed deeply.</p> + +<p>"How will you know where to find them?" asked the Cat, respectfully.</p> + +<p>"I shall seek Them in the halls of the mighty," said the Lion proudly. +"They were of the noblest in the land, I remember."</p> + +<p>"By what name shall you know them?" asked the Cat again, who was +inquisitive.</p> + +<p>The Lion became thoughtful. "The name?" he repeated. "The name? I have +forgot the name. But I was the crest that They bore in battle, the +figure on their shields, the carving above their hearths."</p> + +<p>"Yes, but times have changed, folk say," objected the Cat. "How shall +you know your people among the New Ones?"</p> + +<p>"I shall recognize Them," said the Lion confidently. "I shall know Them, +the proudest, the mightiest, the bravest, and most fair. Besides, is +there not the family tradition? Once, in the far ages before even I was +carved, the first knight of our line had an adventure with a lion; hence +my figure upon Their crest. I know not the tale complete; but this I +know--that from that time on, no one of Them has been able to see a +lion, to speak or hear the name, without sneezing thrice. So it was in +that day, so it has been ever since."</p> + +<p>"That, indeed, is something definite," yawned the Cat, as the Lion +stalked out into the sunshine. "Well, I'm glad I have no tradition but +one of comfort." And she curled herself up on a piece of ancient gold +brocade.</p> + +<p>So the Lion went forth to seek his people. He had not gone far before he +overtook the Medicine Man, who had sold no Elixir since leaving the +Curiosity Shop. The Lion padded up behind him so silently that the man +did not hear him until he was quite close; then the Lion gave a gentle +roar.</p> + +<p>"Abracadabra!" cried the man, turning pale and shaking till his teeth +rattled. He was so ignorant that he did not know a Heraldic Device when +he saw one. But he had seen pictures in books and knew that this +brilliant red beast was no ordinary lion.</p> + +<p>"Kind youth," said the Lion grandly, lifting his paw and curving his +tail in the old way, "I owe you much. Your Magic Elixir has given me +life and motion. If there is aught I can do for you, I shall be glad."</p> + +<p>The man's face was full of wonder. "You owe much to the Elixir?" he +cried. "Oh, pray explain!"</p> + +<p>So the Lion explained. When he had finished the simple story, the +Medicine Man's face was illumined with a great idea. "It is +magnificent!" he cried. "It is beyond my wildest dreams. For, to tell +you the truth--but why tell the truth? This justifies me, certainly. +Now, if you would but go with me as a Living Testimonial?"</p> + +<p>The Lion bowed. He did not like the idea, for it threatened notoriety; +but he felt a sense of duty. "<EM>Noblesse oblige</EM>," he murmured. "It is +Our motto. Nothing can hurt my pride, if it has a foundation upon truth. +I will go with you until I feel that my debt is paid."</p> + +<p>"It is well!" said the man. And they journeyed together. Naturally, the +appearance of a warm crimson lion caused considerable excitement in the +streets of Kisington. Folk crowded around him and the Medicine Man, and +when they heard his story, they bought eagerly of the Elixir. "He is the +crest of a noble house come to life!" they whispered among themselves. +"What noble house?" The Lion listened eagerly for the answer; but heads +were shaken in reply. No one recognized the device.</p> + +<p>There was one thing which annoyed the Lion. This was the tendency of the +Medicine Man to exaggerate the powers of his Elixir. As time went on, he +began to add the oddest stories to the one he told about the Lion. Was +that not wonderful enough? The Lion was astonished, shocked, outraged. +He protested, but in vain. The habit of exaggeration, once contracted, +becomes a terrible master. The Medicine Man seemed unable longer to +speak the truth.</p> + +<p>One morning when he was telling his wicked lies to a company of trusting +women and children, the Lion rose from the center of the eager circle +and stalked away from the Medicine Man. "<EM>Noblesse oblige</EM>," he said. +And they never saw each other again. I dare say the seller of the Elixir +and his descendants have been doing business in the same way ever since.</p> + +<p>Now, the Lion journeyed for many months through the Kingdom without +finding a trace of his family. He scanned carefully the entrance to +every great palace and castle. He caused some confusion in traffic by +dashing out to examine the crests emblazoned upon the panels of the +chariots which passed him on the road. He even halted foot-passengers to +inquire, courteously, if he might look more closely at certain devices +upon chain or brooch or bangle which had caught his eye. Especially, he +surprised with his attentions several persons who had sneezed violently +in his presence. But in vain. He failed to find the clue he sought.</p> + +<p>Folk would fain have helped him in his search; for his manners were +gentle and gracious, and his bearing unmistakably noble. Folk liked him. +Many would have been glad to prove themselves, through him, scions of +that great family which he undoubtedly represented. But all their +efforts to sneeze at the right time were fruitless. They went away +crestfallen before his reproachful gaze. Sometimes, the Lion would spy a +lovely face, or a manly figure, which appealed strangely to him. +"Surely," he would say to himself, "surely, this noble-looking person is +one of Them. Something seems to tell me so!" And he would assume his +heraldic pose, with dexter paw lifted and eloquent tail curved high, +waiting wistfully for the sneeze of recognition to follow. Sometimes, +alas! came, instead, a laugh of scorn, or an unkind word. He learned that +noble figures and lovely faces do not always adorn like natures.</p> + +<p>Well, many months passed by. Footsore and weary, the Lion still traveled +upon his quest. He felt very old and lonesome, homesick for his marble +halls, hopeless of finding them. He came, one noon, to an inn on the +outskirts of Derrydown Village. Over the door of the inn a signboard +creaked and flapped in the wind. The Lion looked up. He beheld upon the +sign the picture of a red lion! The traveler was greatly moved. +"Surely," he thought, "this must be the arms of some great family in the +neighborhood--perhaps my ancestral castle is hereabout!" But when he +explained things to the Landlord, that worthy dashed his hopes once +more. No family with such a device was known in those parts.</p> + +<p>"However," said the Landlord, eyeing the Lion appraisingly, "I have an +idea! If you will remain with me for some hours, I will show you +something. The Prince and his train are to pass here on their way to the +Ancient Wood, where they will hunt. In the company will be all the +grandest nobles of the Kingdom. Surely, some of your family will be +among them. Here is a splendid viewpoint! Do you remain beside my door +in your grand attitude. You will see and be seen. If your folks are +there, you will be sneezed at; which is what you want. It will be, +beside, a grand advertisement for me--a real red lion guarding the Red +Lion Inn!"</p> + +<p>The Lion agreed. That night, when the Prince's cavalcade passed through +Derrydown, huge and red, with lifted paw and curved tail, the beast +stood at the door of the Red Lion Inn. Many stared in wonder. Many +paused to inquire. Many entered and partook of the dainties which Mine +Host had prepared against this very happening. The Prince himself +paused, pointed, and asked a question. The Lion's heart leaped wildly! +There was a curious expression on the Prince's face; it seemed drawn and +twisted--was he about to sneeze? Alas! No. With a harsh laugh, the +Prince gave the Lion a cut with his whip and bounded past; after him, +the last of his followers. The Lion's skin smarted and his heart +writhed. He kept his temper with difficulty; but--it was the Prince. +<EM>Noblesse oblige</EM>.</p> + +<p>When they were out of sight, his head drooped. There was no one in all +that gallant company who belonged to him. But the Landlord had reaped a +rich harvest from the Lion's presence. When once more the village was +empty of nobility, he came to the Lion, rubbing his hands, contentedly. +"Old fellow," he said, "I have had profit from you. Now, I will give you +supper and a bed in my stable for the night. And why should we not make +this arrangement permanent? You see, your folks are gone. The family has +run out and no one any longer bears or recognizes the crest. You are an +orphan; but you can still be of use to me. Why not become the supporter +of my inn?"</p> + +<p>"Gramercy!" quoth the Lion, with dignity. "I will accept the supper, for +I am very hungry. But as for sleeping in the stable, that I cannot do! I +prefer a bed on one of the fragrant haycocks in your meadow."</p> + +<p>"To that you are welcome, if you please," said the Landlord graciously. +"And, to-morrow, we will talk again of the other matter."</p> + +<p>So the Lion had his supper, and then went wearily to sleep on a haycock +in the thymy meadow. He was sad and disillusioned, and the Landlord's +words had taken away his last hope. He began to wish that he had never +come alive. "To-morrow," he said, "I will go back to the Old Curiosity +Shop, and see if the old man can un-medicine me. For a crest without a +family is even a more forlorn thing than a family without a crest!"</p> + +<p>The Lion wakened with a start. "<EM>Ker-chew! Ker-chew! Ker-chew!</EM>" sounded +in his ear. He sprang to his feet and looked around. Opposite him stood +a little girl in a ragged gown, with a basket on her arm, staring at him +with big, round eyes. She did not seem in the least afraid. The Lion was +annoyed. He had been dreaming of his noble family, and it was very +disappointing to be wakened by this beggar with her mocking "<EM>Ker-chew</EM>!"</p> + +<p>"Away with you, child!" he said. "I am weary and peevish. Do you not +know better than to awaken a sleeping lion?"</p> + +<p>"<EM>Ker-chew! Ker-chew! Ker-chew!</EM>" The child sneezed again so violently +that she nearly fell into the haycock.</p> + +<p>The Lion was agitated. "What can this mean?" he thought. "It must be an +accident which has caused her to sneeze at the word. I will try again." +He began firmly, "When a lion--" But again he was interrupted by the +violent sneezing of the little maid as soon as the word had passed his +teeth.</p> + +<p>The Lion shivered. Could this really be? Was it possible that this +vagrant was an offshoot of the noble family which he had been seeking? +If so, he must be in no hurry to claim relationship! The child put her +hand into her basket, smiling.</p> + +<p>"Good Lion," she said, "<EM>Ker-chew! Ker-chew! Ker-chew!</EM> I like you. Will +you have a bit of bread?" And she held out to him a fragment of her +luncheon.</p> + +<p>The Lion was touched. He did not like bread, but he could not refuse a +child, and he ate it painfully. "What is your name?" he asked at length.</p> + +<p>"Claribel," she answered.</p> + +<p>"Your other name?" he persisted.</p> + +<p>"Claribel," she repeated. "Just Claribel--that is all."</p> + +<p>"Where do you live?" asked the Lion.</p> + +<p>The child pointed over her shoulder. "Near the Ancient Wood, yonder," +she said. "I came to Derrydown to the market. I have sold my dolls; now +I am going home with the money."</p> + +<p>"Dolls?" queried the Lion, interested in spite of himself. "You make +dolls?"</p> + +<p>Claribel nodded. "Rag dolls," she said. "My mother made dresses for the +villagers. Now I make dolls out of the pieces in the old rag-bag. It +buys me bread."</p> + +<p>The Lion's heart was softened. "You are so little, Claribel!" he +exclaimed. "Have you no one to take care of you?"</p> + +<p>The child shook her head. "My mother is dead. I am alone in the world," +she said.</p> + +<p>"But have you no relatives--no one of noble kin in some palace, some +castle?" the Lion cried eagerly.</p> + +<p>The child laughed. "I know of no castles," she said; "no kindred at all. +I never had any, I think."</p> + +<p>The Lion gave a groan. "I will go back to the Curiosity Shop!" he said +whimsically. "Good-bye, child!" He started away. But, turning for a last +look, he saw Claribel, with her eyes full of tears.</p> + +<p>"Do not go!" cried the child. "I like you so much, dear Lion--<EM>Ker-chew! +Ker-chew! Ker-chew!</EM>"</p> + +<p>The Lion's heart melted. "You are so little!" he said, "too little to be +going on these roads alone. I will see you home." So they took the long +road together, the child skipping happily beside the Lion, with her hand +in his red mane. And the farther they walked together, the more the Lion +liked Claribel, who sneezed whenever she spoke his name, but looked at +him with kindly eyes.</p> + +<p>They came at last to the hut where Claribel lived alone. It was a tiny +cottage on the edge of the wood. The Lion looked at it long and hard. It +was so different from the castle he had hoped to find! The child pulled +him by the mane, and he went in. The hut was very poor, but spotlessly +neat and clean.</p> + +<p>Claribel led the Lion to the fireplace and began to blow meager sparks +with the bellows. "I will keep you warm and give you bread to eat. You +shall stay and live with me and be my dear big watch-dog!" she said.</p> + +<p>The Lion sighed. But he could say nothing; he was so tender-hearted. "I +will run away in the night," he promised himself. And then, on the +mantel-stone above the tire, he spied a roughly-scratched shield. On the +shield was the small figure of a lion passant, with dexter paw raised +and curved tail. Below it was scrawled the motto, "<EM>Noblesse oblige</EM>."</p> + +<p>Claribel saw him staring at it with big eyes, and began to laugh and +sneeze. "Yes, my mother loved it," she said, "and I love it, though it +always makes me sneeze just as you do. That was why I liked you from the +beginning. Some day I shall learn what the words mean; then I shall be +rich and happy."</p> + +<p>The Lion did not run away that night. He slept with his nose on his paws +beside the fire and dreamed grand dreams of castles and fair ladies; of +gold-broidered banners on which <EM>he</EM> was emblazoned in crimson glory, +and of the battle-cry, "<EM>Noblesse oblige</EM>!" echoing all about him.</p> + +<p>But in the morning he was awakened, for the second time, by the sound of +three soft little sneezes. "Excuse me!" said Claribel's dear little +voice; "I tried not to, but I could not help it. I was so afraid you +would not be here when I woke up. It might all have been a dream. But as +soon as I saw you, I had to sneeze;--it is very odd!" She laughed and +laughed, and the Lion roared in sympathy.</p> + +<p>"I shall not go away," he said. "I want to be a real Supporter, not a +heraldic one. I shall stay and try to help you learn the meaning of the +motto over the fireplace."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I am so happy!" cried Claribel, clapping her hands. "Already, I +have thought of a way you can help me very much. I have always wanted to +make a lion doll--<EM>Ker-chew! Ker-chew! Ker-chew!</EM> But I never before had +any lion--<EM>Ker-chew! Ker-chew! Ker-chew!</EM>--to copy, except that flat one +over the fireplace. Now I can shape them after you and sell them in the +market, and we shall grow rich, oh, so rich!"</p> + +<p>And so it befell in the days that came thereafter. For Claribel's clever +fingers snipped and pieced and seamed together the bits of cloth, until +she had a lion so like her new friend that she almost sneezed her head +off when he was finished. And, lo! She had invented a new kind of toy, +which was speedily the rage over the whole kingdom.</p> + +<p>In time, the making of lion-dolls became the great industry of +Derrydown, whereof the people had much profit, especially Claribel, +whose idea it was. And the folk of the town loved her dearly, because +she had brought prosperity to them all. And they were devoted to the +Lion, who went to and fro among them with gracious dignity, serving +Claribel and serving them, so busy that he had no time to worry about +escutcheons.</p> + +<p>No family so poor but it had its little lion of carefully pieced rags, +which it fondly prized; not merely because it was a quaint toy and +indestructible, but because it was to them a token of their noble, +friendly beast and of the motto which he had taught them. (But they had +taught him many things, also.) And in latter days a crimson lion became +the seal of the Guild of Toy-Makers in that shire. And a new tradition +began to grow about the Lion Passant, concerned entirely with his +service to the people.</p> + +<p>So, in seeking Them, the Lion found himself. And he lived happy ever +after.</p> + +<A NAME= "chapter11"></A> +<H2>XI. HOPE</H2> + +<p>"Dear me!" said Red Rex, when Harold had finished this story. "I never +saw one of those lion-dolls which your tale mentions. I would that I had +one to present to my little girl."</p> + +<p>"Have you a little girl?" exclaimed Harold in surprise. "Why, I had no +idea that you were the father of little children."</p> + +<p>"Well, why not?" asked the Red King crossly. "I have a dear little girl +of seven, and her name is Hope."</p> + +<p>"Oh, if you have a dear little girl of your own, how can you make war on +a city where other dear little girls live?" cried Harold. "I cannot +understand!"</p> + +<p>"No, you cannot understand, because you are only a child yourself," said +the Red King. "When you are grown up you will feel differently."</p> + +<p>"Your Majesty, I do not think so," declared Harold, shaking his head +decidedly. "When I have learned all the books in our library, and seen +all the countries there are to see, and done all the interesting things +there are to do, there may be time to think about war. But these other +matters will keep me busy all my life, I should think."</p> + +<p>"Rubbish!--Can one purchase a lion-doll in your city?" asked Red Rex, +changing the subject uneasily.</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Harold. "Every child in the city owns a lion-doll. Your +Majesty ought to visit the great factory at Derrydown, near where +Claribel lived,--where the dolls are still made. It is close by the +Ancient Wood, where there was such good hunting, and where David had his +adventure with the Old Gnome, you know."</p> + +<p>"No, I do not know the Old Gnome," retorted the Red King peevishly. "How +do you expect me to know all the legends of your precious country? We +know nothing about this Kingdom in my own warlike land."</p> + +<p>"Then why should you want to fight us?" asked Harold. "If you had taken +the trouble to know us better, you could then judge whether we deserve +to be fought. But I think you would like our people if you knew them."</p> + +<p>Again Red Rex changed the subject. "What of the hunting in this Ancient +Wood?" he asked. "When I have taken your city, and after it the rest of +your Kingdom, I will go there to hunt."</p> + +<p>"There was good hunting," said Harold, "once upon a time. In those days +one had to beware the wicked Gnomes of the Great Fear. That was why the +Old One fled."</p> + +<p>"What about this 'Old One,' and this 'Great Fear'?" asked the Red King. +"I suppose that is another story which you want to read to me."</p> + +<p>"Nay; I do not care to read the tale unless Your Majesty wishes it," +said Harold with dignity. "But if Your Majesty desires a lion-doll for +your little Princess, I can get one for you and return with it and the +story at the same time. There is a dear little girl in the story. I +think your daughter must be very like her."</p> + +<p>The Red King gnawed his red mustache and frowned forbiddingly at Harold. +At last he slapped his knee and gave a grunt of assent. "Well," said he, +"fetch me the doll and the book. I may as well give my soldiers another +day's holiday. But in sooth, this has gone on too long! To-morrow's tale +must positively be the last. I hope there will be much fighting in it. +Your tales are something too peaceful for my taste. Look, now! Your city +must be destroyed in short order, because I have set my heart on it."</p> + +<p>"Will Your Majesty promise me one other thing, beside the truce, till my +return?" begged Harold, looking up in his face with a winning smile.</p> + +<p>Red Rex frowned and tried to look very wicked and cruel.</p> + +<p>"Well, what is it now?" he growled.</p> + +<p>"Promise me, Your Majesty, for the sake of your little dear daughter, +whose name is Hope, that when you fight again you will spare that part +of the city where the schoolhouse stands. Robert and Richard and all my +friends are there."</p> + +<p>"What part of the city is that?" asked Red Rex sullenly.</p> + +<p>"It is the west part," answered Harold, pointing in the opposite +direction from that in which he had declared the Wonder-Garden to have +been.</p> + +<p>"Very well; I promise," said the Red King. "<EM>Noblesse oblige</EM>."</p> + +<p>Harold had no difficulty in getting a lion-doll for the Red King. +Indeed, when they knew for what purpose it was intended, and what Harold +had gained by his clever winning of the promise from Red Rex, every +child in town wanted to send his or her lion-doll to the little +princess, whose name was Hope.</p> + +<p>They came to Harold's home from all parts of the city, bringing their +dolls, until the High Street was crowded. But the Librarian and the Lord +Mayor were unwilling to accept any of these, for none of them was quite +fresh and new. Most of them had an arm or a leg dislocated, or bald +spots on their yellow fur; which proved how fond the children were of +these noble pets, how much they hugged and fondled and frayed them.</p> + +<p>The Lord Mayor himself went to the largest shop in Kisington and in the +name of the children of Kisington purchased a royal lion-doll, nearly as +big as a real baby lion, with a patent voice inside which made it cry +"<EM>Gr-r! Gr-r!</EM>" when you twisted its luxuriant tail. And this was to be +the toy of the little Princess Hope.</p> + +<p>With this wonderful toy under one arm and a basket under the other, +which contained among other things a green-and-gold volume from the +library, Harold kissed his mother and went once more to the camp of Red +Rex. He found the monarch there alone, save for his bodyguard. His +soldiers had gone to enjoy themselves in the neighboring woods, glad +indeed of their continued holiday.</p> + +<p>When Red Rex saw the great lion-doll he clapped his hands on his knees +and roared with laughter. And it was the first time Harold had heard the +War-Lord laugh,--a terrible sound! But when Harold showed how to make +the lion itself roar, by screwing its tail, the Red King fell over on +his back and nearly died of laughing.</p> + +<p>"Oh! Oh!" he cried, wiping the tears from his bronze cheeks. "How the +little Princess will squeal when I twist that lion's tail! How she will +laugh when she hears the creature roar!" And he went off in another fit.</p> + +<p>Harold stood by grinning and saying nothing.</p> + +<p>The Red King took out a huge purse from his girdle. "And now, what shall +I pay you for this wonderful toy?" he asked. "I suppose it is worth many +golden crowns?"</p> + +<p>"It is worth your promise to the children of Kisington, Your Majesty," +said Harold. "It is a gift from them to your little Princess whose name +is Hope. The children hope you will remember your promise to them."</p> + +<p>"I am a King. I do not forget," said Red Rex haughtily.</p> + +<p>"Nevertheless, Kings do forget sometimes," murmured Harold. "But this +lion will remind you of your kingly crest, and of the Lion Passant whose +motto you know so well."</p> + +<p>"True," said Red Rex, and he looked at the lion-doll earnestly.</p> + +<p>"And now, shall I read to Your Majesty the story of which we spoke?" +asked Harold, opening his basket and taking out the +green-and-gold-volume.</p> + +<p>"Begin," commanded the Red King, settling himself cozily on his back, +with his head lying on the soft fur of the new lion-doll. "But unless +there is a deal of fighting in it I shall go to sleep. I am very weary."</p> + +<p>Thereupon Harold began to read in his best manner the gentle tale of +<EM>The Hermit Gnome</EM>.</p> + +<A NAME= "chapter12"></A> +<H2>XII: THE HERMIT GNOME</H2> + +<p>Long, long ago, in the farthest corner of the Kingdom, was a mountain +covered with a pathless forest. Human folk never came this way. The +shadows of the forest were gloomy, and the sounds of the forest were +strange, and the name of the forest was full of dread. Men called it the +Great Fear. For it was here that the Gnomes lived and did their wicked +dealings.</p> + +<p>The Gnomes were ugly and deformed and black; no larger than the +Elf-People, but instead of Fairy kindness their minds plotted evil. They +lived in the hollows and cracks of the mountain. Some of them camped out +under the great, poisonous toadstools which they loved, as they loved +everything dangerous to man. And all day long they dreamed, all night +long they wrought mischief. They were at the bottom of many of the evil +happenings in Kisington and elsewhere. For they could wreak their evil +magic from a long distance.</p> + +<p>Now, of the race of Gnomes there was one apart. He was a queer little +fellow, the oldest, the ugliest, and the crookedest of them all. His +face was wrinkled like a brown walnut; and his little misshapen body was +bent under a hump which was the biggest part of him. But his mind was +not evil. He was quite harmless and mild and lazy, and he hated the dire +doings of his fellows who would neither mind their own business nor +leave him to his.</p> + +<p>For centuries things went on from bad to worse in the Great Fear. At +last the Old Gnome could bear it no longer.</p> + +<p>"I am very old and tired," he said. "It is almost time for me to curl up +in the long sleep. But I cannot sleep here! I should have bad dreams. I +will leave the Great Fear, which owes none of its name to me. I will go +and become a Hermit, as men say."</p> + +<p>So spoke the queer little Gnome. And one bright noon when all the other +Gnomes were dreaming with shut eyes,--for they hated the daylight,--he +stumbled away as fast as his crooked little legs could take him south +from the Great Fear. Now, beyond this was a meadow, which was the +borderland across which human folk dared not approach the haunt of the +Gnomes. And beyond the meadow again was an Ancient Wood, which, though +he did not know it, was on the outskirts of Derrydown. Thither the Old +Gnome betook himself, and found it very good indeed. Like the Great Fear +it was dense and shadowy and cool. In places it was very dark. But there +was scarcely a spot whence you could not, when the sun shone, catch +speckled gleams of gold upon the moss; or, when the moon beamed, spy a +wealth of filtered silver. For the Ancient Wood was intersected hither +and yon by paths of the woodchoppers. And sun and moon love to peer down +through the man-made windows in the green roof of trees and beautify the +ways which human feet have trod.</p> + +<p>The Old Gnome peered and pried about the Ancient Wood, seeking a +hermitage. At last he came upon the hollow stump of a tree, hidden in a +clump of feathery fern. It was thatched with green lichens without, and +carpeted within in a mossy pattern of green and gray and scarlet. Little +hard mushrooms, growing shelf-wise one above another, made a winding +staircase up to the doorway. Portieres of finest spider-wrought tapestry +swayed before door and window and draped the dark-hued walls; while +across one corner hung a hammock of heavier web, the very thing for a +weary Gnome's resting-place.</p> + +<p>As soon as the Old Gnome spied this stump he cried,--"Ha! This is the +spot for me! Here will I make my hermitage. And when the time comes for +my long sleep, here will I rest forever." For you must know that the +Gnomes do not die, being immortal like the Fays; but unlike them growing +older and dryer and drowsier until they are fit only for eternal sleep.</p> + +<p>The Old Gnome was soon at home in his cell; and very peaceful and cozy +he found it. For several days he lay and swung in his hammock, growing +comfortably drowsier and drowsier, too lazy even to gather berries for +his food. He would soon sleep without waking; and by and by the moss and +lichens would grow over him, too, and he would become a silent part of +the Ancient Wood,--a little green mound such as you yourself may have +seen many a time.</p> + +<p>But one day while he was snoring, with his wrinkled hands folded +peacefully on his little chest, he heard a sound which made him open his +eyes with a snap. It was the noise of an axe chopping. The Old Gnome sat +up nervously and peered through his knot-hole window. A woodcutter was +at work at the very next tree.</p> + +<p>"Hello!" said the Old Gnome, staring open-eyed; "That must be a <EM>man</EM>!" +For this was the first mortal he had ever seen.</p> + +<p>Forgetting his drowsiness, he climbed up his staircase and peered +closely at the creature from behind a curtain of fern.</p> + +<p>It was a strong young man, who wielded the axe heartily against the +giant oak. The Old Gnome watched him curiously, admiring the lithe sweep +of his arm and the rhythmic bend of his body.</p> + +<p>"They are goodly folk, these men!" he sighed, looking down on his own +misshapen frame. "How can those evil brothers of mine care so much to +vex and trouble them?" And he turned over and tried to go to sleep; but +the sound of the axe kept knocking at something within him.</p> + +<p>Suddenly, the man made a mis-stroke. The axe slipped and came down upon +his sandaled foot. With a cry he dropped the axe and fell to the ground, +lying very still and white.</p> + +<p>"Ha!" frowned the Old Gnome, "the work of my brothers! Some one of them +must have charmed that axe. But how strange he looks! Doubtless it is +pain, which I do not know. Ah, pain must be something very sore!" And he +felt a throb of pity.</p> + +<p>He hobbled to the spot where the woodman lay. Across his leg was a deep +gash and on the moss were drops of crimson. The Old Gnome looked at them +wonderingly, for the Gnomes are bloodless. "How beautiful the color!" he +cried, and he touched his finger to one of the drops. Immediately a +thrill went through his cold body, and he seemed to feel a fresh draught +of life. New impulses came to him.</p> + +<p>"These men!" cried he, "how weak they are, after all! How greatly they +need aid. I can help him now,--even I!" And his ugly little face +wrinkled into the first grin it had known for centuries.</p> + +<p>He called to mind his long-forgotten skill in herbs, and hunted in the +Ancient Wood for certain plants of healing. One he crushed and laid upon +the wound to stanch the blood. Others he set out in the ground close +under the young man's nose, so that they seemed to be growing naturally +there.</p> + +<p>Presently the woodman opened his eyes and stared about him dazedly, but +the Old Gnome had hidden himself. As he gained strength, the woodman +tore a strip of linen and bound it upon his leg. Then, sniffing the +aromatic herbs which grew conveniently at hand, he plucked a bunch with +which to make a lotion, and with it limped painfully from the wood.</p> + +<p>The Old Gnome watched him go with curious eyes. "I wonder if he will +return," he said to himself. And he decided not to sleep until he should +know how it fared with the young man.</p> + +<p>It was not many days thereafter before the woodman returned to the +forest. The lotion had been wondrous helpful, and had healed him more +quickly than he had dared to hope; for he was eager to be at work again. +Limping slightly, for the wound had been a sore one, David began work +anew.</p> + +<p>Day by day the Old Gnome watched him, half jealously at first. But the +more he watched the more he liked the ways of the intruder. The woodman +sang at his work; his eyes sparkled and his lips smiled as if with +pleasant thoughts.</p> + +<p>The Old Gnome found himself smiling too, unseen behind the fern. "I will +not sleep yet awhile," he said, "for there is work to do."</p> + +<p>In the night when the Ancient Wood was silent he toiled long and +heartily at the crafts wherein he was wise. And the woodman tasted the +result. For the Old Gnome made the berries to ripen more quickly in that +glade. He caused delicious mushrooms to spring up all about. He coaxed a +spring of fair water from the bed where it slumbered underground and +made it gush into a little basin where David came upon it gladly. He +caused medicinal herbs to grow, and certain fragrant plants that drove +away the mischievous insects sent by his brother Gnomes. All this the +Old One did while David was away; and the young man did not know. But he +was very happy and busy. Now, one day the young man finished his +woodcutting, and lo! he had made a clearing in the Ancient Wood large +enough for a tiny house; but the Gnome did not know this. David looked +about him at the spring and the flowers and the berries of the pleasant +place which the Old Gnome had prepared, and said, "It is good!" +Forthwith of the logs which he had felled he began to build the house +itself.</p> + +<p>When the Old Gnome saw what David was about to do, indeed he was angry! +For he said,--</p> + +<p>"Oho! I did not bargain for this. This is my wood! I want no +neighbor,--though a merry visitor was not unwelcome. What is to become +of my solitude, of my hermitage? And how am I to sleep, with another +restless creature living close by forever and ever?"</p> + +<p>For several days he sulked in his cell and would not work. But finally +the merry sound of the young man's whistle keeping time to the wheeze of +saw and the knock of hammer made the Old Gnome smile again, and he said +to himself,--</p> + +<p>"Well, what of it? True, I shall have a neighbor for good and all. But +he will be alone and speechless, since there is no one with whom to +chatter; and he will never trouble me. Let him build here if he will."</p> + +<p>David builded his house; and a pretty little place it was, for he was a +careful workman and his heart was in it. When all was done he laid the +axe aside, hid the hammer and saw, put on fine new clothes and went away +across the meadow, whistling happily as a bird. It was the Gnome's first +chance to see the inside of a man's dwelling, and he lost no time in +going there, you may be sure. He found many things to wonder at, for +naturally it was very different from a Gnome's hermitage. But nothing +surprised him more than the wreaths of flowers which David had hung over +door and window and fireplace, over bed and chairs and table, so that +the place was like a fragrant bower prepared for a beloved guest.</p> + +<p>The Old Gnome shook his head. "Strange folk, these men!" said he. "Why, +and why, and why?" But he brushed up the sawdust, which David had +forgotten in a corner; and he re-piled the kindlings on the hearth, +which David had hastily put together for a fire. He neatly spread the +bed, which David had clumsily prepared; and he made tidy the kitchen +which, in his eagerness to don his new clothes, David had quite +overlooked. Then the Old One went back to his cell and lay down in his +hammock, chuckling. "How surprised the fellow will be!" he said.</p> + +<p>At night the Old Gnome heard voices in the wood, and sprang up from his +hammock angrily. "More of them?" he cried. "Am I to hear human prattle +around me, after all?" And he peered from the balcony of his cell with +eyes almost as fierce as those of his brother Gnomes in the Great Fear. +He stared and stared at what he saw. For the young woodcutter was +returning in his fine clothes, and with him was a fair maiden, also in +holiday gear. Both looked very happy and smiling.</p> + +<p>They entered the open door, and the Old Gnome watched to see David's +surprise when he should discover how matters had improved in his +absence. But the woodman was thinking so much about his pretty new wife +that he had eyes for nothing else. However, she looked about her with +surprise and pleasure, and the Old Gnome heard her say to her husband,--</p> + +<p>"Ah, David! What a tidy housekeeper you are! Or is it some Fairy who has +made the house so neat and ready for me? Surely, no one but a beautiful, +kind Fairy would sweep the floor so spotless and make so smooth the bed. +Oh, I am glad we have a Fairy friend!"</p> + +<p>What David replied the Old Gnome did not hear. He was filled with +wondering delight. A Fairy! The sweet little thing had thought it must +be a beautiful Fairy who had done this work! The Old Gnome looked +whimsically down at his bandy legs and ugly body, and sighed and smiled.</p> + +<p>"Ah, if I were but a Fairy!" he said. "Fairies are beautiful and good; +they live forever young and gay, and there is no end to the kindness +they may do. But I!"--he sighed again,--"a Fairy, indeed!" And he +hobbled away to his cell, thinking kindly of the little wife who of all +the world had spoken the first word of praise for him; and of the strong +young man who loved her.</p> + +<p>Now happy days followed in the little house in the Ancient Wood; happy +days, too, for the Old Gnome in his hermit's cell. For he was busy all +the time doing kind deeds for his new neighbors; without their knowing +it. Sometimes he set the table for the morning meal. Sometimes he helped +in the churning and made the butter come quickly. Sometimes he blew the +fire like a little bellows; a hundred and one things he found to do +about the cottage. And it was his reward to hear the young wife +say,--"Oh! David, the good Fairy has been here again. What a dear, good, +beautiful Fairy it must be!"</p> + +<p>The Old Gnome was very careful to keep his ugly face out of sight, you +may be sure.</p> + +<p>Days went by, and the Old Gnome was ever more and more busy in the hut +of the young people, so that really I do not know how they would have +done without him. He was scarcely ever in the hermitage nowadays, except +for a few hours' sleep by daylight; and he scarcely found time to look +after his own affairs, such as they were, so little of a hermit was he +become! But every night the young wife set out a bowl of curds and cream +for the beautiful Fairy who helped her; and sometimes David left half +his luncheon of bread and cheese in the woods, for his unknown friend. +The Old Gnome was growing fat and merry because of this good fare; but +he seemed as little like a Fairy as ever.</p> + +<p>The months went by; and one day a surprising thing happened. The Old +Gnome, sleeping in his hammock, was wakened by a strange, shrill little +cry. He sat up and listened wonderingly. It was broad daylight, but at +the risk of being seen he ran as fast as he could, and climbing up the +vine of eglantine peered in at the chamber window whence came the cry. +And there lying on the young wife's bed was a wee pink baby! The Old +Gnome looked at it long and earnestly; and the more he peered the more +he liked the look of this newest little neighbor.</p> + +<p>"It is as beautiful as a Fairy!" he thought. "I must be good to it, and +perhaps it will grow to love me."</p> + +<p>From that time the Old Gnome had no rest at all. Unseen--wrapped in a +cloak of shadows--he sat for hours while the baby was asleep, fanning +the flies away from its little face. When it was restless, he kept the +clothes over its tiny feet, drawing them up as fast as the baby kicked +them away. And when the young wife came, she would say,</p> + +<p>"See, David! Our Fairy has been watching over our baby, just as it +watched over us. Oh, now I feel quite safe from those wicked Gnomes who +live in the Great Fear!" At this the Old Gnome would chuckle from the +corner where he lurked, and where only the baby's bright eyes could +pierce the cloak of shadows. It was a great day for the Old Gnome when +first the baby smiled at him. It was a still greater day when she held +out her little arms to him, and the Old One knew that they were friends. +Soon she was lisping words in her shrill voice; and one of the first +things she tried to say was "Fairy friend." She looked straight at the +Old Gnome when she did it, and a thrill went through him at the words. +She saw him; yet she thought he was a Fairy! Poor little mite! He +dreaded the day when she should know the difference. But the baby seemed +to love him more and more every day, and the Old Gnome's cell became her +favorite playhouse.</p> + +<p>When she grew old enough to talk, she and her mother spoke often of the +Fairy friend; and the little girl told strange tales of his doings when +no one but herself was about, for still he shyly crept into his cloak of +shadows when the grown-up folk were near. When the mother asked what +like the Fairy was, she shook her head. "I cannot tell!" she would +answer. "Not like you, Mother dear; but beautiful also, and good and +merry."</p> + +<p>Now, the woodcutter's wife was a very good woman, but she was curious. +The more she heard about the friendly, mysterious Fairy whom her child +alone had seen, the more she longed to see him for herself. This was not +kind; for she knew he did not wish to be seen. But she was sorely +tempted. One day she heard the little one out in the Ancient Wood +laughing and talking merrily with some one. "It is the Fairy!" said the +mother, and she picked up her toes and crept noiselessly to spy upon +them.</p> + +<p>There was the baby sitting on a bed of moss; and there, plainly seen +without his shadow-cloak, was the Old Gnome, turning somersaults for her +and dancing on his crooked legs to make her laugh.</p> + +<p>But the mother did not laugh at what she saw! She burst out of the +bushes with a cry and seized the baby in her arms. "My child!" she +screamed. "Oh, the wicked Gnome! Help, David, help!"</p> + +<p>Her cry summoned the woodcutter, who came running up, very pale, with +his axe in his hand. "What is this?" he asked. "Who is injuring my +child?"</p> + +<p>Sobbing, his wife pointed to where the Old Gnome cowered, blinking, +caught at last in the sunlight outside his cell.</p> + +<p>"A Gnome!" cried David in horror. "One of the pests from the Great Fear! +What are you doing here, Monster? How shall we pay you to go away and +leave us in peace?"</p> + +<p>"I will go away," said the Old Gnome humbly, "though I belong not to the +Great Fear, and I came here before you. My wish is not evil you-ward. It +is I who am a friend. But I will go." With a kind look at the baby he +turned away.</p> + +<p>But the baby struggled down from her mother's arms and ran after him +crying,--"No, no! Do not go away, dear, beautiful Fairy! Mother! Father! +It is the friend whom we all love. I have heard you praise him. Do not +send him away."</p> + +<p>"The Fairy!" cried the father, running to capture her.</p> + +<p>"It is no Fairy, child!" said the mother. "It is one of the ugly, wicked +Gnomes who do only evil. Let him go!"</p> + +<p>But the child struggled and shrieked. "He shall not go! It is the +beautiful Fairy who helps us. I have watched him doing all the kind +things you say the Fairy does, and I love him dearly. He shall not go!" +The father and mother looked at each other, then at the shrinking Gnome. +"Is this true?" they demanded, "or is this some wicked Gnome-trick which +has bewitched our child?"</p> + +<p>The Old Gnome bowed meekly. "Alas! I am no Fairy, as I fain would be," +he confessed. "But I loved to hear you call me so. I am a Gnome; but I +have done no evil, only good, so far as my skill went. The happy days +are over now. The child knows the truth. No one will ever again think me +beautiful or good. I had forgotten how old I was; I had almost grown to +feel young again in the merry, busy days of service. But now the time +has come indeed for me to lie down in the long sleep. I will go away and +find a new cell, and curl me up in a happy dream which will last +forever."</p> + +<p>Once more he turned to go. The father and mother were silent.</p> + +<p>But the baby burst into violent weeping. "Oh, he is beautiful, +beautiful, the kind, dear Fairy! Do you not see how beautiful he is, +Mother, Father?" she cried.</p> + +<p>The Old Gnome turned and looked at her, smiling sadly and shaking his +head with a tender light in his eyes. "No, no!" he said, "not beautiful; +only loving!"</p> + +<p>"But yes!" cried the mother, staring amazedly. "Think, David, of all he +has done for us. He does, he does look beautiful to me!"</p> + +<p>David stared also. "From the day my foot was wounded," he said, "only +good has befallen me here. And if he has done it, the kind little +fellow!--Yes, yes! He does, indeed, look beautiful to me!"</p> + +<p>"Ah!" cried the child, laughing and clapping her hands. "I was right! I +knew he was our kind Fairy, all the time. If he is good, he is no Gnome. +It is only a name. If he seems beautiful to us, then he is beautiful, +indeed. He is a Fairy! He shall live here with us and we will love him +forever."</p> + +<p>And lo, as she spoke, the Old Gnome looked wonderingly down at his body. +He seemed to have changed. He was no longer crooked and old, but light +and airy and beautiful. Over his head arched gauzy wings and his dress +sparkled like dew. Also he felt young and full of power to do things he +had never done before.</p> + +<p>"I believe I am a Fairy!" he cried joyously. "And I may live and love +and serve forever, and never be tired or sleepy!"</p> + +<p>So it fell out as they all wished. And the hermit's cell became a Fairy +palace.</p> + +<A NAME= "chapter13"></A> +<H2>XIII: HAROLD'S LUNCHEON</H2> + +<p>When Harold finished reading the story of the Hermit Gnome to the Red +King, he looked up to see how his listener had enjoyed the tale. And lo +and behold! Red Rex was fast asleep! He lay on his back in the afternoon +sunshine, and a noise came from his half-open mouth rather like the +<EM>Gr-r!</EM> of the lion-doll, when its tail was screwed.</p> + +<p>"Well!" said Harold to himself; "I cannot return to the city until His +Majesty wakes up; for that would not be polite, and his bodyguard would +not allow it. I may as well make myself comfortable and be patient. The +longer he sleeps the longer time we shall have in safety to wait for +help from our King."</p> + +<p>Harold opened the little covered basket to replace the green-and-gold +volume from which he had just been reading, and in doing so caught sight +of the luncheon which his thoughtful mother had packed, in the fear that +he might be hungry ere his return. He took out the folded napkin and +peered eagerly below. There was a huge wedge of apple pie! Harold licked +his lips and his eyes sparkled, for there was nothing of which he was so +fond as apple pie. "I must have at least a bite this minute!" he said to +himself, and opening his mouth very wide he prepared to bite into the +juicy wedge.</p> + +<p>Just at this moment Red Rex opened his eyes.</p> + +<p>"Pitikins!" he cried, "what is going on? Is this part of the story?" For +at first he did not know that he had been asleep.</p> + +<p>"No, Your Majesty," said Harold; "it is a piece of one of my mother's +famous pies. Will you share it with me?"</p> + +<p>"That I will!" said Red Rex, sitting upright and stretching out his hand +eagerly. "It looks like apple pie. There is nothing in the world I like +so well as apple pie."</p> + +<p>"Your taste is the same as mine," said Harold merrily, carving the wedge +with his knife into two equal triangles. "I believe Your Majesty never +tasted better pie than that. It is made by a famous rule."</p> + +<p>Red Rex munched his share greedily, sitting opposite the munching +Harold. And as they ate they eyed one another, not unfriendly. When he +had finished, the Red King said,--"By my sword! That is the best piece +of apple pie that ever I tasted, or hope to taste! Your mother must be a +wondrous cook, Harold."</p> + +<p>"That she is!" cried the proud boy. "And she is the best mother who ever +lived. She made six of these wonderful pies for me, because she knows +that I like them so much. I saw them this morning on a shelf in the +pantry."</p> + +<p>"Six juicy apple pies!" murmured Red Rex, smacking his lips at the +thought. "Where do you live, boy?"</p> + +<p>"I live on the High Street, which leads from the market-place, in a +little house next the butcher's shop," said Harold, wondering why the +King asked.</p> + +<p>"I will remember that," said Red Rex, nodding his head solemnly. "I owe +your mother a happy memory for that piece of delicious pie."</p> + +<p>"It is made from the recipe for the King's Pie," said Harold. "No wonder +you approve it, being like His Hungry Majesty of old."</p> + +<p>"The King's Pie!" exclaimed the surprised monarch. "Pray, what do you +mean by that?"</p> + +<p>"It is another story, Your Majesty," said Harold, grinning. "I think it +is the best story of all. But I suppose you would not care to hear it +to-morrow."</p> + +<p>"Oh, go along with you and your stories, you young beguiler!" cried Red +Rex with a great roar, at the same time poking Harold playfully with the +point of his sword. "I see that you would keep me here forever at the +walls of your city, listening to your tales."</p> + +<p>"Not forever," said Harold, with an air of candor. "I do not think that +even the library of Kisington could furnish new books for as long a time +as that,--though, to be sure, you might hear some of the same ones over +again. But, indeed, you have no idea what treasures still remain in that +casket! This tale of the King's Pie is one of the rarest, I think."</p> + +<p>Red Rex seemed to be thinking very earnestly about something. "The +King's Pie," he murmured, more than once. "H'm! H'm! It is of a +deliciousness! Ha! Ho!" And he smacked his lips again, thinking of the +tantalizing wedge which was now no more. Suddenly he spoke: "I have +decided to wait yet another day," he announced. "I will hear that tale +to-morrow. And if it contains a recipe for the famous pie, I shall want +you to copy it off for me. Bring pen and paper, my lad."</p> + +<p>"That I will!" said Harold joyously. For this meant still another day's +delay; and the time was now near at hand when they might expect to see +help coming from the Capital City where their good King Victor lived. +This was Wednesday, when he took leave of the Red King.</p> + +<A NAME= "chapter14"></A> +<H2>XIV: THE ROBBER</H2> + +<p>Harold was very weary when he returned to the cottage that evening; and +he was still more weary before he tumbled into bed. For in the mean time +he had to learn his school lessons for the following day, and tell the +other boys all about his adventures. He slept like a top; quite like a +top,--for sometimes during the night there came from his little room +beyond the kitchen a sound like a humming top.</p> + +<p>It was about midnight when Harold was awakened by a peculiar noise. It +was a queer, clicking, tapping noise that seemed to come from the +kitchen close by. Harold sat up in bed and listened. Some one was +certainly moving about in the kitchen. It was probably his mother, he +thought. And yet, what could his mother be doing there at that time of +night? Stealthy steps crossed the kitchen; just then Harold sneezed,--he +could not help it. There was silence.</p> + +<p>Presently he heard a noise in the pantry, which was next his own little +room. Harold rose and crept noiselessly out of his chamber. Yes, there +was someone in the pantry. The door was open,--something not allowed in +his mother's kitchen rule. An uncertain light flickered behind the +pantry door. Harold could not see plainly, but there certainly was some +one meddling with the dishes on the shelves. Suddenly a silhouette came +between Harold and the light, and he saw the shape of the intruder. It +seemed to be a very tall old woman in bonnet and shawl, and her great +hand was carrying something from the pantry shelf to the mouth within +the bonnet.</p> + +<p>Harold felt himself growing very angry. Who was this stranger who dared +to force a way into their cottage and eat up the hard-earned victuals +which his mother had painfully prepared? Such doings were rare indeed in +Kisington. It was a wicked thief, a robber, a house-breaker! Even though +it was a woman, she must be punished.</p> + +<p>There was a key in the lock outside the pantry door. Quick as a flash +Harold made a leap for it, and turned it in the lock. At the same time +he shouted to his mother who slept in the room upstairs,--"Quick! Quick, +Mother! There is an old woman in the pantry eating up the food! I have +caught her at it!"</p> + +<p>In a few minutes his mother's feet came pattering down the stairs. But +in the mean time what a hubbub was going on in the pantry! Evidently the +thief had no mind to be discovered and taken in her criminal act. There +was the sound of overturned boxes and barrels, the crash of crockery and +glass. The thief was smashing the pantry window!</p> + +<p>"Open the door, Harold!" screamed his mother. "She is climbing out the +window!"</p> + +<p>It did not seem possible that the thief could do this, it was such a +tiny window. But, sure enough! when the door was opened, and Harold and +his mother crowded into the pantry, they were but just in time to seize +the hem of the old woman's shawl, as her last leg squeezed through the +casement. Harold held on to the shawl tightly, however, and off it came +in his hands. It was a very nice shawl.</p> + +<p>"Who ever heard of a thief in Kisington!" exclaimed the mother. "Who +could it be? I never saw a shawl like this. Let us examine what she has +taken, the wicked old creature!"</p> + +<p>Harold got a candle, and presently returned to the pantry, where his +mother was groping among the smashed crockery for some other clue to the +thief. When the light flickered on the pantry shelves the mother gave a +scream of surprise and anger. "My six beautiful pies!" she exclaimed. +"The thief has stolen my six beautiful apple pies! Oh, what a wicked old +soul!"</p> + +<p>"Those lovely pies!" groaned Harold. "See, Mother, she has gobbled one +and left the empty plate. The others she has taken away with her."</p> + +<p>"I wish they may choke her!" cried the mother angrily. "Now you will +have none to take to your Red King to-morrow. I was going to save the +finest of all for him, in the hope that it would soften his hard heart."</p> + +<p>"It will never soften his heart nor please his stomach now, Mother," +said Harold ruefully. "And still more I regret the other five pies which +I know you meant for me. When shall we ever see such pies again?"</p> + +<p>"They were made from the last of the flour and apples and sugar sent you +in gratitude by the Leading Citizens," said Harold's mother sadly. "I am +sorry your reward is thus wasted, my poor boy! What spiteful neighbor +could have spied them through the pantry window and planned this +midnight raid at our expense?"</p> + +<p>Harold shook his head mournfully. "I do not know any one in Kisington +whom I could suspect," he said. "Come, Mother, let us go back to bed. +To-morrow we will look further into the matter. We have at least this +handsome shawl as one clue, which if it does not find us the thief will +be very nice for you to wear."</p> + +<p>They went to bed again, and slept until morning.</p> + +<p>Now in the morning before school Harold took the shawl and went to his +friend the Librarian and told him what had happened during the night. +The Librarian was greatly shocked to hear of a theft in town and went +with Harold straight to the Lord Mayor.</p> + +<p>The Mayor examined the shawl carefully and shook his head. "This is very +strange!" he said. "This is no shawl made in Kisington, or in our +Kingdom. It is a strange foreign shawl, and very valuable. I am glad to +believe that the thief must have been a foreigner, or a gypsy, or a +vagrant of some sort. But how did she find her way into our guarded +city? I must look into this! Meanwhile, my lad, since you have suffered +loss and damage to your pantry and to your feelings the Leading Citizens +will see that you are made whole at their expense; I will answer for +their gratitude to you."</p> + +<p>"My Lord," said the Librarian, patting Harold affectionately on the +head, "our boy has done so well already in handling this savage King, +may we not expect still more from him now that the time is so critical? +King Victor should soon be coming to our aid. If we can but postpone the +siege for at least another day! Suppose Harold should invite Red Rex, +under a flag of truce, to visit and inspect our Library?"</p> + +<p>"Good!" cried the Mayor. "When you go to Red Rex this afternoon, Harold, +my boy, see what you can do further in the matter."</p> + +<p>"I will try, my Lord Mayor," said Harold. "But Red Rex is growing very +impatient. I fear that I cannot much longer keep him amused with our +tales."</p> + +<p>"Clever lad! You have already done right well," said the Librarian, +embracing Harold proudly. "And I dare say you will be able to do yet +more. Now, run along to school; for we must not forget our everyday +duties, even in these times of excitement and danger."</p> + +<p>So Harold went to school, and you can imagine how many questions he had +to answer at recess time. The Librarian went to his books and the Lord +Mayor to his desk. And Harold's mother went down on her knees, cleaning +up the wrecked pantry.</p> + +<p>But where was the strange old woman all this time?</p> + +<A NAME= "chapter15"></A> +<H2>XV: THE BANDAGED HAND</H2> + +<p>As soon as school was over on Thursday afternoon, Harold started once +more on his errand to the War-Lord. As usual, he was accompanied to the +city gate by a crowd of schoolboys and girls who envied him his luck and +wished that they could go all the way with him. But this, naturally, the +City Fathers would not permit. One boy carried Harold's coat, and +another his strap of schoolbooks. A third brought the basket with +Harold's luncheon, while Robert carried the flag of truce,--proud boy! +But Richard, Harold's special chum, was the proudest of all. For he was +trusted with the precious volume from the library containing the story +of the King's Pie, which Harold was to read to the War-Lord on that day. +All gave a great cheer when the gate was unbarred; and all the little +girls waved their handkerchiefs when with a gay shake of his hand Harold +stepped out into the danger zone.</p> + +<p>Red Rex received him as usual, sitting upon the green hillock. Harold +noticed straightway that the War-Lord's hand was bound up with a +bandage, and that he had a cut over his left eye, which made him look +fiercer than ever.</p> + +<p>"But I thought there was a truce!" exclaimed Harold, gazing at these +tokens of trouble. "How came you to be thus hurt, Your Majesty?"</p> + +<p>"Nay; it was an accident," said the Red King gruffly. "Say no more about +it, pray. Well! I have no time to waste to-day. Things are coming to an +issue. Let me hear your story as quickly as possible,--if you have +brought one, as I think."</p> + +<p>"Yes, Your Majesty," replied Harold. "I have brought you the spicy story +of the King's Pie, which I think you will like. I had meant, in order to +illustrate the story, to bring you also one of the veritable pies. But +that, alas! I am now unable to do. My mother made a pie especially for +this purpose; but it is gone with others which were to be mine, and for +which I grieve on my own account. A wicked thief stole them all during +last night. So I fear you will not appreciate the story so well as +otherwise you might have done."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps I shall," said the War-Lord whimsically. "Perhaps I shall +appreciate it all the more."</p> + +<p>"Now, what means Your Majesty by that?" cried Harold, wondering very +much at these strange words. "It was such a fine pie! A large, fat, +juicy, rich, crisp, crusty pie,--just such a one as the King enjoyed in +the story."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I know!" said Red Rex. "Go on with the story, right speedily, with +no more details of that tantalizing, vanished pie!" And he licked his +lips and shifted his seat as he sat upon his hillock.</p> + +<p>Obediently Harold opened the book which his chum Richard had handed to +him just inside the city gate, and began to read the toothsome tale of +<EM>The King's Pie</EM>.</p> + +<A NAME= "chapter16"></A> +<H2>XVI: THE KING'S PIE</H2> + +<p>There was great excitement in Kisington; for the King was coming with +his new young bride, and the town was preparing to give them a famous +welcome.</p> + +<p>Hugh, the Lord Mayor, was at his wits' end with all that must be done. +As he sat in the Town Hall holding his aching head, while a mob of +decorators and artists and musicians, costumers, jewelers, and florists +clamored about him, there came to him a messenger from Cedric, his son. +Cedric was one of the King's favorite friends, and he knew His Majesty's +taste well. So he had sent to the Lord Mayor a hint as to how the King +might best be pleased. Being a man of few words, this is how his message +ran:--</p> + +<p>"His Majesty is exceedingly fond of pie."</p> + +<p>Long pondered the Lord Mayor over this mysterious message, reading it +backward and forward, upside down and crisscross, and mixed up like an +anagram. But he could make nothing of it except what it +straightforwardly said: that the King was exceedingly fond of pie.</p> + +<p>Now, in those days pie meant but one thing--a pasty; that is, meat of +some sort baked in a dish covered with dough. At that time there was no +such thing known as a pie made of fruit or mincemeat. Pie was not even a +dainty. Pie was vulgar, ordinary victuals, and the Lord Mayor was +shocked at his son's even mentioning pie in connection with the King.</p> + +<p>"Pie, indeed!" he shuddered. "A pretty dish to set before a King on his +wedding journey! How can pie be introduced into my grand pageant? The +King can get pie anywhere, in any hut or hovel along his way. What has +Kisington to do with pie?"</p> + +<p>The Lord Mayor snorted scornfully, and was about to dismiss his son's +hint from his mind, when he had an idea! A Pie! A great, glorified, +poetic, symbolic Pie such as could be carried in procession decorated +with flowers! That was a happy thought. The Lord Mayor dismissed every +one else and sent for all the master cooks of the city.</p> + +<p>It was decided to accept Cedric's hint for what it was worth, and make +Pie the feature of the day. There should be a grand pageant of soldiers +and maskers and music. And, following the other guilds, last of all +should come the cooks, with their ideas of Pie presented as attractively +as might be, for the edification of the King. Moreover, the Lord Mayor +said, in dismissing the white-capped company:--</p> + +<p>"To whichever of you best pleases His Majesty with the pie, I will give +this reward: a team of white oxen, a hundred sacks of white flour, and a +hundred pieces of white silver."</p> + +<p>"Hurrah!" shouted the cooks, waving their white caps. Then away they +hurried to put on their thinking-caps instead and plan for the building +of the King's Pie.</p> + +<p>Now, among the cooks of Kisington there were two brothers, Roger and +Rafe. Roger, the elder, had one of the hugest kitchens and shops in +Kisington. But Rafe, the younger, had only a little old house on an acre +of land under a little red-apple tree, with a little red cow who gave a +little rich cream every day. Rafe was very poor, and no richer for +having a brother well-to-do like Roger. For the thrifty cook had little +to do with Rafe, whose ways were not his ways.</p> + +<p>Rafe cooked in his little kitchen for the poor folk of the town, +charging small prices such as they could pay. Indeed, often as not he +gave away what he had cooked for himself to some one who seemed +hungrier. This is a poor way to make profit of gold, but an excellent +way to make profit of affection. And Rafe was rich in the love of the +whole town.</p> + +<p>Roger was among the cooks whom the Lord Mayor summoned to consult about +the King's Pie. But Rafe knew nothing at all of it, until one afternoon +he was surprised by a visit from his brother, who had not darkened his +door for many a day.</p> + +<p>"Well, Brother," said Roger, briefly, "I suppose you are not busy, as I +am. Will you work for me for a day or two? In fact, I need you."</p> + +<p>"You need me!" said Rafe, in surprise. "How can that be, Brother?"</p> + +<p>"I have a great task at hand," said the master-cook; "a task that needs +extra help. You must come. Your own work can wait well enough, I judge."</p> + +<p>Rafe hesitated. "I must cook for my poor people first," he said.</p> + +<p>Roger sneered. "Your poor people, indeed! I am cooking for the King! +Will you hesitate now?"</p> + +<p>"Cooking for the King!" cried Rafe. "Ah, but he is not so hungry as my +neighbors will be to-morrow without their rabbit-pies."</p> + +<p>"Rabbit-pies! It is a pie for the King that I am making!" shouted Roger, +in high dudgeon,--"such a pie as you and your louts never dreamed of. +Now what say you? Will you come?"</p> + +<p>"I must do my own small cooking first," said Rafe firmly.</p> + +<p>"Very well then," growled Roger. "Cook for your beggars first; but come +to me to-morrow. Every cook in town but you is engaged. I must have your +help."</p> + +<p>"I will come," said Rafe simply, and Roger bade him a surly good-bye +without thanks or promises.</p> + +<p>The next morning, when his own simple tasks were done, Rafe hied him to +his brother's kitchen, and there he found great doings. Roger was +superintending the preparations for baking an enormous pie. A group of +masons had just finished building the huge oven out of doors, and about +a score of smiths were struggling with the pie-dish, which they had +forged of iron. It was a circular dish six feet across and three feet +deep; and it looked more like a swimming-tank than anything else.</p> + +<p>Rafe stared in amazement. "Is that to hold your pie, Brother?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"Yes!" growled Roger. "Now get to work with the other men, for the crust +must be baked this morning."</p> + +<p>Three assistant cooks in caps and aprons were busy sifting buckets of +flour, measuring out handfuls of salt and butter. Others were practicing +with long rolling-pins made for the occasion, so big that a man had to +roll at each end. On the ground lay a great round piece of tin, six feet +across, pierced full of holes.</p> + +<p>"What is that?" whispered Rafe to one of his fellow cooks.</p> + +<p>"That is to be the lid of the pie," answered the cook. "See, they are +lifting it onto the dish now. It will have a strong hinge, and it will +be covered with crust."</p> + +<p>"And what is to fill this marvelous pie?" asked Rafe, wondering still +more. "Tender capon? Rabbits? Venison? Peacocks? What is suitable for a +King? I do not know."</p> + +<p>"Ah, there you show your lack of imagination!" cried the cook. "Master +is a great man. This is a poetic pie. It is to be filled with flowers, +and on the flowers will be sitting ten beautiful little children, pink +and sweet as cherubs, dressed all in wreaths of flowers. And when the +pie reaches the King, the top will be opened, and they will all begin to +sing a song in honor of Their Majesties. Is it not a pretty thought?"</p> + +<p>"Well, if the King be not too hungry," said the practical Rafe, +doubtfully.</p> + +<p>"Nonsense!" cried the cook testily. "Would you make out our King to be a +cannibal?"</p> + +<p>"Nay," said Rafe; "that is why I doubt. However, I am here but to assist +in this colossal plan. Hand me yon bag of salt."</p> + +<p>All day long at Roger's kitchen the cooks worked over the King's Pie. At +noon came a band of ten mothers, each with a rosy, smiling baby. They +placed the children in the great shell to see how they would look. Every +one cried: "Charming! Superb! But ah! we must not tell any one, for +Roger has paid us well, and the other cooks must not know how he is to +win the prize to-morrow!"</p> + +<p>Weary and unthanked, with his meager day's wage,--a little bag of flour +and a pat of butter, sugar, and a handful of salt,--Rafe went home, +musing sadly. "A team of white oxen; a hundred sacks of white flour; a +hundred pieces of white silver,--what a prize! If only I could earn +these, I should be rich, indeed, and able to help my poor neighbors. But +Roger will win the prize," he thought.</p> + +<p>He spread on the table his frugal supper. He had emptied his larder that +morning for a sick woman. He had but a few apples and a bowl of cream. +It was the first food he had eaten that day, for his brother had +forgotten to bid him to his table.</p> + +<p>As he was taking a bite from one of the rosy-checked apples, there came +a tap at the door.</p> + +<p>"Enter!" cried Rafe hospitably. The hinges creaked, and there tottered +in a little, bent, old woman in a long black cloak, leaning on a staff.</p> + +<p>"Good evening, Son," she said, in a cracked voice. "Are you a man of +charity, or will you turn away a poor old soul who has had nothing to +eat for many hours?"</p> + +<p>Rafe rose and led her to the table. "Sit down, Mother," he said kindly. +"Sit and share my poor supper: a few apples from my little tree, a sup +of the cream which my good little red cow gives me,--that is all; but +you are welcome."</p> + +<p>"Thanks, Son," said the old woman, and without further words she began +to eat. When she had finished she sat for a few moments looking into the +empty bowl. Then she said:--</p> + +<p>"Son, why do you not bake a pie for the King?"</p> + +<p>"I!" cried Rafe, astonished. "How can I make a pie? You see all I have +in my cupboard. There is nothing but a little bag of flour, a pat of +butter, a handful of sugar and salt."</p> + +<p>"It is enough," said the stranger. "Son, I will show you a secret. You +have been kind to me. Now I will tell you that which until this day no +man has known. You shall make the King a pie, indeed!"</p> + +<p>"But, Mother," interrupted Rafe, smiling, "you do not know what manner +of pies are being made. There will be many, though I have seen but +one--a giant pie, a glorious pie, all golden crust and flowers and pink +little babies who sing!"</p> + +<p>"Humph!" grunted the old woman. "A pie for a pasteboard King. Why not +cook a pie to tempt a hungry man?"</p> + +<p>"The King is, indeed, a man," mused Rafe. "But how shall I make a pie +without viands of any sort?" (As I have said, to speak of a pie in those +days meant always a dish of meat or game or poultry.)</p> + +<p>"I will tell you," said the old woman. "Have you not a tree of red +apples? Yes, luscious apples of a goodly flavor, for I have tasted +them." She leaned forward, whispering earnestly: "Make your pie of them, +my Son!"</p> + +<p>"Apples! A pie of apples!" cried Rafe. "Who ever heard of such a thing!" +(And at this time, indeed, no one had.)</p> + +<p>"Nay, you need not laugh so scornfully," said the old crone. "You shall +see! I will help you."</p> + +<p>At her command Rafe fetched out the bag of flour, and the butter, salt, +and sugar. Then he went to gather a basket of apples, while the old +woman mended the fire and mixed the dough. Wonderingly he watched her +pare the apples, core and slice them, and cover all with a blanket of +crust laid softly over, but not tucked in at the edges as for an +ordinary pasty. Soon the pie was baked, all flaky and brown. When it +came smoking hot from the oven, the old woman slipped a knife under the +blanket of crust and lifted it aside.</p> + +<p>"See," she said, "the apples are steamed and soft. Now I will mash them +with a knife and mix the butter and sugar generously therein. This one +must ever do, Son, last of all. This is the crown of my secret, the only +recipe for a perfect pie."</p> + +<p>Rafe watched her curiously, by no means convinced. Then, from a pouch +somewhere concealed in her robe, she drew out a strange round nut, such +as Rafe had never seen before.</p> + +<p>"This is the final blessing," she said. "See, I will grate a little of +this magic nut into the pie." Forthwith it was done, and a whiff of +spicy fragrance reached Rafe's nose, and, more than anything, gave him +confidence in this strange new pie.</p> + +<p>"It smells worthy," said Rafe hungrily.</p> + +<p>Without a word the stranger drew from under a cover a little pie baked +in a tiny tin, an exact copy of the other. "Eat," she said: "eat and +judge if my secret be worth keeping."</p> + +<p>Rafe sunk his teeth into the warm, crisp crust and ate eagerly. His eyes +sparkled, but he spoke no word till the last crumb was gone.</p> + +<p>"Oh!" he said, "it is a magic pie! Never such have I met before! Never, +in all my life!"</p> + +<p>The old woman nodded. "A magic pie," she said. "And still better when +you serve it with the yellow cream of your little red cow."</p> + +<p>"It is a pie for a King!" said Rafe. "But shall I be allowed in the +procession, Mother?"</p> + +<p>"All the cooks in Kisington who choose may march with that guild," said +the old woman. "Bear your pie proudly in your own hands, wearing your +cap and apron. I will send some one to walk beside you and carry the jug +of cream. She shall be here to-morrow when you milk the little red cow. +Treat her kindly for my sake."</p> + +<p>"Mother, how can I ever thank you--" began Rafe. But, with a quickness +which seemed impossible to her years, the old woman had slipped out of +the door and was gone.</p> + +<p>The next morning bright and early Rafe went out to milk his cow. And +there beside the cow stood a young maid, the fairest he had ever seen.</p> + +<p>"Good morning, Rafe," said the maid, dropping a curtsy. "I am Meg, and I +have come to help you carry the King's Pie." She smiled so sweetly that +Rafe's heart danced a jig. She was dressed in a neat little gown of blue +with a white apron, and had set a dainty cook's cap on her flaxen curls. +And she wore red stockings and shoes, with silver buckles. From under +her apron she drew a little blue jug. "See, I have brought this to hold +the cream," she said, "and it is full of red strawberries for your +breakfast. Milk the little red cow, Rafe, and then we can eat and be +gone as soon as I have skimmed the cream of yesterday."</p> + +<p>In a happy daze Rafe did as she bade. Merrily they breakfasted together +on a wheaten loaf and milk and berries which the maid had brought, as if +she knew how hungry Rafe would be. Then Meg skimmed the cream for the +blue jug, and they were ready to start. Rafe, in his white cap and +apron, bore the precious pie, while Meg walked along at his side. A +merry, handsome couple they were.</p> + +<p>When they came to the market-place they found a great crowd assembled. +"Ho, Rafe! Rafe!" people shouted to him, for every one knew and loved +him. "Come here! Come with us!"</p> + +<p>But Rafe answered: "Nay. I am going to walk in the procession with the +other cooks. I have a pie for the King."</p> + +<p>"A pie! A pie!" they cried good-naturedly. "Look at Rafe's pasty! Of +what is it made, Rafe? Grasshoppers or mice?" For they knew how poor he +was. But Rafe only smiled and pushed his way to where the cooks were +gathered. They, too, greeted him with jests. But he insisted that he +must march with them. So they gave him place at the very end of the +line, with the little maid at his side. But when he saw the wonderful +pies all around him, he sighed and shook his head, looking ruefully at +his own simple offering. The little maid, seeing him so look, said:--</p> + +<p>"Never mind, Rafe. You are giving your best to the King. No one can do +more than that."</p> + +<p>The people waited. The hands of the great clock in the market-place +crept slowly around until they marked noon. Every one began to feel +uneasy, for it was close upon the dinner-hour, and the long procession +had not moved. The King and Queen were late.</p> + +<p>At last there sounded the blast of a trumpet, which told that the King +and his bride had arrived, and that the Lord Mayor had led them to their +seats on the balcony in front of the Town Hall. Every one gave a sigh of +relief. But then there was another long wait, while the hands of the +clock crept on--on, and the people watched and craned their necks +eagerly. The Lord Mayor was making his speech, and it was very long. +Finally arose more shouts and huzzas,--not because the speech was good, +but because it was ended. And presently another trumpet gave signal for +the procession to start.</p> + +<p>Off they went, through the streets full of cheering, hungry people. +Soldiers and bands of music led the way; then came the maskers and the +flower-maidens, the city guilds and all the arts and crafts. Finally +passed along the yoke of snowy oxen, with ribbons in their ears, drawing +a white wain in which were the bags of flour and silver, the prize to be +given the best pie-maker of Kisington. When the company of white-capped +cooks came within sight of the King, he laughed merrily, rubbing his +hands, and said:--</p> + +<p>"Cooks! Now we shall have something worth while, for I am growing +hungry, indeed!"</p> + +<p>And the young Queen whispered: "So am I!"</p> + +<p>Then came the pies. And such pies! Carried on the shoulders of sturdy +boys, drawn on floats by teams of ponies, wreathed in flowers and stuck +over with banners and mottoes, the pies passed along before the hungry +King. And not one of the pies was real! Gradually the King's smile +faded.</p> + +<p>There was a wonderful big pie fashioned like a ship,--rigged with masts +and sails and manned by sailor-dolls. There was a fine brown pasty like +a bird's nest, and when it passed the King, off came the cover, and out +flew four-and-twenty blackbirds croaking lustily.</p> + +<p>"Good-bye, dinner!" sighed the King, looking after them wistfully.</p> + +<p>The Queen nudged him and said: "'Sh! Behave, Your Majesty!" But she also +began to look hungrier and hungrier.</p> + +<p>There passed a pie in a carriage drawn by six mules. It seemed piping +hot, for steam came out of it. But when it reached the King it blew up +with a <EM>bang!</EM> scattering showers of blossoms over the royal party.</p> + +<p>"My faith!" cried the King; "methought this was the end of all things. +But it seems not. Here come more and more empty pies!"</p> + +<p>The Queen smelled of her salts and grew paler every moment.</p> + +<p>One pie had a musical box inside and played a sweet tune as it passed +the King. In one was hidden a tiny dwarf, who popped out like a +jack-in-the-box when the Queen pulled a golden cord.</p> + +<p>Still the procession moved on, and so did the hands of the clock; and +the King's hands moved to his ample girdle, which he tightened sharply. +But both he and the pale young Queen were too polite to ask the Lord +Mayor for buns or something to sustain them.</p> + +<p>The pie which caused the greatest excitement as it passed along, drawn +by four white horses, was that of Roger, the master cook, who walked +proudly beside it. When it came opposite the King the carriage stopped, +the cover was lifted, and ten beautiful babies on a bed of roses waved +their little hands and began to sing.</p> + +<p>The Queen leaned forward eagerly, forgetting to be hungry. "How sweet! +The darlings!" she murmured. "Oh, this is the best of all!"</p> + +<p>Roger the cook heard her and flushed with triumph.</p> + +<p>But the King grumbled: "Humph! They look good enough to eat, but--my +faith! I hope that this is the end, for soon I must eat something, or I +shall become a cannibal!"</p> + +<p>"Your Majesty!" protested the Queen, faintly.</p> + +<p>But the King interrupted her.</p> + +<p>"What comes here?" he cried. "This looks sensible!" It was Rafe and the +pretty maid bringing up the rear of the procession. Side by side they +walked in cap and apron, he bearing the small, delicately browned pie, +she with a jug of yellow cream. No one paid any attention to them, but +closed in around them, following Roger's chariot.</p> + +<p>When Rafe and Meg came opposite the King and Queen, they turned and Rafe +bowed low, holding up the pie as high as he could. The pretty maid +curtsied gracefully, and offered the cream-jug with a winsome smile. The +crowd was fain to hustle them on; but the King struck the floor with his +staff and pointed eagerly at the pie.</p> + +<p>"Hold!" he cried. "What have you there?" Every one stopped and began to +stare. Rafe bowed again.</p> + +<p>"'T is a pie, Your Majesty," said Rafe simply,--"an apple pie."</p> + +<p>"With cream for the top," lisped the little maid, curtsying again.</p> + +<p>"Apple pie!" cried the King. "Who ever heard of an apple pie! A pie +should be of savory meat. But of apples!" Words failed to express his +astonishment.</p> + +<p>"Butter and sugar, Sire, go to the making of it, and the dust of a +wondrous nut. Will you taste it, Sire?" Rafe held out the pie +temptingly.</p> + +<p>"With thick cream to pour on the top--yellow, sweet, rich, thick cream!" +said Meg, lingering over each word as if it melted on her lips.</p> + +<p>"Give hither that pie!" almost shouted the hungry King. "I will look +into this matter." And, drawing a dagger from his girdle, he seized and +stabbed the pie to the heart. Sniffing at it eagerly, his eyes grew +round, and he smacked his lips. "It is good, I wager my scepter!" he +cried. "Hand me the cream, fair maid."</p> + +<p>The little maid stepped up and daintily poured cream upon the shattered +pie, and without more ado the King began to eat with his dagger. (This +was not considered bad manners in those days.) After the first mouthful +he stopped only to say: "Food of the Fairies! Pie of the Pixies! Cook, +you are a magician!" He went on at a rate which threatened not to leave +a mouthful.</p> + +<p>But the Queen pulled at his sleeve. "A bite for me, Your Majesty," she +begged.</p> + +<p>And, with an apology, the King handed her what was left, watching her +wistfully till she ate the last crumb.</p> + +<p>"Delicious! I never tasted anything finer!" she cried. "I must have the +recipe."</p> + +<p>"I must have the cook!" cried the King, turning to Rafe, with a broad +grin on his merry, fat face. "You must come with me and cook such pies +for every meal. Yes, I will have them for breakfast, too," he insisted, +in response to a protest from the Queen.</p> + +<p>Just then up stepped Hugh, the Lord Mayor.</p> + +<p>"Sire," said he, bowing low, "will Your Majesty deign to point out to me +the pie which has best pleased you, that I may have it set in the place +of honor, and give the prize to the maker?"</p> + +<p>"That I cannot do," said the King, "for the pie no longer exists. I have +eaten it!" And he slapped his generous waistband. "But give whatever +prize there may be to this worthy fellow, whom I now dub Baron Applepy. +Baron, wear this ring in token of my pleasure in your pie." He drew a +fine ruby from his finger and gave it to Rafe.</p> + +<p>"And this is for the little maid," said the Queen, taking a beautiful +pearl necklace and tossing it over Meg's curls.</p> + +<p>But Roger, the master cook, stood by and tore his hair when he saw what +was happening.</p> + +<p>Then up came the yoke of white oxen drawing the cart bearing the prize. +And the Lord Mayor gave a goad into Rafe's hands, with words of +congratulation.</p> + +<p>"Now, mount and come with me," said the King.</p> + +<p>But Rafe hesitated.</p> + +<p>"Your Majesty," he replied, "I see no way to make another pie like this +which has pleased you. For I have no more of the magic nuts wherewith to +flavor a second."</p> + +<p>The King frowned. "What! No more pie! Is this to be the first and the +last? Sirrah, I am not pleased!"</p> + +<p>Then little Meg stepped forth. "The magic nut is the nutmeg," said she. +"My name is Meg, and Granny called the magic nuts after me. I know where +is hidden a store of them. These are my dower."</p> + +<p>She emptied her pockets of the nuts which they held, and they were a +precious handful.</p> + +<p>"Ha!" cried the King eagerly, "you must marry Baron Applepy, that he may +use your dower in our behalf."</p> + +<p>Rafe and the maid looked sidewise at one another.</p> + +<p>"You are willing, my dear?" said the Queen, smiling upon Meg.</p> + +<p>"Yes," whispered she, with red-apple cheeks.</p> + +<p>"Yes, indeed!" cried Rafe when the Queen looked at him.</p> + +<p>But again he seemed troubled.</p> + +<p>"Your Majesty," he said, "I cannot leave my poor neighbors. There will +be no one to cook for them at my prices."</p> + +<p>"You shall have your own price from me," said the King.</p> + +<p>Rafe bowed low. "You do me great honor," he said humbly. "But I cannot +leave my poor people, my house and my cow and my apple tree; indeed, I +cannot."</p> + +<p>The King looked very angry and raised his staff with a gesture of wrath. +But the Queen laid her hand upon his arm.</p> + +<p>"Why may he not live where he will and yet cook the pies for us?" she +said. "A messenger on a fleet horse can bring them to us every day. We +shall then have pies like that first delicious one, made of fresh apples +from that very same red-apple tree of his. They would be best of all."</p> + +<p>"True," said the King, reflecting for a moment.</p> + +<p>"Please, Your Majesty!" said Meg, in her most winsome tones. "I do so +long to help Rafe pick the red apples for your pies and skim the yellow +cream of the little red cow. And please, I do so long to help him cook +for his poor neighbors, who will miss him sadly if he goes. Now that we +have the prize, we can do much for them. Please, Your Majesty!"</p> + +<p>"Please, Your Majesty!" echoed Rafe.</p> + +<p>"Please, Your Majesty!" begged the Queen.</p> + +<p>So the King hemmed and hawed and yielded. "But see, Baron Applepy," he +said, "that you make me three fine pies every day, for which my swiftest +messenger shall call. Now, farewell to you--and to all! We must be off. +It is past dinner-time."</p> + +<p>"Heaven bless Your Majesties," said Rafe and Meg, bowing and curtsying +low.</p> + +<p>Then Rafe lifted the little maid into the white cart beside the hundred +sacks of flour and the bag of silver, and amid shouts and cheers away +they drove the white oxen toward the little house on the acre of land +under the red-apple tree, where the little red cow was waiting for them.</p> + +<p>And there they lived happily ever after, making three pies a day for the +King at an enormous price, and feeding the beloved poor people, their +neighbors, for no price at all.</p> + +<A NAME= "chapter17"></A> +<H2>XVII: THE MYSTERY OF THE PIE</H2> + +<p>Red Rex greeted the close of this story with an enormous sigh. "Three of +those delicious pies every day!" said he. "Would I had a messenger to +bring such to me!"</p> + +<p>"It might be arranged, Your Majesty," suggested Harold, "if our two +countries were at peace. I know that my mother would be glad to make +such pies for you, even as Rafe and his Margot did for the King of old. +The distance from Kisington to your Capitol is not so very great, I +think; and doubtless Your Majesty has messengers fleeter than the one of +long ago."</p> + +<p>"And your mother's pies are quite as good!" exclaimed Red Rex. "I have +never tasted better. So fat, so juicy, so generous! The tops fine, +rounded hills; the crust so crisp, which your knife crunches daintily; +the sight and smell of them is tempting!" The Red King's eyes rolled in +his head and he swayed ecstatically, like a poet composing a rhyme.</p> + +<p>"And yet you have seen but a wee wedge of one pie!" exclaimed Harold. +"It must have pleased Your Majesty, indeed, to make your impression so +true."</p> + +<p>Red Rex eyed him strangely. "H'm, yes," he said. "I have a vivid +imagination in such matters. I can almost fancy I have eaten a whole +pie--two--three--four whole pies! What a feast!"</p> + +<p>Harold's eyes had been straying toward something white concealed in the +grass not far from the Red King's seat. He took a step forward now, +bending low. Then he uttered an exclamation.</p> + +<p>"Five pies, Your Majesty!" he cried, looking straight at the King. +"There were six, which the old woman stole. Here are five empty +pie-plates!"</p> + +<p>"What a strange coincidence!" cried the Red King, flushing and twiddling +at his sword-hilt uneasily. "These coincidences do happen quite +startlingly sometimes. Ha-hum!" He coughed and frowned forbiddingly.</p> + +<p>"Surely, none of your men could have stolen my mother's pies (and, +indeed, one of them was yours), Your Majesty. They would not have been +so mean!"</p> + +<p>"They would not have been so reckless," corrected Red Rex. "No, no! it +took courage to make such an attempt; great courage, my boy!"</p> + +<p>"Courage!" cried Harold. "I call it something else,--to steal the pies +of a poor widow and deprive her son of his desserts. I call it mean and +disgraceful!"</p> + +<p>"Tut, tut, boy! You do not know what you are saying!" blustered the +War-Lord, growing very red.</p> + +<p>"Often it takes courage to do what others call an ill deed. And an ill +deed is ill, only as you look at it; so I say! Everything depends upon +the point of view; remember that. Suppose the man who stole those pies +was starving and needed them for his comfort?"</p> + +<p>"Suppose, indeed!" retorted Harold. "Suppose he came to our front door +and asked my mother for them, like a gentleman? She would not have +refused to sell, if he had money. She would have given, if he had none. +She is like that, is my good mother!"</p> + +<p>The Red King shook his head. "Suppose the man was an enemy, and too +proud to ask a favor? All's fair in war, my boy. Everybody knows that."</p> + +<p>"Then war is all wrong, as we always said," Harold replied. "Right is +right, and wrong is wrong. Stealing is stealing, and meanness is +meanness,--war or no war. If war makes men think differently from the +rule of every day, there is nothing to be said for it. Hello!" Harold +interrupted himself, for something else had suddenly caught his eye.</p> + +<p>He had been making his way toward the pile of pie-plates, and now he +stooped and picked up something lying on the grass beside them. It was a +queer, old-fashioned bonnet. As he touched it out fell a rolled-up +calico apron. One of the strings was gone. Harold's eyes leaped from it +to the Red King's bundled-up wrist. The other apron-string was doing +duty as a bandage there.</p> + +<p>"Ho! Ho!" cried Harold, staring at the Red King's purpling face. "This +is the old woman's bonnet, and her apron. A disguise! I begin to see! +You, Your Majesty,--you were the old woman yourself!"</p> + +<p>"You are very sharp, youngster!" said Red Rex sulkily. "Begone to your +home and leave me to finish my work."</p> + +<p>"If I go," said Harold slowly, "I shall tell the whole town what I have +discovered. The news will travel through the Five Kingdoms--how a King +disguised as an old woman stole six pies--"</p> + +<p>"Hold!" cried Red Rex sternly. "Enough of this impertinence! Remember to +whom you speak, boy! I am a King."</p> + +<p>"Yes, you are that King. But I thought always it was the '<EM>Knave</EM> of +Hearts who stole the tarts,' not the King. How did Your Majesty manage +to do it?" asked Harold curiously.</p> + +<p>"Aha!" The Red King tried to appear easy and unconscious. "It is my turn +now to tell a story, is it? Oho! You want to hear how the old woman got +into your careless town, do you? And how she went along your unguarded +streets, do you? And how she crept into your unbolted cottage, do you? +And how she found the goodly row of pies sitting on the pantry shelf? +Ah! I shall never look upon their like again!"</p> + +<p>"Nor I," said Harold promptly. "And one was yours, Your Majesty."</p> + +<p>Red Rex cast down his eyes. "That is the thing that chiefly troubles +me," he said. "I am sorry I did not know the fact. Your mother was very +thoughtful, Harold."</p> + +<p>"Please tell me all about it, Your Majesty?" begged Harold, settling +himself comfortably on the grass before the War-Lord. "I want to hear +the story. It is your turn now. You owe me that, at least."</p> + +<p>"Well," said Red Rex choosing his words slowly. "You see, I had to have +those pies. Kings may take what they choose, because,--well, because +they are Kings. That is reason enough,--say I! After that first bite you +gave me, I felt that I needed more to make me happy. A King has a right +to be happy, whatever happens to another,--say I. I had brought +disguises with me; for we have ever found them useful in making war. +Last night I dressed up as an old woman, in petticoat and apron, bonnet +and shawl. None of my men knew. As soon as it was dark I went to the +gate of your town, pretending to be a countrywoman returning to +Kisington from a visit beyond the frontier, who had not heard of the +siege, and begged the guard to let me in quickly out of danger's way. +Oh! You are such stupid, trusting folk in your Kingdom! The men believed +me, and let me in because I seemed old and it was late, and they pitied +me. The fools! Pity is out of place in war-time. A city so ill-defended +deserves to be taken and harassed,--say I!"</p> + +<p>"We are trustful in our town because our own hearts are truthful and +kind," said Harold.</p> + +<p>"When the warders had let me in," went on Red Rex, "I passed along the +main street toward the market-place, with my basket on my arm; and no +one noticed me, for it was dark. I knew my way; you told me yesterday +how the streets lay. Presently I came to a great, handsome building with +a ruined porch,--upon my word, huge as my summer palace by the sea!--out +of which people passed in a constant stream, with books under their +arms."</p> + +<p>"It was our library," said Harold proudly.</p> + +<p>"So I judged," went on the Red King. "I concealed myself in an angle of +the building until it should be darker, and watched. Little children +came out of that library, who in my country would be playing at war with +guns and toy cannon. Old men and women, whom I should expect to see +caring only to smoke and mumble and gossip about past wars, brought out +books which they hugged lovingly. Young maids, such as in my land care +only to look at the soldiers and dance and prink; and young men who +should be drilling or dueling or talking war,--all these came out +looking happy and content with the books which they had in hand. I never +saw such a sight!"</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Harold; "It is always so in Kisington. We have no time to +think about war or soldiers or killing."</p> + +<p>"Strange!" muttered Red Rex. "I was tempted to go myself into that great +building and see if any book might be found with a message in it for me. +But I did not take the risk."</p> + +<p>"I know such a Book!" interrupted Harold; "a Book of Peace."</p> + +<p>"I guess what you mean," said the Red King hastily. "We have that Book +in my kingdom, too, of course. We honor it highly,--do not think +otherwise! We have it in the churches, and bind it in gold, and keep it +as something curious and old. But we do not often read it--why should +we? A peace book has no message for our brave and warlike people. To +think so is absurd!"</p> + +<p>"Oh!" said Harold.</p> + +<p>"Well," continued Red Rex; "after a long, long time the streets were +quite empty. Presently I heard the chimes of midnight. Then I crept out +of my hiding-place and stole along the High Street, of which you had +told me, till I came to the butcher's shop. Beside it, sure enough, was +a little cottage with a thatched roof which I knew must be yours. The +window was open, and I looked in; no one about. The door was unlocked, +and in I went. What carelessness!"</p> + +<p>"We never lock our doors in Kisington," said Harold. "We think it would +be rude not to trust our good neighbors, who trust us."</p> + +<p>"Huh!" grunted the Red King. "In my Kingdom every door is double-barred, +locked and bolted beside. He who trusts nobody is never +disappointed,--so I say."</p> + +<p>"I should hate to live in that kind of Kingdom," murmured Harold. "But I +know what happened next," he went on, continuing the Red King's story. +"You fumbled along the wall with a noise like a mouse. You stepped on a +creaky board."</p> + +<p>"I crossed the kitchen on tiptoe," said Red Rex. "I challenge any man of +my size to go more softly. Not a sound in the little house; no trace of +you. My dark lantern showed me two doors. I knew one must lead to the +pantry,--but which? Do you know what I did? Ah, I am clever! I put my +ear to each door in turn. At one I heard no sound. At the other, +presently, I caught the noise of gentle snoring. Just then,--some one +sneezed."</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Harold; "I tried to smother it, but I could not do so."</p> + +<p>"By that sneeze I knew certainly that this was your bedroom, and that +the other must be the pantry. I kept very quiet, and there was no more +sound from you. I hoped you were asleep. I opened the pantry door very +gently, and crept in. I flashed my lantern upon the shelves. Ah! There +they were,--six beautiful, brown, luscious apple pies, as you had said. +Um! Um! I could hardly wait to begin. I pulled out my dagger and +attacked one of them. It melted in the mouth like magic! Just then I +heard a hullabaloo from your bedroom. What lungs you have, you rascal!"</p> + +<p>"I yelled as loudly as I could," said Harold modestly. "But Robert can +make more noise."</p> + +<p>"I hope I may never hear him, then!" cried Red Rex. "Well; I heard the +key turn in the lock, and knew you had trapped me, you dog! I heard +steps on the stair, and knew I had no time to waste. Hastily I put the +five remaining pies in my basket and made for the window. I knew it +would never do for me to be caught in Kisington! To be sure, there was a +truce. But I did not know how your Magistrates might regard the right of +a King to take his own way with a truce. What triumph for your city to +capture me, the besieging War-Lord! It might not be. But your pantry +window is of a smallness! I nearly perished in my attempt to squeeze +through. The glass cut my hand and my forehead. I thought once I was +stuck for good. Some one clutched at my shawl. I let it go. It is +priceless, woven tissue of the East; but I let it go."</p> + +<p>"We have it safe," said Harold.</p> + +<p>"I shall never claim it," asserted Red Rex. "Well, soon I was safe +outside. I found myself in your back garden, on the city wall. You folk +are so careless,--to build houses on a city wall! From there one can +drop into safety without any trouble. I did so. It is your own fault if +fugitives escape from your city,--say I. Whatever happens to you, it is +your own fault,--say I!"</p> + +<p>"Then it will be your own fault if I tell this tale of you to our City +Fathers to-morrow,--say I." Harold looked at Red Rex mischievously.</p> + +<p>"Nay," said the Red King hastily. "You must not betray me. This tale +must not become common history. No one will understand my point of view. +I begin to think that no one will see my bravery in making this attempt. +So few persons are open-minded and generous! You will not tell your City +Fathers, Harold? <EM>Noblesse oblige</EM>, remember. You are my guest, and I +have told you a tale in return for yours. I could detain you by force, +breaking the truce yet once more. But I will not do so. I suppose I am a +fool!"</p> + +<p>Harold had been thinking hard. "No; I will not tell the story,--but on +two conditions."</p> + +<p>"What are they?" asked Red Rex.</p> + +<p>"The first is this," said Harold. "For the sake of the pies you stole +(one of which was your own), during the siege of Kisington you shall +spare from force or damage that part of the city in which stands my +mother's little house."</p> + +<p>"Gladly will I promise that," agreed the Red King.</p> + +<p>"Spare the <EM>north</EM>, then," said Harold, pointing. "You must not aim any +weapons against the north."</p> + +<p>"The north is safe," repeated Red Rex. "I agree not to point weapon or +aim force against the north section of your city."</p> + +<p>"Then all Kisington is saved!" cried Harold. "Already, before now, Your +Majesty has promised to spare the <EM>east</EM>,--for the sake of Gerda's +garden; the <EM>west</EM>,--for the children's school, in the name of your +Hope. Now you promise to spare the <EM>north</EM>. The south only remains,--and +that is <EM>here</EM>, Your Majesty, outside the walls!"</p> + +<p>Red Rex grinned sheepishly. "Harold," he said. "You have outwitted me, +and outplayed me. Kisington is indeed safe from me. I have no choice now +but to raise the siege and go my way home. And to tell you the truth, I +shall not be sorry to spare the town. Since visiting, even so briefly, +within your walls, seeing the kind-faced people, the goodly buildings, +and especially the noble library, I have conceived an affection for the +place. I am glad of an excuse not to destroy it. If it were possible, +indeed, I would that I might see the interior of that house of books. I +would fain know more of the Chronicles of Kisington."</p> + +<p>"Why may it not be, Your Majesty?" said Harold. "We will say nothing of +this night's adventure. Come to-morrow with a flag of truce and be our +guest, even as I have been yours. I will show you our library. Maybe you +will hear another tale, even in that noble home of books.--But first you +must hear to my second condition."</p> + +<p>"True; I forgot that," said Red Rex gravely. "What is your second +demand, Harold?"</p> + +<p>"It is this," said Harold with a twinkle in his eye. "Your Majesty tells +a tale so well, I fain would hear another. To-morrow you shall tell me a +tale. I make that my second condition."</p> + +<p>Red Rex hesitated, hummed and hawed. "Needs must," he said at last. +"Though I am no story-teller, I will think up some yarn from the tales I +have heard in my travels, and that you shall hear, my boy. But surely, I +need tell it to no others than yourself?"</p> + +<p>The Red King looked so miserable at the idea of talking to an audience +that Harold laughed and said,--"Nay, Your Majesty. Let me have the treat +to myself. I will come here as before, after school, hear the story, and +then bring you back with me. The town will receive you as an honored +guest, and we will make high carnival."</p> + +<p>"Agreed," said Red Rex.</p> + +<p>"Agreed," said Harold, and they shook hands formally.</p> + +<p>The Red King had one last word. "Harold," he said shamefacedly, "I am +sorry about the pies. I am ashamed. I would give them back, if I could. +I will pay for them roundly."</p> + +<p>"Your Majesty," said Harold graciously, "do not mention it!"</p> + +<p>Here follows the tale which the Red King told to Harold on the next day; +a tale which he had heard in his wanderings in a New World far across +the ocean to the west; a tale of the Red People--<EM>Little Bear</EM>.</p> + +<A NAME= "chapter18"></A> +<H2>XVIII: LITTLE BEAR: AN OJIBWAY LEGEND</H2> + +<p>Once upon a time there was an old Indian couple who had three daughters, +but no son. The two older girls were very beautiful; but the youngest +was plain and unlovely. Yet she was the wisest of the three. Her name +was Little Bear.</p> + +<p>Now, there came a time when the father and mother grew too old to work +as they had done all their lives. It became necessary that the two older +daughters, who were strapping big girls, should go away to find work in +order to take care of the family.</p> + +<p>"Take me with you," begged Little Bear.</p> + +<p>But the older sisters shook their heads.</p> + +<p>"No," they answered; "you would be of no use to us. You are too little. +You must stay at home."</p> + +<p>The two sisters started upon their journey alone. But they had not gone +far when they heard the patter of feet behind them. They looked around, +and there was Little Bear running after them as fast as she could go. +The sisters were very angry. They took Little Bear and tied her to the +posts of the wigwam, so that she should not follow them again. Then once +more they started upon their journey.</p> + +<p>They had traveled but a short distance when again they heard a noise +behind them. And there was Little Bear running toward them with the +poles of the wigwam upon her back.</p> + +<p>The sisters were astonished and very angry indeed. They undid Little +Bear from the posts and tied her instead to a huge pine tree which grew +close by. And they said: "Now will you stay where we leave you, bad +Little Bear?"</p> + +<p>Once more they went upon their way. But a third time they had not gone +far when they heard a great noise behind them. <EM>Bumpety-bump!</EM> +<EM>Bumpety-bump!</EM> Along came Little Bear with the pine tree upon her +shoulders!</p> + +<p>The sisters were now very, very angry. They untied Little Bear crossly, +with many jerks, and fastened her to a great rock on the side of the +hill. And they said: "Now we shall see whether you are anchored or not, +you obstinate Little Bear!" So they went upon their way.</p> + +<p>Presently they came to a wide river, and they had no boat in which to +cross. They sat down upon the shore and moped, seeing no way to continue +their journey.</p> + +<p>But suddenly they heard a terrible noise behind them, and there once +more was Little Bear, running toward them with the great rock on her +back.</p> + +<p>This time the sisters were glad enough to see her. They unfastened the +rock and threw it into the middle of the river. Then they laid the pine +tree upon the rock, and so they had a bridge upon which to cross. +Merrily they passed over, all three. For this time Little Bear went with +the other two. And they did not send her away, because she was so strong +and useful. Presently, on the other side of the river, they came to a +wigwam, where lived an old witch-woman with her two daughters.</p> + +<p>"Where are you going?" asked the old woman.</p> + +<p>"Our parents are very old," said the three girls, "and we are going to +seek our fortune."</p> + +<p>"Come in," said the old woman kindly. "Come in and have supper with us, +and sleep to-night in the wigwam with my daughters."</p> + +<p>The travelers were glad to go in, for it was growing late. They had a +nice supper in the tent, and when it was night the daughters of the old +woman and Little Bear's two sisters went to sleep in a huge bed. The +sisters of Little Bear were on the outside, with the two others between +them.</p> + +<p>Little Bear did not go to bed. She sat up with the old woman beside the +camp-fire, telling stories, until it was very late and the old woman +fell sound asleep. She snored loudly; but to make sure, Little Bear +reached out and pinched her gently.</p> + +<p>When she found that it was not shamming, she crept softly to the bed +where the four girls slept and changed their places. After this Little +Bear's sisters were in the middle, and the old woman's daughters on the +outside. When Little Bear had done this, she crept back to the fire and +lay down, pretending to be asleep.</p> + +<p>In a little while the old woman awoke and pinched Little Bear to see +whether or not she was really asleep; and although it hurt dreadfully, +Little Bear did not stir, or make a sound, but seemed to be dreaming +fast. Then the wicked old woman sharpened her long, bright knife and +stole to the bed where the girls were sleeping, and before they knew +what was happening she had cut off the heads of the two girls on the +outer sides of the bed. But it was her own two daughters whom the cruel +creature had killed, though she did not know it, in the dark! The wicked +old woman lay down to sleep, chuckling to herself. But when all was +quiet, Little Bear awoke her two sisters and they all three crept away +from that cruel wigwam, hurrying on their journey.</p> + +<p>Now, in the morning when the old woman awoke and found what a dreadful +thing she had done, she was annoyed. She screamed and cried and tore her +hair, and then she jumped up into the sky and pulled down the sun from +its place, hiding it away in her wigwam, so that Little Bear and her +sisters might be lost in the dark.</p> + +<p>In the pitchy blackness, worse than night, because there were no stars, +the three stumbled on and on, groping their way; and it was very +uncomfortable indeed. At any moment they might run into some terrible +danger.</p> + +<p>At last they saw the flicker of a little light, and made their way +toward it. They found that it was a man carrying a torch and looking +about for something.</p> + +<p>"What are you looking for?" they asked.</p> + +<p>"I am looking for the sun," answered the man. "The sun is lost, and we +are in great trouble because of it. Tell me, have you seen the sun?"</p> + +<p>They said "No," and asked him to lead them to his village, which he did. +And when they came near they saw the twinkle of many lights. All the men +of the town were looking for the sun, and there was great distress among +them because their Chief was ill, and he could not get well until the +sun should be put back into his place in the sky, and the days be bright +again.</p> + +<p>Little Bear asked to see the Chief, and they took her to where he lay +dying.</p> + +<p>"Great Chief," said she, "I think that I can help you."</p> + +<p>"Can you bring back the sun, Maiden?" asked the Chief feebly. "That is +the only thing that will help me."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I can do so if you will give me two handsful of maple sugar and +your oldest son," said Little Bear.</p> + +<p>The Chief agreed. Little Bear took the maple sugar and went back to the +wigwam of the wicked old woman. She climbed up on the outside and threw +the sugar down through the chimney-hole into the kettle of rice which +the old crone was cooking. Presently the hag tasted it and made a wry +face.</p> + +<p>"Bah!" she cried; "it is too sweet. I must go and get some more water to +put in the kettle."</p> + +<p>As soon as the old woman left the wigwam to get the water, Little Bear +jumped down from the tent-roof, ran inside, and found the sun where the +witch had hidden it away. Up she tossed it into the sky; and lo! the +world was bright and beautiful once more.</p> + +<p>Then she returned to the village, where the old Chief received her +gratefully. As he had promised, he bestowed upon her his oldest son. But +Little Bear did not want him. So she gave the young Chief to her eldest +sister for a husband; and they were very happy.</p> + +<p>Now, when the old woman saw the sun shining once more in his usual +place, she was very angry. She screamed and she cried and she tore her +hair. Once more she jumped up into the sky, and this time she tore down +the moon, hiding it away in her wigwam, just as she had hidden the sun.</p> + +<p>Then again the good old Chief fell sick, because now the nights were +pitch dark; and he asked Little Bear if she could help him.</p> + +<p>Little Bear said: "Yes, I will bring back the moon, if you will give me +two handsful of salt and your next oldest son."</p> + +<p>The Chief agreed. Little Bear took the salt and went again to the old +woman's wigwam, doing as she had done before. She tossed the salt into +the kettle of soup, and when the old woman tasted it she made a face and +said: "Ugh! This soup is too salt. I must get some more water to put in +the kettle."</p> + +<p>As soon as the old woman was out of the way, Little Bear ran in and +seized the moon, which was hidden in a corner. She tossed it up into the +night sky, where it hung like a lovely lantern, and every one grew happy +again.</p> + +<p>Immediately the old Chief became well, and was glad enough to keep his +promise and to give Little Bear his second son. But she did not want him +for herself. She married the young man to her younger sister; and they +were very happy.</p> + +<p>This time the old woman was very angry indeed. She came by night to the +village and stole the Chief's beautiful horse, all covered with little +tinkly bells. At this misfortune the old Chief fell ill once more; for +he was very sensitive.</p> + +<p>Once more Little Bear offered to help him if he would give her two +handsful of maple sugar and two handsful of salt, and his youngest, +handsomest son. Of course, the old Chief agreed.</p> + +<p>A third time Little Bear went to the old woman's wigwam and found her +making soup. She did just as she had done twice before; only this time +the sugar and the salt together made a horrid mess! When the old woman +went out to get more water for a quite new soup, Little Bear slipped +into the tent and found the horse. As a precaution she first took off +his little bells, so that he should not make a noise to bring back the +hag. She removed all the little bells but one, and that one she missed, +it being hidden under a lock of his mane.</p> + +<p>Gently she led the horse away. But alas! The one little bell which she +had overlooked began to tinkle as they fled. <EM>Tink! Tink! Tink!</EM> Through +the wood the old woman heard it and pricked up her ears. <EM>Hop, hop,</EM> +<EM>hop!</EM> Along she came, hobbling after them faster than any horse could +gallop, and she caught Little Bear before she could escape.</p> + +<p>"Now I will be even with you for all that you have done!" cried the old +woman.</p> + +<p>She put Little Bear into a great bag and tied the bag to the limb of a +tree. Then she went away to get a big stick with which to beat her +victim to death.</p> + +<p>But Little Bear did not wait for this to happen. While the old woman was +looking for the stick, Little Bear bit a hole in the bag and crept out. +She took the good horse, this time without any bells to give the alarm, +and hid him in the bushes ready for flight. Then she put into the bag +all the old woman's choicest things--her dishes and food, and the +breakable furnishings of her wigwam--until the bag was round and bulgy +as if Little Bear herself were inside.</p> + +<p>Chuckling to herself, Little Bear hid in the bushes where she could see +what happened upon the old woman's return; and merry enough the sight +was! Little Bear nearly died of laughing, and had to stuff a corner of +her blanket into her mouth lest she should betray herself.</p> + +<p>For the old woman came hurrying up with her huge club, and began to beat +the bag fiercely. <EM>Crack! Smash!</EM> went the pots and pans. <EM>Smash!</EM> +<EM>Crack!</EM> went the dishes and the other things. But the wicked old woman +went on beating harder than ever, thinking that she was breaking the +bones of poor Little Bear.</p> + +<p>Presently Little Bear grew tired of the smashing and crashing, and +thought it was time to be off. She mounted the Chief's good horse and +galloped swiftly away to the village, where her sisters were awaiting +her anxiously, because she had been gone a long time.</p> + +<p>When the Chief saw his good horse once more, he was greatly delighted +and grew well immediately; he was so sensitive. As he had promised, he +gave to Little Bear his youngest son, who was the handsomest of the +three, though not wise. Little Bear loved him dearly; so she married him +herself and they went to live in a fine wigwam which the Chief gave +them, near the other two brothers and sisters.</p> + +<p>But the Little Bear's husband did not love her. He was sulky and said: +"I wish my wife were beautiful like the other maidens! Why must I marry +an ugly Little Bear? I wish I might have had one of her pretty sisters +instead!" And he was cruel to Little Bear and made her weep.</p> + +<p>But after a while she dried her tears, and was angry to think how +foolish she had been in choosing this youngest son for herself, just +because he was so handsome. She thought about it for a long time.</p> + +<p>One day she said to her husband: "You do not love me, because I am an +ugly Little Bear. Take me and throw me into the fire."</p> + +<p>"I do not love you," said her husband, "but I cannot kill you, for then +the Chief would punish me."</p> + +<p>"Do as I tell you!" said Little Bear, and she stamped her foot.</p> + +<p>The young man was afraid, for he knew that Little Bear was very wise and +powerful. So he did as she bade him, and threw Little Bear into the +fire. This made a great noise in the wigwam, and presently up came +running Little Bear's two sisters.</p> + +<p>"Wicked man! What have you done to our dear Little Bear?" they cried.</p> + +<p>"I have done only as she told me," said the young man sulkily. "Little +Bear is not beautiful, but she is wise. So I did what she told me to do. +I threw her into the fire."</p> + +<p>"Oh, wicked man!" cried the sisters again, bursting into tears.</p> + +<p>Just then they heard a strange sound in the fire, and turning, they +beheld a most beautiful maiden with dark eyes and raven locks coming out +of the flames. She smiled at the two sisters, and turning to the young +man said:--</p> + +<p>"Husband, do you know me? I am Little Bear, who was wise but not +beautiful. Now I have become beautiful, but I am still wiser than +before."</p> + +<p>"O my wife!" cried the husband eagerly. "I do not care whether you are +wise or not--that matters little to me. But I love you with all my +heart, you are so beautiful!"</p> + +<p>Little Bear laughed and said: "You were unkind to the ugly Little Bear, +though she loved you. You are like most men; you care more for beauty +than for wisdom. But I have grown wiser than I was when I married you +and I do not care what you think."</p> + +<p>And Little Bear, now the most beautiful young woman in the village and +the pride of the tribe for wisdom, lived happy ever after.</p> + +<A NAME= "chapter19"></A> +<H2>XIX: THE RED KING'S VISIT</H2> + +<p>"That is a fine story!" cried Harold, clapping his hands after the Red +King had finished telling the tale of the Little Bear. "I wish I could +remember all the tales that I read, and tell them as well as you do, +Your Majesty!"</p> + +<p>Red Rex looked pleased. "It is a tale that, when I am not at war, I tell +often to my little daughter," he said. "She likes all kinds of stories, +but especially those of countries different from our own."</p> + +<p>"Then she ought to hear the Tales of Kisington!" cried Harold.</p> + +<p>"So I think," mused Red Rex. "I would that you could read them to her, +even as you have read them to me, Harold."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps some day that may be," answered Harold. "But meantime Your +Majesty may hear our tales and tell them to your little Princess when +you return. She will like your way of telling them better than reading +from a book, I know."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I must read those tales again, at your library," said the Red +King. "I must study them well, so that I can tell them without losing +the point of each, as I am prone to do. My little Hope will be glad. +Heretofore, I have never had time enough to read her as much as she +craved."</p> + +<p>"The library will welcome you," said Harold. "I can answer for that. It +would rather have you inside its doors reading than outside battering +down the statues and the glass! Will Your Majesty come with me now and +visit the Town of Kisington under the flag of truce?"</p> + +<p>"That will I," answered Red Rex.</p> + +<p>Forth then went Harold and the Red King to the gates of Kisington. Side +by side they went, with the flag of truce between them, borne by a big +man-at-arms. After them followed a guard of the Red King's men; but +these remained behind when the great gate swung open to admit Harold and +his royal guest.</p> + +<p>There were no soldiers to be seen anywhere in the streets of Kisington. +It seemed a town wholly at peace. The Lord Mayor and the Librarian were +waiting to receive them, and crowds of people thronged the street to +catch a glimpse of the War-Lord, who for nearly a week had been +besieging their city without firing a shot since that first day. Harold +recognized among the crowd the faces of many of his school-mates, and +presently, when he found the opportunity he beckoned to his chums, +Robert and Richard, who were in the front ranks.</p> + +<p>"Keep close to me," Harold whispered to them. "By and by I dare say you +will have a chance to speak with Red Rex himself."</p> + +<p>Robert and Richard needed no second hint to keep close at Harold's +heels. Proudly they stepped along, one on either side of their friend, +behind the Red King and the Lord Mayor who followed the Librarian and +the bearer of the flag of truce. To the marketplace they went, the other +school children trotting along in the rear of the little procession, and +gazing with almost as much pride and awe at their lucky comrades as at +the dreaded enemy, Red Rex. Indeed, the whole Town of Kisington seemed +moving in the wake of these six most important personages.</p> + +<p>What conversation took place between Red Rex and the Lord Mayor was +never recorded. But it seemed to grow gradually pleasanter and +pleasanter. By the time they had reached the steps of the library, their +faces were wreathed in smiles and they beamed at each other like old +friends.</p> + +<p>At the door of the library the Librarian turned and, with a wave of his +hand, said to Red Rex,--"Welcome, Your Majesty, to the treasure-house of +Kisington."</p> + +<p>"Glad am I to enter these doors," replied the Red King courteously. "For +here, I believe, live the wonderful books which during these past days +have been giving me much pleasure." He laid his hand on the shoulder of +Harold and smiled. One would hardly have recognized the face of the grim +War-Lord who had begun the siege so savagely. "I would fain see those +friendly books in their own home," he went on.</p> + +<p>"That you shall do, Your Majesty," said the Librarian; "for Kisington is +so proud of her treasures that she is ever glad to welcome a stranger to +the enjoyment of them. Is it not fortunate, Your Majesty, that the +library is still standing to entertain you? Recently it was in great +danger of being destroyed, as you may have heard." (The Librarian was an +exceedingly polite gentlemen.)</p> + +<p>At these words the Red King turned redder and bowed gravely. "The Books +themselves rose up for the protection of books," he said. "They have +proved in this case to be the best weapons of defense. I am beginning to +think that they are better than any soldiers."</p> + +<p>By this time they had entered the main hall, where a delegation of +Leading Citizens awaited them,--in holiday robes and with expectant +faces. They greeted Red Rex with profound bows, which he acknowledged +graciously.</p> + +<p>The Librarian then turned to the rows of patient, peaceful books which +lined the walls, ready to be made useful. "Yes, Your Majesty. These are +our bulwarks and batteries and bayonets," he said simply.</p> + +<p>The air of the room was still and quiet, full of peace and kindliness. +Beautiful pictures looked down from the walls. Noble statues stood in +the niches. Soft lights came in at the windows and fell on the tables +and desks, and on rows upon rows of fair volumes, well-dusted and +cheerful. The shattered windows had been screened; the broken marbles +removed; so that there was nothing to reproach Red Rex or to speak of +discord.</p> + +<p>The War-Lord looked up and down and around and along, and spoke no word. +All the books seemed listening, waiting for him to speak. They were +indeed like soldiers, shoulder to shoulder, standing at "attention."</p> + +<p>"It is a noble army!" exclaimed Red Rex at last, and his voice was low +and gentle. "It is the best kind of army for the world, I see, as I have +never seen before. I would it were mine!"</p> + +<p>"It is yours, Your Majesty," said the Librarian. "You have but to make +free use of it. These soldiers are free-lances, at the service not of +one master, but of any one who employs them intelligently. Read them, +Your Majesty, and so make them yours, if you will." The Librarian spread +out his hands in a generous gesture.</p> + +<p>"By my Hope, you are hospitable and magnanimous!" cried Red Rex. "I am +tempted to take you at your word. Come, let there be no more war between +us. Let us make no brief truce, but agree, instead, upon a true, lasting +peace. Already I have promised this Harold of yours to spare the city, +east, west, and north,--which is the whole of it. But come; promise me +now to spare me the scorn and hatred which you owe for my +unfriendliness. Let us spare each other and be friends. For I would know +more of your books and of your people."</p> + +<p>"Good, Your Majesty!" cried the Lord Mayor, stepping forward. "By all +means let there be peace. We have no wish for anything else. Our hastily +gathered soldiers are eager to return again to private life. Send away +your army, and let peace be proclaimed with no more formality than our +true words given each to other in this library, with the witness of the +books."</p> + +<p>"Done!" shouted Red Rex. "Here is my hand on it!" And he shook hands +first with the Lord Mayor, then with the Librarian, then with the other +Leading Citizens. Harold and his chums were standing modestly a little +way apart. He called the boy to his side and laid an arm affectionately +about his shoulder. "Here is your true peacemaker," said Red Rex. "If +Harold had not been so good a reader, I should never have been here in +peace with you at this moment. To Harold and his books I owe the vision +of what a library really is."</p> + +<p>"Your Majesty," said Harold promptly, "will you also shake hands with +Richard and Robert? It will make them very proud."</p> + +<p>"That will I!" cried Red Rex. And he not only shook hands, but clapped +the boys on the shoulder, calling each by name; which was a thing for +them to remember all their lives.</p> + +<p>"Now!" announced the Red King, taking a large seal ring from his finger +and handing it to his soldier who bore the flag of truce. "Take this +ring, and go back to my army; bid the generals lead their men home, and +busy themselves in some useful work until my return. For as for me, I +shall remain for a space in this peaceful city, in this peaceful +Kingdom, to learn something further of its ways and wonders, which +interest me hugely."</p> + +<p>The soldier saluted and retired. And shortly after was heard beyond the +walls the <EM>tramp, tramp</EM> of a retreating army. The Red King was alone in +Kisington, among the books.</p> + +<p>Little cared he for what went on outside. He was carried away by the +fascination of a world new to him. The Librarian led him from room to +room, from stack to stack, from shelf to shelf of tempting books. The +Red King was fairly bewildered by the opportunities offered. He wanted +to read all the volumes at once.</p> + +<p>"I never dreamed there were so many books in the world!" he cried. "How +can a man live long enough to read them all, if he does nothing else all +his days?"</p> + +<p>"Do you wonder we have no time for war, Your Majesty?" asked the +Librarian.</p> + +<p>"No more war for me!" declared Red Rex. They had reached a division of +the books labeled in huge letters OUTLAND TALES. The Red King laid his +hand upon a volume bound in green-and-silver, like ice. "This has a +tempting look," said Red Rex. "Are these also Chronicles of Kisington?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, in a sense," answered the Librarian. "The deeds here recorded +happened not in our Kingdom; yet, being tales gathered by our forbears +in their travels around the world, to and from Kisington, they had a +part in our history. They helped our fathers the better to understand +and sympathize with the stranger, and so made for the peace which they +loved."</p> + +<p>"This is a story for me," declared Red Rex, who had been peeping into +the ice-bound volume. "I would fain hear another tale interpreted by my +little friend. Harold, will you read me this story, as you have read so +many ere now? I long to hear your pleasant voice again."</p> + +<p>"I will read whatever Your Majesty wishes," replied Harold. "Shall we go +into this alcove where we shall be quite undisturbed and undisturbing?"</p> + +<p>"By all means," said Red Rex. And here, in a cozy comer under one of the +great windows, with Richard and Robert on either side of him, Harold +read to the delighted King the Icelandic tale of <EM>The Bear's Daughter</EM>.</p> + +<A NAME= "chapter20"></A> +<H2>XX: THE BEAR'S DAUGHTER</H2> + +<p>Once upon a time, on an island far to the north of Kisington, whither +only the bravest sailors dared to venture, lived a boy named Hans. They +called him Hans the Hunter, because he loved so much to hunt and fish. +He was a tall, brave, and sturdy lad, and he loved his life and was +proud of his nickname. He had a hard spot in his heart, or he would not +have been a hunter.</p> + +<p>One day Hans went out with two other lads to hunt. It was in the early +spring, the season when the ice breaks up in the rivers and begins to +move seaward, like the hearts of men. The three wandered for many miles +over the ice and snow until they came to the frozen bed of a river; but +they did not know it was a river, the water of it flowed so far below +the cakes of ice which concealed it, while over all was a thick crust of +snow.</p> + +<p>At this spot Hans the Hunter, who was after big game, left the others +and started toward the south. Presently in the snow his sharp eyes spied +the tracks of a huge bear. He was greatly delighted, and began to follow +the slot so eagerly that he hardly marked where he was going. But all on +a sudden he felt an unsteady motion under his feet. The ground seemed +slipping beneath him. The snow parted and the ice cracked, and he spied +blue water in the gaps between. Then he realized that he was upon a +river, afloat upon a cake of ice!</p> + +<p>Hans was greatly terrified, and made haste to leap upon a larger floe, +for the former was too small to hold his weight, and threatened to turn +upside down. Still he was in great danger; for before he knew it the +river had carried him out into a bay of floating ice, far from the +steady land. To and fro he leaped on his long legs, over the moving +mass, hoping to find a way of escaping back to the shore. But presently +he saw to his horror that he was rapidly floating out to the ocean upon +a huge ice-floe, which was fast separating from the others. He was +adrift upon a barren island of ice!</p> + +<p>Scarcely had he had time to realize this, when Hans had another shock. +As he came around a huge pillar of ice, he almost stumbled upon a huge +white bear lying asleep upon her side. It must have been the very same +bear whose tracks had led Hans into danger, and which he had quite +forgotten. With a hunter's instinct Hans raised his gun to shoot her. +But at the moment, before he pulled the trigger, the bear opened her +eyes and spoke to him; and it did not seem so very strange to hear her +speak his own language.</p> + +<p>"Why do you seek to kill me?" she said piteously. "I have done no harm +to you, Hans the Hunter. Moreover, if you kill me you will yourself die +of cold within a few hours. If you lie down upon the ice to sleep you +will freeze to death. But if you rest against my thick fur I will keep +you warm. O man! Why must we be enemies? We are bound on a dangerous sea +voyage together. Be my friend! Catch fish for me, so that we shall not +starve. So, helping one another, we shall live comfortably on this +floating home until we are able to go ashore."</p> + +<p>"Gladly will I do what you say," agreed Hans the Hunter, for he saw that +her words were wise.</p> + +<p>After that Hans and the bear became partners. By day, with the tackle +which he always carried in his wallet, Hans fished for their dinner; +and, indeed, the bear's huge appetite kept him busy! By night he +snuggled against the warm fur of his neighbor and slept soundly, not +feeling the cold. So they kept their bargain.</p> + +<p>Many days went by, and the bear came to love Hans dearly. Indeed, he +liked her, too. But Hans loved himself better, for he was a selfish lad.</p> + +<p>One morning Hans awoke with a start, conscious of an unusual movement +near him. The bear was stirring uneasily in her sleep. But something +else close beside him writhed and wriggled. He rubbed his eyes and +looked again. Nestled against the bear's white fur was a tiny newborn +child, a beautiful baby girl. Hans sat up and stared at the prodigy. +What did it mean? Where did the baby come from? At last an idea came to +him.</p> + +<p>"Oho!" he said to himself. "Now I know what it all means! This is the +Enchanted Bear of whom I have heard so much,--the great White Bear of +the North. That is why she could talk to me, and why I could understand. +That is why her newborn cub is a human child, <EM>until she looks at it</EM>. +Mistress Bear has not yet seen her little one. Ho! What a prize for a +hunter to take home! This enchanted bear-baby will remain human, if I +can steal her away where her mother will never set eyes on her. That +will be something to show the other fellows, I should say!"</p> + +<p>On the preceding night Hans had noted that the ice-floe was approaching +nearer to the land. This morning they were very close to shore. Many +ice-cakes floated about, and by jumping from one to another long-legged +Hans knew that he could make the land. Very gently he took the little +white baby, so soft and warm, in his great hands and wrapped it under +his coat, so that the old bear should not see it. Then silently and +stealthily he prepared to depart. But when he moved away from her side +the old bear wakened suddenly and called after him,--</p> + +<p>"Where are you going, friend Hans? What are you doing with my little cub +that I have never seen?" Hans did not stop to explain, but clasping the +baby tightly, darted off over the ice-field toward the land. Surprised +and fearful, the old bear rose and looked after him with wide eyes of +reproach. Then when she realized what he meant to do, she shook herself +with a mighty roar, and her eyes grew bright and fierce. She started in +pursuit.</p> + +<p>It was a terrible chase! Hans was swift-footed; but after all the ice +was not his natural ground. The bear who had seemed so clumsy traveled +over the ice with miraculous speed, as polar bears do. Hans heard her +panting behind him, drawing nearer and nearer, and his heart sank low. +He knew how sharp her claws were, and how strong her teeth. She was +gaining upon him; but he would not give up the baby. The hard spot in +his heart grew harder. Burdened as he was, he turned about and raising +his gun fired it at the bear. His aim was good,--for was he not Hans the +Hunter? With a moan the great bear fell, and he saw a stream of blood +dye the ice-floe which he had so long shared with her as a home.</p> + +<p>Hans did not pause to mourn over the faithful friend who had kept him +alive and warm for so many nights; but leaving her on the ice to die, +sped shoreward with his burden, jumping lightly from cake to cake of ice +until he reached the land.</p> + +<p>After wandering about for some time Hans found a deserted fisherman's +hut, where he built a fire and cherished the baby which he had stolen. +The little thing seemed to thrive under his clumsy care. He tarried in +the hut for some days, managing to get food for the baby and himself. +Then he took the child and made his way inland until he came to a little +village. He found that it was miles and miles from his former home; but +the people were kind and urged him to stay. So Hans decided to settle +down and live here, practicing his trade as a hunter, and earning enough +to keep himself and the child in comfort. And every day the stolen baby +grew dearer and dearer to Hans the Hunter.</p> + +<p>Years went by. Hans became a big man, the mightiest, most famous hunter +in all the countryside. Presently the little girl was grown up, too. And +she had become the most beautiful tiny maiden in the land. Her name was +Ursula, which means "Little Bear-Girl," though no one knew why Hans had +given her this name. Folk supposed that she was called after the holy +Saint Ursula. Hans, as you may guess, never told the lass about her +bear-mother whom he had so cruelly wronged.</p> + +<p>Hans loved Ursula so dearly that he hoped some day she would become his +little wife. For a long time Ursula laughed and put him off; but at last +she consented.</p> + +<p>One fine day they drove to Church and were married. After the wedding +all the village folk crowded around the sleigh in which Hans was to +carry his young bride home, and wished the couple joy and good luck. For +everybody liked big Hans, who was cruel only to animals; and they adored +his little Ursula, who was cruel to nobody. She looked very pretty as +she sat beside Hans, all pink and white and smiling, wrapped from head +to foot in snowy furs which Hans had given her for a wedding present. +Merrily they waved good-bye to the crowd as they drove away. And every +one said, "Was there ever seen a handsomer, finer couple?"</p> + +<p>It was a gay, long ride home through the forest, and the pair were very +happy. The sun shone dazzlingly on the jeweled snow, and the evergreens +sparkled with icicles. The little brook, hidden under the ice, peeped at +them through sundry chinks here and there, chuckling merrily as he ran. +The sleigh-bells jingled heartily and the horse pranced as if he, too, +shared the joy of that happy wedding day.</p> + +<p>Suddenly, as they came out into an open space, the horse stopped short +with a frightened snort, and stood gazing with wild eyes, trembling in +every limb. Something huge and terrible blocked the road. In the middle +of the way stood a great white bear, upright upon her hind legs.</p> + +<p>Hans recognized her at once; it was his old friend whom he had betrayed! +After all, she was not dead, as he had hoped, but after twenty years had +come back to confront him. She was staring fixedly at Hans,--she had not +yet seen little Ursula muffled in her furs. With a cry Hans threw +himself between his young bride and this terrible sight.</p> + +<p>"Come to me, my Daughter, my Cub!" cried the mother-bear in a deep +voice. "Come to me!"</p> + +<p>Ursula gave a strange, wild cry and struggled in the arms of Hans. "What +is it?" she said. "Oh, what is it? I must see!"</p> + +<p>At the same moment her voice died away into a low whine, then rose into +a howl such as an animal gives in pain. Struggling from her husband's +arms she leaped from the sleigh.</p> + +<p>Instantly Hans followed, holding out his arms piteously and calling, +"Ursula! Ursula!"</p> + +<p>But the white, furry figure did not hear. It was hurrying forward toward +the great bear.</p> + +<p>"Come to me, my Child!" said the bear again. "Leave the wicked man who +betrayed his friend and sought to kill her. Come, let us punish him!"</p> + +<p>Her words ended in a fierce growl, which was echoed by the other white +figure, as she turned about and looked at Hans. And oh, what was this! +With horror he saw that his little bride had, indeed, turned into a +furry white bear. Her eyes burned red and angry as she looked at him, +and she showed her teeth as if her mother's words had turned all her +love of Hans into hatred, for the old bear's sake.</p> + +<p>She seemed about to spring upon Hans and tear him to pieces. But +suddenly her look changed. She folded her paws upon her furry breast, +and Hans saw tears, human tears, come into the little bear's eyes. It +was the last token of her human life, the last gleam of her fondness for +him. She could not punish him as her mother bade. She would not let evil +happen to him, even though he had done such a cruel wrong, because she +had once been his little Ursula.</p> + +<p>Dropping upon all fours she ran toward her mother, and they laid noses +together for their first caress. She seemed to say something to the old +bear in a silent language, which was answered by a deep, sullen growl. +After this, without a further glance at Hans, the two bears turned about +and trotted away together into the forest. Hans the Hunter never saw +them again.</p> + +<p>But after that the gun of Hans hung rusty on the wall of his lonely hut. +The hard spot in his heart had melted.</p> + +<A NAME= "chapter21"></A> +<H2>XXI: RED REX AND KING VICTOR</H2> + +<p>Hardly had Harold finished speaking these last words in the tragic story +of the Bear's Daughter, when there arose from the market-place such a +hubbub and commotion that the Red King's comments on the tale were quite +lost. Voices were shouting and cheering; trumpets were blowing and drums +beating; over the clang of weapons and neighing of horses one caught the +<EM>tramp, tramp</EM> of marching feet.</p> + +<p>Red Rex sprang to his feet, drawing his sword and growing very red in +the face. Once again he was the fierce and terrible War-Lord. But Harold +did not notice. He was too much excited at the tumult going on outside. +He ran hastily to the window and looked out. The square was full of +soldiers and banners and gayly decked horses. Men-at-arms crowded the +side streets, pouring continuously into the square. The ruined porch of +the library was crowded. A guard stood at the portal.</p> + +<p>In the center of the square, bestriding a white horse, sat a stately +figure, dressed all in white armor. His snowy head was uncovered and he +spoke to the cheering people smilingly.</p> + +<p>A great shout arose as he finished his speech. "Long live our good King +Victor!"</p> + +<p>Harold joined in the shout. "Hurrah! Hurrah!"</p> + +<p>And Robert and Richard, scrambling up beside him, echoed the +cheer,--"Hurrah! Hurrah! Long live King Victor!"</p> + +<p>"Our good King has come to Kisington at last!" cried Harold, turning +back into the library.</p> + +<p>He had quite forgotten his warlike guest and why King Victor had come to +Kisington. Indeed, for the moment every one seemed to have forgotten Red +Rex. The Librarian, the Lord Mayor, and the other Leading Citizens had +disappeared, and the library seemed quite empty. But in one corner of +the alcove where the last story had been read, Red Rex was standing at +bay. He had drawn up before him a heavy table, behind which he stood, +sword in hand, one foot advanced, his red beard bristling.</p> + +<p>"Yes, I am trapped!" snarled Red Rex. "You have caught me, boy. But you +shall pay for this!"</p> + +<p>Harold and the Red King stood staring at one another. The <EM>tramp, tramp</EM> +of feet sounded on the staircase, coming nearer. Along the hall came the +tread. The door of the hall opened, and a martial group crossed the +threshold. Foremost came their King, King Victor himself, the splendid, +white-haired peace hero. The three boys dropped each on one knee before +him.</p> + +<p>For a moment the King stood gazing about him mildly, without speaking. +He was tall and stately, but his eyes were kind, even merry, and with +all his dignity there was nothing to strike fear even into the heart of +a child. Presently his eyes caught the figure of the trapped War-Lord, +barricaded and at bay in the corner.</p> + +<p>He stepped forward with a friendly air and held out his hand. "Welcome, +Cousin!" he said in a hearty voice.</p> + +<p>Red Rex glared at him, fairly bristling with rage. "Do not mock me!" he +blustered. "I know well enough that I have been trapped and that the +word of the Lord Mayor of this town, given to me, will not count now. +But you shall not take me alive. I will slay the first who lays hand on +me!" He waved his sword furiously. Harold had never seen him look so +terrible.</p> + +<p>"Nay, nay!" cried King Victor mildly. "You mistake, indeed, Cousin!"</p> + +<p>But the enraged Red King would not listen, and went on with his wild +accusations.</p> + +<p>"I have been trapped by children!" he raged. "Delayed by tales! Deceived +by promises! I trusted all these and disbanded my army, fool that I was! +But take me if you can!" Again he flourished his sword and ground his +teeth.</p> + +<p>King Victor stood looking at the War-Lord without speaking. At last he +raised his hand with a grand gesture and said with emphasis and +sincerity, "You are making a great mistake, Cousin! You are not trapped. +The promise of the Lord Mayor is sacred. In my land a word is as good as +a treaty. You are quite free to go, if you list. But, indeed, we hope +you will deign to stay, as our honored guest. It is the first time you +have graced our Kingdom with your presence, Cousin. We long to be +friends with you; to see lasting peace between our neighboring lands."</p> + +<p>"You come with an army," retorted Red Rex sullenly. "You came in +response to summons. You came to combat me."</p> + +<p>"That is true," assented King Victor. "When we heard that Kisington was +besieged, we gathered together our peaceful army and hastened hither in +the interests of peace. But we arrive to find, instead of a bloody +siege, a peaceful King enjoying this library. We hasten to add our own +welcome to that of Kisington's Leading Citizens. We invite you to +remain, Cousin, and enjoy not only these but other treasures of our +Kingdom which it may be to your advantage to know better."</p> + +<p>"If my army had not disbanded," blustered the War-Lord, "you would not +be speaking to me so debonairly."</p> + +<p>"Maybe not, maybe not!" agreed King Victor.</p> + +<p>"Yet, our volunteer police force embraces every citizen of our Kingdom. +We should have surrounded you without trouble or bloodshed, Cousin. We +could have persuaded your army by sheer force of numbers and opinion, +without doubt. But let us not think of that. Let us rather consider the +pleasanter things which surround us. Shall we not be friends, Cousin? We +know your Kingdom well. We have read and studied about it thoroughly in +our books. We have, indeed, traveled all over it in peaceful disguise. +Come, you ought to become as well acquainted with ours; then I am sure +we should never misunderstand one another again. Say, Cousin Rex, shall +it be?"</p> + +<p>He advanced a step nearer the other, holding out his hand and smiling +genially. His sincerity was plain.</p> + +<p>The War-Lord dropped his sword. "I believe you!" he cried, stepping +forward and grasping the proffered hand. "Cousin, Neighbor, let there be +peace between our whole kingdoms; even as we promised between myself and +Kisington."</p> + +<p>"So be it!"</p> + +<p>The two monarchs embraced in kingly fashion, and sat down in a retired +alcove for a pleasant chat.</p> + +<p>It was not long before Harold was summoned to the pair. King Victor +received him kindly, and Red Rex grinned. "We have heard the tale of +your service to the State and to our Royal Friend, Harold," said King +Victor graciously. "We would fain give you a suitable reward, my brave +Bookworm. What shall it be? Tell me your wish."</p> + +<p>Harold flushed and stammered. "I do not wish a reward for the little I +did, Sire," he said. "I had no thought of that. Indeed, it was a +pleasure to read for His Majesty."</p> + +<p>"Yea, so we believe!" smiled the King. "Yet some reward we owe for your +true office. What shall it be?"</p> + +<p>Harold hesitated, thinking. "Truly, for myself I ask nothing," he said. +"Yet, perhaps, Sire, you would help my mother, my dear mother, so that +she need not work so hard while I am learning to be a scholar."</p> + +<p>"It shall be so!" cried the King. "She shall have a little maid to help +her; money to pay the rent, buy food and clothes and modest pleasures. +These shall she have. But for yourself, Harold? We must show you some +special favor, for our own comfort."</p> + +<p>"Well," said Harold, "one thing I scarcely dare to ask. But I should +like more time to read in the library while His Majesty is here. Maybe I +could serve him better if I had not to go to school these days. May the +school children have a vacation of a week, Sire?"</p> + +<p>"A fortnight!" cried King Victor, beaming. "It is the very pith of our +talk, my boy. For a week the King our Cousin is fain to tarry in +Kisington, and he asks no better than yourself to be his guide, +philosopher, and friend. Then for a week he will be my guest, traveling +with me over the Kingdom, visiting certain places whereabout you have +made him curious by your stories. He asks that you may go as his page. +Both these things are possible if we grant the school a fortnight's +recess. It shall be done. But still, this is little reward for your wise +doings, my boy. Ask something more."</p> + +<p>"Then, Sire, I beg this," said Harold, with shining eyes. "Let Robert +and Richard go with me as assistant pages. That will be a merry vacation +for us all; no better boon could I ask!"</p> + +<p>The King laughed merrily. "A boy's wish!" he said, "but it shall be +granted. Now, come hither, Harold." With these words King Victor threw +over the boy's shoulders a heavy gold chain with a cross hanging from +it. "'Blessed are the peacemakers,'" quoted King Victor. "Wear this, +Harold, a token from your grateful country. And with it goes the gift of +a hundred books, which you shall choose for yourself, to be the +beginning of a library of your own,--Book Wizard, as they call you!"</p> + +<p>The bells of Kisington began to peal gayly and continuously, a triple +rejoicing. The beloved King being in town was sufficient reason for +festival. Therefore,--<EM>Ding dong!</EM> Peace was declared forever between +the two neighboring nations. Therefore, <EM>Ding dong! Ding dong!</EM> A +holiday for the school children of Kisington, Harold's friends. +Therefore,--<EM>Ding dong! Ding dong! Ding dong!</EM></p> + +<p>Harold went home to his mother with the glad news. And proud enough she +was of her lad when she heard why all the bells were ringing, and saw +his golden cross.</p> + +<A NAME= "chapter22"></A> +<H2>XXII: THE BOOKS CONQUER</H2> + +<p>Thus began the wonderful fortnight of vacation that Harold and Robert +and Richard never forgot in all their lives.</p> + +<p>For a happy week the War-Lord tarried in Kisington. He spent much of his +time studying at the library, reading many books, but especially such +tales as Harold thought the little Princess Hope would enjoy. Many of +these he heard Harold read aloud; sometimes in the cozy alcoves of the +library, where they could disturb no one; sometimes in the sumptuous +apartments of the palace which King Victor had put at the disposal of +Red Rex; oftenest and best of all in the little thatched cottage of +Harold's mother, where the Red King came to feel perfectly at home. For +one of the first things Harold did in his vacation time was to invite +the War-Lord to dinner.</p> + +<p>"We shall have for dessert one of my mother's famous apple pies," +promised Harold with a twinkle. The Red King blushed; but he accepted +the invitation in a truly kingly spirit.</p> + +<p>There was now plenty to eat and drink in Harold's home, and a nice +little maid to help his mother and make the days pleasanter. It was a +very merry party that gathered around the table in the kitchen that +night. Richard and Robert were there; for the Red King had taken a fancy +to them, and they all talked together like old friends. The Red King had +many thrilling adventures to tell them of his roving life. And Red Rex +was learning many new and novel things of them all the while. For this +was the first time he had ever eaten in a thatched cottage, or in the +company of simple strangers.</p> + +<p>When the great pie was brought in, all steaming and spicy, Harold and +the War-Lord exchanged a peculiar glance.</p> + +<p>"Your Majesty has tasted my pie before," said Harold's mother +innocently. "I sent a piece with Harold's luncheon one day, and he tells +me you approved of it. That is why we have it to-day for dessert."</p> + +<p>"Ah! I approve of it, indeed! I shall never forget your pie, dear little +Mother!" cried the Red King with a laugh. "It is worth adventuring much +to obtain even a bite of pies like yours."</p> + +<p>"They taste best of all at midnight," said Harold mischievously.</p> + +<p>"That I cannot believe," said Red Rex, frowning at him. "I never ate pie +so delicious before this day!"</p> + +<p>"Do you think one piece of pie hot is worth five pies cold, Your +Majesty?" asked Harold.</p> + +<p>"Yes, indeed!" cried the Red King, turning still redder. "Especially if +eaten in such pleasant company."</p> + +<p>"So thought not the wicked old woman who stole my pies," said Harold's +mother. "I wonder if she will ever dare to claim that beautiful shawl +which she left behind her?"</p> + +<p>"I dare say not," frowned the Red King. "And inasmuch as the Lord Mayor +declares that she must have been a native of my Kingdom, intruding +within your walls, I hereby make over to you that shawl which she has +forfeited by her wicked deed. Wear it henceforth without a qualm, +Mother."</p> + +<p>She wore it to church the very next Sunday, and all the ladies envied +her this last piece of good luck which seemed to follow the coming of +the Red King.</p> + +<p>Red Rex was eager to visit every corner of Kisington about which he had +heard in the Chronicles. Since this was vacation time, Harold and Robert +and Richard were overjoyed to be his guides. They visited the Old +Curiosity Shop where the Lion Passant had lived dumbly for years before +the coming of the Patent Medicine Man. The store was still kept by a +wheezy old fellow with a cough; though he was not the same who had +spilled the Elixir over the Lion Passant. Of him the War-Lord bought so +many curiosities that he and his little old wife became quite rich, and +never had to worry about the future any more.</p> + +<p>They visited the ruined old castle, a little way out of Kisington on the +road to Hushby, where Arthur had found the magic glass, made by his +uncle the Amateur Magician. It was now all in ruins, inhabited only by +bats and owls and rats. But the Red King prowled about the crumbling +chambers with the greatest delight, and took home a paper of pebbles as +a souvenir for the little Princess Hope, who made "collections."</p> + +<p>They visited the famous bakehouse of the Rafe-Margot Company, where a +kind of pastry called "Kingspies" was still made after the old recipe, +which had first been used in the oven of the premises. For this was the +site of the little red house that had stood on the acre of land under +the red-apple tree. All these had disappeared; and the Kingspies, which +the Red King tasted eagerly, were not as good as the home-made variety +of which Harold's mother had inherited the secret. For there is +something magic about the pies that a mother makes in her own kitchen +which no factory can imitate.</p> + +<p>At this factory Red Rex left a large sum of money to pay for Kingspies +which should be given to any hungry man who asked; particularly if he +asked at midnight,--which seemed, indeed, a strange condition! But +Harold understood why the Red King did this thing. And Harold never told +any one,--not even Robert and Richard.</p> + +<p>One day they all went to visit what had been Gerda's Wonder-Garden, by +the sea. It was now called the Aquarium, and was a public park, free to +all the people of Kisington. It was quite as wonderful as ever, for it +was full of all the strange and beautiful creatures of the sea, and Red +Rex marveled greatly to see them there.</p> + +<p>In charge of the Aquarium was the Lady Anyse, who was a descendant of +Cedric and Gerda. She came to greet them when she heard of their +arrival, and as soon as their eyes met she and the Red King gazed at +each other long and earnestly. She was tall and stately, and very +beautiful. She had red hair like the King's, and bright blue eyes; and +she was afraid of nothing. She and Red Rex stared at each other long and +earnestly, without speaking.</p> + +<p>At last Red Rex said:--</p> + +<p>"In sooth, I believe you are, indeed, of my kin! Something tells me so. +I am sure that Gerda, your great-great-grandmother came from my Kingdom, +and was sister of my great-great-grandfather."</p> + +<p>"I think so too," said the Lady Anyse.</p> + +<p>"Cousin," declared Red Rex, "you have been too long away from the land +of your fathers. Will you go back with me, to my little daughter? She +has no mother, and she needs one badly; some one from a peaceful +Kingdom. I think she needs you. I am going, moreover, to make for her a +splendid Aquarium, like this of Kisington. This also will need your +care."</p> + +<p>"I think so too," said the Lady Anyse.</p> + +<p>"Then you will come back with me?" begged Red Rex, more eagerly than he +had ever begged for anything in his life. "It will make a new bond +between our Kingdoms, so that we shall never be at war again."</p> + +<p>"I think so too!" said the Lady Anyse, who was a woman of few words.</p> + +<p>So that matter was happily settled, to the Red King's great content. And +a happy thing, indeed, it proved for the little Princess Hope and for +the two Kingdoms.</p> + +<p>When the second week began, Red Rex left Kisington to visit King Victor +at the Capital City. Harold and Robert and Richard accompanied him as +pages, each wearing a beautiful suit of velvet and gold, and each riding +on a fine little white pony, the gift of Red Rex.</p> + +<p>What a glorious trip that was! For first they made a detour to the Town +of Hushby. There still stood the inn where Arthur had met pretty Margot +who afterwards became his Countess, and where he had his first adventure +with the wicked Oscar. From there the party went up into the mountains +where the Dragon used to live. Harold and the other two boys scrambled +about among the rocks, and after a while they found the very place which +had been the Dragon's den. It was a cave fifty feet long and twelve feet +high, very black and gloomy. And in it were a great many skulls and +bones of persons whom the Dragon had killed and eaten in those dreadful +years, long, long ago. But now it was empty and forgotten.</p> + +<p>From Hushby they rode to the Capital City, which was all decked with +banners and flowers to receive Red Rex, the ex-War-Lord. Then began a +season of royal merrymaking to celebrate the peace between the two +Kingdoms. There were banquets and dancing and games and pageants, +processions and concerts and fireworks, all of which the Red King and +his three pages enjoyed hugely. King Victor was very kind to them, and +made them happy in every way he could devise.</p> + +<p>He invited them to the Royal Museum, where they were privileged to view +some of the most precious treasures of the Kingdom. They saw in a glass +case on a velvet mat the tiny stuffed Dragon himself; he who had once +been the Terror of Hushby. They saw, too, the now un-magical glass with +which Arthur had vanquished his enemy. It looked like any other mere +reading-glass with an ivory handle, and it was hard to believe what +wonders it had done. In this same collection was the first pie-plate +brought by Rafe's messenger to the King, after that clever cook became +pie-maker-in-ordinary to the throne.</p> + +<p>Here, too, was the glove of that royal giantess, the Princess Agnes, who +had refused to marry Arthur because he was too little. It was as broad +as a palm-leaf fan, and much thicker. Close by the monster glove lay a +tiny white moccasin, which had once been worn by Ursula, the bear's +daughter, and which had been brought back from the far land of that sad +story by one of the sea-rovers of Kisington, who had first told the +tale.</p> + +<p>Here also was one of the partly-grated nuts with which Meg had flavored +the first King's Pie; and a precious pearl from Gerda's Wonder-Garden, +the gift of the grateful Mermaid. There, worn to rags, by the passage of +many years, was the original lion-doll made by Claribel, from the model +of the Lion Passant. And this the Red King liked best of all. But there +were many interesting things in the Museum of King Victor which recalled +to Red Rex the stories that Harold had read to him.</p> + +<p>One day King Victor and a merry party rode to the town of Derrydown in +the north. Here was the great lion-doll factory, started by Claribel and +the Lion Passant, which had made their fortune and that of Derrydown. +The party stopped at the old Red Lion Inn where the sign still swung +over the door as in the days when the Lion Passant had first been struck +by its resemblance to his family crest. And because it was his family +crest also, Red Rex made the landlord a handsome present. In these days +the Red King was generosity itself.</p> + +<p>Hard by the Inn was the very same tiny hut in which Claribel had lived; +and over the fireplace still showed dimly the carved coat of arms and +the motto, <EM>Noblesse oblige</EM>.</p> + +<p>When Red Rex saw this, he stood and stared at it a long time, saying +nothing. "I used to think that meant 'A King can do no wrong,'" said he +at last in a low voice to King Victor. "Now I believe it means, 'A King +must do no wrong.'"</p> + +<p>"So I too believe," agreed King Victor. "But I would make the motto say +still more. Every one can be noble, and a noble must do no wrong."</p> + +<p>"It shall be the motto of my people!" declared Red Rex. And so it +became.</p> + +<p>But there were other tales of this neighborhood which Red Rex +remembered. "May we not go hunting in the Ancient Wood, of which I have +heard?" asked Red Rex while they tarried in Derrydown. "I understand +that it is not far, and that there is great game to be had in those +still coverts."</p> + +<p>"Nay; in these days we do not hunt in my Kingdom," replied King Victor. +"Since hearing the tale of the Bear's Daughter it has been no pleasure +for any of us to kill or hurt any dumb creature."</p> + +<p>"Ah!" cried Red Rex. "I had forgot that story! Hans wounded a poor +friendly bear who had done him no harm. That was cowardly, indeed! True, +Cousin. Neither do I wish to hunt any more. It was that tale which you +punctuated by your noisy arrival in Kisington, do you remember? I picked +out that story for myself; and it has done a service to the wild +creatures of my Kingdom, who will henceforth be safe from me and mine. +But, indeed, though we do not hunt, I would fain see this Ancient Wood, +where the Old Gnome lived in his hollow tree."</p> + +<p>"We will go this very day," answered King Victor. And go they did. Sure +enough, in a clearing they found the house which David had built for his +little wife, snug and clean and empty. Close by in the thick woods the +three boys discovered a giant tree-stump, papered with moss and hung +with cobweb hammocks, which they felt sure had been the house of the +Hermit Gnome in the days before he became a Fairy.</p> + +<p>"I must bring my little daughter Hope to see this place," declared the +Red King. "She would love it best of all. What good times she would have +with me here in the forest! I would tell her the story of David, and +learn myself to be a woodsman."</p> + +<p>"It is more amusing than war," declared King Victor. "With books in the +city and woodcraft in the wild, who would be a soldier? Look, now! I +will give to your little Princess Hope as a gift this tiny cottage, +where David and his wife and little daughter lived so happily. When she +comes to visit our Kingdom,--often, as I hope,--you can play at being a +woodsman; which is a good game. But you must promise to let me be your +guest for at least one night of each visit. For I, too, love these woods +and this little house which has been my secret retreat for many years. +Will you accept my gift for your little daughter, Cousin?"</p> + +<p>"Gladly do I accept!" cried Red Rex. And they shook hands gayly.</p> + +<p>Still further they penetrated across the meadow to the woods once called +the Great Fear. Red Rex was anxious to know more of that once dangerous +neighborhood. But since peace had become the fashion in the Kingdom, the +wicked Gnomes, who had tried as long as possible to prick war-poison +into the hearts of men, found their occupation gone. When the good +King's peace plans reached their ears the Gnomes groaned in despair. +They held a council, and decided unanimously to curl up forthwith in the +long sleep and let the world alone.</p> + +<p>There was now no sign of them, save where here and there a gnarled arm +or burly bended knee seemed to push up from the ground. But these were +so covered with mould and moss that it was impossible to tell them from +the fallen tree-trunks or mounds of earth. Harold and Robert and Richard +did not disturb these mossy mysteries. In times of peace it is better to +let sleeping Gnomes lie. Only the makers of ammunition and warships and +newspaper scareheads (of whom there were none in King Victor's land) +would be eager to see those busy-bodies awake and at their malicious +work again, causing peaceful places to become a Great Fear.</p> + +<p>When the happy fortnight ended, the Red King went back to his Kingdom +and his little Princess Hope, taking with him the beautiful Lady Anyse.</p> + +<p>Then began a time of peace in that hitherto restless land; a time of +peace and prosperity and happiness, of neighborliness and the exchange +of friendly doings. King Victor went to visit the erstwhile War-Lord, +and in that time taught the Red King many useful arts of peace. And who, +think you, went with King Victor on that visit? Who but the good +Librarian and Harold, his adopted son. The Librarian had his pockets +full of plans for a grand new library to be established in the Capital +of Red Rex. And Harold had his pockets full of stories for the little +Princess, and his bag full of sweetmeats for that same wee lady, made by +his kind mother who was now pie-maker-general to the Red King, according +as they had planned.</p> + +<p>Harold and the Princess Hope, who was the dearest of little girls in +pink-and-gold, became the best of friends. And when the following summer +she came with Red Rex and the Queen Anyse to live in the hut in the +Ancient Wood and play at being wood-folk, Harold and Richard and Robert +came also. The three boys encamped (like Boy Scouts) in the woods close +by the hollow tree which had once been the cell of the Hermit Gnome. And +they used his house for their cooling cellar!</p> + +<HR> + +<p>So ended the Siege of Kisington, where the books conquered. And the days +of peace continued until the time when Harold, having become a famous +scholar, was chosen Librarian and Governor of Kisington.</p> + +<p>In those days there were no more forts or walls or jealous boundaries +between the Kingdoms; for the lands were one in peace and good-will. +There were no armies or weapons or disputes; for the nations understood +and loved and trusted one another, and their rulers were wise men and +women.</p> + +<p>In those days the Princess Hope had become the most beautiful +book-loving maiden in the world, and the wise Governor of her father's +fairest city, adjoining Kisington.</p> + +<p>Of course you can guess what happened next?</p> + +<p>And they lived happy ever after.</p> + +<p>THE END</p> + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Kisington Town, by Abbie Farwell Brown + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK KISINGTON TOWN *** + +***** This file should be named 41729-h.htm or 41729-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/4/1/7/2/41729/ + +Produced by Meredith Dixon and Melissa Reid + +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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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: Kisington Town + +Author: Abbie Farwell Brown + +Release Date: December 28, 2012 [EBook #41729] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK KISINGTON TOWN *** + + + + +Produced by Meredith Dixon and Melissa Reid + + + + +By Abbie Farwell Brown + Kisington Town. Illustrated. + Songs of Sixpence. Illustrated. + Their City Christmas. Illustrated. + John of the Woods. Illustrated. + Fresh Posies. Illustrated. + Friends and Cousins. Illustrated. + The Star Jewels and Other Wonders. Illustrated. + The Flower Princess. Illustrated. + The Curious Book of Birds. Illustrated. + A Pocketful of Posies. Illustrated. + In the Days of Giants. Illustrated. + The Book of Saints and Friendly Beasts. Illustrated. + The Lonesomest Doll. Illustrated. + + Houghton Mifflin Company + Boston and New York + +[Frontispiece: THERE WERE WIDE WINDOW-SEATS AND CUSHIONS] + +Kisington Town by Abbie Farwell Brown + +"Blessed are the peacemakers." + +With Illustrations + +[Illustration: Le Lion Passant] + + To the Best of Readers, + Whose Pleasant Voices taught me + the Love of Books + Dear Father : Dear Mother + + O for a book and a shadie nook + Eyther in-a-door or out, + With the greene leaves whisp'ring overhede, + Or the street-cryes all about, + Where I may Reade at my ease, + Both of the Newe and Olde + For a jollie goode Booke, whereon to looke, + Is better to me than Golde! -- Old Song + +CONTENTS + + I. HAROLD + II. THE SIEGE OF KISINGTON + III. RED REX + IV. THE DRAGON OF HUSHBY, PART I + V. THE DRAGON OF HUSHBY, PART II + VI. THE DRAGON OF HUSHBY, PART III + VII. THE BARGAIN + VIII. THE WONDER-GARDEN + IX. THE KING'S COAT OF ARMS + X. THE LION PASSANT + XI. HOPE + XII. THE HERMIT GNOME + XIII. HAROLD'S LUNCHEON XIV. THE ROBBER XV. THE BANDAGED HAND + XVI. THE KING'S PIE + XVII. THE MYSTERY OF THE PIE + XVIII. LITTLE BEAR: AN OJIBWAY LEGEND + XIX. THE RED KING'S VISIT + XX. THE BEAR'S DAUGHTER + XXI. RED REX AND KING VICTOR + XXII. THE BOOKS CONQUER + +Note: The tales of "The Wonder-Garden" and "The King's Pie" are here +reprinted by courteous permission of the publishers of _St. Nicholas_, +in which magazine they originally appeared. The tales of "The Dragon of +Hushby," "The Lion Passant," and "Little Bear," are reprinted by kind +permission of the publishers of _The Churchman_. The Icelandic legend +of "The Bear's Daughter" is sketched from notes of a talk by Vilhjalmir +Stef'ansson, the explorer, who is lamented as lost on the late +unfortunate voyage of the Karluk to Arctic waters. + +ILLUSTRATIONS + + THERE WERE WIDE WINDOW-SEATS AND CUSHIONS--Colored frontispiece. + HAROLD BEGAN TO READ FROM THE RED-AND-GOLD BOOK + SHE LOOKED BAD-TEMPERED + THE MAIDENS WOULD PAUSE TO LOOK AFTER THE GOLDEN COACH + HE STOOD IN THE DOORWAY TALKING WITH THE STRANGER + +From drawings by Ruby Winckler + + + +I: HAROLD + +Once upon a time there was a peaceful Kingdom which you will hardly find +upon the map. In one corner of the Kingdom by the sea was the pretty +little Town of Kisington, where a great many strange things had happened +in the past, the chronicles of which filled the town library. + +On the High Street of Kisington lived a boy named Harold, who was chief +of all the boys in town. He could run faster, jump higher, solve a +problem more quickly, and throw a ball farther than any other lad of his +age. He was tall and straight and broad-shouldered. His hair was brown +and curly, and his eyes were sky-color,--sometimes blue, sometimes gray, +sometimes almost black. All the boys liked Harold, especially Richard +and Robert, his chums. And Harold liked all the boys and their doings; +especially these same two, Robert and Richard. + +Harold was the son of a poor widow; one of the poorest in the Kingdom. +But though she was so poor, the mother of Harold was determined that her +son should be a scholar, because he liked books. And she worked early +and late to earn the money for his education. + +When Harold was not in school or playing out of doors with the other +boys, he always had a book in his hand. Often this happened in the town +library, where Harold loved to go. But almost as often it happened at +home. For though Harold liked to read to himself, he liked quite as well +to read aloud to his mother, who ever since she was a tiny child had +always been so busy taking care of other people that she had never found +time to learn to read for herself. The greatest happiness of her life +came in the evening when her work was done. Then she could sit in a cozy +chair in their cottage and hear her boy read the exciting books which he +got from the library of Kisington. And the other boys--especially +Richard and Robert--liked also to hear Harold read; for his voice was +agreeable and he read simply and naturally, without any gestures or +tremulous tones, without pulling queer faces such as make listeners +want to sink through the floor with embarrassment. + +Every time Harold read a story aloud he liked it better than before; +every time he read aloud he read better than he had done the last time, +until there was nobody in Kisington, not even the Librarian himself, who +was so good a reader as Harold. But the other boys were not jealous, +Harold was so good-natured and always ready to read to them. + +The Librarian was a very important personage indeed in Kisington. You +see, this was a peaceful Kingdom, where books were more thought of than +bullets, and libraries than battleships. The Librarian wore a splendid +velvet gown with fur upon the hood, and a gold chain around his neck +with a medal, and he was second in importance only to the Lord Mayor +himself. + +One summer evening the windows of the cottage where Harold and his +mother lived were wide open, and Harold was reading aloud to her. For a +wonder, they were quite by themselves. The Librarian, who was a lonely +old fellow without chick or child of his own, happened to be passing +down the High Street when he heard the sound of a voice reading. It +read so well that he stopped to listen. Presently he tapped on the door +and begged to be invited within the better to hear the reading. The +widow was very proud and pleased, you may be sure. She bade the +Librarian welcome, and Harold continued to read until curfew sounded for +every one to go to bed. The Librarian patted him on the head and asked +if he might come again to hear such good reading. He came, in fact, the +very next night. + +After that Harold usually had an audience of at least two on the long +evenings, even when the other boys were busy. The Librarian became his +fast friend. He liked to come to the little cottage better than anywhere +else in the world, except to his own library. But at the library he in +turn was host, and Harold became his guest. And he showed Harold many +wonderful things in that library of which no one but the Librarian knew +the existence,--strange histories, forgotten chronicles, wonder-tales. +Gradually Harold became almost as well acquainted with the books as was +the Librarian himself; though, of course, he did not at first understand +them all. Nothing happens all at once. The other fellows called Harold +the "Book-Wizard." + +The library was a beautiful building on the main square, close by the +Lord Mayor's house and the belfry, where swung the great town bell. It +was open freely to every one, from morning until night, and any one +could always get any book he wanted, for there were many copies of each +book. The caretakers always knew just where to find the book one wished. +Or the reader might go in and choose for himself; which is a pleasanter +thing when you have forgotten the name of your book, or do not know just +which book you want most until you have looked about. + +The shelves of the library were nice and low, so that, no matter how +little you were, you could reach the books without standing on tiptoe or +climbing a dangerous ladder. And everywhere in the library were +well-lighted tables to put books on, and cozy chairs, and crickets for +your feet, and cushions for your back. There were wide window-seats, +too, where between chapters one could curl up and look down into a +beautiful garden. + +The air of the library was always sweet and clean. The books were always +bright and fresh. There was no noise, nor dust, nor torn pages, nor +cross looks to disturb one. The people who took care of the books were +civil and obliging. It was indeed a very rare and unusual library. No +wonder Harold and the Librarian and all the other citizens of Kisington +loved it and were proud of it and used it very often. + + + +II: THE SIEGE OF KISINGTON + +Now, when Harold was about twelve years old, a terrible thing befell his +city. Red Rex, ruler of the neighboring land across the border, decided +to make war on this peaceful Kingdom, just for fun. He was a fierce and +powerful King, and he had a fierce and powerful army, always ready, +night and day. One morning, without any warning whatever, they marched +right up to the walls of Kisington, which were never defended, and laid +siege to the city. They began to batter the gates and mine the walls and +fire into the city arrows and cannon-balls, or whatever were the +fashionable missiles of that long-past day. The peaceful city was in +danger of being utterly destroyed. + +The people of Kisington were greatly distressed. Though they were brave, +they did not want to fight. They had no time for fighting, there were so +many more interesting things to attend to: agriculture and commerce, +science and art and music, study and play and happiness, all of which +come to an end when fighting begins. They did not want to fight; but +neither did they want their beautiful city destroyed, with all its +treasures. + +There was no telephone, no telegraph in those days. Messages went by +horses. It would be days before help could come from their own King +Victor, who lived in the Capital City. In the mean time what could be +done to save Kisington? The Lord Mayor set the great bell to tolling in +the belfry, and this called together the Chief Citizens in the hall of +the library to consider the emergency. + +"Alas!" quoth the Lord Mayor, trying to make himself heard in the horrid +din that was arising from the city gates, "our fair city is threatened, +and will be taken in a few hours unless we can devise some plan of +wisdom. Force we have not, as you all know. Force is the argument of +barbarians. Already a missile has knocked down the statue of Progress +from the portal of the library, and I fear that the whole building is +doomed. For it is at our library that the enemy seem to be directing +their malice." + +A groan of anguish answered him. Then the Librarian spoke up. "Ah! the +misguided King! He does not love books. If only he knew the treasures he +is threatening to destroy! He cannot understand." + +"No. He knows not what he does," said the Lord Mayor solemnly. "He is +war-mad and cannot understand anything else. If he had been brought up +to love peace and learning and progress better than war and blood, he +would be a different man. He would be seeking to know our books in love, +not to destroy them with hate. If he had but read our Chronicles, surely +he would not wish to put an end to this our unique treasure." + +The Librarian started at his words and jumped to his feet. "You give me +an idea, my Lord Mayor!" he cried. "Can we not cause him to change his +mind? Can we not interest him in our books, enthrall him in the +Chronicles of Kisington, so that he will cease to make war? Can we not +at least gain time until our King Victor and his allies shall come to +our aid?" + +_Boom!_ went the cannon, and _Crash!_ the statue of a great poet fell +from the portal of the library. + +The Lord Mayor shuddered. "It is an idea," he agreed. "There is a faint +hope. Something must be done, and that quickly. How shall we begin, Sir +Librarian?" + +The Librarian turned to the shelves behind him and took down at random a +book bound in red-and-gold. "Here, let us begin with this," he said. "It +may not be the best of all our Chronicles, but if the warlike King can +be induced to read it through, it may serve to hold his wrath for a +space." + +"Who will go with the volume into the enemy's camp?" asked the Lord +Mayor dubiously. + +"We must send our best reader," said the Librarian. "Red Rex must hear +the tale read aloud, the better to hold his unaccustomed attention." + +"Surely, you are the best reader, Sir Librarian," urged the Lord Mayor +generously. "How we all admire your style and diction!" + +_Crash!_ The rainbow window above their heads was shivered into a +thousand pieces. + +The Lord Mayor turned pale. "We must make haste!" he urged, pushing the +Librarian gently by the elbow. + +"Nay," said the Librarian coolly, releasing himself. "There is one who +reads far better than I. It is a young boy, the son of a poor widow +living on the High Street. Harold is his name, and he reads as sweetly +as a nightingale sings. Let us send for him at the same time when our +messenger goes to King Victor." + +"Let it be done immediately!" commanded the Lord Mayor. + +This happened on a Saturday, when the boys were not at school. But on +account of the bombardment of the city, the Lord Mayor had already given +orders that every child should remain in his own home that morning. So +Harold was with his mother when the messenger from the Lord Mayor +knocked on the door of the little cottage in the High Street, and Robert +and Richard did not know anything about it. + +"Come with me!" said the messenger to Harold. "You are needed for +important service." + +"Oh, where is he going?" cried the poor, trembling mother, holding back +her boy by the shoulders. + +"He is to come directly to the library," said the messenger. "The +Librarian has a task for him." + +"Ah! The Librarian!" The mother sighed with relief, and let her hands +fall from the shoulders of Harold. "To that good man of peace I can +trust my son, even amid this wicked bombardment." + +When Harold came to the library with the messenger, they found the +beautiful portal of the building quite destroyed, and the windows lying +in pitiful shattered fragments. They entered under a rain of missiles, +and discovered the Leading Citizens gathered in a pale group in the +center of the hall, under a heavy oak table. + +"My boy!" said the Librarian, with as much dignity as possible under the +circumstances. "We have sent for you, believing that you only can save +our beautiful library, our books, our city, our people, from immediate +destruction. Will you risk your life for all these, Harold?" + +Harold looked at him bravely. "I do not know what you mean, sir," he +said, "but gladly would I risk my life to save the precious books +alone. Tell me what I am to do, and I will do it as well as a boy can." + +"Well spoken, my brave lad!" cried the Librarian. "You are to do this"; +and he thrust into the hand of Harold a red-and-gold volume. "Even as +the boy David of old conquered the Philistine with a child's toy, so you +may perhaps conquer this Philistine with a story-book. Go to the savage +King yonder, with a flag of truce; and if you can win his ear, beg to +read him this, which is of an importance. If you read as well as I have +heard you do ere now, I think he will pause in his work of destruction, +at least until the story's end." + +Harold took the book, wondering. "I will try my best, sir," he promised +simply. + + + +III. RED REX + +A committee of the First Citizens led Harold to the city gate. He wished +to say good-bye to his mother, and to Richard and Robert; but there was +no time. Presently a watchman raised a white flag above the wall. +Thereafter the noise of the besiegers ceased. + +"A truce, ho!" + +"What message from the besieged?" + +"One comes to parley with your King." + +"Let him come forth, under the flag of truce. He will be safe." + +Bearing the white flag in one hand and the gorgeous book in the other, +Harold stepped outside the gate. The foreign soldiers stared to see so +young a messenger, and some of them would have laughed. But Harold held +up his head proudly and showed them that he was not afraid, nor was he +to be laughed at. + +"I am the messenger. Pray bring me to the King," he said with dignity. + +A guard of fierce-looking soldiers took him in charge and marched him +across the trampled sward, between the ranks of the army, until they +came to a little hillock. And there Harold found himself standing in +front of a huge man with bristling red hair and beard, having a mighty +arm bound with iron. His eyes were wild and bloodshot. He sat upon the +hillock as if it were a throne, and held a wicked-looking sword across +his great knees, frowning terribly. + +"Well, who are you, and what do you want with me?" growled the Red King. +"A queer envoy this! A mere boy!" + +"The City Fathers have sent me to read you something, please Your +Majesty," said Harold, trying to look brave, though his knees were +quaking at the awful appearance of the War-Lord. + +"Is it a war message?" asked Red Rex, eyeing the red-and-gold book +suspiciously. + +"You must hear and judge," answered Harold. + +"Very well," grumbled the Red King. "But waste no time. Begin and have +done as quickly as may be." + +Harold began to read from the red-and-gold book; but he had not gone far +when Red Rex interrupted him. + +"Why, it is a tale!" he roared. "Thunder and lightning! Do they think +this is a child's party? Go home with your story-book to your nursery +and leave me to deal with your city in warrior fashion." + +"I come from no nursery!" protested Harold, squaring his shoulders. "I +am no molly-coddle. No boy can beat me at any game. I am instructed to +read you this, and I must do so, unless you break the truce and do me +harm." + +"Who ever heard the like of this!" thundered Red Rex. "Here am I making +real war, and this boy interrupts me to read a tale! What a waste of +time! I read nothing, boy. War dispatches are all I have taste for. Does +this concern war?" + +"It has everything to do with this war," said Harold truthfully. "It is +very important, and they say I read rather well." + +"When did you learn to read rather well?" questioned the Red King +sulkily. "I never learned to read well, myself, and I am thrice your +age. I never have had time. At your years I was already a soldier. +Fighting was the only sport I cared for. Reading is girls' business." + +"A lot of good things are girls' business, and boys' business, too," +said Harold loyally. "But please hear me read about the fight, Your +Majesty." + +"About a fight;--it is a long time since I heard a story about a fight, +written in ink," said the Red King musingly. "But I have myself seen +many fights, written in red blood." + +"This is a story different from any you ever read," said Harold. "It is +a story no one ever heard read before, outside Kisington. Will Your +Majesty permit that I begin?" + +Red Rex hummed and hawed, hesitated and frowned. But he was a curious +King, as well as a savage one, and his curiosity triumphed. "What ho!" +he shouted to his guard at last. "Let there be a truce until I give word +to resume the fighting. I have that which claims my attention. Boy, I +will hear the story. Plant the flag of truce upon this hillock and sit +down here at my feet. Now!" He unfastened his belt and sword, took off +his heavy helmet and made himself comfortable, while his men lolled +about in the grass near by. Harold seated himself at the feet of the Red +King, as he was bidden; and opening the red-and-gold book began to read +in his best manner the story of _The Dragon of Hushby_. + + + +IV. THE DRAGON OF HUSHBY, PART I + +Long, long ago, in the days when even stranger things befell than we see +nowadays, travelers brought news to the little town of +Kisington-by-the-Sea. They said that the terrible Dragon of Hushby had +wakened again from his fifty years' nap; had crept out of his cave in +the mountain, and was terrifying the country as he had done in the +grandfathers' times. Already he had destroyed ten horses; had eaten one +hundred head of cattle, six fair maidens, and twelve plump little +children. Besides which he had killed three brave men who had dared to +fight with him. But now no one ventured near the cave where the dreadful +creature lived, and the land was filled with horror for which there +seemed to be no hope of relief. + +[Illustration: HAROLD BEGAN TO READ FROM THE RED-AND-GOLD BOOK] + +Moreover, so the travelers said, the King proclaimed that whoever should +put an end to the terror of Hushby might ask of his sovereign whatever +reward he chose, even the hand of the King's daughter. Now when this +news came to Kisington there was great excitement. For Hushby Town was +not far distant from the market-place of Kisington. People gathered in +groups talking in whispers of the Dragon, and looking fearfully out of +the corners of their eyes as they spoke. Who could tell when the +creature might wander in their direction, as the Chronicles recorded +that he had done once, long ago, when he had destroyed the daughter of +him who was Lord Mayor at that time? Kisington had special reasons, you +see, for longing to hear that a hero had conquered the Dragon. + +Of all the people in Kisington who heard the news, the one most excited +thereby was a lad named Arthur. He did not look like a hero, for he was +short, and small, and ugly. For this reason no one had ever thought him +especially brave. Most people expect heroes to be great, big men. Arthur +was held to be of little account in Kisington. But though he was a +little fellow, he had a great heart. All his life he had loved tales of +bravery and adventure, and he longed to be a. hero. Besides, he thought +it would be a. fine thing to marry the King's daughter, who, like all +princesses, must be very beautiful. + +Arthur lived by himself in a castle which had once belonged to his +uncle. Now that uncle had been an Amateur Magician; that is, he was +always doing things with flaring fires and queer bottles, messes of +strange liquids and horrid smells,--hoping to learn how to turn old iron +into gold, or to discover some other useful secret. No one ever heard, +however, of his accomplishing anything; until one day, with a _Bang!_ he +blew himself up.` And every one heard of that. His will gave all his +Amateur-Magical stuff to Arthur--all his forges and bellows and bulbs +and bottles, the syrups and nasty smells. But Arthur cared nothing at +all about Amateur Magic, and scarcely ever went into the desolate tower +in one wing of the castle, where his uncle's laboratory was gathering +dust. + +But after news came about the Dragon of Hushby, things were different. +An idea had come into Arthur's head. "Oh, dear!" he said to himself. "If +only I could find something which would make me big! Only a giant could +kill the Dragon of Hushby, he is so huge and terrible. Perhaps my uncle +may have discovered a secret which would turn me into a giant!" + +Eagerly he hurried to the deserted room. Everything was draped in dusty +cobwebs, and when he opened the door the rats went scuttling in all +directions. All among the bottles and boxes and books and bundles he +sought and sought for some discovery which should help him. But though +he found many other curious things, he found not what he sought. Though +he poked in every dark corner and read carefully the labels on every +phial, and the recipes in every book, he found no Secret for Growing +Big. He could have learned, had he wished, "How to Make a Silk Purse Out +of a Sow's Ear"; "How to Make a Horse Drink"; "How to Make an Empty Sack +Stand Upright," and other very difficult things. But all these secrets +were of no use to Arthur, and he thought that his uncle had wasted much +valuable time in making these discoveries. Which, indeed, was true. + +Arthur grew more and more discontented every day. But one morning, quite +by accident, he hit his elbow against a hidden spring in a certain +knot-hole of the wall in the dusty laboratory. Immediately a secret +panel opened, and there behind it was a secret cupboard. In the cupboard +was the secretest-looking package, wrapped in a velvet cloth. Arthur +unrolled it eagerly and found a little leather case. When the case was +opened, he saw inside a bit of glass set in gold, with a handle. It +looked quite like a modern reading-glass--only reading-glasses were not +invented until many, many years later. "What can this be?" said Arthur +to himself. And taking up the glass he looked through it. Wonderful! +Everything suddenly seemed to become small--just as it does nowadays +when we look through the wrong end of an opera-glass. But Arthur had +never seen an opera-glass, you know; this was so many hundreds of years +ago. + + Arthur looked around the room, and everything had suddenly become so + tiny that it made him laugh. In the window a huge spider--as big as his + hand--had been spinning her web. Now she was no larger than a dot. A + rat scampered across the floor, and as Arthur looked it shrank to the + size of a fly! A bird flew past the window, singing, and it grew + smaller as it flew, while its voice became tinier and tinier till it + sounded like the buzzing of an insect. Amazed, Arthur took down the + glass from his eye. Instantly everything appeared again of its natural + size--all except the spider and the rat and the bird. They remained + tiny as they had seemed through the glass. Arthur had magicked them! + +"Ho!" cried Arthur. "This is some of my uncle's Amateur Magic. He had, +indeed, discovered how to make living things grow small. Alas! That +helps me little. I am small enough now. But if only it worked the other +way I might become a giant. What a pity! what a pity! Stay--perhaps if I +reverse the glass something better may be done!" + +He was about to turn the glass over and raise it to his eye again, when +he spied a bit of parchment in the box. On it were scribbled some words, +in faded ink. + +"A Wondrous Device to Make the Living Small. Thrice More May It be Used +Before Its Virtue Fades." + +"Ah!" said Arthur, laying down the glass. "Then, as I feared, the glass +can only make things smaller. But I have an idea! What if I should look +with this glass upon the Dragon of Hushby? Would he not shrink as the +spider and the rat and the bird have done? Yes; and then I should no +longer have need to be a giant, for I could tame him, even I myself in +my proper form! It is a good thought. I may yet be the hero of +Kisington. But I must be careful of the precious glass and not waste its +powers. 'Thrice more may it be used,' so says the scroll. Once, then, +for the Dragon, and two times more for accidents that may happen." + +Without more ado Arthur made ready for his great adventure. For arms he +took but two things--the magic glass in his wallet, and a butterfly-net +over his shoulder. In truth, the little fellow looked more like a +schoolboy bound for a holiday in the woods, than a hero in quest of +honor. + +Now, first, without saying aught of his intent to any in Kisington, he +journeyed to the Capital City, to gain the King's permission for the +trial. + +With the handle of his butterfly-net he thumped upon the door of the +King's palace and said: "Open! I wish to speak with the King!" + +The warders looked at him and laughed; he was such a strange little +figure. "What do you want of the King?" they asked. + +"Tell him that I come to seek his favor before I go forth to conquer the +Dragon of Hushby." + +"Ho, ho!" roared the warders. But they went and told the King what +Arthur said. "He is mad, Your Majesty," they added. "He is a little +fellow, armed with a butterfly-net. Ho, ho!" + +The King laughed, too. But he was curious to see this champion. So he +had Arthur admitted. With his net over his shoulder, Arthur marched into +the long hall, between the rows of tittering courtiers, and knelt before +the King. "So you intend to slay the Dragon of Hushby?" said the King. +"It needs a giant for that deed. What will you do, forsooth, you little +fellow, with your butterfly-net?" + +"Your Majesty," said Arthur, "do you not remember how David was a little +fellow, when with a stone he slew the giant Goliath? Well, I am another +little fellow; but I have a stone in my pocket with which I mean to tame +a foe more terrible than David's was. And as for this net--wait, and +you shall see!" + +"Very well," said the King, laughing, "I will wait and see. But what +reward shall you ask if you are successful?" + +"Your Majesty," said Arthur politely, "may I ask to see your daughter? I +have heard that the Dragon-Slayer may hope to win her hand." + +At these words of Arthur's the King burst into a roar of laughter, and +clapped his knee, as though it were a mighty joke. And all the courtiers +held their sides and shook with mirth. But Arthur was angry, for he did +not see that he had said anything funny. + +"Ho! ho!" roared the King. "Heralds, bid my daughter Agnes to come +hither. He! he! For there is one who wishes to see her. Ha! ha!" + +While the room was still echoing with laughter, the heralds entered with +the King's daughter, and Arthur saw why every one had laughed. The +Princess was a giantess,--a head taller than any man present,--and +though she was very beautiful, her face was hard and cold, and she +looked bad-tempered. When she walked, the floor trembled, and when she +spoke, the glasses shivered. + +"Who wishes to see me?" she said in a deep voice, crossly. + +"Heavens!" said Arthur to himself, "this is a Princess, indeed! It will +be more of a task to tame her than any dragon. But she is very handsome, +and I have my magic glass. When we are married I will turn her into a +nice little girl, just the size for me. So all will be well." + +The King pointed to Arthur with his scepter. "Behold our champion," he +said, chuckling. "My daughter, it is for you to hope that this brave +fellow may slay the Dragon of Hushby. For in that case I vow to make you +his wife." + +"Huh!" said the Princess, looking down at Arthur and frowning. But +Arthur advanced and made a low bow to her. "For such a great prize, Your +Highness," he said, "a man would venture much." + +At these words the Princess looked crosser than ever, and tossed her +head. "Take care that the Dragon does not swallow you at a mouthful, +Dwarf!" she said, very impolitely, and every one laughed. + +Arthur turned red with anger. "I will take care," he said. "And I shall +win what I will and conquer where I choose. Farewell, my lady. We shall +have more words hereafter, when I come to claim you for my wife." + +"You shall have her if you win her," said the King. + +But, of course, no one thought there was any hope for the little fellow. +They believed him to be mad, and when he had gone they nearly died, +laughing at the huge joke. The Princess laughed loudest of all. + +Proudly Arthur set forth upon the King's errand, with the magic glass in +his pocket, and the butterfly-net over his shoulder. A number of merry +fellows followed him from the court to see the issue of his mad +adventure. For they thought there would be a thing to laugh at ere the +end of the matter. They jested with Arthur and gibed pleasantly at him. +But he answered them gayly and kept his temper, for he knew that they +meant no harm. + +[Illustration: SHE LOOKED BAD-TEMPERED] + +But with them journeyed one of a different sort. And this was Oscar, a +burly ruffian, whose joy was in evil, and who followed Arthur hoping for +a chance to rob him, since he seemed a fool who had some precious +treasure in his wallet, which he was forever handling. Him Arthur did +not like, and he watched Oscar, but had no words with him. + + + +V. THE DRAGON OF HUSHBY, PART II + +After a time, Arthur and his band came to the town of Hushby, and were +received with wonder; for the people thought them all mad, especially +Arthur, with his butterfly-net and his boast to slay the Dragon. But +they treated him gratefully, as one who sought to be their deliverer, +albeit shaking their heads over his small stature and slender strength. + +Arthur slept that night at the inn, intending to seek the Dragon on the +morrow. And about the inn, on benches, on the curbs of Hushby streets, +and under the trees, slept the merry jesters who had followed Arthur +from the King. And Oscar thought to rob Arthur while he slept; but he +was prevented. + +In the night came the Dragon down from his cave in the mountain, and +rushing up the village street nearly caught Oscar as he was climbing in +at the window of the inn. Oscar fled barely in time. But the Dragon +caught and ate in one mouthful two of the merry band of jesters, so that +they jested no longer. Then there was a great outcry and panic. But +Arthur slept soundly through it all, dreaming of the Princess, and how +fair she would be when he had made her his wife and had magicked her +with the glass. + +In the morning bright and early Arthur came down to table. He found the +landlord and all the people white and trembling. + +"Oh, sir!" cried Mine Host in a whisper. "Behold, the Dragon has +descended from the mountain in the darkness and has eaten two of the +King's men this night. His appetite is whetted, and we hear him roaring +afar off. It is a sign that he will soon again make another descent upon +us. In the name of St. George, haste to save us!" + +Arthur listened and heard the far-off thunder of the loathly worm. But +he did not tremble. He only drew himself up to his last inch and +frowned, fingering the magic glass in his wallet. + +"First will I breakfast," he said. "And then will I go forth to rid you +of this pest. Bring on the morning meal." + +When he had eaten heartily, even to the last crumb, Arthur arose and +took his butterfly-net in hand. + +"Farewell, noble youth!" cried Mine Host, with tears in his eyes. For +Arthur had paid his score generously, and the landlord did not expect to +see the little fellow again. The landlord's fair daughter, Margot, stood +weeping, with the corner of her apron to her eyes. For she admired the +brave lad mightily. She was a very little maid, no taller than Arthur's +shoulder, and he looked at her kindly when he saw her weep. + +"What a fair, sweet maid!" he said to himself. "If it were not for the +King's daughter, I would choose her for my Lady, and ask her to give me +the blue ribbon from her hair to wear in my cap. But that may not be. I +must win glory for the King's big daughter." + +He patted Margot on the head and said debonairly: "Farewell! And have a +goodly dinner ready against my return. For I shall bring with me a +Dragon's appetite." + +So he spoke, jesting upon the terrible subject. Margot wept harder than +ever, and his other hearers shuddered. Some of the people followed him +afar off. But when, nearer and nearer, they heard the Dragon's roars +shaking the hills, they turned about and fled back to the village, +leaving Arthur to go his way alone. + +Arthur was not afraid. He strode on manfully until he came to the valley +which led up the mountain where the Dragon lived. And as he strode he +whistled. Presently there was a roar and a rumble and a rattle, and +Arthur stopped whistling. Nearer and nearer it came, and at last, down +from the rocks writhed the terrible Dragon himself. And he was far worse +to look upon than Arthur had imagined. + +He was as big as twenty elephants, and he was green, covered with +shining scales. His eyes glowed like the head-lights of two engines, and +revolved horribly in his head. Steam and fire belched from his huge +mouth, and he snapped his long, sharp teeth disgustingly. He was a +terrifying sight as he writhed toward Arthur. Dreadfully he roared, +lashing right and left with his tail, which uprooted the trees and +bushes and dislodged the rocks on either hand till they came tumbling +down in an avalanche. His hot breath scorched everything about him, and +Arthur began to feel faint by reason of the poison in it. But he stood +quite still, waiting for the Dragon, and fingering his magic glass. It +was to be a mighty experiment. + +Arthur waited until the Dragon was only a few yards away. Then he put +the glass to his eye and stared hard at the beast; stared, and stared, +and stared. + +Such rudeness made the Dragon very angry. He roared louder than ever and +came rushing toward Arthur at redoubled speed. But behold! As Arthur +gazed at him the creature began to grow smaller and smaller. First he +was no bigger than an elephant, though still terrible. Then he shrank to +the size of a crocodile; then of a lion; and finally, when he was only a +few feet away, he was no bigger than a cat, snarling and spitting +fiercely as ever. + +By this time the Dragon began to see that something was wrong. He did +not know that he himself was changed, but it seemed to him that Arthur +had swelled. It seemed to him that Arthur was a terrible giant; and, for +the first time in his five thousand years of life, the Dragon was +afraid! + +Suddenly he turned tail and began to run away, all the while growing +littler and littler in quite a ridiculous fashion. But Arthur was after +him valiantly. Now the Dragon was no bigger than a lizard, making a +funny squeak as he wriggled through the bushes. His eyes shone like tiny +lucifer matches, and his mouth smoked like a cigarette. But for this it +would have been hard to see him as he scuttled through the moss and +under the ferns, trying to escape from Arthur's terrible eye. + +At last Arthur saw that it was high time to lay aside the magic glass, +unless he wished the Dragon to escape by "going out" altogether, which +would never do. For he must take the creature back to the King. + +Now was seen the use of the butterfly-net which Arthur had brought all +the way from Kisington. With this in his right hand Arthur chased the +absurd little Dragon under a stone, and finally threw it over the +wriggling body, just as one would catch an insect. Hurrah! There was the +creature tangled in the net, hissing as loudly as a locust. The terrible +Dragon of Hushby was caught! + +Arthur took from his wallet a reel of thread and tied the Dragon +securely, so that he might not escape. And then, chuckling to himself, +he strode back to Hushby pulling the Dragon behind him, just as a little +boy drags a toy horse by a string. It was a very funny sight! + +When he drew near the inn, Margot ran out to meet him with tears of joy +in her eyes, for she had been watching for him all this time. Then all +the other people came running out, and they cheered lustily when they +saw that Arthur was quite unharmed. + +"But what of the Dragon?" they said. + +"This of the Dragon!" cried Arthur, drawing from behind him the +struggling creature. "Here is the famous Terror of Hushby. Behold what I +have done to him!" + +Folk could scarce believe their eyes. This wriggling little lizard, +could he really be their famous Dragon? Then they saw his tiny, fiery +eyes, and the smoke coming from his funny little mouth; and they knew it +must be a really, truly Dragon. A great silence fell upon them, and +every one looked at Arthur in awe. They believed that he must be a +wizard who had magicked the Dragon of Hushby. But after that they fell +to rejoicing, because now no longer had they anything to fear. Arthur +had become the hero of Hushby. + +They set him on a seat and carried him on their shoulders around the +village, with singing and shouting and huzzaing. And the Dragon went +with him, spitting and hissing and lashing his absurd little scaly tail +inside a cage made of fine wire. Arthur enjoyed all this greatly. But +especially he enjoyed the eyes of little Margot, which followed him, +full of admiration. And he said to himself, "It is a fine thing to be a +hero. But I wish I had not asked for the King's daughter as my reward. I +could choose better now!" + +When night came Arthur slept once more at the inn, with the Dragon in +his little cage beside the bed. Arthur slept soundly, because he was +happy and his heart was honest. But the conquered Dragon did not sleep. +You see, his conscience was bad,--he had eaten so many poor and +deserving persons. And that gives the worst kind of indigestion. + +There was another who did not sleep. And this was Oscar, the wicked. He +had seen the Dragon when Arthur showed him to the people, and he knew +that the strange little beast was a treasure worth far more than gold or +jewels. For there was not another like it in the whole world. He meant +to steal the miniature Dragon and carry it to a far land, where he could +exhibit it in a museum and gain much wealth and honor. Of course, Oscar +meant also to claim that this was a young Dragon which he had taken in a +brave struggle with its parents, whom Oscar had killed. In that way, he +would become a famous hero. + +In the dead of night, when all the inn was quiet, Oscar softly climbed +up the trellis to the window of the room where Arthur slept. In the +darkness two tiny red spots showed him where the Dragon writhed and +wriggled restlessly. Stealthily Oscar reached out his hand to take the +Dragon. But when he did so the Dragon gave a hiss which he meant should +shake the house, but which really was no louder than the chirp of a +cricket. It was loud enough, however, to waken Arthur. The hero sprang +from the bed to guard his treasure. + +Oscar drew his dagger and rushed upon Arthur. But Arthur had been +careful to sleep with his hand upon his trusty weapon. Swiftly he put +the magic glass to his eye and looked at Oscar. And lo! the wicked man +shared the Dragon's fate. Gradually he shrank and shrank, and though he +struck fiercely with his dagger it was of little moment; for Oscar was +soon but two inches high, and his dagger's prick was like that of a pin, +which made Arthur laugh. + +Arthur was merciful, and did not put him out entirely, as he could +easily have done. Dropping the glass from his eye he picked up in his +thumb and finger the little fellow, struggling like a beetle, and put +him under an overturned pint-pot for safe keeping. There Oscar remained +until morning, a restless neighbor of the restless Dragon. + +But Arthur said to himself, "I have used the magic glass twice. I must +be careful, for it can be used only once more before its virtue fades; +and that chance must be saved to make my Princess little, since, alas! I +must marry her and not dear Margot." Then Arthur went back to bed and +slept soundly until morning. + +On the morrow Arthur said nothing about this night's event to Mine Host +nor to the admiring crowd who came to see him set forth on his +triumphant journey to the King. He tied Oscar with thread and put him +into his wallet, where the wicked fellow snarled and scolded in a chirp +that no one could hear. As for the Dragon, Arthur fastened a tiny gold +chain about his neck and secured it to his doublet, so that the creature +could crawl up and down his shoulder but could not get away. He looked +like one of the little chameleons which ladies sometimes wear; though +why they like such unhappy living ornaments I cannot tell. + + + +VI. THE DRAGON OF HUSHBY, PART III + +Amid hurrahs and blessings and a rain of flowers, Arthur said farewell +to Margot, who loved him, and to Hushby, which he had delivered from the +Terror; and once more he journeyed to the King. But this time he went as +a hero, whose fame had traveled before him. + +The King sent heralds and soldiers to meet him, and a golden chariot to +bring him to the city. When Arthur reached the palace he found a great +banquet prepared, and the King himself came to welcome him and led him +to the place of honor. But the Princess Agnes was not there. + +As for the Dragon, every one was mad with delight over the wonderful +little creature. When the King saw him he laughed so that his crown +nearly fell into the soup. He delighted to tickle the Dragon's tail and +hear him spit and hiss like a little tea-kettle. He liked the Dragon +much better in this small edition, for he was more conveniently handled. +They placed the Dragon's cage in the center of the table, where every +one could see him, and the Dragon glared fiercely with his little red +eyes, but no one was afraid. How times had changed since this was the +Terror of Hushby! + +Then the King said: "Brave Arthur, this Dragonet is the choicest +treasure of my kingdom. I will keep him in a cage of gold beside my +throne, and strangers will come from the ends of the world to see him. +It will make my reign famous for all time, and I am very grateful to +you. You are a clever fellow, and perhaps, since you have tamed a +Dragon, you can tame my daughter as no one else has been able to do,-- +not even the late Queen or myself. Now, then, to keep my promise. What +ho, heralds! Lead forth the maid." + +The heralds blew a joyous blast on their trumpets and went to fetch the +Princess Agnes. Arthur found himself thinking of little Margot at the +inn, and how sadly she had looked after him when he went away. But he +knew that, being a hero, he must accept the responsibilities of that +position and marry the Princess. He felt nervously in his wallet for the +magic glass, for he said to himself: + +"Since I must marry this giantess, between whom and me is little love, +let me be sure that I can make her small like myself; else there will be +no happiness in my family. As soon as we are wed I will stare at the big +girl until she shrinks into the proper size, as did Oscar and the +Dragon." + +Arthur felt into the corners of his wallet for the magic glass--but it +was not there! Hurriedly he searched again. It was gone! What was to be +done? Must he, then, marry the giant girl and be a slave to her cruel +temper all his life? Horrible thought! What had become of the glass? +Suddenly he remembered Oscar, who had also been put into the wallet. +Oscar likewise was gone! + +Arthur saw what had happened. With his little dagger Oscar had cut the +threads which bound him and had escaped, taking the magic glass with +him. + +"What makes your face so pale, brave Arthur?" asked the King jokingly. +"Is it the thought of your dainty little bride?" + +Even as Arthur opened his lips to answer, there came a shrill cry from +beneath his very nose. Looking down he saw Oscar standing on the table +and peering over his beaker of wine. In both arms he held the magic +glass, and he was turning its shining eye upon Arthur himself. + +"Revenge!" cried the little fellow, fiercely. "Revenge! I have learned +his secret. I will gaze him smaller and smaller, until he goes out. +Nothing can save him!" + +Before Arthur could move, Oscar pressed his face to the glass and began +to stare as through a window, his malicious eyes fixed upon Arthur's +face. With horror Arthur waited to feel himself shrink. He looked about +fearfully at the other guests, expecting to see them appear to swell +into giants as he himself grew tiny. He stared at Oscar again, who +should now seem larger than himself. + +But what was this? Nothing happened. The guests were staring +open-mouthed with surprise, but they were of the usual size, Oscar was +still a tiny dwarf. Arthur rubbed his eyes and looked again. Still +nothing happened. The glass seemed to have lost its magic! + +Suddenly, Arthur saw what it meant. The magic of the glass was to last +only for three trials. Once, before he knew its worth, he had wasted it +upon the spider, the rat, and the singing bird. Once the Dragon had felt +its power. Its third and last spell had turned Oscar into a midget. Now +its virtue was gone. It was but a piece of ordinary crystal, and Oscar's +wicked plan was foiled! + +With a squeal of rage Oscar threw the glass crashing upon the floor, and +stamped his foot, which made everybody laugh. It was as if a tiny mouse +had stamped. + +The King stretched out his hand and took up the little fellow curiously. +"What is this strange insect?" he asked. "Your Majesty," said Arthur, +"he is Oscar, a villain who seeks to mischief everybody. I have punished +him as I punished the Dragon, because he tried to rob me of my most +precious treasure. He can do no more harm, I think." + +"Oscar!" said the King. "Indeed, I know him well. More than once has he +done evil in my city, and I have long meant to punish him. You are a +clever fellow to handle him so tactfully. And now, we will dub him +'Companion of the Dragon.' He, too, shall have a little cage of gold and +shall live with the Dragon for his neighbor. A quaint pair they, Arthur! +I thank you for them. But where is my daughter, and why does she delay?" + +With horror Arthur heard these words. He had forgotten the Princess. +Alas! The glass had lost its power. How then was he to magic her and +make her small, as he had hoped to do? How was he to tame this terrible +big girl and make her a nice little wife? Arthur wished that he had +never set out to be a hero; he awaited the approach of his bride with +terror far greater than he had felt in the Dragon's glen. + +Presently the heralds came back to the King, and their faces were very +grave. "Your Majesty," they said, "we cannot bring the Princess. She has +gone; she has fled from the Kingdom with the first royal coachman, who +was a handsome young giant after her own heart. Even now they must be +far beyond the border of the neighboring Kingdom. She was heard to say +that she would have no dwarf for a husband, however great a hero he +might be. And when she knew what had happened to the Dragon of Hushby, +she was afraid." + +There was silence in the banquet hall. Then the King struck a blow on +the table with his fist that made the Dragon hop and hiss nervously, +while Oscar fell over and bumped his head on a salt cellar. "Well," said +the King, "so be it! She was an ill-tempered jade, and I could do +nothing with her. You are well rid of her, brave Arthur. But how can I +amend this insult to your dignity? Ask of me whatever you choose, and it +will not be enough." + +Now, instead of looking sad, Arthur's face was shining with joy at his +narrow escape. "Your Majesty," he said, "I ask no amend. The lady had a +right to her choice, and I hope she may have a giant happiness. Since +this royal marriage may not be for me, I must look elsewhere. But I have +had enough of adventure and of magic, and I shall now retire into +private life." + +"Some reward you must have, nevertheless," said the King. "You shall +retire nobly. Arise, Sir Arthur! I make you Knight of the Dragon, Lord +of the Hushby Marches, and Earl of Kisington. Moreover, whomsoever and +wheresoever you choose to wed, I myself will attend the nuptials and +will bestow upon the bride a countess's crown of diamonds. Long live the +hero of Hushby and Earl of Kisington!" + +"Long live the hero of Hushby and Earl of Kisington!" echoed all the +guests. The Dragon hissed spitefully and lashed out with his tail, but +no one paid any attention to him. Oscar, sulking with elbows on knees, +groaned squeakily. But no one paid any attention to him either. + +Everybody was thinking of Arthur, and how wonderfully he had become a +hero. But Arthur himself was thinking of little Margot at the inn, and +how sweet her face would look under the coronet of a countess. And +Arthur grinned happily. + + + +VII. BARGAIN + +You must not suppose that Harold read this whole story to the besieging +King without pause. When he reached the end of the first part of the +tale, Harold closed the red-and-gold volume and looked up. + +"Go on!" urged the Red King. "Why do you stop, boy?" + +"It is the end of the volume," said Harold. + +Red Rex frowned. "Surely, not the end of the tale!" he cried. "Why, you +have stopped short in the middle! That Oscar was up to some trick, I +know. I want to hear what happened next." + +"I am sorry, Your Majesty," repeated Harold. "It is the end of the +volume. The rest of the tale is told in another book." + +The Red King's eyes blazed with anger. "Why did you not bring the other +book with you?" he roared. + +"I was not sure that Your Majesty would like the tale," said Harold. +"Besides, they will allow one to take from the library but one book at a +time from a set of volumes." + +"Then you must return and get the next volume immediately," commanded +Red Rex. "I must know what happened to Arthur in his quest of the +Dragon. Take the flag of truce and go back to Kisington; and let it not +be long ere you return!" + +"I am sorry, Your Majesty," said Harold, "but it is too late to take out +another book to-day. The rules of the library are very strict." + +"Now, did any one ever hear anything so absurd as this!" thundered the +Red King, stamping like a bad-tempered child. "What is a mere library, +forsooth, to have rules which I may not break?" + +"You have rules for your army, do you not?" suggested Harold. + +"I should say, verily!" growled Red Rex; "strict, stern rules." + +"Well, a library is an army of books," answered Harold; "a peaceful army +intended to help people and to make them happy; not to kill them. Our +noble Librarian, who is general of a mighty army of books, must have +rules as stern and strict to keep his army useful and efficient. If Your +Majesty desires the rest of the tale you must wait until to-morrow." + +"I will destroy the whole town first!" roared the angry King. + +"Then you will never learn the end of the tale," retorted Harold. + +It looked as if Harold were in great danger, in spite of the flag of +truce. Red Rex stormed and ranted, and his soldiers stood ready with +their weapons to do whatever he should bid them. But after a while the +warrior's wrath somewhat calmed itself, and shortly he began to chuckle +noisily. + +"True!" he said. "If I destroy the library I shall not know the end of +that tale. That would be a calamity! Well, it is now too late to resume +the siege to-day. I may as well continue the truce until to-morrow. But +see that you return early in the morning, with the rest of the tale." + +Once more Harold shook his head. "I must go to Church to-morrow +morning," he replied. "It is Sunday, you know. Surely, you do not fight +on Sundays, Your Majesty?" + +The Red King looked at him sideways. "I had forgotten Sunday," he said. +"I have mislaid my calendar. Now, you remind me,--no, I suppose not. No, +I do not fight on Sundays." + +"I thought not!" said Harold, relieved. "It would not be quite knightly, +would it? I will return to-morrow afternoon, as soon as I have had my +dinner; and then we will go on with the story of the Dragon of Hushby. +Good day, Your Majesty!" + +"Good day!" growled Red Rex, watching him march away between the files +of soldiers. "Youngster!" he called after the boy, "be sure you bring +back the right volume." + +Harold waved his hand in assent. + +Now, when Harold told the Librarian and the other Leading Citizens what +he had done, they were greatly pleased; for they saw that their city was +safe for at least eighteen hours, while their mounted messenger went +speeding to King Victor. Harold's chums Robert and Richard were so +excited they could not sleep that night. Harold's mother was as proud as +a peacock when he told the story to her; though it was with some dread +that she looked forward to his return on the morrow into the camp of the +fierce besieger. But Harold said:-- + +"I shall be quite safe, Mother. Never fear! Red Rex is too much +interested in my story to hurt me. When he forgets war he is a different +man. He is almost pleasant, Mother!" + +"What a stupid King he must be to choose war for his pleasure!" said +the mother. "But suppose he cannot wait for to-morrow afternoon? Suppose +he should decide to take the city and win the library for himself, so +that he can read all the books at his leisure. What then? + +"Mother," said Harold, "I believe Red Rex has no joy in reading for +himself; no more than you have,--though he may not have your excuse." + +"La la!" cried the mother. "What a King is that who has no key to the +treasury of books! You are richer than he, my son. With all his armies, +you are more powerful than he, my dear son!" + +On the Sunday, after dinner, Harold's friends escorted him to the gate; +and as before he went to the Red King under the flag of truce. In his +hand he bore the second volume of red-and-gold. Red Rex received him +sulkily, yet with a certain eagerness. + +"Well, boy, have you brought the book?" he asked. "I have been thinking +of that tale all the night long, all this morning long. Come, let us +hear what happened next to Arthur and the Dragon." Then Harold began the +second part of the tale. Red Rex kept him at it, and would not let him +rest until he had quite finished both the second and the third parts of +the story; though Harold had meant to gain time by reading only the +former on that occasion. + +But when he had quite finished, Red Rex sat up, rubbing his hands +together. "It is a good story!" he declared. "That Arthur was a brave +fellow. I am glad I did not destroy your library until I had heard about +him. But now I can return to the siege without delay. I give you +warning, my boy! Do not go back to that doomed town. Desert those +peace-lovers and come with me to be a fighter, like Arthur." + +"Arthur fought wicked Dragons, not men," said Harold. "I would not +desert if I could. I, too, am a peace-lover, and there is too much in +Kisington from which I could not part. Besides, I must return this book +safe and sound to the library, even if it is to be destroyed soon after, +or I shall be fined. My poor mother can ill afford to pay fines for me!" + +"But there will be no one left to fine you," retorted the Red King. "The +whole city will be destroyed,--the library, the Librarian, the Lord +Mayor, and all! What a ruination it will be!" He rubbed his hands +gleefully. + +Harold shuddered, but he was firm. "What a pity!" he said. "You really +should know our Librarian. And there are still many fine books which +Your Majesty ought to hear. You will never know them if they be +destroyed now; their duplicates exist nowhere." + +"There are none so good as the tale you have just finished, I warrant!" +cried Red Rex. + +"Oh, many far better than that, Your Majesty!" said Harold. "Indeed, +that is one of the least important.--Did you ever hear of the +Wonder-Garden, Your Majesty?" + +"The Wonder-Garden!" echoed the Red King; "no, that I never did. What +means a 'wonder-garden,' boy?" + +"Ah, that you will never know, for it is another of the secret tales of +Kisington," said Harold. "It is all about a Mermaid, and a Lord Mayor's +son, and a fair stranger maiden, who--now I bethink me--might be from +your own land across the border. The Wonder-Garden was hers." + +"A maid from my land, with a wonder-garden!" mused Red Rex. "I would +fain learn of her. I dare say there is good fighting in this tale also. +Come, boy; will you read me that tale to-morrow?" + +"Yes, Your Majesty; if you will give your kingly word that the truce +shall last until the story be finished," replied Harold. + +"Ho-hum!" the Red King hesitated. He mumbled and he grumbled; he winked +and he blinked. But at last he said grudgingly, "Well, I promise. No +soldier shall advance, no weapon shall be discharged until I have heard +the tale of your Wonder-Garden." + +With this promise, Harold joyfully hastened back to the beleaguered +city. Kisington was safe for another day! The Lord Mayor and the +Librarian shook hands and went to congratulate Harold's mother. + +As for Red Rex, he dreamed that Harold had bewitched him with a +red-and-gold book; as perhaps he had done. Were not Richard and Robert +at that moment clapping Harold on the shoulder and declaring that he was +indeed a "Book-Wizard"? This is the tale which Harold read to Red Rex on +the following day; the story of _The Wonder-Garden_. + + + +VIII. THE WONDER-GARDEN + +There never were seen such beautiful gardens as bloomed in +Kisington-by-the-Sea. Not only every chateau and villa had its parterres +spread with blooming rugs of all colors; but each white-washed cottage, +every thatched hut, boasted its garden-plot of dainty posies. Each had +some quaint device or some special beauty which distinguished it from +the others. For there was great horticultural rivalry in +Kisington-by-the-Sea. + +Now this was all because Hugh, the Lord Mayor, who was very fond of +flowers, had offered a prize for the prettiest garden in the town. The +Lord Mayor himself lived on a hill in the center of the town, in the +midst of the most beautiful garden of all. It flowed down the hillside +from the summit in ripples of radiant color,--roses and lilies, pinks +and daffodils, larkspur and snapdragon. All the flowers of the land were +there, and many foreigners beside. + +Through the garden wound the yellow driveway by which the Lord Mayor +passed in his golden coach. He loved to drive slowly down this road, +sniffing the fragrance of his flowers; and then out through the streets +of the town, observing the beautiful gardens on every hand,--the result +of his own love for flowers. + +When the Lord Mayor saw all the fair maidens down on their knees in the +flower-beds, watering the buds with their little green water-pots, +nipping off dead leaves, pulling up scrawny weeds, coaxing the delicate +creepers to climb, he would rub his hands and say:-- + +"Ah, this is good! This is very good indeed! We shall have the most +beautiful town in the world, blossoming with flowers, and the most +beautiful maids in the world, blossoming with health and sweetness like +the flowers they tend. It will be hard to tell which is the fairer, the +maidens or the flowers. Hey! Is it not so, my son?" + +Then he would chuckle and poke in the ribs the young man who rode beside +him. + +The Lord Mayor's son was very good to look upon; tall and fair, with +curly golden locks and eyes as brown as the heart of a yellow daisy. +When he drove through the town with the Lord Mayor, the maidens down on +their knees in their garden-plots would pause a moment from their chase +of a wriggling worm or a sluggish slug to look after the golden coach +and sigh gently. Then they would turn back to their Bowers more eagerly +than before. For there was the prize! + +[Illustration: THE MAIDENS WOULD PAUSE TO LOOK AFTER THE GOLDEN COACH] + +You see, the Lord Mayor's son was himself part of the prize to be won. +The Lord Mayor had vowed that Cedric, his son, should marry the girl who +could show by late summer the most beautiful garden in +Kisington-by-the-Sea. Moreover, he promised to build a fine palace to +overlook this prize garden, and there the young couple should live happy +ever after, like any Prince and Princess. And this was why the maids +worked so hard in the gardens of Kisington-by-the-Sea, and why the +flowers blossomed there as no flowers ever blossomed before. + +Now one day the Lord Mayor drove through the village in his golden coach +and came out upon the downs near the seashore. And there, quite by +itself, he found a little cottage which he had never before seen: a tiny +cottage which had no sign of a garden anywhere about it,--only a few +flowers growing in cracked pots on the window-sills, and on the bench +just outside the door. + +"What!" cried the Lord Mayor, stopping the coach. "What does this mean? +There should be a garden here. I must look to the reason for this +contempt of my offer." And he jumped down from the coach and rapped +sharply upon the door. + +Presently the door opened, and there stood a girl, all in rags, but so +beautiful that the Lord Mayor's son, who was sitting languidly in the +golden coach, shut his eyes as one does when a great light shines +suddenly in one's face. + +"Hey!" cried the Lord Mayor, frowning. "Why have you no garden, girl? +Have you no pride? Do you not dream to win the prize which I offer?" + +"I am a stranger," said the maiden timidly. "No one has told me of a +prize. What may it be, my Lord?" + +"It is a prize worth trying for," said the Lord Mayor. "The hand of my +son there, and the finest palace in the land for the mistress of the +prize garden. Does that thought please you, girl? If not, you are +different from all the other maidens." + +The girl lifted her eyes to the golden coach and met the gaze of Cedric +fixed upon her. "I love flowers," she said. "I had once a little garden +in my old home. But now I am too poor to buy plants and bulbs and +seedlings. How, then, shall I make a garden to please Your Lordship?" + +"I will send you plants and bulbs and seedlings," said the Lord Mayor's +son, leaning forward eagerly. "You must make haste, for September will +soon be here, when the gardens will be judged." + +"Thank you, fair sir," said the girl. "I shall love my garden dearly, if +you will help me." + +Now when the Lord Mayor and his son had returned home, Cedric hastened +to keep his promise. For Gerda was the fairest maid in Kisington-by-the +Sea, and already he loved her so dearly that he hoped she would win the +prize and become his wife. He sent her the most beautiful flowers that +he could find, and transplanted from his father's garden its choicest +seedlings; he brought shrubs from the city market. + +The meadow between Gerda's cottage and the sea was transformed as if by +magic, and became a mass of rare and lovely flowers. The choicest +foreign plants, the gayest native blooms, the shyest wild posies, all +were at home in Gerda's lovely garden over which the sea-breeze blew. +But Gerda herself was the fairest flower of them all. She watched and +cared for her garden tenderly, and like the garden she grew fairer every +day, she was so happy. She did not know how the other gardens grew, for +she did not go to see. But sometimes the Lord Mayor's son came, +disguised as a gardener, to see how the flowers fared. And he said that +she had the most beautiful garden in all Kisington-by-the-Sea, and he +hoped that she would win the prize; which was very encouraging. + +No one else knew about Gerda's garden. It was far from town, and no one +dreamed that a stranger had come to live there. Besides, the neighbors +were so busy, each with her own affairs, that they had no time to go +about or ask questions, or gossip; which was a good thing. + +No, I am wrong. One person had discovered the open secret. In a villa +not far from the Lord Mayor's house dwelt a Countess who was very rich +and proud. Until Gerda came she had boasted the finest garden in +Kisington, after the Lord Mayor's, made by a whole army of gardeners +whom she kept at her command. She was quite sure of winning the prize, +and it made her very gay, though she cared nothing at all about flowers. +She left all the care of her garden to her gardeners and scarcely ever +wandered down its lovely walks. But she longed to marry the Lord Mayor's +son and live in a palace. It was the palace that she coveted as a prize, +and the honor of being the Lord Mayor's daughter; to ride in the golden +coach! + +She cared no more about Cedric himself than she did for her lovely +flowers. + +One day this Countess, who had very sharp eyes, spied the Lord Mayor's +son, in his disguise, going past her villa with his arms full of curious +flowers such as were never before seen in Kisington-by-the-Sea. And +because she had unusually sharp eyes the Countess knew who he was. +"Aha!" she said to herself. "This is strange! Cedric is meddling with +some garden. I must look into this!" Secretly she followed Cedric +through the village and out to the seashore until he came to Gerda's +garden. And there she saw him walking with the fair stranger up and down +among the flowers. The secret was discovered. + +The Countess was a very wicked woman. When she looked over the +transformed meadow and saw the beautiful garden which Gerda had made, +she nearly died of rage. She knew at once that against this one her own +garden had no chance of winning the prize. She stamped her feet in +jealous fury and cried:-- + +"She shall not have the palace! She shall not ride in the golden coach! +She shall not marry the Lord Mayor's son! I will see that she shall +not!" + +The Countess stole home with wicked wishes in her heart and wicked plans +in her head. The next day but one was the day of the award, so she had +no time to lose. That night when every one was asleep she crept out of +her villa and along the road by which she had followed the Lord Mayor's +son, to Gerda's garden. Everything was quiet and peaceful. The flowers +looked very fair in the moonlight, breathing drowsy perfumes. But the +wicked woman cared nothing at all for them. Taking a great pair of +shears from her cloak she moved quickly in and out among the garden +beds, cutting and slashing the precious flowers and trampling them under +foot. + +When she had finished her cruel work, not a single bud lifted its head +from the ruin. The flower-beds looked as though a tempest had swept +over them. Poor Gerda's garden was quite destroyed! The Countess +chuckled as she hurried home through the night: "We shall see now who +wins the prize!" + +The next day Cedric thought that he would visit the garden of sweet +Gerda in which he had taken such an interest. Dressed in his gardener's +green smock he went through the town, whistling happily as any yokel. +But when he reached the little cottage by the sea, he ceased to whistle. +Gerda was sitting upon the doorstone weeping bitterly. + +"What is the matter, Gerda?" asked Cedric anxiously, and he sought to +comfort her. She could only sob:-- + +"Oh! My dear garden! Oh! My poor flowers!" + +With a sinking heart Cedric ran to the garden close, and there he saw +all the ruin that the wicked Countess had wrought. + +"Alas! Who has done this?" he cried. But Gerda could not tell. + +Cedric's heart was nearly broken. For he loved Gerda so dearly that he +thought he could not live if another should win the prize. To-morrow +would be the day that would determine his fate. What could they do? +Suddenly he had an idea. + +"Farewell, Gerda!" he cried, and without another word he strode away. + +Then Gerda wept more bitterly than ever. She thought that the Lord +Mayor's son was angry with her because her garden was destroyed. This +was worse even than the loss of her flowers. + +But Cedric was far from angry with her. He had gone away in order to +think and plan. He had one hope. He remembered that he had a friend who +had once promised to help him in his time of trouble. The time had come. + +That very night when the moon rose over the water, Cedric went down to +the sea and stood upon a rock and recited this charm:-- + + "Mermaid, Mermaid, rise from the sea! + I am in trouble. Hasten to me!" + +Hardly had he spoken the words when there was a little ripple in the +water at his feet, and a beautiful Mermaid appeared, clinging to the +rock over which the waves dashed prettily in the moonlight. And she +said:-- + +"Lord Mayor's son, you have spoken the charm which I taught you, and I +have come from the bottom of the sea. I have not forgotten how once a +cruel fisherman caught me in his net, and how you had pity on me and +took me to the ocean and set me free. Then I promised to help you, if +ever you should be in trouble. What is your grief, Lord Mayor's son?" + +Then Cedric told her about Gerda's garden and its mishap. "Ah! She must +be the sweet, ragged maid who used to sit upon the rocks and gaze down +into my ocean," said the Mermaid. "She has a good heart and loves the +sea. Early this morning I heard her weeping bitterly for her lost +flowers and for you. She loves you dearly, Lord Mayor's son, and I love +you both. What shall I do to help you?" + +"Dear Mermaid," said Cedric eagerly, "can you find out the cruel person +who has destroyed Gerda's garden? And can you restore the garden itself +before to-morrow? I ask these two things of you." + +"It is easy to find the jealous woman," said the Mermaid. "Her you will +know at the right time. But the garden is another matter. However, I +will do my best for the two whom I love. And now, farewell!" With that +word she slid down the rocks, and in a little splash of spray vanished +into the sea. + +***** + +Now came the day when the Lord Mayor was to judge the gardens of +Kisington-by-the-Sea. In all the towers the bells were ringing merrily, +and on every side the flowers and the fair maidens were blooming their +brightest. Through the town rode the Lord Mayor in his golden coach +drawn by six prancing white steeds, their necks wreathed with flowers; +and behind followed a great rout of townsfolk, eager to see the gardens +judged. In the Lord Mayor's coach sat Cedric by his father's side. He +was dressed all in white, as became a bridegroom, and in his hands he +carried a huge bouquet of white roses. His cheeks were white, too, for +he was anxious to know what this day should bring, and what maiden was +to receive the bridal bouquet. + +Through the town the merry procession moved, and stopped in turn before +each garden, at the gate of which a sweet maid waited, her little heart +going pit-a-pat beneath her prettiest gown. The Lord Mayor inspected +each garden carefully, making notes in a little white-and-gold book. And +each fair maiden gazed at the handsome Cedric and hoped that the Lord +Mayor was writing down her name to be his daughter-in-law! + +But all the gardens were so beautiful that it seemed impossible to +choose between them. In each the Lord Mayor looked and looked, smiled +and nodded,--"Very good! Very good, indeed! Beautiful, beautiful, +beautiful! I am truly proud of the fair flowers and the fair maids of +Kisington-by-the-Sea. Surely, never such were seen before!" + +Then he noted his little memorandum, made a low bow to the maiden, and +mounting into the golden coach, whirled away to the next garden. At +last, when they had gone quite around the village, they came to the +villa of the wicked Countess. The crowd murmured admiringly. There was +no doubt about it; hers was certainly the finest garden of all. When the +Lord Mayor saw the gay parterres and fountains, the shady alleys and +cool grottoes, the wonderful flowers and shrubs growing luxuriantly +everywhere, he clapped his hands with pleasure and said:-- + +"Ah! This is Paradise, indeed! Here surely we must look for our bride. +Countess, I congratulate you!" + +The Countess was dressed in a most costly gown of white satin and +velvet, as though she were sure beforehand that she was to be the bride. +She arched her neck and smiled maliciously at the Lord Mayor's son, in +whose eyes was no love for her. + +"I shall be proud, indeed, to ride in your golden coach!" she said. + +Cedric had grown very white, and he looked at the Countess with disgust. +She was so much less fair than Gerda, and her eyes so wicked! Must he +marry her, after all? Yes, unless the Mermaid had wrought a miracle in +Gerda's ruined garden. To that hope he still clung. "Father," he said +earnestly, "before you judge that this lady has won the prize, remember +that there is one more garden to visit. Have you forgotten the stranger +maiden who lives beside the sea, and how you bade her make a garden as +the other maids were doing? Let us first go there, for she may be +waiting." + +"Ho, ho!" laughed the Lord Mayor; "I had in truth forgotten the pretty +beggar. It is absurd to dream that she should have a garden worth +visiting after that of our Countess here. Yet we will go to see, and do +her justice." + +The Countess laughed shrilly. "A beggar's garden!" she cried. "That +must, indeed, be a wondrous sight!" + +"Do you come with us, my lady," said the Lord Mayor politely. "Sit here +by my son's side in the Lord Mayor's coach. For I trow that here will +soon be your rightful place as his bride." + +Now it pleased the Countess to ride in the Lord Mayor's coach; and it +pleased her more that she was to see the shame of Gerda and the +disappointment of Cedric when Gerda's pitiful little garden should be +judged. So with a great rustle of satin and lace she gave her hand to +the Lord Mayor and mounted proudly into the golden coach. But Cedric sat +beside her pale and silent, little like a happy bridegroom. With a +snapping of whips and tooting of horns off they went, rattling through +the streets of the town, out over the downs toward the sea. + +Behind them followed the townsfolk in a great crowd, wondering +exceedingly whither the Lord Mayor was leading them. For they knew of no +garden here. Presently, with another flourish and a cracking of whips, +amid the barking of dogs and the shouts of little boys, the Lord Mayor's +coach drew up in front of the tiny cottage by the sea. And the people +wondered more than ever. For there was no garden anywhere to be seen. + +The Lord Mayor alighted, chuckling as if it were all a great joke, and +helped down the Countess, who was grinning maliciously. Last of all +Cedric descended and stood waiting while the Lord Mayor with his staff +knocked three times upon the door. + +Presently the door opened, and there stood Gerda, dressed all in a gown +of sea-green silk, with a string of pearls about her neck and a pink +coral wreath in her hair. She was so beautiful that all the people in +the crowd cried "Oh!" with a sound like the wind in the top of a pine +tree, and the Lord Mayor himself fell back a step, staring in surprise. +The Countess turned saffron yellow and bit her lips with envy; but still +she smiled; for she knew what she had done to Gerda's garden. + +As for Cedric, he stood and gazed as though his eyes were glued to fair +Gerda's face, until after a bashful silence of a moment she spoke. + +"You have come to see my garden," she said. "It is not like other +gardens, but I think it is very beautiful. Will you come with me?" + +She led them around the cottage to the meadow beside the sea where once +had been the beautiful little garden which the Countess had destroyed. +But what was this? Where were the lawns and hedges and beds of flowers? +Where was the green grass? Gone! Over the spot lay a sheet of rippling +water, reflecting the Summer sky. + +"What does this mean?" said the Lord Mayor, turning sternly to Gerda. "I +ask to see a garden, and you show me a pool of water. Girl, do you jest +at the Lord Mayor?" + +"Nevertheless, this is my garden, sir," answered Gerda gently, "and a +fair garden I think you will find it, if you deign to look closely." + +"Nonsense!" said the Lord Mayor crossly, and "Nonsense!" sniffed the +Countess with her nose in the air. But Cedric stepped forward with his +eyes shining, for he wanted justice done. + +"Father," he begged, "let us go nearer, as the maiden asks, and look at +this which she calls her garden. Mayhap we shall find something new to +Kisington-by-the-Sea." + +For when Cedric saw how sweetly the maid was dressed in colors and +tokens of the ocean, his heart leaped with hope that the Mermaid had in +some mysterious way redeemed her promise. + +"Very well," said the Lord Mayor, frowning. "Let us see what this +foolish whim betokens. Show us your garden, girl." + +Down the slope they went, followed by the gaping crowd which cast +curious looks upon Gerda as she walked by the side of the Lord Mayor's +son. "Tell me, what has happened, Gerda?" he asked her, speaking low so +that no one else might hear. + +"Last night," she whispered, "I went to bed weeping for my lost flowers +and my lost hope. But at midnight I was awakened by the roaring of the +sea. It grew louder and louder, and at last a great wave seemed to burst +over the sea-wall and come foaming up even to the cottage door. I was +frightened sorely. But in the midst of my terror I heard a soft voice +cry:-- + +'Fear not, gentle Gerda, and weep no more for your lost flowers. The +gardeners of the sea have come to restore your garden. And there will be +a fine gown for you. Look for it upon the doorstone in the morning. +Farewell!' That was all. + +The sea ceased its roaring, and peacefully I fell asleep. In the morning +I found upon the doorstone this green gown. And when I looked upon the +plot where late my poor little garden bloomed, I saw this. Behold!" + +As she spoke they came to the edge of the pool. A chorus of wonder arose +from the crowd. The Lord Mayor stood with hands raised gazing down into +the pool; and every one else was gazing too, with eyes of admiration. + +The water was as clear as glass, and one could see to the very bottom of +the hollow which had once held Gerda's unlucky garden. Now the basin was +floored with polished mother-of-pearl, with beds and borders of colored +shells in lovely patterns. There were lawns of many-hued ocean moss, +bordered by shrubs of coral, blossoming in every form and size and +color,--spikes and clusters, daisy-stars and bell shapes, all the +variety of a flower-garden. Sea-anemones and other living plants opened +and shut their tender petals. Delicate sea-ferns like maiden-hair and +flowering grasses grew upon rockeries of coral. Hedges of sea-weed, +green and brown, yellow and pink, waved their fronds gently in the water +as leaves do in the air. And to and fro among the branches of sea-trees +moved glittering shapes of gold and silver, pink and pale blue. These +were the rainbow fishes,--birds and butterflies of ocean, their delicate +fins moving more gracefully even than wings can do. + +Dear little sea-horses raced up and down the coral alleys, and luminous +forms moved among the sea-weed, lighting the garden with living +lanterns. Here and there were grottoes of coral and pretty arbors, and +the garden was thronged with a multitude of curious sea-creatures even +the names of which no man knows. For the gardeners of Cedric's friend +the Mermaid had scoured the ocean to find the rarest and most beautiful +wonders which grow in a deep-sea garden, such as no mortal eye ever +sees. + +After a time the Lord Mayor recovered breath to speak. "Maiden," he +said, "however you came by this wondrous ocean-garden I do not care to +ask. It is enough that we have such a treasure in Kisington-by-the-Sea. +Among all our lovely gardens it is the fairest. Among all our curious +flowers these living ones are rarest. I therefore judge that to you +belongs the prize." + +Then a great cheer arose from the border of the pool where the folk were +bending eagerly to study the wonders in the waters below. Even the +maidens whose gardens had not won the prize cheered,--all except the +Countess. She ground her teeth with rage, for she saw that her wicked +plot had been in vain. + +The Lord Mayor stepped forward and took Gerda's hand. "Come hither, my +son," he said, "and take this fair stranger to be your bride. In this +spot where her little cottage stands, I will build for you a beautiful +villa." + +With a happy face Cedric took Gerda's hand in one of his, and with his +other gave her the great bouquet of roses. "I obey my father's wish," he +said. He needed not to tell that it was his own wish, too. + +Thereupon every one cheered again, waving caps and handkerchiefs, for no +one could help loving the beautiful pair and wishing them happiness. +Only the Countess stood silent and frowning, looking ugly as a goblin. + +When the shouting had ceased, Gerda stepped forward and spoke sweetly to +the people. "Kind friends," she said, "I am a stranger to your town, yet +my garden has been judged worthy of the prize. But I am sorry for the +fair maidens who have so long and faithfully tended their lovely +flowers. To me it seems that they also should have a reward. In my +garden grows a hedge of plants bearing precious fruit,--the pearl +oysters, which you see gaping with the white pearls in their mouths. I +would have each maid come and take one for her own." + +There was great rejoicing and murmuring of thanks as the maidens came +forward one by one and bent over the pool to choose each a precious +pearl. The Countess alone hung back. "Come hither, Countess," said the +Lord Mayor, when he saw that all others had been rewarded save her only. +"Come hither and choose your pearl. You should, indeed, have the finest, +for your garden would have won the prize but for these sea-wonders by +which it was outdone." + +"Choose, fair lady," said Gerda, smiling kindly. But the Countess would +not come. "I have pearls enough of my own," she snapped. "I need no +charity from a beggar!" + +"What!" cried the Lord Mayor, frowning. "Such words are not meetly +addressed to my daughter-in-law. Nay, they show an evil heart, +Countess!" + +"Say that she shall do this, Father," cried Cedric, stepping forward +eagerly, for he seemed to hear a secret whisper from the Mermaid +prompting him; "else we shall think that she was the wicked one who +destroyed another's garden in the hope of winning the prize herself." + +At this challenge the Countess came forward sullenly to the edge of the +pool. To take the nearest pearl she had to bend low, until her face drew +close to the water. Suddenly, the watching crowd saw a flash and a +splash and heard a shrill scream. The Countess rose, shrieking horribly. +A huge crab had fastened himself to her nose, and not easily could she +be freed from this unwelcome ornament! At last they tore away the crab, +but the tip of the Countess's nose was gone, and she wore a scar always, +even to the end of her unhappy days. + +This was the Mermaid's punishment for her cruel harm to Gerda's garden. + +But Gerda and Cedric lived happily ever after in the beautiful villa +which the Lord Mayor built for them on the edge of their wonder-garden +beside the sea. And sometimes the Mermaid herself came there to visit +them, and to bring them some new precious thing from the watery world +where she dwelt. + + + +IX. THE KING'S COAT OF ARMS + +The Red King could not disguise his pleasure in the tale of the +Wonder-Garden, though he grumbled when he found there was to be no +fighting in it. When Harold had finished reading the story, Red Rex +patted him on the head and said gruffly,-- + +"Good, my boy! You do, indeed, read a tale as well as one would wish. +But tell me, now; in what part of Kisington is the place where this +Gerda had her Wonder-Garden? Is it far from here?" + +"Nay, not far from here," said Harold. "About a mile from our library, +by the sea, stands the villa where Gerda and the Lord Mayor's son lived +happily ever after. I could show Your Majesty the place, if you were not +unfortunately at war with our city." + +"I would fain see that place," said Red Rex thoughtfully. "I have a +fancy that Gerda, indeed, came from my land. I have heard a legend that +one of my great-great-grandfather's own sisters was stolen by the +gypsies, and carried away to a far country. It might well be that she +ran away from those gypsies, and escaped to this Kingdom, and that it +was she whom the Lord Mayor found living lonely by the sea." + +"It might well be so!" said Harold. "Oh, Your Majesty! How exciting! +Then the Lady Anyse, who lives now at that villa, may be your own +far-off cousin." + +"She may be, indeed," mused the Red King. "What like is she, Harold?" + +"She is tall, and handsome, and has red hair like Your Majesty," said +Harold. "I have seen her often when I went to visit the Garden." + +"The Garden?" exclaimed Red Rex. "Does the Wonder-Garden, then, still +exist?" + +"Not quite the same as in the day of Gerda and Cedric," answered Harold, +"but yet a wonder-garden. It is called 'The Aquarium' now, and is one of +the public gardens of Kisington, given to the town by the will of Cedric +and Gerda. The Lady Anyse has it under her care." + +"Verily, I should like to visit it and see both its wonders and my +long-lost cousin," muttered the Red King. + +"What a pity that you are making war upon our city!" exclaimed Harold. +"There are so many fine things that cannot be while there is war." + +"Yet war must be," answered Red Rex. "And I must be at it straightway." +He rose and flourished his sword with a determined air. + +"But at least you will spare the east of Kisington, where the +Wonder-Garden lay, and not fire gums or arrows in that direction?" +suggested Harold, pointing eastward. The Red King followed the direction +of his finger. + +"Yes, that I will promise," said Red Rex, after a moment's hesitation. +"I promise that; lest otherwise I might injure my own blood royal. +Because I am King I must not forget that!" He swelled his chest proudly. + +"_Noblesse oblige_!" murmured Harold. "It was the motto of the Lion +Passant." + +"I know that motto well; and what of a lion passant?" inquired Red Rex. +"A lion passant is one of the emblems in my own royal coat of arms!" + +"Then, Your Majesty has not heard the tale of the Lion Passant?" asked +Harold, feigning surprise. "It is one of the best known in our land. You +will find your royal lion in the arms of our city of Derrydown; and +there is a tale to account for that." + +Harold began to smile as if the memory of the tale pleased him. + +Red Rex frowned. "It is too late to hear that tale to-night," he +murmured. + +"Yes, Your Majesty," agreed Harold. "Besides, I cannot tell it by heart. +I should have to get the book from our generous library. I can read it +better; there is so much in the manner of the writing. It is a pity Your +Majesty is in such a hurry to fight, or I might bring that book hither +to-morrow and read you the pleasant tale." + +The Red King fidgeted. "I am losing time at a terrible rate!" he +growled. "Think of what harm I might be doing! When have I wasted hours +like this, you wheedling boy?" + +"I do not think these hours are wasted. It is war that wastes," said +Harold. + +"Fudge!" retorted Red Rex; "we must have war. Was that lion a red lion, +Harold?" + +"A red lion, Your Majesty," nodded Harold. + +The Red King grew excited. "I must, then, hear about him!" he cried. "It +is my duty.--What ho, there!" he shouted to his men who were making +ready to continue the siege. "I have changed my mind. We will not fight +for another day. Take this boy back to the city, and proclaim continued +truce until he returns to us." + +"Your Majesty is wise," said Harold with shining eyes. "I think you will +not be sorry to hear the tale of the Lion Passant." + +So the crisis was delayed for another day; and Kisington blessed Harold. +They made a feast at the poor widow's cottage from presents sent by the +Leading Citizens. Richard and Robert sat at the head of the table, one +on each side of Harold, and all his other boy and girl friends sat down +the sides of the table, and he told them all about his adventure with +the besieging King. One and all begged him to let them go with him on +the following day. But this, of course, Harold could not promise. He was +the only one who could read well enough to charm the War-Lord. They all +wished that they had learned to read as well as Harold. + +When on the morrow Harold returned to the Red King, this is the story +which he read from one of the peaceful books of Kisington--the story of +_The Lion Passant_. + + + +X. THE LION PASSANT + +A long time ago, in one of the narrowest side-streets of Kisington, +stood an old curiosity shop, full of strange things. It was a dark +little den inside, so dark that the outer sunshine made the old shopman +blink as he stood in the doorway talking with the stranger. The stranger +was a Medicine Man, and he had just sold a bottle of his famous Elixir +of Life to the old shopkeeper. + +"Yes, sir," said the Medicine Man, as he turned to go, "you will find my +Magic Elixir all that I claim it to be. It will bring back youth and +beauty to the aged. It will give sight to eyes that see not, hearing to +deaf ears, speech to the tongue-tied and motion to limbs that have never +moved before. It will also cure whooping-cough." + +"I hope so," said the old man in an eager voice. He had heard only one +word in six of the stranger's talk. "I hope so, for I need it very much. +Shall I take it all at once, or--" But already the Medicine Man was +halfway down the road, with the gold coin which the old man had given +him safe in his deepest pocket. The old man returned into his shop, +blinking more than ever, and stumbling over the piled-up rubbish as he +went. It was an abominably crowded little room. Each corner, each shelf, +each hook in wall or ceiling was occupied. Everything was piled high or +filled up with something else. + +In the midst of all kinds of curiosities, the Lion Passant stood +waiting. He had been waiting there so many years that the Old Curiosity +Shop man had quite given up hope that any one would ever come for him. +The Lion was very old; older than the shop, older than the old man who +kept it, older than anything else in the shop--and that was saying much. + +The Lion was cobwebby and scarred; but, notwithstanding, he was a fine +figure of a beast. He had been finely carved out of oak and colored a +warm gules, though now somewhat faded. He was carved in the attitude of +marching along a parti-colored pole of gules and silver. His dexter paw +was raised in the air, his red tongue hung out and his tail was curved +gracefully over his back. There was something which I cannot exactly +describe of grand and dignified about the Lion Passant,--what the books +call a "decayed gentility." + +[Illustration: HE STOOD IN THE DOORWAY TALKING WITH THE STRANGER] + +The old man stumbled and blinked his way toward the door at the rear of +the shop. He was eager to try the Elixir of Life and become young again, +and he hurried faster than was wise in the shadowy labyrinth. Just as he +was opposite the Lion Passant, he caught his foot in a sprawling chair +and stumbled forward, with both arms stretched out to save himself. Away +flew the bottle of Elixir, _smash_! against the head of the Lion Passant. +The glass shivered into a thousand pieces, and the precious golden drops +went trickling down over the carved beast, over the table, onto the +floor, where it made a dusty pool about the feet of a cracked china cat. + +"Oh, me! Oh, me!" groaned the old man. "All my precious youth wasted, +and no money left to buy more! Oh, me! What an unlucky day it is!" And +he stumbled out to tell his wife all about it. Now, as soon as he had +left the shop, strange things began to happen there. + +"Marry, come up!" exclaimed the Lion, licking his red tongue. "I am +a-weary of this. My leg is asleep." And he set down the dexter paw, +which he had been holding in that position for four hundred years or +more. + +"Wow!" cried the China Cat from the floor. "My cracks are growing +together again! I believe I am as good as new!" And she arched her back +and yawned. + +The Lion lashed his tail once, to be sure that he could really do it, +and looked about the shop in disgust. "I must away!" he said. + +"Oh!" cried the Cat, lazily, beginning to lick her paw, as if she had +always been doing so since the discovery of China. "You are so restless! +Where are you going?" + +The Lion stepped gingerly down from his striped pole to the table, and +from there to the floor. As he did so, he seemed to increase in size, so +that by the time he had reached the shop door he was as large as an +ordinary lion. "I am going to seek _Them_," said the Lion, with dignity. +"I am, as you see, a Lion Passant, the crest of a noble house. Many +years I have been separated from my people. I have waited for Them to +come for me. Every time the shop-bell tinkled it has waked an echo of +hope in my heart. But They do not come; I must, then, go to Them." He +sighed deeply. + +"How will you know where to find them?" asked the Cat, respectfully. + +"I shall seek Them in the halls of the mighty," said the Lion proudly. +"They were of the noblest in the land, I remember." + +"By what name shall you know them?" asked the Cat again, who was +inquisitive. + +The Lion became thoughtful. "The name?" he repeated. "The name? I have +forgot the name. But I was the crest that They bore in battle, the +figure on their shields, the carving above their hearths." + +"Yes, but times have changed, folk say," objected the Cat. "How shall +you know your people among the New Ones?" + +"I shall recognize Them," said the Lion confidently. "I shall know Them, +the proudest, the mightiest, the bravest, and most fair. Besides, is +there not the family tradition? Once, in the far ages before even I was +carved, the first knight of our line had an adventure with a lion; hence +my figure upon Their crest. I know not the tale complete; but this I +know--that from that time on, no one of Them has been able to see a +lion, to speak or hear the name, without sneezing thrice. So it was in +that day, so it has been ever since." + +"That, indeed, is something definite," yawned the Cat, as the Lion +stalked out into the sunshine. "Well, I'm glad I have no tradition but +one of comfort." And she curled herself up on a piece of ancient gold +brocade. + +So the Lion went forth to seek his people. He had not gone far before he +overtook the Medicine Man, who had sold no Elixir since leaving the +Curiosity Shop. The Lion padded up behind him so silently that the man +did not hear him until he was quite close; then the Lion gave a gentle +roar. + +"Abracadabra!" cried the man, turning pale and shaking till his teeth +rattled. He was so ignorant that he did not know a Heraldic Device when +he saw one. But he had seen pictures in books and knew that this +brilliant red beast was no ordinary lion. + +"Kind youth," said the Lion grandly, lifting his paw and curving his +tail in the old way, "I owe you much. Your Magic Elixir has given me +life and motion. If there is aught I can do for you, I shall be glad." + +The man's face was full of wonder. "You owe much to the Elixir?" he +cried. "Oh, pray explain!" + +So the Lion explained. When he had finished the simple story, the +Medicine Man's face was illumined with a great idea. "It is +magnificent!" he cried. "It is beyond my wildest dreams. For, to tell +you the truth--but why tell the truth? This justifies me, certainly. +Now, if you would but go with me as a Living Testimonial?" + +The Lion bowed. He did not like the idea, for it threatened notoriety; +but he felt a sense of duty. "_Noblesse oblige_," he murmured. "It is +Our motto. Nothing can hurt my pride, if it has a foundation upon truth. +I will go with you until I feel that my debt is paid." + +"It is well!" said the man. And they journeyed together. Naturally, the +appearance of a warm crimson lion caused considerable excitement in the +streets of Kisington. Folk crowded around him and the Medicine Man, and +when they heard his story, they bought eagerly of the Elixir. "He is the +crest of a noble house come to life!" they whispered among themselves. +"What noble house?" The Lion listened eagerly for the answer; but heads +were shaken in reply. No one recognized the device. + +There was one thing which annoyed the Lion. This was the tendency of the +Medicine Man to exaggerate the powers of his Elixir. As time went on, he +began to add the oddest stories to the one he told about the Lion. Was +that not wonderful enough? The Lion was astonished, shocked, outraged. +He protested, but in vain. The habit of exaggeration, once contracted, +becomes a terrible master. The Medicine Man seemed unable longer to +speak the truth. + +One morning when he was telling his wicked lies to a company of trusting +women and children, the Lion rose from the center of the eager circle +and stalked away from the Medicine Man. "_Noblesse oblige_," he said. +And they never saw each other again. I dare say the seller of the Elixir +and his descendants have been doing business in the same way ever since. + +Now, the Lion journeyed for many months through the Kingdom without +finding a trace of his family. He scanned carefully the entrance to +every great palace and castle. He caused some confusion in traffic by +dashing out to examine the crests emblazoned upon the panels of the +chariots which passed him on the road. He even halted foot-passengers to +inquire, courteously, if he might look more closely at certain devices +upon chain or brooch or bangle which had caught his eye. Especially, he +surprised with his attentions several persons who had sneezed violently +in his presence. But in vain. He failed to find the clue he sought. + +Folk would fain have helped him in his search; for his manners were +gentle and gracious, and his bearing unmistakably noble. Folk liked him. +Many would have been glad to prove themselves, through him, scions of +that great family which he undoubtedly represented. But all their +efforts to sneeze at the right time were fruitless. They went away +crestfallen before his reproachful gaze. Sometimes, the Lion would spy a +lovely face, or a manly figure, which appealed strangely to him. +"Surely," he would say to himself, "surely, this noble-looking person is +one of Them. Something seems to tell me so!" And he would assume his +heraldic pose, with dexter paw lifted and eloquent tail curved high, +waiting wistfully for the sneeze of recognition to follow. Sometimes, +alas! came, instead, a laugh of scorn, or an unkind word. He learned that +noble figures and lovely faces do not always adorn like natures. + +Well, many months passed by. Footsore and weary, the Lion still traveled +upon his quest. He felt very old and lonesome, homesick for his marble +halls, hopeless of finding them. He came, one noon, to an inn on the +outskirts of Derrydown Village. Over the door of the inn a signboard +creaked and flapped in the wind. The Lion looked up. He beheld upon the +sign the picture of a red lion! The traveler was greatly moved. +"Surely," he thought, "this must be the arms of some great family in the +neighborhood--perhaps my ancestral castle is hereabout!" But when he +explained things to the Landlord, that worthy dashed his hopes once +more. No family with such a device was known in those parts. + +"However," said the Landlord, eyeing the Lion appraisingly, "I have an +idea! If you will remain with me for some hours, I will show you +something. The Prince and his train are to pass here on their way to the +Ancient Wood, where they will hunt. In the company will be all the +grandest nobles of the Kingdom. Surely, some of your family will be +among them. Here is a splendid viewpoint! Do you remain beside my door +in your grand attitude. You will see and be seen. If your folks are +there, you will be sneezed at; which is what you want. It will be, +beside, a grand advertisement for me--a real red lion guarding the Red +Lion Inn!" + +The Lion agreed. That night, when the Prince's cavalcade passed through +Derrydown, huge and red, with lifted paw and curved tail, the beast +stood at the door of the Red Lion Inn. Many stared in wonder. Many +paused to inquire. Many entered and partook of the dainties which Mine +Host had prepared against this very happening. The Prince himself +paused, pointed, and asked a question. The Lion's heart leaped wildly! +There was a curious expression on the Prince's face; it seemed drawn and +twisted--was he about to sneeze? Alas! No. With a harsh laugh, the +Prince gave the Lion a cut with his whip and bounded past; after him, +the last of his followers. The Lion's skin smarted and his heart +writhed. He kept his temper with difficulty; but--it was the Prince. +_Noblesse oblige_. + +When they were out of sight, his head drooped. There was no one in all +that gallant company who belonged to him. But the Landlord had reaped a +rich harvest from the Lion's presence. When once more the village was +empty of nobility, he came to the Lion, rubbing his hands, contentedly. +"Old fellow," he said, "I have had profit from you. Now, I will give you +supper and a bed in my stable for the night. And why should we not make +this arrangement permanent? You see, your folks are gone. The family has +run out and no one any longer bears or recognizes the crest. You are an +orphan; but you can still be of use to me. Why not become the supporter +of my inn?" + +"Gramercy!" quoth the Lion, with dignity. "I will accept the supper, for +I am very hungry. But as for sleeping in the stable, that I cannot do! I +prefer a bed on one of the fragrant haycocks in your meadow." + +"To that you are welcome, if you please," said the Landlord graciously. +"And, to-morrow, we will talk again of the other matter." + +So the Lion had his supper, and then went wearily to sleep on a haycock +in the thymy meadow. He was sad and disillusioned, and the Landlord's +words had taken away his last hope. He began to wish that he had never +come alive. "To-morrow," he said, "I will go back to the Old Curiosity +Shop, and see if the old man can un-medicine me. For a crest without a +family is even a more forlorn thing than a family without a crest!" + +The Lion wakened with a start. "_Ker-chew! Ker-chew! Ker-chew!_" sounded +in his ear. He sprang to his feet and looked around. Opposite him stood +a little girl in a ragged gown, with a basket on her arm, staring at him +with big, round eyes. She did not seem in the least afraid. The Lion was +annoyed. He had been dreaming of his noble family, and it was very +disappointing to be wakened by this beggar with her mocking "_Ker-chew_!" + +"Away with you, child!" he said. "I am weary and peevish. Do you not +know better than to awaken a sleeping lion?" + +"_Ker-chew! Ker-chew! Ker-chew!_" The child sneezed again so violently +that she nearly fell into the haycock. + +The Lion was agitated. "What can this mean?" he thought. "It must be an +accident which has caused her to sneeze at the word. I will try again." +He began firmly, "When a lion--" But again he was interrupted by the +violent sneezing of the little maid as soon as the word had passed his +teeth. + +The Lion shivered. Could this really be? Was it possible that this +vagrant was an offshoot of the noble family which he had been seeking? +If so, he must be in no hurry to claim relationship! The child put her +hand into her basket, smiling. + +"Good Lion," she said, "_Ker-chew! Ker-chew! Ker-chew!_ I like you. Will +you have a bit of bread?" And she held out to him a fragment of her +luncheon. + +The Lion was touched. He did not like bread, but he could not refuse a +child, and he ate it painfully. "What is your name?" he asked at length. + +"Claribel," she answered. + +"Your other name?" he persisted. + +"Claribel," she repeated. "Just Claribel--that is all." + +"Where do you live?" asked the Lion. + +The child pointed over her shoulder. "Near the Ancient Wood, yonder," +she said. "I came to Derrydown to the market. I have sold my dolls; now +I am going home with the money." + +"Dolls?" queried the Lion, interested in spite of himself. "You make +dolls?" + +Claribel nodded. "Rag dolls," she said. "My mother made dresses for the +villagers. Now I make dolls out of the pieces in the old rag-bag. It +buys me bread." + +The Lion's heart was softened. "You are so little, Claribel!" he +exclaimed. "Have you no one to take care of you?" + +The child shook her head. "My mother is dead. I am alone in the world," +she said. + +"But have you no relatives--no one of noble kin in some palace, some +castle?" the Lion cried eagerly. + +The child laughed. "I know of no castles," she said; "no kindred at all. +I never had any, I think." + +The Lion gave a groan. "I will go back to the Curiosity Shop!" he said +whimsically. "Good-bye, child!" He started away. But, turning for a last +look, he saw Claribel, with her eyes full of tears. + +"Do not go!" cried the child. "I like you so much, dear Lion--_Ker-chew! +Ker-chew! Ker-chew!_" + +The Lion's heart melted. "You are so little!" he said, "too little to be +going on these roads alone. I will see you home." So they took the long +road together, the child skipping happily beside the Lion, with her hand +in his red mane. And the farther they walked together, the more the Lion +liked Claribel, who sneezed whenever she spoke his name, but looked at +him with kindly eyes. + +They came at last to the hut where Claribel lived alone. It was a tiny +cottage on the edge of the wood. The Lion looked at it long and hard. It +was so different from the castle he had hoped to find! The child pulled +him by the mane, and he went in. The hut was very poor, but spotlessly +neat and clean. + +Claribel led the Lion to the fireplace and began to blow meager sparks +with the bellows. "I will keep you warm and give you bread to eat. You +shall stay and live with me and be my dear big watch-dog!" she said. + +The Lion sighed. But he could say nothing; he was so tender-hearted. "I +will run away in the night," he promised himself. And then, on the +mantel-stone above the tire, he spied a roughly-scratched shield. On the +shield was the small figure of a lion passant, with dexter paw raised +and curved tail. Below it was scrawled the motto, "_Noblesse oblige_." + +Claribel saw him staring at it with big eyes, and began to laugh and +sneeze. "Yes, my mother loved it," she said, "and I love it, though it +always makes me sneeze just as you do. That was why I liked you from the +beginning. Some day I shall learn what the words mean; then I shall be +rich and happy." + +The Lion did not run away that night. He slept with his nose on his paws +beside the fire and dreamed grand dreams of castles and fair ladies; of +gold-broidered banners on which _he_ was emblazoned in crimson glory, +and of the battle-cry, "_Noblesse oblige_!" echoing all about him. + +But in the morning he was awakened, for the second time, by the sound of +three soft little sneezes. "Excuse me!" said Claribel's dear little +voice; "I tried not to, but I could not help it. I was so afraid you +would not be here when I woke up. It might all have been a dream. But as +soon as I saw you, I had to sneeze;--it is very odd!" She laughed and +laughed, and the Lion roared in sympathy. + +"I shall not go away," he said. "I want to be a real Supporter, not a +heraldic one. I shall stay and try to help you learn the meaning of the +motto over the fireplace." + +"Oh, I am so happy!" cried Claribel, clapping her hands. "Already, I +have thought of a way you can help me very much. I have always wanted to +make a lion doll--_Ker-chew! Ker-chew! Ker-chew!_ But I never before had +any lion--_Ker-chew! Ker-chew! Ker-chew!_--to copy, except that flat one +over the fireplace. Now I can shape them after you and sell them in the +market, and we shall grow rich, oh, so rich!" + +And so it befell in the days that came thereafter. For Claribel's clever +fingers snipped and pieced and seamed together the bits of cloth, until +she had a lion so like her new friend that she almost sneezed her head +off when he was finished. And, lo! She had invented a new kind of toy, +which was speedily the rage over the whole kingdom. + +In time, the making of lion-dolls became the great industry of +Derrydown, whereof the people had much profit, especially Claribel, +whose idea it was. And the folk of the town loved her dearly, because +she had brought prosperity to them all. And they were devoted to the +Lion, who went to and fro among them with gracious dignity, serving +Claribel and serving them, so busy that he had no time to worry about +escutcheons. + +No family so poor but it had its little lion of carefully pieced rags, +which it fondly prized; not merely because it was a quaint toy and +indestructible, but because it was to them a token of their noble, +friendly beast and of the motto which he had taught them. (But they had +taught him many things, also.) And in latter days a crimson lion became +the seal of the Guild of Toy-Makers in that shire. And a new tradition +began to grow about the Lion Passant, concerned entirely with his +service to the people. + +So, in seeking Them, the Lion found himself. And he lived happy ever +after. + + + +XI. HOPE + +"Dear me!" said Red Rex, when Harold had finished this story. "I never +saw one of those lion-dolls which your tale mentions. I would that I had +one to present to my little girl." + +"Have you a little girl?" exclaimed Harold in surprise. "Why, I had no +idea that you were the father of little children." + +"Well, why not?" asked the Red King crossly. "I have a dear little girl +of seven, and her name is Hope." + +"Oh, if you have a dear little girl of your own, how can you make war on +a city where other dear little girls live?" cried Harold. "I cannot +understand!" + +"No, you cannot understand, because you are only a child yourself," said +the Red King. "When you are grown up you will feel differently." + +"Your Majesty, I do not think so," declared Harold, shaking his head +decidedly. "When I have learned all the books in our library, and seen +all the countries there are to see, and done all the interesting things +there are to do, there may be time to think about war. But these other +matters will keep me busy all my life, I should think." + +"Rubbish!--Can one purchase a lion-doll in your city?" asked Red Rex, +changing the subject uneasily. + +"Yes," said Harold. "Every child in the city owns a lion-doll. Your +Majesty ought to visit the great factory at Derrydown, near where +Claribel lived,--where the dolls are still made. It is close by the +Ancient Wood, where there was such good hunting, and where David had his +adventure with the Old Gnome, you know." + +"No, I do not know the Old Gnome," retorted the Red King peevishly. "How +do you expect me to know all the legends of your precious country? We +know nothing about this Kingdom in my own warlike land." + +"Then why should you want to fight us?" asked Harold. "If you had taken +the trouble to know us better, you could then judge whether we deserve +to be fought. But I think you would like our people if you knew them." + +Again Red Rex changed the subject. "What of the hunting in this Ancient +Wood?" he asked. "When I have taken your city, and after it the rest of +your Kingdom, I will go there to hunt." + +"There was good hunting," said Harold, "once upon a time. In those days +one had to beware the wicked Gnomes of the Great Fear. That was why the +Old One fled." + +"What about this 'Old One,' and this 'Great Fear'?" asked the Red King. +"I suppose that is another story which you want to read to me." + +"Nay; I do not care to read the tale unless Your Majesty wishes it," +said Harold with dignity. "But if Your Majesty desires a lion-doll for +your little Princess, I can get one for you and return with it and the +story at the same time. There is a dear little girl in the story. I +think your daughter must be very like her." + +The Red King gnawed his red mustache and frowned forbiddingly at Harold. +At last he slapped his knee and gave a grunt of assent. "Well," said he, +"fetch me the doll and the book. I may as well give my soldiers another +day's holiday. But in sooth, this has gone on too long! To-morrow's tale +must positively be the last. I hope there will be much fighting in it. +Your tales are something too peaceful for my taste. Look, now! Your city +must be destroyed in short order, because I have set my heart on it." + +"Will Your Majesty promise me one other thing, beside the truce, till my +return?" begged Harold, looking up in his face with a winning smile. + +Red Rex frowned and tried to look very wicked and cruel. + +"Well, what is it now?" he growled. + +"Promise me, Your Majesty, for the sake of your little dear daughter, +whose name is Hope, that when you fight again you will spare that part +of the city where the schoolhouse stands. Robert and Richard and all my +friends are there." + +"What part of the city is that?" asked Red Rex sullenly. + +"It is the west part," answered Harold, pointing in the opposite +direction from that in which he had declared the Wonder-Garden to have +been. + +"Very well; I promise," said the Red King. "_Noblesse oblige_." + +Harold had no difficulty in getting a lion-doll for the Red King. +Indeed, when they knew for what purpose it was intended, and what Harold +had gained by his clever winning of the promise from Red Rex, every +child in town wanted to send his or her lion-doll to the little +princess, whose name was Hope. + +They came to Harold's home from all parts of the city, bringing their +dolls, until the High Street was crowded. But the Librarian and the Lord +Mayor were unwilling to accept any of these, for none of them was quite +fresh and new. Most of them had an arm or a leg dislocated, or bald +spots on their yellow fur; which proved how fond the children were of +these noble pets, how much they hugged and fondled and frayed them. + +The Lord Mayor himself went to the largest shop in Kisington and in the +name of the children of Kisington purchased a royal lion-doll, nearly as +big as a real baby lion, with a patent voice inside which made it cry +"_Gr-r! Gr-r!_" when you twisted its luxuriant tail. And this was to be +the toy of the little Princess Hope. + +With this wonderful toy under one arm and a basket under the other, +which contained among other things a green-and-gold volume from the +library, Harold kissed his mother and went once more to the camp of Red +Rex. He found the monarch there alone, save for his bodyguard. His +soldiers had gone to enjoy themselves in the neighboring woods, glad +indeed of their continued holiday. + +When Red Rex saw the great lion-doll he clapped his hands on his knees +and roared with laughter. And it was the first time Harold had heard the +War-Lord laugh,--a terrible sound! But when Harold showed how to make +the lion itself roar, by screwing its tail, the Red King fell over on +his back and nearly died of laughing. + +"Oh! Oh!" he cried, wiping the tears from his bronze cheeks. "How the +little Princess will squeal when I twist that lion's tail! How she will +laugh when she hears the creature roar!" And he went off in another fit. + +Harold stood by grinning and saying nothing. + +The Red King took out a huge purse from his girdle. "And now, what shall +I pay you for this wonderful toy?" he asked. "I suppose it is worth many +golden crowns?" + +"It is worth your promise to the children of Kisington, Your Majesty," +said Harold. "It is a gift from them to your little Princess whose name +is Hope. The children hope you will remember your promise to them." + +"I am a King. I do not forget," said Red Rex haughtily. + +"Nevertheless, Kings do forget sometimes," murmured Harold. "But this +lion will remind you of your kingly crest, and of the Lion Passant whose +motto you know so well." + +"True," said Red Rex, and he looked at the lion-doll earnestly. + +"And now, shall I read to Your Majesty the story of which we spoke?" +asked Harold, opening his basket and taking out the +green-and-gold-volume. + +"Begin," commanded the Red King, settling himself cozily on his back, +with his head lying on the soft fur of the new lion-doll. "But unless +there is a deal of fighting in it I shall go to sleep. I am very weary." + +Thereupon Harold began to read in his best manner the gentle tale of +_The Hermit Gnome_. + + + +XII: THE HERMIT GNOME + +Long, long ago, in the farthest corner of the Kingdom, was a mountain +covered with a pathless forest. Human folk never came this way. The +shadows of the forest were gloomy, and the sounds of the forest were +strange, and the name of the forest was full of dread. Men called it the +Great Fear. For it was here that the Gnomes lived and did their wicked +dealings. + +The Gnomes were ugly and deformed and black; no larger than the +Elf-People, but instead of Fairy kindness their minds plotted evil. They +lived in the hollows and cracks of the mountain. Some of them camped out +under the great, poisonous toadstools which they loved, as they loved +everything dangerous to man. And all day long they dreamed, all night +long they wrought mischief. They were at the bottom of many of the evil +happenings in Kisington and elsewhere. For they could wreak their evil +magic from a long distance. + +Now, of the race of Gnomes there was one apart. He was a queer little +fellow, the oldest, the ugliest, and the crookedest of them all. His +face was wrinkled like a brown walnut; and his little misshapen body was +bent under a hump which was the biggest part of him. But his mind was +not evil. He was quite harmless and mild and lazy, and he hated the dire +doings of his fellows who would neither mind their own business nor +leave him to his. + +For centuries things went on from bad to worse in the Great Fear. At +last the Old Gnome could bear it no longer. + +"I am very old and tired," he said. "It is almost time for me to curl up +in the long sleep. But I cannot sleep here! I should have bad dreams. I +will leave the Great Fear, which owes none of its name to me. I will go +and become a Hermit, as men say." + +So spoke the queer little Gnome. And one bright noon when all the other +Gnomes were dreaming with shut eyes,--for they hated the daylight,--he +stumbled away as fast as his crooked little legs could take him south +from the Great Fear. Now, beyond this was a meadow, which was the +borderland across which human folk dared not approach the haunt of the +Gnomes. And beyond the meadow again was an Ancient Wood, which, though +he did not know it, was on the outskirts of Derrydown. Thither the Old +Gnome betook himself, and found it very good indeed. Like the Great Fear +it was dense and shadowy and cool. In places it was very dark. But there +was scarcely a spot whence you could not, when the sun shone, catch +speckled gleams of gold upon the moss; or, when the moon beamed, spy a +wealth of filtered silver. For the Ancient Wood was intersected hither +and yon by paths of the woodchoppers. And sun and moon love to peer down +through the man-made windows in the green roof of trees and beautify the +ways which human feet have trod. + +The Old Gnome peered and pried about the Ancient Wood, seeking a +hermitage. At last he came upon the hollow stump of a tree, hidden in a +clump of feathery fern. It was thatched with green lichens without, and +carpeted within in a mossy pattern of green and gray and scarlet. Little +hard mushrooms, growing shelf-wise one above another, made a winding +staircase up to the doorway. Portieres of finest spider-wrought tapestry +swayed before door and window and draped the dark-hued walls; while +across one corner hung a hammock of heavier web, the very thing for a +weary Gnome's resting-place. + +As soon as the Old Gnome spied this stump he cried,--"Ha! This is the +spot for me! Here will I make my hermitage. And when the time comes for +my long sleep, here will I rest forever." For you must know that the +Gnomes do not die, being immortal like the Fays; but unlike them growing +older and dryer and drowsier until they are fit only for eternal sleep. + +The Old Gnome was soon at home in his cell; and very peaceful and cozy +he found it. For several days he lay and swung in his hammock, growing +comfortably drowsier and drowsier, too lazy even to gather berries for +his food. He would soon sleep without waking; and by and by the moss and +lichens would grow over him, too, and he would become a silent part of +the Ancient Wood,--a little green mound such as you yourself may have +seen many a time. + +But one day while he was snoring, with his wrinkled hands folded +peacefully on his little chest, he heard a sound which made him open his +eyes with a snap. It was the noise of an axe chopping. The Old Gnome sat +up nervously and peered through his knot-hole window. A woodcutter was +at work at the very next tree. + +"Hello!" said the Old Gnome, staring open-eyed; "That must be a _man_!" +For this was the first mortal he had ever seen. + +Forgetting his drowsiness, he climbed up his staircase and peered +closely at the creature from behind a curtain of fern. + +It was a strong young man, who wielded the axe heartily against the +giant oak. The Old Gnome watched him curiously, admiring the lithe sweep +of his arm and the rhythmic bend of his body. + +"They are goodly folk, these men!" he sighed, looking down on his own +misshapen frame. "How can those evil brothers of mine care so much to +vex and trouble them?" And he turned over and tried to go to sleep; but +the sound of the axe kept knocking at something within him. + +Suddenly, the man made a mis-stroke. The axe slipped and came down upon +his sandaled foot. With a cry he dropped the axe and fell to the ground, +lying very still and white. + +"Ha!" frowned the Old Gnome, "the work of my brothers! Some one of them +must have charmed that axe. But how strange he looks! Doubtless it is +pain, which I do not know. Ah, pain must be something very sore!" And he +felt a throb of pity. + +He hobbled to the spot where the woodman lay. Across his leg was a deep +gash and on the moss were drops of crimson. The Old Gnome looked at them +wonderingly, for the Gnomes are bloodless. "How beautiful the color!" he +cried, and he touched his finger to one of the drops. Immediately a +thrill went through his cold body, and he seemed to feel a fresh draught +of life. New impulses came to him. + +"These men!" cried he, "how weak they are, after all! How greatly they +need aid. I can help him now,--even I!" And his ugly little face +wrinkled into the first grin it had known for centuries. + +He called to mind his long-forgotten skill in herbs, and hunted in the +Ancient Wood for certain plants of healing. One he crushed and laid upon +the wound to stanch the blood. Others he set out in the ground close +under the young man's nose, so that they seemed to be growing naturally +there. + +Presently the woodman opened his eyes and stared about him dazedly, but +the Old Gnome had hidden himself. As he gained strength, the woodman +tore a strip of linen and bound it upon his leg. Then, sniffing the +aromatic herbs which grew conveniently at hand, he plucked a bunch with +which to make a lotion, and with it limped painfully from the wood. + +The Old Gnome watched him go with curious eyes. "I wonder if he will +return," he said to himself. And he decided not to sleep until he should +know how it fared with the young man. + +It was not many days thereafter before the woodman returned to the +forest. The lotion had been wondrous helpful, and had healed him more +quickly than he had dared to hope; for he was eager to be at work again. +Limping slightly, for the wound had been a sore one, David began work +anew. + +Day by day the Old Gnome watched him, half jealously at first. But the +more he watched the more he liked the ways of the intruder. The woodman +sang at his work; his eyes sparkled and his lips smiled as if with +pleasant thoughts. + +The Old Gnome found himself smiling too, unseen behind the fern. "I will +not sleep yet awhile," he said, "for there is work to do." + +In the night when the Ancient Wood was silent he toiled long and +heartily at the crafts wherein he was wise. And the woodman tasted the +result. For the Old Gnome made the berries to ripen more quickly in that +glade. He caused delicious mushrooms to spring up all about. He coaxed a +spring of fair water from the bed where it slumbered underground and +made it gush into a little basin where David came upon it gladly. He +caused medicinal herbs to grow, and certain fragrant plants that drove +away the mischievous insects sent by his brother Gnomes. All this the +Old One did while David was away; and the young man did not know. But he +was very happy and busy. Now, one day the young man finished his +woodcutting, and lo! he had made a clearing in the Ancient Wood large +enough for a tiny house; but the Gnome did not know this. David looked +about him at the spring and the flowers and the berries of the pleasant +place which the Old Gnome had prepared, and said, "It is good!" +Forthwith of the logs which he had felled he began to build the house +itself. + +When the Old Gnome saw what David was about to do, indeed he was angry! +For he said,-- + +"Oho! I did not bargain for this. This is my wood! I want no +neighbor,--though a merry visitor was not unwelcome. What is to become +of my solitude, of my hermitage? And how am I to sleep, with another +restless creature living close by forever and ever?" + +For several days he sulked in his cell and would not work. But finally +the merry sound of the young man's whistle keeping time to the wheeze of +saw and the knock of hammer made the Old Gnome smile again, and he said +to himself,-- + +"Well, what of it? True, I shall have a neighbor for good and all. But +he will be alone and speechless, since there is no one with whom to +chatter; and he will never trouble me. Let him build here if he will." + +David builded his house; and a pretty little place it was, for he was a +careful workman and his heart was in it. When all was done he laid the +axe aside, hid the hammer and saw, put on fine new clothes and went away +across the meadow, whistling happily as a bird. It was the Gnome's first +chance to see the inside of a man's dwelling, and he lost no time in +going there, you may be sure. He found many things to wonder at, for +naturally it was very different from a Gnome's hermitage. But nothing +surprised him more than the wreaths of flowers which David had hung over +door and window and fireplace, over bed and chairs and table, so that +the place was like a fragrant bower prepared for a beloved guest. + +The Old Gnome shook his head. "Strange folk, these men!" said he. "Why, +and why, and why?" But he brushed up the sawdust, which David had +forgotten in a corner; and he re-piled the kindlings on the hearth, +which David had hastily put together for a fire. He neatly spread the +bed, which David had clumsily prepared; and he made tidy the kitchen +which, in his eagerness to don his new clothes, David had quite +overlooked. Then the Old One went back to his cell and lay down in his +hammock, chuckling. "How surprised the fellow will be!" he said. + +At night the Old Gnome heard voices in the wood, and sprang up from his +hammock angrily. "More of them?" he cried. "Am I to hear human prattle +around me, after all?" And he peered from the balcony of his cell with +eyes almost as fierce as those of his brother Gnomes in the Great Fear. +He stared and stared at what he saw. For the young woodcutter was +returning in his fine clothes, and with him was a fair maiden, also in +holiday gear. Both looked very happy and smiling. + +They entered the open door, and the Old Gnome watched to see David's +surprise when he should discover how matters had improved in his +absence. But the woodman was thinking so much about his pretty new wife +that he had eyes for nothing else. However, she looked about her with +surprise and pleasure, and the Old Gnome heard her say to her husband,-- + +"Ah, David! What a tidy housekeeper you are! Or is it some Fairy who has +made the house so neat and ready for me? Surely, no one but a beautiful, +kind Fairy would sweep the floor so spotless and make so smooth the bed. +Oh, I am glad we have a Fairy friend!" + +What David replied the Old Gnome did not hear. He was filled with +wondering delight. A Fairy! The sweet little thing had thought it must +be a beautiful Fairy who had done this work! The Old Gnome looked +whimsically down at his bandy legs and ugly body, and sighed and smiled. + +"Ah, if I were but a Fairy!" he said. "Fairies are beautiful and good; +they live forever young and gay, and there is no end to the kindness +they may do. But I!"--he sighed again,--"a Fairy, indeed!" And he +hobbled away to his cell, thinking kindly of the little wife who of all +the world had spoken the first word of praise for him; and of the strong +young man who loved her. + +Now happy days followed in the little house in the Ancient Wood; happy +days, too, for the Old Gnome in his hermit's cell. For he was busy all +the time doing kind deeds for his new neighbors; without their knowing +it. Sometimes he set the table for the morning meal. Sometimes he helped +in the churning and made the butter come quickly. Sometimes he blew the +fire like a little bellows; a hundred and one things he found to do +about the cottage. And it was his reward to hear the young wife +say,--"Oh! David, the good Fairy has been here again. What a dear, good, +beautiful Fairy it must be!" + +The Old Gnome was very careful to keep his ugly face out of sight, you +may be sure. + +Days went by, and the Old Gnome was ever more and more busy in the hut +of the young people, so that really I do not know how they would have +done without him. He was scarcely ever in the hermitage nowadays, except +for a few hours' sleep by daylight; and he scarcely found time to look +after his own affairs, such as they were, so little of a hermit was he +become! But every night the young wife set out a bowl of curds and cream +for the beautiful Fairy who helped her; and sometimes David left half +his luncheon of bread and cheese in the woods, for his unknown friend. +The Old Gnome was growing fat and merry because of this good fare; but +he seemed as little like a Fairy as ever. + +The months went by; and one day a surprising thing happened. The Old +Gnome, sleeping in his hammock, was wakened by a strange, shrill little +cry. He sat up and listened wonderingly. It was broad daylight, but at +the risk of being seen he ran as fast as he could, and climbing up the +vine of eglantine peered in at the chamber window whence came the cry. +And there lying on the young wife's bed was a wee pink baby! The Old +Gnome looked at it long and earnestly; and the more he peered the more +he liked the look of this newest little neighbor. + +"It is as beautiful as a Fairy!" he thought. "I must be good to it, and +perhaps it will grow to love me." + +From that time the Old Gnome had no rest at all. Unseen--wrapped in a +cloak of shadows--he sat for hours while the baby was asleep, fanning +the flies away from its little face. When it was restless, he kept the +clothes over its tiny feet, drawing them up as fast as the baby kicked +them away. And when the young wife came, she would say, + +"See, David! Our Fairy has been watching over our baby, just as it +watched over us. Oh, now I feel quite safe from those wicked Gnomes who +live in the Great Fear!" At this the Old Gnome would chuckle from the +corner where he lurked, and where only the baby's bright eyes could +pierce the cloak of shadows. It was a great day for the Old Gnome when +first the baby smiled at him. It was a still greater day when she held +out her little arms to him, and the Old One knew that they were friends. +Soon she was lisping words in her shrill voice; and one of the first +things she tried to say was "Fairy friend." She looked straight at the +Old Gnome when she did it, and a thrill went through him at the words. +She saw him; yet she thought he was a Fairy! Poor little mite! He +dreaded the day when she should know the difference. But the baby seemed +to love him more and more every day, and the Old Gnome's cell became her +favorite playhouse. + +When she grew old enough to talk, she and her mother spoke often of the +Fairy friend; and the little girl told strange tales of his doings when +no one but herself was about, for still he shyly crept into his cloak of +shadows when the grown-up folk were near. When the mother asked what +like the Fairy was, she shook her head. "I cannot tell!" she would +answer. "Not like you, Mother dear; but beautiful also, and good and +merry." + +Now, the woodcutter's wife was a very good woman, but she was curious. +The more she heard about the friendly, mysterious Fairy whom her child +alone had seen, the more she longed to see him for herself. This was not +kind; for she knew he did not wish to be seen. But she was sorely +tempted. One day she heard the little one out in the Ancient Wood +laughing and talking merrily with some one. "It is the Fairy!" said the +mother, and she picked up her toes and crept noiselessly to spy upon +them. + +There was the baby sitting on a bed of moss; and there, plainly seen +without his shadow-cloak, was the Old Gnome, turning somersaults for her +and dancing on his crooked legs to make her laugh. + +But the mother did not laugh at what she saw! She burst out of the +bushes with a cry and seized the baby in her arms. "My child!" she +screamed. "Oh, the wicked Gnome! Help, David, help!" + +Her cry summoned the woodcutter, who came running up, very pale, with +his axe in his hand. "What is this?" he asked. "Who is injuring my +child?" + +Sobbing, his wife pointed to where the Old Gnome cowered, blinking, +caught at last in the sunlight outside his cell. + +"A Gnome!" cried David in horror. "One of the pests from the Great Fear! +What are you doing here, Monster? How shall we pay you to go away and +leave us in peace?" + +"I will go away," said the Old Gnome humbly, "though I belong not to the +Great Fear, and I came here before you. My wish is not evil you-ward. It +is I who am a friend. But I will go." With a kind look at the baby he +turned away. + +But the baby struggled down from her mother's arms and ran after him +crying,--"No, no! Do not go away, dear, beautiful Fairy! Mother! Father! +It is the friend whom we all love. I have heard you praise him. Do not +send him away." + +"The Fairy!" cried the father, running to capture her. + +"It is no Fairy, child!" said the mother. "It is one of the ugly, wicked +Gnomes who do only evil. Let him go!" + +But the child struggled and shrieked. "He shall not go! It is the +beautiful Fairy who helps us. I have watched him doing all the kind +things you say the Fairy does, and I love him dearly. He shall not go!" +The father and mother looked at each other, then at the shrinking Gnome. +"Is this true?" they demanded, "or is this some wicked Gnome-trick which +has bewitched our child?" + +The Old Gnome bowed meekly. "Alas! I am no Fairy, as I fain would be," +he confessed. "But I loved to hear you call me so. I am a Gnome; but I +have done no evil, only good, so far as my skill went. The happy days +are over now. The child knows the truth. No one will ever again think me +beautiful or good. I had forgotten how old I was; I had almost grown to +feel young again in the merry, busy days of service. But now the time +has come indeed for me to lie down in the long sleep. I will go away and +find a new cell, and curl me up in a happy dream which will last +forever." + +Once more he turned to go. The father and mother were silent. + +But the baby burst into violent weeping. "Oh, he is beautiful, +beautiful, the kind, dear Fairy! Do you not see how beautiful he is, +Mother, Father?" she cried. + +The Old Gnome turned and looked at her, smiling sadly and shaking his +head with a tender light in his eyes. "No, no!" he said, "not beautiful; +only loving!" + +"But yes!" cried the mother, staring amazedly. "Think, David, of all he +has done for us. He does, he does look beautiful to me!" + +David stared also. "From the day my foot was wounded," he said, "only +good has befallen me here. And if he has done it, the kind little +fellow!--Yes, yes! He does, indeed, look beautiful to me!" + +"Ah!" cried the child, laughing and clapping her hands. "I was right! I +knew he was our kind Fairy, all the time. If he is good, he is no Gnome. +It is only a name. If he seems beautiful to us, then he is beautiful, +indeed. He is a Fairy! He shall live here with us and we will love him +forever." + +And lo, as she spoke, the Old Gnome looked wonderingly down at his body. +He seemed to have changed. He was no longer crooked and old, but light +and airy and beautiful. Over his head arched gauzy wings and his dress +sparkled like dew. Also he felt young and full of power to do things he +had never done before. + +"I believe I am a Fairy!" he cried joyously. "And I may live and love +and serve forever, and never be tired or sleepy!" + +So it fell out as they all wished. And the hermit's cell became a Fairy +palace. + + + +XIII: HAROLD'S LUNCHEON + +When Harold finished reading the story of the Hermit Gnome to the Red +King, he looked up to see how his listener had enjoyed the tale. And lo +and behold! Red Rex was fast asleep! He lay on his back in the afternoon +sunshine, and a noise came from his half-open mouth rather like the +_Gr-r!_ of the lion-doll, when its tail was screwed. + +"Well!" said Harold to himself; "I cannot return to the city until His +Majesty wakes up; for that would not be polite, and his bodyguard would +not allow it. I may as well make myself comfortable and be patient. The +longer he sleeps the longer time we shall have in safety to wait for +help from our King." + +Harold opened the little covered basket to replace the green-and-gold +volume from which he had just been reading, and in doing so caught sight +of the luncheon which his thoughtful mother had packed, in the fear that +he might be hungry ere his return. He took out the folded napkin and +peered eagerly below. There was a huge wedge of apple pie! Harold licked +his lips and his eyes sparkled, for there was nothing of which he was so +fond as apple pie. "I must have at least a bite this minute!" he said to +himself, and opening his mouth very wide he prepared to bite into the +juicy wedge. + +Just at this moment Red Rex opened his eyes. + +"Pitikins!" he cried, "what is going on? Is this part of the story?" For +at first he did not know that he had been asleep. + +"No, Your Majesty," said Harold; "it is a piece of one of my mother's +famous pies. Will you share it with me?" + +"That I will!" said Red Rex, sitting upright and stretching out his hand +eagerly. "It looks like apple pie. There is nothing in the world I like +so well as apple pie." + +"Your taste is the same as mine," said Harold merrily, carving the wedge +with his knife into two equal triangles. "I believe Your Majesty never +tasted better pie than that. It is made by a famous rule." + +Red Rex munched his share greedily, sitting opposite the munching +Harold. And as they ate they eyed one another, not unfriendly. When he +had finished, the Red King said,--"By my sword! That is the best piece +of apple pie that ever I tasted, or hope to taste! Your mother must be a +wondrous cook, Harold." + +"That she is!" cried the proud boy. "And she is the best mother who ever +lived. She made six of these wonderful pies for me, because she knows +that I like them so much. I saw them this morning on a shelf in the +pantry." + +"Six juicy apple pies!" murmured Red Rex, smacking his lips at the +thought. "Where do you live, boy?" + +"I live on the High Street, which leads from the market-place, in a +little house next the butcher's shop," said Harold, wondering why the +King asked. + +"I will remember that," said Red Rex, nodding his head solemnly. "I owe +your mother a happy memory for that piece of delicious pie." + +"It is made from the recipe for the King's Pie," said Harold. "No wonder +you approve it, being like His Hungry Majesty of old." + +"The King's Pie!" exclaimed the surprised monarch. "Pray, what do you +mean by that?" + +"It is another story, Your Majesty," said Harold, grinning. "I think it +is the best story of all. But I suppose you would not care to hear it +to-morrow." + +"Oh, go along with you and your stories, you young beguiler!" cried Red +Rex with a great roar, at the same time poking Harold playfully with the +point of his sword. "I see that you would keep me here forever at the +walls of your city, listening to your tales." + +"Not forever," said Harold, with an air of candor. "I do not think that +even the library of Kisington could furnish new books for as long a time +as that,--though, to be sure, you might hear some of the same ones over +again. But, indeed, you have no idea what treasures still remain in that +casket! This tale of the King's Pie is one of the rarest, I think." + +Red Rex seemed to be thinking very earnestly about something. "The +King's Pie," he murmured, more than once. "H'm! H'm! It is of a +deliciousness! Ha! Ho!" And he smacked his lips again, thinking of the +tantalizing wedge which was now no more. Suddenly he spoke: "I have +decided to wait yet another day," he announced. "I will hear that tale +to-morrow. And if it contains a recipe for the famous pie, I shall want +you to copy it off for me. Bring pen and paper, my lad." + +"That I will!" said Harold joyously. For this meant still another day's +delay; and the time was now near at hand when they might expect to see +help coming from the Capital City where their good King Victor lived. +This was Wednesday, when he took leave of the Red King. + + + +XIV: THE ROBBER + +Harold was very weary when he returned to the cottage that evening; and +he was still more weary before he tumbled into bed. For in the mean time +he had to learn his school lessons for the following day, and tell the +other boys all about his adventures. He slept like a top; quite like a +top,--for sometimes during the night there came from his little room +beyond the kitchen a sound like a humming top. + +It was about midnight when Harold was awakened by a peculiar noise. It +was a queer, clicking, tapping noise that seemed to come from the +kitchen close by. Harold sat up in bed and listened. Some one was +certainly moving about in the kitchen. It was probably his mother, he +thought. And yet, what could his mother be doing there at that time of +night? Stealthy steps crossed the kitchen; just then Harold sneezed,--he +could not help it. There was silence. + +Presently he heard a noise in the pantry, which was next his own little +room. Harold rose and crept noiselessly out of his chamber. Yes, there +was someone in the pantry. The door was open,--something not allowed in +his mother's kitchen rule. An uncertain light flickered behind the +pantry door. Harold could not see plainly, but there certainly was some +one meddling with the dishes on the shelves. Suddenly a silhouette came +between Harold and the light, and he saw the shape of the intruder. It +seemed to be a very tall old woman in bonnet and shawl, and her great +hand was carrying something from the pantry shelf to the mouth within +the bonnet. + +Harold felt himself growing very angry. Who was this stranger who dared +to force a way into their cottage and eat up the hard-earned victuals +which his mother had painfully prepared? Such doings were rare indeed in +Kisington. It was a wicked thief, a robber, a house-breaker! Even though +it was a woman, she must be punished. + +There was a key in the lock outside the pantry door. Quick as a flash +Harold made a leap for it, and turned it in the lock. At the same time +he shouted to his mother who slept in the room upstairs,--"Quick! Quick, +Mother! There is an old woman in the pantry eating up the food! I have +caught her at it!" + +In a few minutes his mother's feet came pattering down the stairs. But +in the mean time what a hubbub was going on in the pantry! Evidently the +thief had no mind to be discovered and taken in her criminal act. There +was the sound of overturned boxes and barrels, the crash of crockery and +glass. The thief was smashing the pantry window! + +"Open the door, Harold!" screamed his mother. "She is climbing out the +window!" + +It did not seem possible that the thief could do this, it was such a +tiny window. But, sure enough! when the door was opened, and Harold and +his mother crowded into the pantry, they were but just in time to seize +the hem of the old woman's shawl, as her last leg squeezed through the +casement. Harold held on to the shawl tightly, however, and off it came +in his hands. It was a very nice shawl. + +"Who ever heard of a thief in Kisington!" exclaimed the mother. "Who +could it be? I never saw a shawl like this. Let us examine what she has +taken, the wicked old creature!" + +Harold got a candle, and presently returned to the pantry, where his +mother was groping among the smashed crockery for some other clue to the +thief. When the light flickered on the pantry shelves the mother gave a +scream of surprise and anger. "My six beautiful pies!" she exclaimed. +"The thief has stolen my six beautiful apple pies! Oh, what a wicked old +soul!" + +"Those lovely pies!" groaned Harold. "See, Mother, she has gobbled one +and left the empty plate. The others she has taken away with her." + +"I wish they may choke her!" cried the mother angrily. "Now you will +have none to take to your Red King to-morrow. I was going to save the +finest of all for him, in the hope that it would soften his hard heart." + +"It will never soften his heart nor please his stomach now, Mother," +said Harold ruefully. "And still more I regret the other five pies which +I know you meant for me. When shall we ever see such pies again?" + +"They were made from the last of the flour and apples and sugar sent you +in gratitude by the Leading Citizens," said Harold's mother sadly. "I am +sorry your reward is thus wasted, my poor boy! What spiteful neighbor +could have spied them through the pantry window and planned this +midnight raid at our expense?" + +Harold shook his head mournfully. "I do not know any one in Kisington +whom I could suspect," he said. "Come, Mother, let us go back to bed. +To-morrow we will look further into the matter. We have at least this +handsome shawl as one clue, which if it does not find us the thief will +be very nice for you to wear." + +They went to bed again, and slept until morning. + +Now in the morning before school Harold took the shawl and went to his +friend the Librarian and told him what had happened during the night. +The Librarian was greatly shocked to hear of a theft in town and went +with Harold straight to the Lord Mayor. + +The Mayor examined the shawl carefully and shook his head. "This is very +strange!" he said. "This is no shawl made in Kisington, or in our +Kingdom. It is a strange foreign shawl, and very valuable. I am glad to +believe that the thief must have been a foreigner, or a gypsy, or a +vagrant of some sort. But how did she find her way into our guarded +city? I must look into this! Meanwhile, my lad, since you have suffered +loss and damage to your pantry and to your feelings the Leading Citizens +will see that you are made whole at their expense; I will answer for +their gratitude to you." + +"My Lord," said the Librarian, patting Harold affectionately on the +head, "our boy has done so well already in handling this savage King, +may we not expect still more from him now that the time is so critical? +King Victor should soon be coming to our aid. If we can but postpone the +siege for at least another day! Suppose Harold should invite Red Rex, +under a flag of truce, to visit and inspect our Library?" + +"Good!" cried the Mayor. "When you go to Red Rex this afternoon, Harold, +my boy, see what you can do further in the matter." + +"I will try, my Lord Mayor," said Harold. "But Red Rex is growing very +impatient. I fear that I cannot much longer keep him amused with our +tales." + +"Clever lad! You have already done right well," said the Librarian, +embracing Harold proudly. "And I dare say you will be able to do yet +more. Now, run along to school; for we must not forget our everyday +duties, even in these times of excitement and danger." + +So Harold went to school, and you can imagine how many questions he had +to answer at recess time. The Librarian went to his books and the Lord +Mayor to his desk. And Harold's mother went down on her knees, cleaning +up the wrecked pantry. + +But where was the strange old woman all this time? + + + +XV: THE BANDAGED HAND + +As soon as school was over on Thursday afternoon, Harold started once +more on his errand to the War-Lord. As usual, he was accompanied to the +city gate by a crowd of schoolboys and girls who envied him his luck and +wished that they could go all the way with him. But this, naturally, the +City Fathers would not permit. One boy carried Harold's coat, and +another his strap of schoolbooks. A third brought the basket with +Harold's luncheon, while Robert carried the flag of truce,--proud boy! +But Richard, Harold's special chum, was the proudest of all. For he was +trusted with the precious volume from the library containing the story +of the King's Pie, which Harold was to read to the War-Lord on that day. +All gave a great cheer when the gate was unbarred; and all the little +girls waved their handkerchiefs when with a gay shake of his hand Harold +stepped out into the danger zone. + +Red Rex received him as usual, sitting upon the green hillock. Harold +noticed straightway that the War-Lord's hand was bound up with a +bandage, and that he had a cut over his left eye, which made him look +fiercer than ever. + +"But I thought there was a truce!" exclaimed Harold, gazing at these +tokens of trouble. "How came you to be thus hurt, Your Majesty?" + +"Nay; it was an accident," said the Red King gruffly. "Say no more about +it, pray. Well! I have no time to waste to-day. Things are coming to an +issue. Let me hear your story as quickly as possible,--if you have +brought one, as I think." + +"Yes, Your Majesty," replied Harold. "I have brought you the spicy story +of the King's Pie, which I think you will like. I had meant, in order to +illustrate the story, to bring you also one of the veritable pies. But +that, alas! I am now unable to do. My mother made a pie especially for +this purpose; but it is gone with others which were to be mine, and for +which I grieve on my own account. A wicked thief stole them all during +last night. So I fear you will not appreciate the story so well as +otherwise you might have done." + +"Perhaps I shall," said the War-Lord whimsically. "Perhaps I shall +appreciate it all the more." + +"Now, what means Your Majesty by that?" cried Harold, wondering very +much at these strange words. "It was such a fine pie! A large, fat, +juicy, rich, crisp, crusty pie,--just such a one as the King enjoyed in +the story." + +"Yes, I know!" said Red Rex. "Go on with the story, right speedily, with +no more details of that tantalizing, vanished pie!" And he licked his +lips and shifted his seat as he sat upon his hillock. + +Obediently Harold opened the book which his chum Richard had handed to +him just inside the city gate, and began to read the toothsome tale of +_The King's Pie_. + + + +XVI: THE KING'S PIE + +There was great excitement in Kisington; for the King was coming with +his new young bride, and the town was preparing to give them a famous +welcome. + +Hugh, the Lord Mayor, was at his wits' end with all that must be done. +As he sat in the Town Hall holding his aching head, while a mob of +decorators and artists and musicians, costumers, jewelers, and florists +clamored about him, there came to him a messenger from Cedric, his son. +Cedric was one of the King's favorite friends, and he knew His Majesty's +taste well. So he had sent to the Lord Mayor a hint as to how the King +might best be pleased. Being a man of few words, this is how his message +ran:-- + +"His Majesty is exceedingly fond of pie." + +Long pondered the Lord Mayor over this mysterious message, reading it +backward and forward, upside down and crisscross, and mixed up like an +anagram. But he could make nothing of it except what it +straightforwardly said: that the King was exceedingly fond of pie. + +Now, in those days pie meant but one thing--a pasty; that is, meat of +some sort baked in a dish covered with dough. At that time there was no +such thing known as a pie made of fruit or mincemeat. Pie was not even a +dainty. Pie was vulgar, ordinary victuals, and the Lord Mayor was +shocked at his son's even mentioning pie in connection with the King. + +"Pie, indeed!" he shuddered. "A pretty dish to set before a King on his +wedding journey! How can pie be introduced into my grand pageant? The +King can get pie anywhere, in any hut or hovel along his way. What has +Kisington to do with pie?" + +The Lord Mayor snorted scornfully, and was about to dismiss his son's +hint from his mind, when he had an idea! A Pie! A great, glorified, +poetic, symbolic Pie such as could be carried in procession decorated +with flowers! That was a happy thought. The Lord Mayor dismissed every +one else and sent for all the master cooks of the city. + +It was decided to accept Cedric's hint for what it was worth, and make +Pie the feature of the day. There should be a grand pageant of soldiers +and maskers and music. And, following the other guilds, last of all +should come the cooks, with their ideas of Pie presented as attractively +as might be, for the edification of the King. Moreover, the Lord Mayor +said, in dismissing the white-capped company:-- + +"To whichever of you best pleases His Majesty with the pie, I will give +this reward: a team of white oxen, a hundred sacks of white flour, and a +hundred pieces of white silver." + +"Hurrah!" shouted the cooks, waving their white caps. Then away they +hurried to put on their thinking-caps instead and plan for the building +of the King's Pie. + +Now, among the cooks of Kisington there were two brothers, Roger and +Rafe. Roger, the elder, had one of the hugest kitchens and shops in +Kisington. But Rafe, the younger, had only a little old house on an acre +of land under a little red-apple tree, with a little red cow who gave a +little rich cream every day. Rafe was very poor, and no richer for +having a brother well-to-do like Roger. For the thrifty cook had little +to do with Rafe, whose ways were not his ways. + +Rafe cooked in his little kitchen for the poor folk of the town, +charging small prices such as they could pay. Indeed, often as not he +gave away what he had cooked for himself to some one who seemed +hungrier. This is a poor way to make profit of gold, but an excellent +way to make profit of affection. And Rafe was rich in the love of the +whole town. + +Roger was among the cooks whom the Lord Mayor summoned to consult about +the King's Pie. But Rafe knew nothing at all of it, until one afternoon +he was surprised by a visit from his brother, who had not darkened his +door for many a day. + +"Well, Brother," said Roger, briefly, "I suppose you are not busy, as I +am. Will you work for me for a day or two? In fact, I need you." + +"You need me!" said Rafe, in surprise. "How can that be, Brother?" + +"I have a great task at hand," said the master-cook; "a task that needs +extra help. You must come. Your own work can wait well enough, I judge." + +Rafe hesitated. "I must cook for my poor people first," he said. + +Roger sneered. "Your poor people, indeed! I am cooking for the King! +Will you hesitate now?" + +"Cooking for the King!" cried Rafe. "Ah, but he is not so hungry as my +neighbors will be to-morrow without their rabbit-pies." + +"Rabbit-pies! It is a pie for the King that I am making!" shouted Roger, +in high dudgeon,--"such a pie as you and your louts never dreamed of. +Now what say you? Will you come?" + +"I must do my own small cooking first," said Rafe firmly. + +"Very well then," growled Roger. "Cook for your beggars first; but come +to me to-morrow. Every cook in town but you is engaged. I must have your +help." + +"I will come," said Rafe simply, and Roger bade him a surly good-bye +without thanks or promises. + +The next morning, when his own simple tasks were done, Rafe hied him to +his brother's kitchen, and there he found great doings. Roger was +superintending the preparations for baking an enormous pie. A group of +masons had just finished building the huge oven out of doors, and about +a score of smiths were struggling with the pie-dish, which they had +forged of iron. It was a circular dish six feet across and three feet +deep; and it looked more like a swimming-tank than anything else. + +Rafe stared in amazement. "Is that to hold your pie, Brother?" he asked. + +"Yes!" growled Roger. "Now get to work with the other men, for the crust +must be baked this morning." + +Three assistant cooks in caps and aprons were busy sifting buckets of +flour, measuring out handfuls of salt and butter. Others were practicing +with long rolling-pins made for the occasion, so big that a man had to +roll at each end. On the ground lay a great round piece of tin, six feet +across, pierced full of holes. + +"What is that?" whispered Rafe to one of his fellow cooks. + +"That is to be the lid of the pie," answered the cook. "See, they are +lifting it onto the dish now. It will have a strong hinge, and it will +be covered with crust." + +"And what is to fill this marvelous pie?" asked Rafe, wondering still +more. "Tender capon? Rabbits? Venison? Peacocks? What is suitable for a +King? I do not know." + +"Ah, there you show your lack of imagination!" cried the cook. "Master +is a great man. This is a poetic pie. It is to be filled with flowers, +and on the flowers will be sitting ten beautiful little children, pink +and sweet as cherubs, dressed all in wreaths of flowers. And when the +pie reaches the King, the top will be opened, and they will all begin to +sing a song in honor of Their Majesties. Is it not a pretty thought?" + +"Well, if the King be not too hungry," said the practical Rafe, +doubtfully. + +"Nonsense!" cried the cook testily. "Would you make out our King to be a +cannibal?" + +"Nay," said Rafe; "that is why I doubt. However, I am here but to assist +in this colossal plan. Hand me yon bag of salt." + +All day long at Roger's kitchen the cooks worked over the King's Pie. At +noon came a band of ten mothers, each with a rosy, smiling baby. They +placed the children in the great shell to see how they would look. Every +one cried: "Charming! Superb! But ah! we must not tell any one, for +Roger has paid us well, and the other cooks must not know how he is to +win the prize to-morrow!" + +Weary and unthanked, with his meager day's wage,--a little bag of flour +and a pat of butter, sugar, and a handful of salt,--Rafe went home, +musing sadly. "A team of white oxen; a hundred sacks of white flour; a +hundred pieces of white silver,--what a prize! If only I could earn +these, I should be rich, indeed, and able to help my poor neighbors. But +Roger will win the prize," he thought. + +He spread on the table his frugal supper. He had emptied his larder that +morning for a sick woman. He had but a few apples and a bowl of cream. +It was the first food he had eaten that day, for his brother had +forgotten to bid him to his table. + +As he was taking a bite from one of the rosy-checked apples, there came +a tap at the door. + +"Enter!" cried Rafe hospitably. The hinges creaked, and there tottered +in a little, bent, old woman in a long black cloak, leaning on a staff. + +"Good evening, Son," she said, in a cracked voice. "Are you a man of +charity, or will you turn away a poor old soul who has had nothing to +eat for many hours?" + +Rafe rose and led her to the table. "Sit down, Mother," he said kindly. +"Sit and share my poor supper: a few apples from my little tree, a sup +of the cream which my good little red cow gives me,--that is all; but +you are welcome." + +"Thanks, Son," said the old woman, and without further words she began +to eat. When she had finished she sat for a few moments looking into the +empty bowl. Then she said:-- + +"Son, why do you not bake a pie for the King?" + +"I!" cried Rafe, astonished. "How can I make a pie? You see all I have +in my cupboard. There is nothing but a little bag of flour, a pat of +butter, a handful of sugar and salt." + +"It is enough," said the stranger. "Son, I will show you a secret. You +have been kind to me. Now I will tell you that which until this day no +man has known. You shall make the King a pie, indeed!" + +"But, Mother," interrupted Rafe, smiling, "you do not know what manner +of pies are being made. There will be many, though I have seen but +one--a giant pie, a glorious pie, all golden crust and flowers and pink +little babies who sing!" + +"Humph!" grunted the old woman. "A pie for a pasteboard King. Why not +cook a pie to tempt a hungry man?" + +"The King is, indeed, a man," mused Rafe. "But how shall I make a pie +without viands of any sort?" (As I have said, to speak of a pie in those +days meant always a dish of meat or game or poultry.) + +"I will tell you," said the old woman. "Have you not a tree of red +apples? Yes, luscious apples of a goodly flavor, for I have tasted +them." She leaned forward, whispering earnestly: "Make your pie of them, +my Son!" + +"Apples! A pie of apples!" cried Rafe. "Who ever heard of such a thing!" +(And at this time, indeed, no one had.) + +"Nay, you need not laugh so scornfully," said the old crone. "You shall +see! I will help you." + +At her command Rafe fetched out the bag of flour, and the butter, salt, +and sugar. Then he went to gather a basket of apples, while the old +woman mended the fire and mixed the dough. Wonderingly he watched her +pare the apples, core and slice them, and cover all with a blanket of +crust laid softly over, but not tucked in at the edges as for an +ordinary pasty. Soon the pie was baked, all flaky and brown. When it +came smoking hot from the oven, the old woman slipped a knife under the +blanket of crust and lifted it aside. + +"See," she said, "the apples are steamed and soft. Now I will mash them +with a knife and mix the butter and sugar generously therein. This one +must ever do, Son, last of all. This is the crown of my secret, the only +recipe for a perfect pie." + +Rafe watched her curiously, by no means convinced. Then, from a pouch +somewhere concealed in her robe, she drew out a strange round nut, such +as Rafe had never seen before. + +"This is the final blessing," she said. "See, I will grate a little of +this magic nut into the pie." Forthwith it was done, and a whiff of +spicy fragrance reached Rafe's nose, and, more than anything, gave him +confidence in this strange new pie. + +"It smells worthy," said Rafe hungrily. + +Without a word the stranger drew from under a cover a little pie baked +in a tiny tin, an exact copy of the other. "Eat," she said: "eat and +judge if my secret be worth keeping." + +Rafe sunk his teeth into the warm, crisp crust and ate eagerly. His eyes +sparkled, but he spoke no word till the last crumb was gone. + +"Oh!" he said, "it is a magic pie! Never such have I met before! Never, +in all my life!" + +The old woman nodded. "A magic pie," she said. "And still better when +you serve it with the yellow cream of your little red cow." + +"It is a pie for a King!" said Rafe. "But shall I be allowed in the +procession, Mother?" + +"All the cooks in Kisington who choose may march with that guild," said +the old woman. "Bear your pie proudly in your own hands, wearing your +cap and apron. I will send some one to walk beside you and carry the jug +of cream. She shall be here to-morrow when you milk the little red cow. +Treat her kindly for my sake." + +"Mother, how can I ever thank you--" began Rafe. But, with a quickness +which seemed impossible to her years, the old woman had slipped out of +the door and was gone. + +The next morning bright and early Rafe went out to milk his cow. And +there beside the cow stood a young maid, the fairest he had ever seen. + +"Good morning, Rafe," said the maid, dropping a curtsy. "I am Meg, and I +have come to help you carry the King's Pie." She smiled so sweetly that +Rafe's heart danced a jig. She was dressed in a neat little gown of blue +with a white apron, and had set a dainty cook's cap on her flaxen curls. +And she wore red stockings and shoes, with silver buckles. From under +her apron she drew a little blue jug. "See, I have brought this to hold +the cream," she said, "and it is full of red strawberries for your +breakfast. Milk the little red cow, Rafe, and then we can eat and be +gone as soon as I have skimmed the cream of yesterday." + +In a happy daze Rafe did as she bade. Merrily they breakfasted together +on a wheaten loaf and milk and berries which the maid had brought, as if +she knew how hungry Rafe would be. Then Meg skimmed the cream for the +blue jug, and they were ready to start. Rafe, in his white cap and +apron, bore the precious pie, while Meg walked along at his side. A +merry, handsome couple they were. + +When they came to the market-place they found a great crowd assembled. +"Ho, Rafe! Rafe!" people shouted to him, for every one knew and loved +him. "Come here! Come with us!" + +But Rafe answered: "Nay. I am going to walk in the procession with the +other cooks. I have a pie for the King." + +"A pie! A pie!" they cried good-naturedly. "Look at Rafe's pasty! Of +what is it made, Rafe? Grasshoppers or mice?" For they knew how poor he +was. But Rafe only smiled and pushed his way to where the cooks were +gathered. They, too, greeted him with jests. But he insisted that he +must march with them. So they gave him place at the very end of the +line, with the little maid at his side. But when he saw the wonderful +pies all around him, he sighed and shook his head, looking ruefully at +his own simple offering. The little maid, seeing him so look, said:-- + +"Never mind, Rafe. You are giving your best to the King. No one can do +more than that." + +The people waited. The hands of the great clock in the market-place +crept slowly around until they marked noon. Every one began to feel +uneasy, for it was close upon the dinner-hour, and the long procession +had not moved. The King and Queen were late. + +At last there sounded the blast of a trumpet, which told that the King +and his bride had arrived, and that the Lord Mayor had led them to their +seats on the balcony in front of the Town Hall. Every one gave a sigh of +relief. But then there was another long wait, while the hands of the +clock crept on--on, and the people watched and craned their necks +eagerly. The Lord Mayor was making his speech, and it was very long. +Finally arose more shouts and huzzas,--not because the speech was good, +but because it was ended. And presently another trumpet gave signal for +the procession to start. + +Off they went, through the streets full of cheering, hungry people. +Soldiers and bands of music led the way; then came the maskers and the +flower-maidens, the city guilds and all the arts and crafts. Finally +passed along the yoke of snowy oxen, with ribbons in their ears, drawing +a white wain in which were the bags of flour and silver, the prize to be +given the best pie-maker of Kisington. When the company of white-capped +cooks came within sight of the King, he laughed merrily, rubbing his +hands, and said:-- + +"Cooks! Now we shall have something worth while, for I am growing +hungry, indeed!" + +And the young Queen whispered: "So am I!" + +Then came the pies. And such pies! Carried on the shoulders of sturdy +boys, drawn on floats by teams of ponies, wreathed in flowers and stuck +over with banners and mottoes, the pies passed along before the hungry +King. And not one of the pies was real! Gradually the King's smile +faded. + +There was a wonderful big pie fashioned like a ship,--rigged with masts +and sails and manned by sailor-dolls. There was a fine brown pasty like +a bird's nest, and when it passed the King, off came the cover, and out +flew four-and-twenty blackbirds croaking lustily. + +"Good-bye, dinner!" sighed the King, looking after them wistfully. + +The Queen nudged him and said: "'Sh! Behave, Your Majesty!" But she also +began to look hungrier and hungrier. + +There passed a pie in a carriage drawn by six mules. It seemed piping +hot, for steam came out of it. But when it reached the King it blew up +with a _bang!_ scattering showers of blossoms over the royal party. + +"My faith!" cried the King; "methought this was the end of all things. +But it seems not. Here come more and more empty pies!" + +The Queen smelled of her salts and grew paler every moment. + +One pie had a musical box inside and played a sweet tune as it passed +the King. In one was hidden a tiny dwarf, who popped out like a +jack-in-the-box when the Queen pulled a golden cord. + +Still the procession moved on, and so did the hands of the clock; and +the King's hands moved to his ample girdle, which he tightened sharply. +But both he and the pale young Queen were too polite to ask the Lord +Mayor for buns or something to sustain them. + +The pie which caused the greatest excitement as it passed along, drawn +by four white horses, was that of Roger, the master cook, who walked +proudly beside it. When it came opposite the King the carriage stopped, +the cover was lifted, and ten beautiful babies on a bed of roses waved +their little hands and began to sing. + +The Queen leaned forward eagerly, forgetting to be hungry. "How sweet! +The darlings!" she murmured. "Oh, this is the best of all!" + +Roger the cook heard her and flushed with triumph. + +But the King grumbled: "Humph! They look good enough to eat, but--my +faith! I hope that this is the end, for soon I must eat something, or I +shall become a cannibal!" + +"Your Majesty!" protested the Queen, faintly. + +But the King interrupted her. + +"What comes here?" he cried. "This looks sensible!" It was Rafe and the +pretty maid bringing up the rear of the procession. Side by side they +walked in cap and apron, he bearing the small, delicately browned pie, +she with a jug of yellow cream. No one paid any attention to them, but +closed in around them, following Roger's chariot. + +When Rafe and Meg came opposite the King and Queen, they turned and Rafe +bowed low, holding up the pie as high as he could. The pretty maid +curtsied gracefully, and offered the cream-jug with a winsome smile. The +crowd was fain to hustle them on; but the King struck the floor with his +staff and pointed eagerly at the pie. + +"Hold!" he cried. "What have you there?" Every one stopped and began to +stare. Rafe bowed again. + +"'T is a pie, Your Majesty," said Rafe simply,--"an apple pie." + +"With cream for the top," lisped the little maid, curtsying again. + +"Apple pie!" cried the King. "Who ever heard of an apple pie! A pie +should be of savory meat. But of apples!" Words failed to express his +astonishment. + +"Butter and sugar, Sire, go to the making of it, and the dust of a +wondrous nut. Will you taste it, Sire?" Rafe held out the pie +temptingly. + +"With thick cream to pour on the top--yellow, sweet, rich, thick cream!" +said Meg, lingering over each word as if it melted on her lips. + +"Give hither that pie!" almost shouted the hungry King. "I will look +into this matter." And, drawing a dagger from his girdle, he seized and +stabbed the pie to the heart. Sniffing at it eagerly, his eyes grew +round, and he smacked his lips. "It is good, I wager my scepter!" he +cried. "Hand me the cream, fair maid." + +The little maid stepped up and daintily poured cream upon the shattered +pie, and without more ado the King began to eat with his dagger. (This +was not considered bad manners in those days.) After the first mouthful +he stopped only to say: "Food of the Fairies! Pie of the Pixies! Cook, +you are a magician!" He went on at a rate which threatened not to leave +a mouthful. + +But the Queen pulled at his sleeve. "A bite for me, Your Majesty," she +begged. + +And, with an apology, the King handed her what was left, watching her +wistfully till she ate the last crumb. + +"Delicious! I never tasted anything finer!" she cried. "I must have the +recipe." + +"I must have the cook!" cried the King, turning to Rafe, with a broad +grin on his merry, fat face. "You must come with me and cook such pies +for every meal. Yes, I will have them for breakfast, too," he insisted, +in response to a protest from the Queen. + +Just then up stepped Hugh, the Lord Mayor. + +"Sire," said he, bowing low, "will Your Majesty deign to point out to me +the pie which has best pleased you, that I may have it set in the place +of honor, and give the prize to the maker?" + +"That I cannot do," said the King, "for the pie no longer exists. I have +eaten it!" And he slapped his generous waistband. "But give whatever +prize there may be to this worthy fellow, whom I now dub Baron Applepy. +Baron, wear this ring in token of my pleasure in your pie." He drew a +fine ruby from his finger and gave it to Rafe. + +"And this is for the little maid," said the Queen, taking a beautiful +pearl necklace and tossing it over Meg's curls. + +But Roger, the master cook, stood by and tore his hair when he saw what +was happening. + +Then up came the yoke of white oxen drawing the cart bearing the prize. +And the Lord Mayor gave a goad into Rafe's hands, with words of +congratulation. + +"Now, mount and come with me," said the King. + +But Rafe hesitated. + +"Your Majesty," he replied, "I see no way to make another pie like this +which has pleased you. For I have no more of the magic nuts wherewith to +flavor a second." + +The King frowned. "What! No more pie! Is this to be the first and the +last? Sirrah, I am not pleased!" + +Then little Meg stepped forth. "The magic nut is the nutmeg," said she. +"My name is Meg, and Granny called the magic nuts after me. I know where +is hidden a store of them. These are my dower." + +She emptied her pockets of the nuts which they held, and they were a +precious handful. + +"Ha!" cried the King eagerly, "you must marry Baron Applepy, that he may +use your dower in our behalf." + +Rafe and the maid looked sidewise at one another. + +"You are willing, my dear?" said the Queen, smiling upon Meg. + +"Yes," whispered she, with red-apple cheeks. + +"Yes, indeed!" cried Rafe when the Queen looked at him. + +But again he seemed troubled. + +"Your Majesty," he said, "I cannot leave my poor neighbors. There will +be no one to cook for them at my prices." + +"You shall have your own price from me," said the King. + +Rafe bowed low. "You do me great honor," he said humbly. "But I cannot +leave my poor people, my house and my cow and my apple tree; indeed, I +cannot." + +The King looked very angry and raised his staff with a gesture of wrath. +But the Queen laid her hand upon his arm. + +"Why may he not live where he will and yet cook the pies for us?" she +said. "A messenger on a fleet horse can bring them to us every day. We +shall then have pies like that first delicious one, made of fresh apples +from that very same red-apple tree of his. They would be best of all." + +"True," said the King, reflecting for a moment. + +"Please, Your Majesty!" said Meg, in her most winsome tones. "I do so +long to help Rafe pick the red apples for your pies and skim the yellow +cream of the little red cow. And please, I do so long to help him cook +for his poor neighbors, who will miss him sadly if he goes. Now that we +have the prize, we can do much for them. Please, Your Majesty!" + +"Please, Your Majesty!" echoed Rafe. + +"Please, Your Majesty!" begged the Queen. + +So the King hemmed and hawed and yielded. "But see, Baron Applepy," he +said, "that you make me three fine pies every day, for which my swiftest +messenger shall call. Now, farewell to you--and to all! We must be off. +It is past dinner-time." + +"Heaven bless Your Majesties," said Rafe and Meg, bowing and curtsying +low. + +Then Rafe lifted the little maid into the white cart beside the hundred +sacks of flour and the bag of silver, and amid shouts and cheers away +they drove the white oxen toward the little house on the acre of land +under the red-apple tree, where the little red cow was waiting for them. + +And there they lived happily ever after, making three pies a day for the +King at an enormous price, and feeding the beloved poor people, their +neighbors, for no price at all. + + + +XVII: THE MYSTERY OF THE PIE + +Red Rex greeted the close of this story with an enormous sigh. "Three of +those delicious pies every day!" said he. "Would I had a messenger to +bring such to me!" + +"It might be arranged, Your Majesty," suggested Harold, "if our two +countries were at peace. I know that my mother would be glad to make +such pies for you, even as Rafe and his Margot did for the King of old. +The distance from Kisington to your Capitol is not so very great, I +think; and doubtless Your Majesty has messengers fleeter than the one of +long ago." + +"And your mother's pies are quite as good!" exclaimed Red Rex. "I have +never tasted better. So fat, so juicy, so generous! The tops fine, +rounded hills; the crust so crisp, which your knife crunches daintily; +the sight and smell of them is tempting!" The Red King's eyes rolled in +his head and he swayed ecstatically, like a poet composing a rhyme. + +"And yet you have seen but a wee wedge of one pie!" exclaimed Harold. +"It must have pleased Your Majesty, indeed, to make your impression so +true." + +Red Rex eyed him strangely. "H'm, yes," he said. "I have a vivid +imagination in such matters. I can almost fancy I have eaten a whole +pie--two--three--four whole pies! What a feast!" + +Harold's eyes had been straying toward something white concealed in the +grass not far from the Red King's seat. He took a step forward now, +bending low. Then he uttered an exclamation. + +"Five pies, Your Majesty!" he cried, looking straight at the King. +"There were six, which the old woman stole. Here are five empty +pie-plates!" + +"What a strange coincidence!" cried the Red King, flushing and twiddling +at his sword-hilt uneasily. "These coincidences do happen quite +startlingly sometimes. Ha-hum!" He coughed and frowned forbiddingly. + +"Surely, none of your men could have stolen my mother's pies (and, +indeed, one of them was yours), Your Majesty. They would not have been +so mean!" + +"They would not have been so reckless," corrected Red Rex. "No, no! it +took courage to make such an attempt; great courage, my boy!" + +"Courage!" cried Harold. "I call it something else,--to steal the pies +of a poor widow and deprive her son of his desserts. I call it mean and +disgraceful!" + +"Tut, tut, boy! You do not know what you are saying!" blustered the +War-Lord, growing very red. + +"Often it takes courage to do what others call an ill deed. And an ill +deed is ill, only as you look at it; so I say! Everything depends upon +the point of view; remember that. Suppose the man who stole those pies +was starving and needed them for his comfort?" + +"Suppose, indeed!" retorted Harold. "Suppose he came to our front door +and asked my mother for them, like a gentleman? She would not have +refused to sell, if he had money. She would have given, if he had none. +She is like that, is my good mother!" + +The Red King shook his head. "Suppose the man was an enemy, and too +proud to ask a favor? All's fair in war, my boy. Everybody knows that." + +"Then war is all wrong, as we always said," Harold replied. "Right is +right, and wrong is wrong. Stealing is stealing, and meanness is +meanness,--war or no war. If war makes men think differently from the +rule of every day, there is nothing to be said for it. Hello!" Harold +interrupted himself, for something else had suddenly caught his eye. + +He had been making his way toward the pile of pie-plates, and now he +stooped and picked up something lying on the grass beside them. It was a +queer, old-fashioned bonnet. As he touched it out fell a rolled-up +calico apron. One of the strings was gone. Harold's eyes leaped from it +to the Red King's bundled-up wrist. The other apron-string was doing +duty as a bandage there. + +"Ho! Ho!" cried Harold, staring at the Red King's purpling face. "This +is the old woman's bonnet, and her apron. A disguise! I begin to see! +You, Your Majesty,--you were the old woman yourself!" + +"You are very sharp, youngster!" said Red Rex sulkily. "Begone to your +home and leave me to finish my work." + +"If I go," said Harold slowly, "I shall tell the whole town what I have +discovered. The news will travel through the Five Kingdoms--how a King +disguised as an old woman stole six pies--" + +"Hold!" cried Red Rex sternly. "Enough of this impertinence! Remember to +whom you speak, boy! I am a King." + +"Yes, you are that King. But I thought always it was the '_Knave_ of +Hearts who stole the tarts,' not the King. How did Your Majesty manage +to do it?" asked Harold curiously. + +"Aha!" The Red King tried to appear easy and unconscious. "It is my turn +now to tell a story, is it? Oho! You want to hear how the old woman got +into your careless town, do you? And how she went along your unguarded +streets, do you? And how she crept into your unbolted cottage, do you? +And how she found the goodly row of pies sitting on the pantry shelf? +Ah! I shall never look upon their like again!" + +"Nor I," said Harold promptly. "And one was yours, Your Majesty." + +Red Rex cast down his eyes. "That is the thing that chiefly troubles +me," he said. "I am sorry I did not know the fact. Your mother was very +thoughtful, Harold." + +"Please tell me all about it, Your Majesty?" begged Harold, settling +himself comfortably on the grass before the War-Lord. "I want to hear +the story. It is your turn now. You owe me that, at least." + +"Well," said Red Rex choosing his words slowly. "You see, I had to have +those pies. Kings may take what they choose, because,--well, because +they are Kings. That is reason enough,--say I! After that first bite you +gave me, I felt that I needed more to make me happy. A King has a right +to be happy, whatever happens to another,--say I. I had brought +disguises with me; for we have ever found them useful in making war. +Last night I dressed up as an old woman, in petticoat and apron, bonnet +and shawl. None of my men knew. As soon as it was dark I went to the +gate of your town, pretending to be a countrywoman returning to +Kisington from a visit beyond the frontier, who had not heard of the +siege, and begged the guard to let me in quickly out of danger's way. +Oh! You are such stupid, trusting folk in your Kingdom! The men believed +me, and let me in because I seemed old and it was late, and they pitied +me. The fools! Pity is out of place in war-time. A city so ill-defended +deserves to be taken and harassed,--say I!" + +"We are trustful in our town because our own hearts are truthful and +kind," said Harold. + +"When the warders had let me in," went on Red Rex, "I passed along the +main street toward the market-place, with my basket on my arm; and no +one noticed me, for it was dark. I knew my way; you told me yesterday +how the streets lay. Presently I came to a great, handsome building with +a ruined porch,--upon my word, huge as my summer palace by the sea!--out +of which people passed in a constant stream, with books under their +arms." + +"It was our library," said Harold proudly. + +"So I judged," went on the Red King. "I concealed myself in an angle of +the building until it should be darker, and watched. Little children +came out of that library, who in my country would be playing at war with +guns and toy cannon. Old men and women, whom I should expect to see +caring only to smoke and mumble and gossip about past wars, brought out +books which they hugged lovingly. Young maids, such as in my land care +only to look at the soldiers and dance and prink; and young men who +should be drilling or dueling or talking war,--all these came out +looking happy and content with the books which they had in hand. I never +saw such a sight!" + +"Yes," said Harold; "It is always so in Kisington. We have no time to +think about war or soldiers or killing." + +"Strange!" muttered Red Rex. "I was tempted to go myself into that great +building and see if any book might be found with a message in it for me. +But I did not take the risk." + +"I know such a Book!" interrupted Harold; "a Book of Peace." + +"I guess what you mean," said the Red King hastily. "We have that Book +in my kingdom, too, of course. We honor it highly,--do not think +otherwise! We have it in the churches, and bind it in gold, and keep it +as something curious and old. But we do not often read it--why should +we? A peace book has no message for our brave and warlike people. To +think so is absurd!" + +"Oh!" said Harold. + +"Well," continued Red Rex; "after a long, long time the streets were +quite empty. Presently I heard the chimes of midnight. Then I crept out +of my hiding-place and stole along the High Street, of which you had +told me, till I came to the butcher's shop. Beside it, sure enough, was +a little cottage with a thatched roof which I knew must be yours. The +window was open, and I looked in; no one about. The door was unlocked, +and in I went. What carelessness!" + +"We never lock our doors in Kisington," said Harold. "We think it would +be rude not to trust our good neighbors, who trust us." + +"Huh!" grunted the Red King. "In my Kingdom every door is double-barred, +locked and bolted beside. He who trusts nobody is never +disappointed,--so I say." + +"I should hate to live in that kind of Kingdom," murmured Harold. "But I +know what happened next," he went on, continuing the Red King's story. +"You fumbled along the wall with a noise like a mouse. You stepped on a +creaky board." + +"I crossed the kitchen on tiptoe," said Red Rex. "I challenge any man of +my size to go more softly. Not a sound in the little house; no trace of +you. My dark lantern showed me two doors. I knew one must lead to the +pantry,--but which? Do you know what I did? Ah, I am clever! I put my +ear to each door in turn. At one I heard no sound. At the other, +presently, I caught the noise of gentle snoring. Just then,--some one +sneezed." + +"Yes," said Harold; "I tried to smother it, but I could not do so." + +"By that sneeze I knew certainly that this was your bedroom, and that +the other must be the pantry. I kept very quiet, and there was no more +sound from you. I hoped you were asleep. I opened the pantry door very +gently, and crept in. I flashed my lantern upon the shelves. Ah! There +they were,--six beautiful, brown, luscious apple pies, as you had said. +Um! Um! I could hardly wait to begin. I pulled out my dagger and +attacked one of them. It melted in the mouth like magic! Just then I +heard a hullabaloo from your bedroom. What lungs you have, you rascal!" + +"I yelled as loudly as I could," said Harold modestly. "But Robert can +make more noise." + +"I hope I may never hear him, then!" cried Red Rex. "Well; I heard the +key turn in the lock, and knew you had trapped me, you dog! I heard +steps on the stair, and knew I had no time to waste. Hastily I put the +five remaining pies in my basket and made for the window. I knew it +would never do for me to be caught in Kisington! To be sure, there was a +truce. But I did not know how your Magistrates might regard the right of +a King to take his own way with a truce. What triumph for your city to +capture me, the besieging War-Lord! It might not be. But your pantry +window is of a smallness! I nearly perished in my attempt to squeeze +through. The glass cut my hand and my forehead. I thought once I was +stuck for good. Some one clutched at my shawl. I let it go. It is +priceless, woven tissue of the East; but I let it go." + +"We have it safe," said Harold. + +"I shall never claim it," asserted Red Rex. "Well, soon I was safe +outside. I found myself in your back garden, on the city wall. You folk +are so careless,--to build houses on a city wall! From there one can +drop into safety without any trouble. I did so. It is your own fault if +fugitives escape from your city,--say I. Whatever happens to you, it is +your own fault,--say I!" + +"Then it will be your own fault if I tell this tale of you to our City +Fathers to-morrow,--say I." Harold looked at Red Rex mischievously. + +"Nay," said the Red King hastily. "You must not betray me. This tale +must not become common history. No one will understand my point of view. +I begin to think that no one will see my bravery in making this attempt. +So few persons are open-minded and generous! You will not tell your City +Fathers, Harold? _Noblesse oblige_, remember. You are my guest, and I +have told you a tale in return for yours. I could detain you by force, +breaking the truce yet once more. But I will not do so. I suppose I am a +fool!" + +Harold had been thinking hard. "No; I will not tell the story,--but on +two conditions." + +"What are they?" asked Red Rex. + +"The first is this," said Harold. "For the sake of the pies you stole +(one of which was your own), during the siege of Kisington you shall +spare from force or damage that part of the city in which stands my +mother's little house." + +"Gladly will I promise that," agreed the Red King. + +"Spare the _north_, then," said Harold, pointing. "You must not aim any +weapons against the north." + +"The north is safe," repeated Red Rex. "I agree not to point weapon or +aim force against the north section of your city." + +"Then all Kisington is saved!" cried Harold. "Already, before now, Your +Majesty has promised to spare the _east_,--for the sake of Gerda's +garden; the _west_,--for the children's school, in the name of your +Hope. Now you promise to spare the _north_. The south only remains,--and +that is _here_, Your Majesty, outside the walls!" + +Red Rex grinned sheepishly. "Harold," he said. "You have outwitted me, +and outplayed me. Kisington is indeed safe from me. I have no choice now +but to raise the siege and go my way home. And to tell you the truth, I +shall not be sorry to spare the town. Since visiting, even so briefly, +within your walls, seeing the kind-faced people, the goodly buildings, +and especially the noble library, I have conceived an affection for the +place. I am glad of an excuse not to destroy it. If it were possible, +indeed, I would that I might see the interior of that house of books. I +would fain know more of the Chronicles of Kisington." + +"Why may it not be, Your Majesty?" said Harold. "We will say nothing of +this night's adventure. Come to-morrow with a flag of truce and be our +guest, even as I have been yours. I will show you our library. Maybe you +will hear another tale, even in that noble home of books.--But first you +must hear to my second condition." + +"True; I forgot that," said Red Rex gravely. "What is your second +demand, Harold?" + +"It is this," said Harold with a twinkle in his eye. "Your Majesty tells +a tale so well, I fain would hear another. To-morrow you shall tell me a +tale. I make that my second condition." + +Red Rex hesitated, hummed and hawed. "Needs must," he said at last. +"Though I am no story-teller, I will think up some yarn from the tales I +have heard in my travels, and that you shall hear, my boy. But surely, I +need tell it to no others than yourself?" + +The Red King looked so miserable at the idea of talking to an audience +that Harold laughed and said,--"Nay, Your Majesty. Let me have the treat +to myself. I will come here as before, after school, hear the story, and +then bring you back with me. The town will receive you as an honored +guest, and we will make high carnival." + +"Agreed," said Red Rex. + +"Agreed," said Harold, and they shook hands formally. + +The Red King had one last word. "Harold," he said shamefacedly, "I am +sorry about the pies. I am ashamed. I would give them back, if I could. +I will pay for them roundly." + +"Your Majesty," said Harold graciously, "do not mention it!" + +Here follows the tale which the Red King told to Harold on the next day; +a tale which he had heard in his wanderings in a New World far across +the ocean to the west; a tale of the Red People--_Little Bear_. + + + +XVIII: LITTLE BEAR: AN OJIBWAY LEGEND + +Once upon a time there was an old Indian couple who had three daughters, +but no son. The two older girls were very beautiful; but the youngest +was plain and unlovely. Yet she was the wisest of the three. Her name +was Little Bear. + +Now, there came a time when the father and mother grew too old to work +as they had done all their lives. It became necessary that the two older +daughters, who were strapping big girls, should go away to find work in +order to take care of the family. + +"Take me with you," begged Little Bear. + +But the older sisters shook their heads. + +"No," they answered; "you would be of no use to us. You are too little. +You must stay at home." + +The two sisters started upon their journey alone. But they had not gone +far when they heard the patter of feet behind them. They looked around, +and there was Little Bear running after them as fast as she could go. +The sisters were very angry. They took Little Bear and tied her to the +posts of the wigwam, so that she should not follow them again. Then once +more they started upon their journey. + +They had traveled but a short distance when again they heard a noise +behind them. And there was Little Bear running toward them with the +poles of the wigwam upon her back. + +The sisters were astonished and very angry indeed. They undid Little +Bear from the posts and tied her instead to a huge pine tree which grew +close by. And they said: "Now will you stay where we leave you, bad +Little Bear?" + +Once more they went upon their way. But a third time they had not gone +far when they heard a great noise behind them. _Bumpety-bump! +Bumpety-bump!_ Along came Little Bear with the pine tree upon her +shoulders! + +The sisters were now very, very angry. They untied Little Bear crossly, +with many jerks, and fastened her to a great rock on the side of the +hill. And they said: "Now we shall see whether you are anchored or not, +you obstinate Little Bear!" So they went upon their way. + +Presently they came to a wide river, and they had no boat in which to +cross. They sat down upon the shore and moped, seeing no way to continue +their journey. + +But suddenly they heard a terrible noise behind them, and there once +more was Little Bear, running toward them with the great rock on her +back. + +This time the sisters were glad enough to see her. They unfastened the +rock and threw it into the middle of the river. Then they laid the pine +tree upon the rock, and so they had a bridge upon which to cross. +Merrily they passed over, all three. For this time Little Bear went with +the other two. And they did not send her away, because she was so strong +and useful. Presently, on the other side of the river, they came to a +wigwam, where lived an old witch-woman with her two daughters. + +"Where are you going?" asked the old woman. + +"Our parents are very old," said the three girls, "and we are going to +seek our fortune." + +"Come in," said the old woman kindly. "Come in and have supper with us, +and sleep to-night in the wigwam with my daughters." + +The travelers were glad to go in, for it was growing late. They had a +nice supper in the tent, and when it was night the daughters of the old +woman and Little Bear's two sisters went to sleep in a huge bed. The +sisters of Little Bear were on the outside, with the two others between +them. + +Little Bear did not go to bed. She sat up with the old woman beside the +camp-fire, telling stories, until it was very late and the old woman +fell sound asleep. She snored loudly; but to make sure, Little Bear +reached out and pinched her gently. + +When she found that it was not shamming, she crept softly to the bed +where the four girls slept and changed their places. After this Little +Bear's sisters were in the middle, and the old woman's daughters on the +outside. When Little Bear had done this, she crept back to the fire and +lay down, pretending to be asleep. + +In a little while the old woman awoke and pinched Little Bear to see +whether or not she was really asleep; and although it hurt dreadfully, +Little Bear did not stir, or make a sound, but seemed to be dreaming +fast. Then the wicked old woman sharpened her long, bright knife and +stole to the bed where the girls were sleeping, and before they knew +what was happening she had cut off the heads of the two girls on the +outer sides of the bed. But it was her own two daughters whom the cruel +creature had killed, though she did not know it, in the dark! The wicked +old woman lay down to sleep, chuckling to herself. But when all was +quiet, Little Bear awoke her two sisters and they all three crept away +from that cruel wigwam, hurrying on their journey. + +Now, in the morning when the old woman awoke and found what a dreadful +thing she had done, she was annoyed. She screamed and cried and tore her +hair, and then she jumped up into the sky and pulled down the sun from +its place, hiding it away in her wigwam, so that Little Bear and her +sisters might be lost in the dark. + +In the pitchy blackness, worse than night, because there were no stars, +the three stumbled on and on, groping their way; and it was very +uncomfortable indeed. At any moment they might run into some terrible +danger. + +At last they saw the flicker of a little light, and made their way +toward it. They found that it was a man carrying a torch and looking +about for something. + +"What are you looking for?" they asked. + +"I am looking for the sun," answered the man. "The sun is lost, and we +are in great trouble because of it. Tell me, have you seen the sun?" + +They said "No," and asked him to lead them to his village, which he did. +And when they came near they saw the twinkle of many lights. All the men +of the town were looking for the sun, and there was great distress among +them because their Chief was ill, and he could not get well until the +sun should be put back into his place in the sky, and the days be bright +again. + +Little Bear asked to see the Chief, and they took her to where he lay +dying. + +"Great Chief," said she, "I think that I can help you." + +"Can you bring back the sun, Maiden?" asked the Chief feebly. "That is +the only thing that will help me." + +"Yes, I can do so if you will give me two handsful of maple sugar and +your oldest son," said Little Bear. + +The Chief agreed. Little Bear took the maple sugar and went back to the +wigwam of the wicked old woman. She climbed up on the outside and threw +the sugar down through the chimney-hole into the kettle of rice which +the old crone was cooking. Presently the hag tasted it and made a wry +face. + +"Bah!" she cried; "it is too sweet. I must go and get some more water to +put in the kettle." + +As soon as the old woman left the wigwam to get the water, Little Bear +jumped down from the tent-roof, ran inside, and found the sun where the +witch had hidden it away. Up she tossed it into the sky; and lo! the +world was bright and beautiful once more. + +Then she returned to the village, where the old Chief received her +gratefully. As he had promised, he bestowed upon her his oldest son. But +Little Bear did not want him. So she gave the young Chief to her eldest +sister for a husband; and they were very happy. + +Now, when the old woman saw the sun shining once more in his usual +place, she was very angry. She screamed and she cried and she tore her +hair. Once more she jumped up into the sky, and this time she tore down +the moon, hiding it away in her wigwam, just as she had hidden the sun. + +Then again the good old Chief fell sick, because now the nights were +pitch dark; and he asked Little Bear if she could help him. + +Little Bear said: "Yes, I will bring back the moon, if you will give me +two handsful of salt and your next oldest son." + +The Chief agreed. Little Bear took the salt and went again to the old +woman's wigwam, doing as she had done before. She tossed the salt into +the kettle of soup, and when the old woman tasted it she made a face and +said: "Ugh! This soup is too salt. I must get some more water to put in +the kettle." + +As soon as the old woman was out of the way, Little Bear ran in and +seized the moon, which was hidden in a corner. She tossed it up into the +night sky, where it hung like a lovely lantern, and every one grew happy +again. + +Immediately the old Chief became well, and was glad enough to keep his +promise and to give Little Bear his second son. But she did not want him +for herself. She married the young man to her younger sister; and they +were very happy. + +This time the old woman was very angry indeed. She came by night to the +village and stole the Chief's beautiful horse, all covered with little +tinkly bells. At this misfortune the old Chief fell ill once more; for +he was very sensitive. + +Once more Little Bear offered to help him if he would give her two +handsful of maple sugar and two handsful of salt, and his youngest, +handsomest son. Of course, the old Chief agreed. + +A third time Little Bear went to the old woman's wigwam and found her +making soup. She did just as she had done twice before; only this time +the sugar and the salt together made a horrid mess! When the old woman +went out to get more water for a quite new soup, Little Bear slipped +into the tent and found the horse. As a precaution she first took off +his little bells, so that he should not make a noise to bring back the +hag. She removed all the little bells but one, and that one she missed, +it being hidden under a lock of his mane. + +Gently she led the horse away. But alas! The one little bell which she +had overlooked began to tinkle as they fled. _Tink! Tink! Tink!_ Through +the wood the old woman heard it and pricked up her ears. _Hop, hop, +hop!_ Along she came, hobbling after them faster than any horse could +gallop, and she caught Little Bear before she could escape. + +"Now I will be even with you for all that you have done!" cried the old +woman. + +She put Little Bear into a great bag and tied the bag to the limb of a +tree. Then she went away to get a big stick with which to beat her +victim to death. + +But Little Bear did not wait for this to happen. While the old woman was +looking for the stick, Little Bear bit a hole in the bag and crept out. +She took the good horse, this time without any bells to give the alarm, +and hid him in the bushes ready for flight. Then she put into the bag +all the old woman's choicest things--her dishes and food, and the +breakable furnishings of her wigwam--until the bag was round and bulgy +as if Little Bear herself were inside. + +Chuckling to herself, Little Bear hid in the bushes where she could see +what happened upon the old woman's return; and merry enough the sight +was! Little Bear nearly died of laughing, and had to stuff a corner of +her blanket into her mouth lest she should betray herself. + +For the old woman came hurrying up with her huge club, and began to beat +the bag fiercely. _Crack! Smash!_ went the pots and pans. _Smash! +Crack!_ went the dishes and the other things. But the wicked old woman +went on beating harder than ever, thinking that she was breaking the +bones of poor Little Bear. + +Presently Little Bear grew tired of the smashing and crashing, and +thought it was time to be off. She mounted the Chief's good horse and +galloped swiftly away to the village, where her sisters were awaiting +her anxiously, because she had been gone a long time. + +When the Chief saw his good horse once more, he was greatly delighted +and grew well immediately; he was so sensitive. As he had promised, he +gave to Little Bear his youngest son, who was the handsomest of the +three, though not wise. Little Bear loved him dearly; so she married him +herself and they went to live in a fine wigwam which the Chief gave +them, near the other two brothers and sisters. + +But the Little Bear's husband did not love her. He was sulky and said: +"I wish my wife were beautiful like the other maidens! Why must I marry +an ugly Little Bear? I wish I might have had one of her pretty sisters +instead!" And he was cruel to Little Bear and made her weep. + +But after a while she dried her tears, and was angry to think how +foolish she had been in choosing this youngest son for herself, just +because he was so handsome. She thought about it for a long time. + +One day she said to her husband: "You do not love me, because I am an +ugly Little Bear. Take me and throw me into the fire." + +"I do not love you," said her husband, "but I cannot kill you, for then +the Chief would punish me." + +"Do as I tell you!" said Little Bear, and she stamped her foot. + +The young man was afraid, for he knew that Little Bear was very wise and +powerful. So he did as she bade him, and threw Little Bear into the +fire. This made a great noise in the wigwam, and presently up came +running Little Bear's two sisters. + +"Wicked man! What have you done to our dear Little Bear?" they cried. + +"I have done only as she told me," said the young man sulkily. "Little +Bear is not beautiful, but she is wise. So I did what she told me to do. +I threw her into the fire." + +"Oh, wicked man!" cried the sisters again, bursting into tears. + +Just then they heard a strange sound in the fire, and turning, they +beheld a most beautiful maiden with dark eyes and raven locks coming out +of the flames. She smiled at the two sisters, and turning to the young +man said:-- + +"Husband, do you know me? I am Little Bear, who was wise but not +beautiful. Now I have become beautiful, but I am still wiser than +before." + +"O my wife!" cried the husband eagerly. "I do not care whether you are +wise or not--that matters little to me. But I love you with all my +heart, you are so beautiful!" + +Little Bear laughed and said: "You were unkind to the ugly Little Bear, +though she loved you. You are like most men; you care more for beauty +than for wisdom. But I have grown wiser than I was when I married you +and I do not care what you think." + +And Little Bear, now the most beautiful young woman in the village and +the pride of the tribe for wisdom, lived happy ever after. + + + +XIX: THE RED KING'S VISIT + +"That is a fine story!" cried Harold, clapping his hands after the Red +King had finished telling the tale of the Little Bear. "I wish I could +remember all the tales that I read, and tell them as well as you do, +Your Majesty!" + +Red Rex looked pleased. "It is a tale that, when I am not at war, I tell +often to my little daughter," he said. "She likes all kinds of stories, +but especially those of countries different from our own." + +"Then she ought to hear the Tales of Kisington!" cried Harold. + +"So I think," mused Red Rex. "I would that you could read them to her, +even as you have read them to me, Harold." + +"Perhaps some day that may be," answered Harold. "But meantime Your +Majesty may hear our tales and tell them to your little Princess when +you return. She will like your way of telling them better than reading +from a book, I know." + +"Yes, I must read those tales again, at your library," said the Red +King. "I must study them well, so that I can tell them without losing +the point of each, as I am prone to do. My little Hope will be glad. +Heretofore, I have never had time enough to read her as much as she +craved." + +"The library will welcome you," said Harold. "I can answer for that. It +would rather have you inside its doors reading than outside battering +down the statues and the glass! Will Your Majesty come with me now and +visit the Town of Kisington under the flag of truce?" + +"That will I," answered Red Rex. + +Forth then went Harold and the Red King to the gates of Kisington. Side +by side they went, with the flag of truce between them, borne by a big +man-at-arms. After them followed a guard of the Red King's men; but +these remained behind when the great gate swung open to admit Harold and +his royal guest. + +There were no soldiers to be seen anywhere in the streets of Kisington. +It seemed a town wholly at peace. The Lord Mayor and the Librarian were +waiting to receive them, and crowds of people thronged the street to +catch a glimpse of the War-Lord, who for nearly a week had been +besieging their city without firing a shot since that first day. Harold +recognized among the crowd the faces of many of his school-mates, and +presently, when he found the opportunity he beckoned to his chums, +Robert and Richard, who were in the front ranks. + +"Keep close to me," Harold whispered to them. "By and by I dare say you +will have a chance to speak with Red Rex himself." + +Robert and Richard needed no second hint to keep close at Harold's +heels. Proudly they stepped along, one on either side of their friend, +behind the Red King and the Lord Mayor who followed the Librarian and +the bearer of the flag of truce. To the marketplace they went, the other +school children trotting along in the rear of the little procession, and +gazing with almost as much pride and awe at their lucky comrades as at +the dreaded enemy, Red Rex. Indeed, the whole Town of Kisington seemed +moving in the wake of these six most important personages. + +What conversation took place between Red Rex and the Lord Mayor was +never recorded. But it seemed to grow gradually pleasanter and +pleasanter. By the time they had reached the steps of the library, their +faces were wreathed in smiles and they beamed at each other like old +friends. + +At the door of the library the Librarian turned and, with a wave of his +hand, said to Red Rex,--"Welcome, Your Majesty, to the treasure-house of +Kisington." + +"Glad am I to enter these doors," replied the Red King courteously. "For +here, I believe, live the wonderful books which during these past days +have been giving me much pleasure." He laid his hand on the shoulder of +Harold and smiled. One would hardly have recognized the face of the grim +War-Lord who had begun the siege so savagely. "I would fain see those +friendly books in their own home," he went on. + +"That you shall do, Your Majesty," said the Librarian; "for Kisington is +so proud of her treasures that she is ever glad to welcome a stranger to +the enjoyment of them. Is it not fortunate, Your Majesty, that the +library is still standing to entertain you? Recently it was in great +danger of being destroyed, as you may have heard." (The Librarian was an +exceedingly polite gentlemen.) + +At these words the Red King turned redder and bowed gravely. "The Books +themselves rose up for the protection of books," he said. "They have +proved in this case to be the best weapons of defense. I am beginning to +think that they are better than any soldiers." + +By this time they had entered the main hall, where a delegation of +Leading Citizens awaited them,--in holiday robes and with expectant +faces. They greeted Red Rex with profound bows, which he acknowledged +graciously. + +The Librarian then turned to the rows of patient, peaceful books which +lined the walls, ready to be made useful. "Yes, Your Majesty. These are +our bulwarks and batteries and bayonets," he said simply. + +The air of the room was still and quiet, full of peace and kindliness. +Beautiful pictures looked down from the walls. Noble statues stood in +the niches. Soft lights came in at the windows and fell on the tables +and desks, and on rows upon rows of fair volumes, well-dusted and +cheerful. The shattered windows had been screened; the broken marbles +removed; so that there was nothing to reproach Red Rex or to speak of +discord. + +The War-Lord looked up and down and around and along, and spoke no word. +All the books seemed listening, waiting for him to speak. They were +indeed like soldiers, shoulder to shoulder, standing at "attention." + +"It is a noble army!" exclaimed Red Rex at last, and his voice was low +and gentle. "It is the best kind of army for the world, I see, as I have +never seen before. I would it were mine!" + +"It is yours, Your Majesty," said the Librarian. "You have but to make +free use of it. These soldiers are free-lances, at the service not of +one master, but of any one who employs them intelligently. Read them, +Your Majesty, and so make them yours, if you will." The Librarian spread +out his hands in a generous gesture. + +"By my Hope, you are hospitable and magnanimous!" cried Red Rex. "I am +tempted to take you at your word. Come, let there be no more war between +us. Let us make no brief truce, but agree, instead, upon a true, lasting +peace. Already I have promised this Harold of yours to spare the city, +east, west, and north,--which is the whole of it. But come; promise me +now to spare me the scorn and hatred which you owe for my +unfriendliness. Let us spare each other and be friends. For I would know +more of your books and of your people." + +"Good, Your Majesty!" cried the Lord Mayor, stepping forward. "By all +means let there be peace. We have no wish for anything else. Our hastily +gathered soldiers are eager to return again to private life. Send away +your army, and let peace be proclaimed with no more formality than our +true words given each to other in this library, with the witness of the +books." + +"Done!" shouted Red Rex. "Here is my hand on it!" And he shook hands +first with the Lord Mayor, then with the Librarian, then with the other +Leading Citizens. Harold and his chums were standing modestly a little +way apart. He called the boy to his side and laid an arm affectionately +about his shoulder. "Here is your true peacemaker," said Red Rex. "If +Harold had not been so good a reader, I should never have been here in +peace with you at this moment. To Harold and his books I owe the vision +of what a library really is." + +"Your Majesty," said Harold promptly, "will you also shake hands with +Richard and Robert? It will make them very proud." + +"That will I!" cried Red Rex. And he not only shook hands, but clapped +the boys on the shoulder, calling each by name; which was a thing for +them to remember all their lives. + +"Now!" announced the Red King, taking a large seal ring from his finger +and handing it to his soldier who bore the flag of truce. "Take this +ring, and go back to my army; bid the generals lead their men home, and +busy themselves in some useful work until my return. For as for me, I +shall remain for a space in this peaceful city, in this peaceful +Kingdom, to learn something further of its ways and wonders, which +interest me hugely." + +The soldier saluted and retired. And shortly after was heard beyond the +walls the _tramp, tramp_ of a retreating army. The Red King was alone in +Kisington, among the books. + +Little cared he for what went on outside. He was carried away by the +fascination of a world new to him. The Librarian led him from room to +room, from stack to stack, from shelf to shelf of tempting books. The +Red King was fairly bewildered by the opportunities offered. He wanted +to read all the volumes at once. + +"I never dreamed there were so many books in the world!" he cried. "How +can a man live long enough to read them all, if he does nothing else all +his days?" + +"Do you wonder we have no time for war, Your Majesty?" asked the +Librarian. + +"No more war for me!" declared Red Rex. They had reached a division of +the books labeled in huge letters OUTLAND TALES. The Red King laid his +hand upon a volume bound in green-and-silver, like ice. "This has a +tempting look," said Red Rex. "Are these also Chronicles of Kisington?" + +"Yes, in a sense," answered the Librarian. "The deeds here recorded +happened not in our Kingdom; yet, being tales gathered by our forbears +in their travels around the world, to and from Kisington, they had a +part in our history. They helped our fathers the better to understand +and sympathize with the stranger, and so made for the peace which they +loved." + +"This is a story for me," declared Red Rex, who had been peeping into +the ice-bound volume. "I would fain hear another tale interpreted by my +little friend. Harold, will you read me this story, as you have read so +many ere now? I long to hear your pleasant voice again." + +"I will read whatever Your Majesty wishes," replied Harold. "Shall we go +into this alcove where we shall be quite undisturbed and undisturbing?" + +"By all means," said Red Rex. And here, in a cozy comer under one of the +great windows, with Richard and Robert on either side of him, Harold +read to the delighted King the Icelandic tale of _The Bear's Daughter_. + + + +XX: THE BEAR'S DAUGHTER + +Once upon a time, on an island far to the north of Kisington, whither +only the bravest sailors dared to venture, lived a boy named Hans. They +called him Hans the Hunter, because he loved so much to hunt and fish. +He was a tall, brave, and sturdy lad, and he loved his life and was +proud of his nickname. He had a hard spot in his heart, or he would not +have been a hunter. + +One day Hans went out with two other lads to hunt. It was in the early +spring, the season when the ice breaks up in the rivers and begins to +move seaward, like the hearts of men. The three wandered for many miles +over the ice and snow until they came to the frozen bed of a river; but +they did not know it was a river, the water of it flowed so far below +the cakes of ice which concealed it, while over all was a thick crust of +snow. + +At this spot Hans the Hunter, who was after big game, left the others +and started toward the south. Presently in the snow his sharp eyes spied +the tracks of a huge bear. He was greatly delighted, and began to follow +the slot so eagerly that he hardly marked where he was going. But all on +a sudden he felt an unsteady motion under his feet. The ground seemed +slipping beneath him. The snow parted and the ice cracked, and he spied +blue water in the gaps between. Then he realized that he was upon a +river, afloat upon a cake of ice! + +Hans was greatly terrified, and made haste to leap upon a larger floe, +for the former was too small to hold his weight, and threatened to turn +upside down. Still he was in great danger; for before he knew it the +river had carried him out into a bay of floating ice, far from the +steady land. To and fro he leaped on his long legs, over the moving +mass, hoping to find a way of escaping back to the shore. But presently +he saw to his horror that he was rapidly floating out to the ocean upon +a huge ice-floe, which was fast separating from the others. He was +adrift upon a barren island of ice! + +Scarcely had he had time to realize this, when Hans had another shock. +As he came around a huge pillar of ice, he almost stumbled upon a huge +white bear lying asleep upon her side. It must have been the very same +bear whose tracks had led Hans into danger, and which he had quite +forgotten. With a hunter's instinct Hans raised his gun to shoot her. +But at the moment, before he pulled the trigger, the bear opened her +eyes and spoke to him; and it did not seem so very strange to hear her +speak his own language. + +"Why do you seek to kill me?" she said piteously. "I have done no harm +to you, Hans the Hunter. Moreover, if you kill me you will yourself die +of cold within a few hours. If you lie down upon the ice to sleep you +will freeze to death. But if you rest against my thick fur I will keep +you warm. O man! Why must we be enemies? We are bound on a dangerous sea +voyage together. Be my friend! Catch fish for me, so that we shall not +starve. So, helping one another, we shall live comfortably on this +floating home until we are able to go ashore." + +"Gladly will I do what you say," agreed Hans the Hunter, for he saw that +her words were wise. + +After that Hans and the bear became partners. By day, with the tackle +which he always carried in his wallet, Hans fished for their dinner; +and, indeed, the bear's huge appetite kept him busy! By night he +snuggled against the warm fur of his neighbor and slept soundly, not +feeling the cold. So they kept their bargain. + +Many days went by, and the bear came to love Hans dearly. Indeed, he +liked her, too. But Hans loved himself better, for he was a selfish lad. + +One morning Hans awoke with a start, conscious of an unusual movement +near him. The bear was stirring uneasily in her sleep. But something +else close beside him writhed and wriggled. He rubbed his eyes and +looked again. Nestled against the bear's white fur was a tiny newborn +child, a beautiful baby girl. Hans sat up and stared at the prodigy. +What did it mean? Where did the baby come from? At last an idea came to +him. + +"Oho!" he said to himself. "Now I know what it all means! This is the +Enchanted Bear of whom I have heard so much,--the great White Bear of +the North. That is why she could talk to me, and why I could understand. +That is why her newborn cub is a human child, _until she looks at it_. +Mistress Bear has not yet seen her little one. Ho! What a prize for a +hunter to take home! This enchanted bear-baby will remain human, if I +can steal her away where her mother will never set eyes on her. That +will be something to show the other fellows, I should say!" + +On the preceding night Hans had noted that the ice-floe was approaching +nearer to the land. This morning they were very close to shore. Many +ice-cakes floated about, and by jumping from one to another long-legged +Hans knew that he could make the land. Very gently he took the little +white baby, so soft and warm, in his great hands and wrapped it under +his coat, so that the old bear should not see it. Then silently and +stealthily he prepared to depart. But when he moved away from her side +the old bear wakened suddenly and called after him,-- + +"Where are you going, friend Hans? What are you doing with my little cub +that I have never seen?" Hans did not stop to explain, but clasping the +baby tightly, darted off over the ice-field toward the land. Surprised +and fearful, the old bear rose and looked after him with wide eyes of +reproach. Then when she realized what he meant to do, she shook herself +with a mighty roar, and her eyes grew bright and fierce. She started in +pursuit. + +It was a terrible chase! Hans was swift-footed; but after all the ice +was not his natural ground. The bear who had seemed so clumsy traveled +over the ice with miraculous speed, as polar bears do. Hans heard her +panting behind him, drawing nearer and nearer, and his heart sank low. +He knew how sharp her claws were, and how strong her teeth. She was +gaining upon him; but he would not give up the baby. The hard spot in +his heart grew harder. Burdened as he was, he turned about and raising +his gun fired it at the bear. His aim was good,--for was he not Hans the +Hunter? With a moan the great bear fell, and he saw a stream of blood +dye the ice-floe which he had so long shared with her as a home. + +Hans did not pause to mourn over the faithful friend who had kept him +alive and warm for so many nights; but leaving her on the ice to die, +sped shoreward with his burden, jumping lightly from cake to cake of ice +until he reached the land. + +After wandering about for some time Hans found a deserted fisherman's +hut, where he built a fire and cherished the baby which he had stolen. +The little thing seemed to thrive under his clumsy care. He tarried in +the hut for some days, managing to get food for the baby and himself. +Then he took the child and made his way inland until he came to a little +village. He found that it was miles and miles from his former home; but +the people were kind and urged him to stay. So Hans decided to settle +down and live here, practicing his trade as a hunter, and earning enough +to keep himself and the child in comfort. And every day the stolen baby +grew dearer and dearer to Hans the Hunter. + +Years went by. Hans became a big man, the mightiest, most famous hunter +in all the countryside. Presently the little girl was grown up, too. And +she had become the most beautiful tiny maiden in the land. Her name was +Ursula, which means "Little Bear-Girl," though no one knew why Hans had +given her this name. Folk supposed that she was called after the holy +Saint Ursula. Hans, as you may guess, never told the lass about her +bear-mother whom he had so cruelly wronged. + +Hans loved Ursula so dearly that he hoped some day she would become his +little wife. For a long time Ursula laughed and put him off; but at last +she consented. + +One fine day they drove to Church and were married. After the wedding +all the village folk crowded around the sleigh in which Hans was to +carry his young bride home, and wished the couple joy and good luck. For +everybody liked big Hans, who was cruel only to animals; and they adored +his little Ursula, who was cruel to nobody. She looked very pretty as +she sat beside Hans, all pink and white and smiling, wrapped from head +to foot in snowy furs which Hans had given her for a wedding present. +Merrily they waved good-bye to the crowd as they drove away. And every +one said, "Was there ever seen a handsomer, finer couple?" + +It was a gay, long ride home through the forest, and the pair were very +happy. The sun shone dazzlingly on the jeweled snow, and the evergreens +sparkled with icicles. The little brook, hidden under the ice, peeped at +them through sundry chinks here and there, chuckling merrily as he ran. +The sleigh-bells jingled heartily and the horse pranced as if he, too, +shared the joy of that happy wedding day. + +Suddenly, as they came out into an open space, the horse stopped short +with a frightened snort, and stood gazing with wild eyes, trembling in +every limb. Something huge and terrible blocked the road. In the middle +of the way stood a great white bear, upright upon her hind legs. + +Hans recognized her at once; it was his old friend whom he had betrayed! +After all, she was not dead, as he had hoped, but after twenty years had +come back to confront him. She was staring fixedly at Hans,--she had not +yet seen little Ursula muffled in her furs. With a cry Hans threw +himself between his young bride and this terrible sight. + +"Come to me, my Daughter, my Cub!" cried the mother-bear in a deep +voice. "Come to me!" + +Ursula gave a strange, wild cry and struggled in the arms of Hans. "What +is it?" she said. "Oh, what is it? I must see!" + +At the same moment her voice died away into a low whine, then rose into +a howl such as an animal gives in pain. Struggling from her husband's +arms she leaped from the sleigh. + +Instantly Hans followed, holding out his arms piteously and calling, +"Ursula! Ursula!" + +But the white, furry figure did not hear. It was hurrying forward toward +the great bear. + +"Come to me, my Child!" said the bear again. "Leave the wicked man who +betrayed his friend and sought to kill her. Come, let us punish him!" + +Her words ended in a fierce growl, which was echoed by the other white +figure, as she turned about and looked at Hans. And oh, what was this! +With horror he saw that his little bride had, indeed, turned into a +furry white bear. Her eyes burned red and angry as she looked at him, +and she showed her teeth as if her mother's words had turned all her +love of Hans into hatred, for the old bear's sake. + +She seemed about to spring upon Hans and tear him to pieces. But +suddenly her look changed. She folded her paws upon her furry breast, +and Hans saw tears, human tears, come into the little bear's eyes. It +was the last token of her human life, the last gleam of her fondness for +him. She could not punish him as her mother bade. She would not let evil +happen to him, even though he had done such a cruel wrong, because she +had once been his little Ursula. + +Dropping upon all fours she ran toward her mother, and they laid noses +together for their first caress. She seemed to say something to the old +bear in a silent language, which was answered by a deep, sullen growl. +After this, without a further glance at Hans, the two bears turned about +and trotted away together into the forest. Hans the Hunter never saw +them again. + +But after that the gun of Hans hung rusty on the wall of his lonely hut. +The hard spot in his heart had melted. + + +XXI + +RED REX AND KING VICTOR + +Hardly had Harold finished speaking these last words in the tragic story +of the Bear's Daughter, when there arose from the market-place such a +hubbub and commotion that the Red King's comments on the tale were quite +lost. Voices were shouting and cheering; trumpets were blowing and drums +beating; over the clang of weapons and neighing of horses one caught the +_tramp, tramp_ of marching feet. + +Red Rex sprang to his feet, drawing his sword and growing very red in +the face. Once again he was the fierce and terrible War-Lord. But Harold +did not notice. He was too much excited at the tumult going on outside. +He ran hastily to the window and looked out. The square was full of +soldiers and banners and gayly decked horses. Men-at-arms crowded the +side streets, pouring continuously into the square. The ruined porch of +the library was crowded. A guard stood at the portal. + +In the center of the square, bestriding a white horse, sat a stately +figure, dressed all in white armor. His snowy head was uncovered and he +spoke to the cheering people smilingly. + +A great shout arose as he finished his speech. "Long live our good King +Victor!" + +Harold joined in the shout. "Hurrah! Hurrah!" + +And Robert and Richard, scrambling up beside him, echoed the +cheer,--"Hurrah! Hurrah! Long live King Victor!" + +"Our good King has come to Kisington at last!" cried Harold, turning +back into the library. + +He had quite forgotten his warlike guest and why King Victor had come to +Kisington. Indeed, for the moment every one seemed to have forgotten Red +Rex. The Librarian, the Lord Mayor, and the other Leading Citizens had +disappeared, and the library seemed quite empty. But in one corner of +the alcove where the last story had been read, Red Rex was standing at +bay. He had drawn up before him a heavy table, behind which he stood, +sword in hand, one foot advanced, his red beard bristling. + +"Yes, I am trapped!" snarled Red Rex. "You have caught me, boy. But you +shall pay for this!" + +Harold and the Red King stood staring at one another. The _tramp, tramp_ +of feet sounded on the staircase, coming nearer. Along the hall came the +tread. The door of the hall opened, and a martial group crossed the +threshold. Foremost came their King, King Victor himself, the splendid, +white-haired peace hero. The three boys dropped each on one knee before +him. + +For a moment the King stood gazing about him mildly, without speaking. +He was tall and stately, but his eyes were kind, even merry, and with +all his dignity there was nothing to strike fear even into the heart of +a child. Presently his eyes caught the figure of the trapped War-Lord, +barricaded and at bay in the corner. + +He stepped forward with a friendly air and held out his hand. "Welcome, +Cousin!" he said in a hearty voice. + +Red Rex glared at him, fairly bristling with rage. "Do not mock me!" he +blustered. "I know well enough that I have been trapped and that the +word of the Lord Mayor of this town, given to me, will not count now. +But you shall not take me alive. I will slay the first who lays hand on +me!" He waved his sword furiously. Harold had never seen him look so +terrible. + +"Nay, nay!" cried King Victor mildly. "You mistake, indeed, Cousin!" + +But the enraged Red King would not listen, and went on with his wild +accusations. + +"I have been trapped by children!" he raged. "Delayed by tales! Deceived +by promises! I trusted all these and disbanded my army, fool that I was! +But take me if you can!" Again he flourished his sword and ground his +teeth. + +King Victor stood looking at the War-Lord without speaking. At last he +raised his hand with a grand gesture and said with emphasis and +sincerity, "You are making a great mistake, Cousin! You are not trapped. +The promise of the Lord Mayor is sacred. In my land a word is as good as +a treaty. You are quite free to go, if you list. But, indeed, we hope +you will deign to stay, as our honored guest. It is the first time you +have graced our Kingdom with your presence, Cousin. We long to be +friends with you; to see lasting peace between our neighboring lands." + +"You come with an army," retorted Red Rex sullenly. "You came in +response to summons. You came to combat me." + +"That is true," assented King Victor. "When we heard that Kisington was +besieged, we gathered together our peaceful army and hastened hither in +the interests of peace. But we arrive to find, instead of a bloody +siege, a peaceful King enjoying this library. We hasten to add our own +welcome to that of Kisington's Leading Citizens. We invite you to +remain, Cousin, and enjoy not only these but other treasures of our +Kingdom which it may be to your advantage to know better." + +"If my army had not disbanded," blustered the War-Lord, "you would not +be speaking to me so debonairly." + +"Maybe not, maybe not!" agreed King Victor. + +"Yet, our volunteer police force embraces every citizen of our Kingdom. +We should have surrounded you without trouble or bloodshed, Cousin. We +could have persuaded your army by sheer force of numbers and opinion, +without doubt. But let us not think of that. Let us rather consider the +pleasanter things which surround us. Shall we not be friends, Cousin? We +know your Kingdom well. We have read and studied about it thoroughly in +our books. We have, indeed, traveled all over it in peaceful disguise. +Come, you ought to become as well acquainted with ours; then I am sure +we should never misunderstand one another again. Say, Cousin Rex, shall +it be?" + +He advanced a step nearer the other, holding out his hand and smiling +genially. His sincerity was plain. + +The War-Lord dropped his sword. "I believe you!" he cried, stepping +forward and grasping the proffered hand. "Cousin, Neighbor, let there be +peace between our whole kingdoms; even as we promised between myself and +Kisington." + +"So be it!" + +The two monarchs embraced in kingly fashion, and sat down in a retired +alcove for a pleasant chat. + +It was not long before Harold was summoned to the pair. King Victor +received him kindly, and Red Rex grinned. "We have heard the tale of +your service to the State and to our Royal Friend, Harold," said King +Victor graciously. "We would fain give you a suitable reward, my brave +Bookworm. What shall it be? Tell me your wish." + +Harold flushed and stammered. "I do not wish a reward for the little I +did, Sire," he said. "I had no thought of that. Indeed, it was a +pleasure to read for His Majesty." + +"Yea, so we believe!" smiled the King. "Yet some reward we owe for your +true office. What shall it be?" + +Harold hesitated, thinking. "Truly, for myself I ask nothing," he said. +"Yet, perhaps, Sire, you would help my mother, my dear mother, so that +she need not work so hard while I am learning to be a scholar." + +"It shall be so!" cried the King. "She shall have a little maid to help +her; money to pay the rent, buy food and clothes and modest pleasures. +These shall she have. But for yourself, Harold? We must show you some +special favor, for our own comfort." + +"Well," said Harold, "one thing I scarcely dare to ask. But I should +like more time to read in the library while His Majesty is here. Maybe I +could serve him better if I had not to go to school these days. May the +school children have a vacation of a week, Sire?" + +"A fortnight!" cried King Victor, beaming. "It is the very pith of our +talk, my boy. For a week the King our Cousin is fain to tarry in +Kisington, and he asks no better than yourself to be his guide, +philosopher, and friend. Then for a week he will be my guest, traveling +with me over the Kingdom, visiting certain places whereabout you have +made him curious by your stories. He asks that you may go as his page. +Both these things are possible if we grant the school a fortnight's +recess. It shall be done. But still, this is little reward for your wise +doings, my boy. Ask something more." + +"Then, Sire, I beg this," said Harold, with shining eyes. "Let Robert +and Richard go with me as assistant pages. That will be a merry vacation +for us all; no better boon could I ask!" + +The King laughed merrily. "A boy's wish!" he said, "but it shall be +granted. Now, come hither, Harold." With these words King Victor threw +over the boy's shoulders a heavy gold chain with a cross hanging from +it. "'Blessed are the peacemakers,'" quoted King Victor. "Wear this, +Harold, a token from your grateful country. And with it goes the gift of +a hundred books, which you shall choose for yourself, to be the +beginning of a library of your own,--Book Wizard, as they call you!" + +The bells of Kisington began to peal gayly and continuously, a triple +rejoicing. The beloved King being in town was sufficient reason for +festival. Therefore,--_Ding dong!_ Peace was declared forever between +the two neighboring nations. Therefore, _Ding dong! Ding dong!_ A +holiday for the school children of Kisington, Harold's friends. +Therefore,--_Ding dong! Ding dong! Ding dong!_ + +Harold went home to his mother with the glad news. And proud enough she +was of her lad when she heard why all the bells were ringing, and saw +his golden cross. + + +XXII: THE BOOKS CONQUER + +Thus began the wonderful fortnight of vacation that Harold and Robert +and Richard never forgot in all their lives. + +For a happy week the War-Lord tarried in Kisington. He spent much of his +time studying at the library, reading many books, but especially such +tales as Harold thought the little Princess Hope would enjoy. Many of +these he heard Harold read aloud; sometimes in the cozy alcoves of the +library, where they could disturb no one; sometimes in the sumptuous +apartments of the palace which King Victor had put at the disposal of +Red Rex; oftenest and best of all in the little thatched cottage of +Harold's mother, where the Red King came to feel perfectly at home. For +one of the first things Harold did in his vacation time was to invite +the War-Lord to dinner. + +"We shall have for dessert one of my mother's famous apple pies," +promised Harold with a twinkle. The Red King blushed; but he accepted +the invitation in a truly kingly spirit. + +There was now plenty to eat and drink in Harold's home, and a nice +little maid to help his mother and make the days pleasanter. It was a +very merry party that gathered around the table in the kitchen that +night. Richard and Robert were there; for the Red King had taken a fancy +to them, and they all talked together like old friends. The Red King had +many thrilling adventures to tell them of his roving life. And Red Rex +was learning many new and novel things of them all the while. For this +was the first time he had ever eaten in a thatched cottage, or in the +company of simple strangers. + +When the great pie was brought in, all steaming and spicy, Harold and +the War-Lord exchanged a peculiar glance. + +"Your Majesty has tasted my pie before," said Harold's mother +innocently. "I sent a piece with Harold's luncheon one day, and he tells +me you approved of it. That is why we have it to-day for dessert." + +"Ah! I approve of it, indeed! I shall never forget your pie, dear little +Mother!" cried the Red King with a laugh. "It is worth adventuring much +to obtain even a bite of pies like yours." + +"They taste best of all at midnight," said Harold mischievously. + +"That I cannot believe," said Red Rex, frowning at him. "I never ate pie +so delicious before this day!" + +"Do you think one piece of pie hot is worth five pies cold, Your +Majesty?" asked Harold. + +"Yes, indeed!" cried the Red King, turning still redder. "Especially if +eaten in such pleasant company." + +"So thought not the wicked old woman who stole my pies," said Harold's +mother. "I wonder if she will ever dare to claim that beautiful shawl +which she left behind her?" + +"I dare say not," frowned the Red King. "And inasmuch as the Lord Mayor +declares that she must have been a native of my Kingdom, intruding +within your walls, I hereby make over to you that shawl which she has +forfeited by her wicked deed. Wear it henceforth without a qualm, +Mother." + +She wore it to church the very next Sunday, and all the ladies envied +her this last piece of good luck which seemed to follow the coming of +the Red King. + +Red Rex was eager to visit every corner of Kisington about which he had +heard in the Chronicles. Since this was vacation time, Harold and Robert +and Richard were overjoyed to be his guides. They visited the Old +Curiosity Shop where the Lion Passant had lived dumbly for years before +the coming of the Patent Medicine Man. The store was still kept by a +wheezy old fellow with a cough; though he was not the same who had +spilled the Elixir over the Lion Passant. Of him the War-Lord bought so +many curiosities that he and his little old wife became quite rich, and +never had to worry about the future any more. + +They visited the ruined old castle, a little way out of Kisington on the +road to Hushby, where Arthur had found the magic glass, made by his +uncle the Amateur Magician. It was now all in ruins, inhabited only by +bats and owls and rats. But the Red King prowled about the crumbling +chambers with the greatest delight, and took home a paper of pebbles as +a souvenir for the little Princess Hope, who made "collections." + +They visited the famous bakehouse of the Rafe-Margot Company, where a +kind of pastry called "Kingspies" was still made after the old recipe, +which had first been used in the oven of the premises. For this was the +site of the little red house that had stood on the acre of land under +the red-apple tree. All these had disappeared; and the Kingspies, which +the Red King tasted eagerly, were not as good as the home-made variety +of which Harold's mother had inherited the secret. For there is +something magic about the pies that a mother makes in her own kitchen +which no factory can imitate. + +At this factory Red Rex left a large sum of money to pay for Kingspies +which should be given to any hungry man who asked; particularly if he +asked at midnight,--which seemed, indeed, a strange condition! But +Harold understood why the Red King did this thing. And Harold never told +any one,--not even Robert and Richard. + +One day they all went to visit what had been Gerda's Wonder-Garden, by +the sea. It was now called the Aquarium, and was a public park, free to +all the people of Kisington. It was quite as wonderful as ever, for it +was full of all the strange and beautiful creatures of the sea, and Red +Rex marveled greatly to see them there. + +In charge of the Aquarium was the Lady Anyse, who was a descendant of +Cedric and Gerda. She came to greet them when she heard of their +arrival, and as soon as their eyes met she and the Red King gazed at +each other long and earnestly. She was tall and stately, and very +beautiful. She had red hair like the King's, and bright blue eyes; and +she was afraid of nothing. She and Red Rex stared at each other long and +earnestly, without speaking. + +At last Red Rex said:-- + +"In sooth, I believe you are, indeed, of my kin! Something tells me so. +I am sure that Gerda, your great-great-grandmother came from my Kingdom, +and was sister of my great-great-grandfather." + +"I think so too," said the Lady Anyse. + +"Cousin," declared Red Rex, "you have been too long away from the land +of your fathers. Will you go back with me, to my little daughter? She +has no mother, and she needs one badly; some one from a peaceful +Kingdom. I think she needs you. I am going, moreover, to make for her a +splendid Aquarium, like this of Kisington. This also will need your +care." + +"I think so too," said the Lady Anyse. + +"Then you will come back with me?" begged Red Rex, more eagerly than he +had ever begged for anything in his life. "It will make a new bond +between our Kingdoms, so that we shall never be at war again." + +"I think so too!" said the Lady Anyse, who was a woman of few words. + +So that matter was happily settled, to the Red King's great content. And +a happy thing, indeed, it proved for the little Princess Hope and for +the two Kingdoms. + +When the second week began, Red Rex left Kisington to visit King Victor +at the Capital City. Harold and Robert and Richard accompanied him as +pages, each wearing a beautiful suit of velvet and gold, and each riding +on a fine little white pony, the gift of Red Rex. + +What a glorious trip that was! For first they made a detour to the Town +of Hushby. There still stood the inn where Arthur had met pretty Margot +who afterwards became his Countess, and where he had his first adventure +with the wicked Oscar. From there the party went up into the mountains +where the Dragon used to live. Harold and the other two boys scrambled +about among the rocks, and after a while they found the very place which +had been the Dragon's den. It was a cave fifty feet long and twelve feet +high, very black and gloomy. And in it were a great many skulls and +bones of persons whom the Dragon had killed and eaten in those dreadful +years, long, long ago. But now it was empty and forgotten. + +From Hushby they rode to the Capital City, which was all decked with +banners and flowers to receive Red Rex, the ex-War-Lord. Then began a +season of royal merrymaking to celebrate the peace between the two +Kingdoms. There were banquets and dancing and games and pageants, +processions and concerts and fireworks, all of which the Red King and +his three pages enjoyed hugely. King Victor was very kind to them, and +made them happy in every way he could devise. + +He invited them to the Royal Museum, where they were privileged to view +some of the most precious treasures of the Kingdom. They saw in a glass +case on a velvet mat the tiny stuffed Dragon himself; he who had once +been the Terror of Hushby. They saw, too, the now un-magical glass with +which Arthur had vanquished his enemy. It looked like any other mere +reading-glass with an ivory handle, and it was hard to believe what +wonders it had done. In this same collection was the first pie-plate +brought by Rafe's messenger to the King, after that clever cook became +pie-maker-in-ordinary to the throne. + +Here, too, was the glove of that royal giantess, the Princess Agnes, who +had refused to marry Arthur because he was too little. It was as broad +as a palm-leaf fan, and much thicker. Close by the monster glove lay a +tiny white moccasin, which had once been worn by Ursula, the bear's +daughter, and which had been brought back from the far land of that sad +story by one of the sea-rovers of Kisington, who had first told the +tale. + +Here also was one of the partly-grated nuts with which Meg had flavored +the first King's Pie; and a precious pearl from Gerda's Wonder-Garden, +the gift of the grateful Mermaid. There, worn to rags, by the passage of +many years, was the original lion-doll made by Claribel, from the model +of the Lion Passant. And this the Red King liked best of all. But there +were many interesting things in the Museum of King Victor which recalled +to Red Rex the stories that Harold had read to him. + +One day King Victor and a merry party rode to the town of Derrydown in +the north. Here was the great lion-doll factory, started by Claribel and +the Lion Passant, which had made their fortune and that of Derrydown. +The party stopped at the old Red Lion Inn where the sign still swung +over the door as in the days when the Lion Passant had first been struck +by its resemblance to his family crest. And because it was his family +crest also, Red Rex made the landlord a handsome present. In these days +the Red King was generosity itself. + +Hard by the Inn was the very same tiny hut in which Claribel had lived; +and over the fireplace still showed dimly the carved coat of arms and +the motto, _Noblesse oblige_. + +When Red Rex saw this, he stood and stared at it a long time, saying +nothing. "I used to think that meant 'A King can do no wrong,'" said he +at last in a low voice to King Victor. "Now I believe it means, 'A King +must do no wrong.'" + +"So I too believe," agreed King Victor. "But I would make the motto say +still more. Every one can be noble, and a noble must do no wrong." + +"It shall be the motto of my people!" declared Red Rex. And so it +became. + +But there were other tales of this neighborhood which Red Rex +remembered. "May we not go hunting in the Ancient Wood, of which I have +heard?" asked Red Rex while they tarried in Derrydown. "I understand +that it is not far, and that there is great game to be had in those +still coverts." + +"Nay; in these days we do not hunt in my Kingdom," replied King Victor. +"Since hearing the tale of the Bear's Daughter it has been no pleasure +for any of us to kill or hurt any dumb creature." + +"Ah!" cried Red Rex. "I had forgot that story! Hans wounded a poor +friendly bear who had done him no harm. That was cowardly, indeed! True, +Cousin. Neither do I wish to hunt any more. It was that tale which you +punctuated by your noisy arrival in Kisington, do you remember? I picked +out that story for myself; and it has done a service to the wild +creatures of my Kingdom, who will henceforth be safe from me and mine. +But, indeed, though we do not hunt, I would fain see this Ancient Wood, +where the Old Gnome lived in his hollow tree." + +"We will go this very day," answered King Victor. And go they did. Sure +enough, in a clearing they found the house which David had built for his +little wife, snug and clean and empty. Close by in the thick woods the +three boys discovered a giant tree-stump, papered with moss and hung +with cobweb hammocks, which they felt sure had been the house of the +Hermit Gnome in the days before he became a Fairy. + +"I must bring my little daughter Hope to see this place," declared the +Red King. "She would love it best of all. What good times she would have +with me here in the forest! I would tell her the story of David, and +learn myself to be a woodsman." + +"It is more amusing than war," declared King Victor. "With books in the +city and woodcraft in the wild, who would be a soldier? Look, now! I +will give to your little Princess Hope as a gift this tiny cottage, +where David and his wife and little daughter lived so happily. When she +comes to visit our Kingdom,--often, as I hope,--you can play at being a +woodsman; which is a good game. But you must promise to let me be your +guest for at least one night of each visit. For I, too, love these woods +and this little house which has been my secret retreat for many years. +Will you accept my gift for your little daughter, Cousin?" + +"Gladly do I accept!" cried Red Rex. And they shook hands gayly. + +Still further they penetrated across the meadow to the woods once called +the Great Fear. Red Rex was anxious to know more of that once dangerous +neighborhood. But since peace had become the fashion in the Kingdom, the +wicked Gnomes, who had tried as long as possible to prick war-poison +into the hearts of men, found their occupation gone. When the good +King's peace plans reached their ears the Gnomes groaned in despair. +They held a council, and decided unanimously to curl up forthwith in the +long sleep and let the world alone. + +There was now no sign of them, save where here and there a gnarled arm +or burly bended knee seemed to push up from the ground. But these were +so covered with mould and moss that it was impossible to tell them from +the fallen tree-trunks or mounds of earth. Harold and Robert and Richard +did not disturb these mossy mysteries. In times of peace it is better to +let sleeping Gnomes lie. Only the makers of ammunition and warships and +newspaper scareheads (of whom there were none in King Victor's land) +would be eager to see those busy-bodies awake and at their malicious +work again, causing peaceful places to become a Great Fear. + +When the happy fortnight ended, the Red King went back to his Kingdom +and his little Princess Hope, taking with him the beautiful Lady Anyse. + +Then began a time of peace in that hitherto restless land; a time of +peace and prosperity and happiness, of neighborliness and the exchange +of friendly doings. King Victor went to visit the erstwhile War-Lord, +and in that time taught the Red King many useful arts of peace. And who, +think you, went with King Victor on that visit? Who but the good +Librarian and Harold, his adopted son. The Librarian had his pockets +full of plans for a grand new library to be established in the Capital +of Red Rex. And Harold had his pockets full of stories for the little +Princess, and his bag full of sweetmeats for that same wee lady, made by +his kind mother who was now pie-maker-general to the Red King, according +as they had planned. + +Harold and the Princess Hope, who was the dearest of little girls in +pink-and-gold, became the best of friends. And when the following summer +she came with Red Rex and the Queen Anyse to live in the hut in the +Ancient Wood and play at being wood-folk, Harold and Richard and Robert +came also. The three boys encamped (like Boy Scouts) in the woods close +by the hollow tree which had once been the cell of the Hermit Gnome. And +they used his house for their cooling cellar! + +***** + +So ended the Siege of Kisington, where the books conquered. And the days +of peace continued until the time when Harold, having become a famous +scholar, was chosen Librarian and Governor of Kisington. + +In those days there were no more forts or walls or jealous boundaries +between the Kingdoms; for the lands were one in peace and good-will. +There were no armies or weapons or disputes; for the nations understood +and loved and trusted one another, and their rulers were wise men and +women. + +In those days the Princess Hope had become the most beautiful +book-loving maiden in the world, and the wise Governor of her father's +fairest city, adjoining Kisington. + +Of course you can guess what happened next? + +And they lived happy ever after. + + + +THE END + + + +The Riverside Press + +Cambridge, Massachusetts + +U.S.A + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Kisington Town, by Abbie Farwell Brown + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK KISINGTON TOWN *** + +***** This file should be named 41729.txt or 41729.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/4/1/7/2/41729/ + +Produced by Meredith Dixon and Melissa Reid + +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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