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CORNELL 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 FROM 
 
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Cornell University Library 
 PR 4061.C9 1899 
 
 The crock of gold 
 
 3 1924 013 210 681 
 
Cornell University 
 Library 
 
 The original of tliis bool< is in 
 tine Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924013210681 
 
THE CROCK OF GOLD 
 
 TWELVE FAIRY TALES, 
 
 OLD AND NEW, AS TOLD 
 
 BY JEREMIAH TOOPE, 
 
 SCHOOLMASTER 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 I. 
 
 Princess Rosalind 
 
 
 
 8 
 
 II. 
 
 Jack Horner 
 
 
 
 • 27 
 
 III. 
 
 The Story of Heming 
 
 
 
 46 
 
 IV. 
 
 Cleomene 
 
 
 
 78 
 
 V. 
 
 The Ash-Maid . 
 
 
 
 lOI 
 
 VI. 
 
 Patient Helen . 
 
 
 
 113 
 
 VII. 
 
 Flower-de-luce 
 
 
 
 134 
 
 VIII. 
 
 The Water of Light 
 
 
 
 148 
 
 IX. 
 
 Generides 
 
 
 
 167 
 
 X. 
 
 Sir Cleges 
 
 
 
 187 
 
 XI. 
 
 Heart of Ice . 
 
 
 
 199 
 
 XII. 
 
 Brains-in-his-Toes 
 Notes 
 
 
 
 226 
 247 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 The Crock of Gold 
 Princess Rosalind 
 Jack Horner 
 The Ash-Maid 
 Patient Helen 
 Flower-de-Luce 
 The Water of Light 
 Genbrides . 
 
 
 Title-page 
 
 Faces page 
 
 8 
 
 a 
 
 )) 
 
 27 
 
 j» 
 
 )) 
 
 lOI 
 
 it 
 
 )> 
 
 "3 
 
 ti 
 
 j» 
 
 134 
 
 J) 
 
 
 148 
 167 
 
THE CROCK OF GOLD 
 
 JEREMIAH TOOPE was schoolmaster at Ash- 
 burton, a small town (not small in its own opinion) 
 in the county of Devon. 
 
 The Grammar School occupies an ancient building, 
 once a chapel dedicated to S. James, with a belfry, 
 which, however, no longer contains a peal of bells. 
 
 Jeremiah was under a body of trustees, which sat 
 occasionally, and generally sat upon him. Jeremiah 
 was a scholar, and a scholar of no ordinary attain- 
 ments. Scholarship was not a distinguishing feature 
 of the body of trustees ; that is to say, what the 
 trustees did not know, that they decided was not 
 knowledge. Mr. Toope was unfortunate in several 
 respects. He was short-sighted, he was hard of 
 hearing, he had one leg stiff, and his back was 
 bent ; his hair was grey, he was plain, had a 
 stammer, and had lost some teeth. From early 
 childhood he had grown up a weakly, deformed 
 being, unable to take part in the sports of his 
 fellow-scholars, and when a young man, cut off by 
 his infirmities from sharing with them in shooting, 
 riding, and hunting ; and nothing was left to him but 
 B 
 
2 THE CROCK OF GOLD 
 
 books, and in books he forgot the troubles of the 
 world, and the disdain with which he was regarded. 
 Whether he ever from a distance loved a beautiful 
 girl cannot be told, but if he did, it must have been 
 with a consciousness that his passion was hopeless, as 
 no girl was likely to look favourably upon so poor a 
 creature as Jeremiah Toope. 
 
 But his life was not an unhappy one. He lived in 
 a world of dreams, and these dreams of rare beauty 
 and marvellous adventure. He had taken a fancy 
 from an early age to the very old English storytellers, 
 the romancers who told of King Arthur and the fair 
 Gwenivere, of Sir Launcelot du Lac, of Merlin and 
 Vivienne, and of a hundred other heroes of prowess 
 and ladies of beauty. 
 
 In thinking over the achievements of the knights 
 of old, he forgot the sordidness of modern days, 
 especially the humiliations to which he was subjected 
 by a body of trustees; and in bringing up before 
 the eye of his fancy the splendid beauties of King 
 Arthur's court, he forgot the humbler damsels of his 
 native town, who flouted him because he was not a 
 man of attractive exterior. 
 
 Now it was so that one day the trustees met in 
 conclave, and they called up Jeremiah Toope before 
 them. 
 
 Then the Mayor, who was chairman, said : — " Mr. 
 Toope, me and my brother trustees thinks as how we 
 must dispense with your services ; because, sir, being 
 
THE CROCK OF GOLD 3 
 
 so short-sighted, you don't see the little games the 
 boys is up to under your very nose." 
 
 Then said a second trustee : — " Yes, Mr. Toope, I 
 says the same. You are so deaf that you can't hear 
 whether them boys say their lessons right or wrong." 
 
 " And," said a third trustee, " I says, go you must, 
 for and because you ain't nimble on your feet ; and 
 when a boy has been naughty, and deserves a whack- 
 ing, you stump after him, and he cuts away and you 
 don't catch him." 
 
 " Moreover," said a fourth trustee, " my wife says 
 ydu 're too frivolous to exercise moral influence over 
 the boys, with your romance and ballad reading." 
 
 " Then again," observed a fifth trustee, " my verdict 
 is, go you shall, because you 're too serious, and can't 
 enter into the sports of your scholars and share in 
 their hilarity." 
 
 " Yes, indeed," concluded the sixth trustee, " I pro- 
 nounce for your dismissal, for reasons I shall not 
 trouble you to hear " — the reasons being that he had 
 three unmarried daughters, and he trusted that a new 
 head-master might chance to fancy one of them. 
 
 " Gentlemen," said Mr. Toope humbly, " I am your 
 servant. I accept my congL You will allow me to 
 keep my books in the house till I have found a new 
 situation ? " 
 
 So Mr. Jeremiah Toope was cast adrift. 
 
 Now he heard that there was a grammar school at 
 Tavistock, between which place and Ashburton the 
 
4 THE CROCK OF GOLD 
 
 whole extensive tract of Dartmoor intervened. He 
 moreover learned that there was at the time a pros- 
 pect of vacancy in the mastership there. 
 
 So one day he made up a little bundle and started 
 to walk over Dartmoor, to go to Tavistock, and 
 solicit the vacant situation. It was a long and an 
 arduous walk, over heath, and rock, and bog, for he 
 did not take the highway, but a short cut ; and when 
 evening arrived he had lost his way and was faint and 
 weary, and saw no tokens anywhere of a house. 
 
 Happily the season was summer, and the weather 
 was fine. 
 
 Mr. Toope stumbled along with his stiff leg, and 
 peered about with his dull eyes, and was quite at a 
 loss in which direction to go, and quite incapable of 
 going very much further. 
 
 The sun had set, and darkness was coming on. 
 
 Then he came on a circle of standing granite 
 stones, surrounding a slight mound made up of small 
 pieces of stone, covered over with a thick quilt of 
 moss. 
 
 The spot was at all events dry, and Jeremiah lay 
 down on the grey, soft moss, and, before he knew it, 
 was asleep. 
 
 Hardly had his eyes closed before it was to him as 
 though he saw a great deal plainer, and a great deal 
 more than he had seen when his eyes were open. 
 
 He saw the upright stones as before, and the out- 
 line of the distant hills ; but he saw that a crowd of 
 
THE CROCK OF GOLD 5 
 
 little people stood round the circle, and that within 
 was one who wore a gold crown, and that he had his 
 arms about and was endeavouring to console a little 
 woman, also crowned, who seemed heart-broken and 
 was weeping bitterly. 
 
 All those around stood silent, looking on in great 
 distress. Clearly they were pixies. Then the king 
 turned to Jeremiah, and said : " A great tragedy has 
 taken place. A fox has worried and killed Her 
 Majesty's pet hedgehog. When the fox came up, the 
 hedgehog discreetly coiled himself up into a ball ; but 
 the fox was cunning, and he whacked at the ball with 
 his tail till he set it a-roUing, and rolled it down into 
 the water, where the hedgehog uncoiled, and at once 
 the fox was on him and ate him — I mean all his 
 tender, ileshy parts — and left nothing but the prickles 
 behind." 
 
 Then the queen burst into a storm of tears, and 
 the king laboured with best intent and efforts to com- 
 fort her, but ineffectually. 
 
 " You see," pursued the king, " to what a condition 
 of despair my beloved wife and queen has been 
 brought by the terrible disaster. She swears she will 
 never smile again, and I seriously believe this trouble 
 will undermine her health and leave her a wreck, 
 unless she can be got to forget her troubles. It is 
 due to Puck, my confidential servant, that you have 
 been misled and brought to this spot. I am well 
 aware who you are and what are your attainments. 
 
6 THE CROCK OF GOLD 
 
 I ask you, will you endeavour to dissipate Her 
 Majesty's grief by telling her stories, which shall 
 engage her interest, take up her attention, and divert 
 her mind from the hedgehog ? " 
 
 " Nothing, nothing can do that," sobbed the queen. 
 
 " My dear," said the king soothingly, " let him but 
 try." 
 
 " I will do my best," answered Jeremiah ; " but I 
 can tell only a number of old-fashioned tales, and tell 
 them in my own way." 
 
 " That will exactly suit us," said the king. " We 
 are ourselves old-fashioned and nearly out of date, so 
 that such antiquated tales as you may relate will be 
 very real to us, and I trust interesting to my wife. 
 You shall not go unrewarded." 
 
 "I thank your Majesty," said Mr. Toope; "it is not 
 for reward I tell them, but to be of service to you — 
 and, candidly be it spoken, to please myself, as I love 
 these old tales." 
 
 " Very well," said the king ; " but for all that, re- 
 warded you shall be. Understand that beneath this 
 mound lies buried a mighty chief, and he was laid 
 there with a golden crock or cup in his hand. That 
 crock shall be yours. I will raise it and give it you, 
 should you succeed in drying my wife's tears, restor- 
 ing her spirits, and bringing the smile back to her 
 lips." 
 
 " I will do my best," said Jeremiah. " Shall I tell 
 you a cheerful or a sorrowful tale ? " 
 
THE CROCK OF GOLD 7 
 
 Then the queen said, " One that is sad." 
 
 But at the same moment the king said, " One that 
 is cheerful." 
 
 " Nay," said Mr. Jeremiah, " I cannot please both 
 at once, so I will even tell you a story that is neither 
 wholly sad nor wholly joyous ; and if it does not 
 entirely satisfy one or the other, it will be satisfactory 
 to me to know that it will offend neither." 
 
 " I am content," said the king. 
 
 Then the queen lifted up her face a little, and 
 turned it, leaning her chin upon her hand, and looked 
 at the schoolmaster, who cleared his throat and began 
 the story of the Princess Rosalind. And all the 
 pixies stood round silent, and listening with great 
 attention. 
 
PRINCESS ROSALIND 
 
 THERE was in England a princess. Her name 
 was Rosalind. And because she was a princess, 
 and because she had such a charming name, and 
 because her glass told her she was beautiful, and 
 because she believed herself to be rich, therefore she 
 was lifted up in her conceit, and esteemed none of 
 those suitors who came to ask for her hand worthy to 
 receive it. She would marry no one but a king, she 
 said, and she sent away all who came, because they 
 were only dukes, or marquesses, or even so low down 
 in the scale as earls. 
 
 It was in vain for the king, her father, to say that 
 kings were scarce. There had been wars, which had 
 swept away some ; there had been revolutions, which 
 had suppressed others. Some were old, some were 
 mere infants, most were already married, consequently 
 there was absolutely no choice. Rosalind must marry 
 a nobleman or remain unwed. But she remained 
 stubborn, and declared she would rather die an old 
 maid than demean herself to become the wife of a 
 duke or a marquess. 
 
 8 
 
PRINCESS ROSALIND 
 
PRINCESS ROSALIND 9 
 
 Now it fell out that one night, when the moon 
 shone bright, she heard a horn winding among the 
 hills. Then she looked from her window, for she 
 wondered greatly, as it was not a time when hunters 
 would be abroad. 
 
 And presently she saw a knight on a white horse 
 come riding up. He had black armour on him, and 
 about his helmet a crown, and every point in the 
 crown (that was of silver) ended in a skull ; and out 
 of the eye-holes of each skull gleamed carbuncles. 
 He rode under the tower where was the princess, and 
 there he drew from his back a shin-bone strung with 
 golden woman's hair, and on this he played, and as 
 he played, he sang a song so sad and so beautiful as 
 almost to make her swoon away. 
 
 Now after he had played awhile he ceased, and 
 called " Rosalind ! " 
 
 And she answered, '' I am here. Who art thou ? " 
 
 Then he answered, " I am Grim, King of the 
 Ghosts, and I have come from Deadland to seek 
 thee." 
 
 And when he had said this he struck spurs into his 
 white horse and rode away, and when he was among 
 the hills then he winded his horn again, so sadly that 
 the heart of the princess melted away, and she sank 
 on the floor of her room. 
 
 All next day she was silent. She could not eat ; 
 she could only think of the night visitor, and she 
 wondered greatly whether he would come again. 
 
lo PRINCESS ROSALIND 
 
 Well, it was so. Next night, when the moon shone, 
 then again she heard the horn among the hills, and 
 presently she saw the white horse and the gleaming 
 silver crown, and the carbuncle eyes looking out of 
 dead men's heads. 
 
 When the King of the Ghosts arrived under the 
 castle wall, he again took the shank-bone strung with 
 golden hair and played on it so sad and so sweet 
 a melody, and withal sang thereto, that Rosalind fell 
 a-weeping. 
 
 There hung a parrot in a cage at her window. 
 Then the parrot began to talk, and said : — 
 
 " Beware, beware, my pretty lady, 
 And shut the window fast, 
 ^nd close each ear, nor seek to hear. 
 Until this knight be passed." 
 
 But the princess was angry, and she said : — 
 
 " Now hold thy tongue, thou silly parrot, 
 Thy words they are but vain, 
 It is a king that doth ride and sing 
 As he courses o'er the plain." 
 
 Then the King of the Ghosts rode on without a 
 word, for he was angered at the talk of the parrot. 
 
 Now during the day that followed, the princess sat 
 at her window thinking of the strange visitor. 
 
 Then the parrot began to talk, and it said : — 
 
 " Seal up with wax each pretty eye, 
 Run wax into each ear ; 
 Better for thee all blind to be. 
 And neither to see nor hear.' 
 
PRINCESS ROSALIND ii 
 
 Then the princess was angry, and she threw some- 
 thing over the cage to make the bird suppose it was 
 night, and so keep silence. 
 
 Again at night she heard the horn winding, and 
 again as before the knight rode under her tower, and 
 played and sang. And this is what he sang : — 
 
 " Go fetch me some of your father's gold. 
 And some of your mother's fee ; 
 To a land we '11 go where falleth no snow, 
 Where thou shalt be my lady.'' 
 
 Then the princess found all power of resistance 
 gone from her. She rose up. 
 
 She fetched some of her father's gold. 
 
 And some of her mother's fee ; 
 And she went afore to the stable door. 
 
 Where stood her white palfrey. 
 
 She mounted with speed on her milk-white steed. 
 
 And he on his iron-grey. 
 And away they did ride to a clear waterside, 
 
 Six hours before the day. 
 
 When that before her the princess saw a waste of 
 water with the moon setting over it, and heard the 
 water lapping sadly against the bank, and the wind 
 moaning among the reeds, 
 
 Then the knight said : — 
 
 " Unlight, unlight, my lady bright, 
 Unlight, unlight, I say ; 
 Six pretty maids have I drowndd here, 
 Thou shalt be seventh to-day. 
 
12 PRINCESS ROSALIND 
 
 " Take off, take off thy robe of silk, 
 And lay it upon a stone, 
 Thy gay, gay gown is all too good 
 To rot in a watery tomb.'' 
 
 Then she took off her robe of silk. 
 
 And laid it upon a stone. 
 He put his hand in her pocket, 
 
 And drew out a hundred crown. 
 
 Now she saw that the King of the Ghosts had 
 brought her there with intent to slay her, for of what 
 profit would she be in his ghostly land of the dead, if 
 she were in living flesh and throbbing blood? A 
 great fear fell on her, and she wished she had attended 
 to the warning of the parrot. She saw that she 
 must save herself as well as might be by her own 
 wit. So she said to Grim, King of the Ghosts : — 
 
 " Now never blink, but stoop on the brink. 
 And pluck the thistles away, 
 That they may not entangle my curly hair. 
 Nor my lily-white flesh may fray." 
 
 He never did blink, but stooped at the brink. 
 
 To pluck the thistles away, 
 That they might not entangle her curly hair, 
 
 Nor her lily-white flesh might fray. 
 
 Then he stood up and said : — 
 
 " Take off, take off, thy hoUand smock. 
 And lay it upon a stone, 
 Thy hoUand smock be all too fine 
 To rot in a watery tomb." 
 
PRINCESS ROSALIND 13 
 
 She answered him : — 
 
 " If I must pull oflf my hoUand smock, 
 Then turn away from me ; 
 For it ill befits that such as thou 
 Should see a stark lady." 
 
 He considered that what she said was reasonable, 
 and he turned to look at the trees and the bushes. 
 Then softly she stole up behind him. 
 
 She gave him a push, and a hearty push, 
 
 And the fiend-knight pushdd in. 
 Saying, " Swim ! O swim, thou false fiend-knight. 
 
 Thou never the land shalt win." 
 
 Saying, " Go ! aye, go where falleth no snow, 
 
 O go to thine own country ; 
 But I will abide by the clear waterside. 
 
 And well am I rid of thee." 
 
 He swam to the right, and he swam to the left. 
 
 And he said, " Hold out to me 
 Thy lily-white hand, and draw me to land, 
 
 And rewarded thou shalt be." 
 
 But she would not help him. There he had slain 
 in like manner six pretty maids, and now she, the 
 seventh, overcame him by her woman's wit. 
 
 She mounted with speed her milk-white steed. 
 
 And led the iron-grey. 
 And away did ride to the castle-side, 
 
 Three hours before the day. 
 
 The parrot he sat in the lady's window, 
 
 And the parrot he did say, 
 " O where have you been, my fair young queen, 
 
 So early afore the day ? " 
 
14 PRINCESS ROSALIND 
 
 " Hush ! hush ! Speak not, my pretty parrot ! 
 Hush ! question not of me, 
 Then a cage thou shalt have of the glittering gold, 
 With a door of ivory." 
 
 Her father he was not so sound asleep. 
 But he heard what the parrot did say ; 
 
 He called, " Oh, what waketh my parrot 
 So early before the day ?" 
 
 Then the parrot did not wish to have it known 
 what had been the adventure of his mistress with the 
 King of the Ghosts, so he answered : — 
 
 " The cat was up at the high window. 
 And the cat he would me slay, 
 So I loud did cry for help to come nigh, 
 To drive the cat away." 
 
 The princess was well pleased at what the bird 
 said, and she entered the tower and ascended to her 
 room, and took the parrot's cage and brought it 
 within. She saw that what she had thrown over it 
 had been lifted by the night wind and cast on the 
 ground. Thus was it that the parrot had waked. 
 And now she said : — 
 
 " Well turn'd, well turn'd, my pretty parrot, 
 A good turn done unto me ; 
 I will give thee a cage of the glittering gold, 
 With a door of ivory." 
 
 One might have been sure that such an adventure 
 as this would have sobered the princess in her self- 
 esteem. But it was not so. Instead of considering 
 
PRINCESS ROSALIND 15 
 
 how foolish she had been in running away with the 
 King of the Ghosts, and so nearly finding her death, 
 she was the more puffed up with vanity, for she 
 thought her wit must be vastly great that she 
 should have been able to overreach this fiend. No 
 suitors now had the slightest chance of success with 
 her, for none of those who came were kings. 
 
 As for the parrot, the promise made was clean 
 forgotten ; indeed the bird was itself neglected to 
 such an extent that one day the cage fell to the 
 ground, broke, and the parrot escaped, without the 
 princess discovering the loss, for an entire week. 
 
 Now the parrot was very wrath at the falseness of 
 his young mistress, and sought to be avenged ; but 
 as he was of noble nature, although only a parrot, 
 yet he did not seek revenge as out of personal 
 anger only, but because he desired her amendment 
 therewith. 
 
 Now when his cage was broken he flew over hill 
 and dale, and he saw a shepherd lad keeping his 
 sheep in a pleasant vale where the grass was almost 
 hidden by the buttercups ; and the shepherd was 
 playing on his pipes. 
 
 Now as the shepherd boy played he heard the 
 scream of the parrot, and looked up, and saw the 
 strangely coloured bird perched in a tree. He laid 
 aside his pipes, and ran to observe it closer. Never 
 before had he seen such plumage, and, it must be 
 admitted, heard so ugly a voice. 
 
i6 PRINCESS ROSALIND 
 
 The parrot at once flew to a tree a little further off, 
 and the shepherd boy pursued it. He forgot his 
 sheep, and thought only of the wonderful bird ; and 
 so the parrot led him over hill and dale till he came 
 to the king's castle, and there saw walking in her 
 garden the beautiful princess. Then he forgot the 
 parrot, forgot everything, in his admiration for her 
 beauty. 
 
 Now when the princess left walking and entered 
 the castle, the shepherd, whose name was Florimund, 
 returned sadly over hill and dale to his sheep. That 
 night he could not sleep ; he thought only of the 
 princess. 
 
 Now on the following day he was walking with his 
 pipes that he no longer played, and was leading 
 his sheep to their pasture, when he saw a beauti- 
 ful crimson rose in the hedge. It was more lovely 
 than any rose he had ever seen before ; so he plucked 
 it, and when he had done so he heard the same 
 strange voice as he had heard on the preceding day, 
 and he looked up and saw the parrot, and now the 
 parrot spoke, and said : — 
 
 " Come hither, come hither, thou shepherd boy, 
 The rose thou shalt give to me. 
 And I will it bear to thy lady fair 
 As a love-token sent by thee." 
 
 Then the parrot flew down from the tree and took 
 the rose in his beak, and away he sped on his green 
 and scarlet wings, nor tarried till he reached the 
 
PRINCESS ROSALIND 17 
 
 king's castle, and there he alighted at the window 
 of the princess her chamber. 
 
 Now she was sitting there, and she saw her bird, 
 and that he had a beautiful rose in his beak, and she 
 put out her hand and took it. 
 
 Then said the parrot : — 
 
 " O lady, I 've come from a far, far land, 
 And the rose to thee I bring, 
 A token of love thy heart to move 
 That sendeth an outlandish king." 
 
 Thereat the princess was glad, and she said : " It 
 is well made. The leaves are of green silk, and the 
 petals of the most beautiful velvet that ever came 
 from loom.'' 
 
 But as she looked closer, she saw that the rose was 
 not made by the hands of men, but was one that 
 sprang out of the earth and was the creation of God. 
 Then she flamed red with wrath, and she tore the 
 flower to pieces, and cast stalk and petals on the 
 ground, and cried out : — 
 
 "This is a sorry gift from a king. It is 
 nought : I took it for a make-believe rose, but it 
 is only a common natural rose ; therefore I will 
 none of it." 
 
 So when the parrot heard this he flew over hill 
 and dale, till he came where the shepherd was 
 pasturing his sheep, and the parrot perched on a tree 
 and said : — 
 C 
 
r8 PRINCESS ROSALIND 
 
 "Alack and aday ! the fair ladie 
 Will none of thy crimson rose. 
 It s not a make-believe, saith she, 
 But such as in garden grows." 
 
 Now to while away the time the shepherd had set 
 bird traps, and it fell out that he had caught a beauti- 
 ful song bird, and he had made of rushes a little cage, 
 and in this he had set the bird he had caught. 
 
 Now when the parrot saw this, then he said : — 
 
 " Now give to me for the fair ladie, 
 The throstle thou hast ta'en, 
 I will engage that in yonder cage 
 Her heart thou now wilt gain." 
 
 So the parrot took the cage in his beak, and flew 
 away over hill and dale till he came to the king's 
 castle. And there was the princess walking in the 
 garden. The parrot flew to her, and placed the cage 
 with the singing bird in it in her hand, and at once 
 the thrush began to pipe and warble. 
 
 The parrot said : — 
 
 " O lady, I 've come from a far, far land. 
 And the bird to you I bring, 
 A token of love thy heart to move, 
 That sends an outlandish king." 
 
 Then the princess was pleased, and she ran and 
 took the cage with the thrush in it to show it to her 
 father and all the court, and she said : — 
 
 " This is not a real bird, but it is made with great 
 skill, andj it pipes by reason of clockwork inside, and 
 
PRINCESS ROSALIND 19 
 
 a pair of bellows moved by the clockwork, and a 
 little organ that is concealed under the feathers." 
 
 Then the king, her father, laughed aloud, and 
 said : — 
 
 " Silly Rosalind ! This is indeed an ordinary thrush 
 such as sings in every bush." 
 
 Now when she heard that, she was very angry, and 
 she called the cat and gave the thrush to the cat, and 
 the cat ate it. 
 
 So when the parrot saw this he flew over hill and 
 dale till he came where the shepherd was pastur- 
 ing his sheep, and the parrot perched on a tree and 
 
 said : — 
 
 " Alack and aday ! the fair ladie 
 Will none of thy singing thrush. 
 It is not a make-believe, saith she, 
 But such as is in each bush." 
 
 Now it was so, that on that day the shepherd had 
 been breaking stones, and as he broke one there fell 
 out a diamond. 
 
 When the parrot saw this, then he said : — 
 
 " Now give to me, for the fair ladie, 
 The precious, sparkling stone, 
 And she will agree to yield to thee 
 Her heart, and to thee alone." 
 
 So the parrot took the real diamond in his beak, 
 and flew with it away over hill and dale, till he came 
 to the king's castle, and there was the princess sitting 
 in the hall. He flew in and dropped the diamond 
 
20 PRINCESS ROSALIND 
 
 on the table before her, and perching on a rafter 
 he said : — 
 
 " O lady, I 've come from a far, far land, 
 A diamond stone I bring, 
 A token of love thy heart to move, 
 That sends an outlandish king." 
 
 But the princess threw the stone away with indig- 
 nation. " I have," said she, " diamonds in abundance. 
 There are five hundred in my necklace, a thousand 
 in my stomacher, and two thousand in my tiara. 
 What does an outlandish king mean by sending me 
 one beggarly diamond ? Had he sent me an artificial 
 stone, an imitation diamond, there would have been 
 something in that worth consideration." 
 
 So when the parrot saw this he flew over hill and 
 dale, till he came where the shepherd was pasturing 
 his sheep, and the parrot perched on a tree and said : — 
 
 " Alack and aday, the fair ladie 
 
 Will none of your precious stone ; 
 She hateth the true, but the make-believe 
 And the false she will have alone." 
 
 Now when the shepherd heard this he started to 
 his feet and stamped, and his face grew red with 
 anger. And he cried out, "Hitherto I have but trifled 
 in this matter ; but now am I serious, and with thy 
 help, parrot, will I achieve the adventure, and I will 
 go myself and win this wilful and hard-hearted 
 princess," 
 
PRINCESS ROSALIND 21 
 
 Then the parrot said, " Command me, and I will 
 do what thou desirest." 
 
 Thereupon said the shepherd, "Canst thou fly 
 away to where are rich merchants' shops, and 
 bring me velvet and silk and satin and fine 
 plumes and costly raiment, such as a king should 
 wear ? " 
 
 Then the parrot answered, " Give me time, and I 
 will bring you piece by piece such raiment as you 
 require." 
 
 On a day in summer, when the sun shone bright, 
 the parrot flew over hill and dale followed by one 
 hundred other parrots, all in most gorgeous livery of 
 green and scarlet, and they made so great a noise 
 that on reaching the king's castle everyone came out 
 to see what was the cause. 
 
 Among those who came was the princess. 
 
 Then her escaped bird sang : — 
 
 " There cometh a prince from a far countrie, 
 With feathers upon his head ; 
 And he would marry the fair princess 
 Who with none but a king will wed. 
 
 " No palace than his was ever seen 
 So noble — a vaulted blue ; 
 'Tis carpeted through with living green, 
 And diamonds the pavement strew. 
 
 " Ten thousand minstrels are in his choir, 
 And ever they pipe and play. 
 And king is he of the gentlest race 
 That never resist his sway. 
 
22 PRINCESS ROSALIND 
 
 " His throne with richest purple dight, 
 Exhaleth a perfume sweet, 
 And. when he walketh out he treads 
 Gold pieces beneath his feet. 
 
 " The cellar he hath is ever full, 
 And the wine it sparkles clear, 
 And a hundred thousand lamps are lit, 
 His halls in the night to cheer. 
 
 " The greatest riches the world can give 
 He hath, and he hath no care ; 
 And only he lacketh a fair woman 
 His sceptre and throne to share.'' 
 
 Now when the princess heard this her heart danced 
 for joy. At length had come a proposal from the 
 man for whom she had tarried so long. 
 
 And presently from out the wood came a beautiful 
 young man. He had blue eyes and fair hair, and he 
 was richly arrayed ; and on his head was a green 
 velvet cap set with white feathers. 
 
 He was well received by both king and court. 
 
 Then he bent his knee, and asked if he might have 
 the hand of the matchless Princess Rosalind. The 
 king, her father, answered that she was hard to 
 satisfy. None of those who had hitherto offered had 
 been accepted by her ; but he must ask her himself. 
 
 Then the stranger turned to the princess, and she 
 would not say him nay, and so forthwith they were 
 married, and the festivities were kept up for an 
 entire week. And all this time the parrots flew about 
 the palace, and their gorgeous feathers shone in the 
 
PRINCESS ROSALIND 23 
 
 sun ; and nothing could have exceeded the beauty, 
 but unhappily they made an overpowering noise, and 
 their voices were unmusical. 
 
 Now when the feasting and dancing had lasted a 
 week and a day, then the merry-making ceased. The 
 princess was very happy, and loved her husband with 
 all her heart, and thought herself the most fortunate 
 woman in the world. 
 
 But on a day she and he stood in the window, and 
 were talking together. Then she said to him : " I 
 know that you are a king, and that your name is 
 Florimund, but as yet you have told me nothing of 
 your kingdom and of your people." 
 
 Then he smiled, and answered, " When did I tell 
 thee I was a king ? " 
 
 She replied, " The parrot proclaimed it." 
 
 " It is well," he answered ; " I am a king, for I can 
 rule my own self, and everyone who can govern his 
 own will and passions, he is as true a sovereign as 
 one that weareth a crown." 
 
 Then she started, and said, " How is this ? What 
 mean you ? I heard that you ruled over the gentlest 
 race, and that the subjects under your sceptre never 
 rebelled." 
 
 " That is true," said he ; " I am a shepherd, and my 
 sheep are my obedient subjects." 
 
 " What ! " she exclaimed ; " and thy palace with a 
 blue vault?" 
 
 " That is the wide world, overarched with the sky." 
 
24 PRINCESS ROSALIND 
 
 " And carpeted with living green, bestrewed with 
 diamonds ? " 
 
 "The green grass that twinkles with morning 
 dew." 
 
 " And what of the minstrel choir ? " 
 
 " These be the singing birds." 
 
 "And thy throne of purple that exhales frag- 
 rance?" 
 
 "That," answered the shepherd, "is a bank of 
 violets." 
 
 " And when thou walkest thou treadest on gold ? " 
 
 " It is even so — on buttercups." 
 
 " But the parrot proclaimed that thou hadst the 
 greatest riches that the world can give." 
 
 "That is a contented heart. I had that before I 
 saw thee ; then only was I unhappy. Now I have 
 thee I am the happiest and therefore the richest of 
 men again." 
 
 The princess was silent and trembled. 
 
 " Thou hast been false ! " she said. 
 
 " No," answered the shepherd. " There -is nothing 
 false about me save my garment, and that can be put 
 off; underneath is a true heart. But I caught thee 
 by guile. Thou wouldst have naught but what was 
 false, despising a true rose, a true bird, a true 
 diamond. I caught thee with my false appearance, 
 and now " 
 
 Then the princess burst into tears, threw herself 
 into his arms, and said, "Now only that I hate myself 
 
PRINCESS ROSALIND 25 
 
 for my pride and love of what was untrue, am I 
 worthy to hold and retain thee." 
 
 The queen of the pixies had listened to the 
 tale, and for a while had forgotten her dear dead 
 hedgehog. The king looked in her face and smiled, 
 and she gave him a sad look. She was grateful for 
 his love and consideration for her, but her heart was 
 still sore. 
 
 Now there was seated on a stone hard by a very 
 beautiful fairy damsel, with great blue eyes, and 
 cheeks like June wild-rose leaves ; and she kept those 
 wonderful eyes of hers fixed upon the schoolmaster, 
 and never drew them away. She drank in every 
 word of his tale ; and ever and anon he looked at 
 her, and it gave him great pleasure to see how 
 delighted she was with the tale that he told. 
 
 Then said the king, "Are you tired, schoolmaster?" 
 
 " No, your Majesty," answered Jeremiah. " And 
 if your gracious consort be willing to hear another 
 story, I shall be prepared to tell her again a tale " 
 
 " It is well," said the king. 
 
 Then the fairy damsel with the blue eyes put her 
 hands together entreatingly, but said nothing. 
 
 Thereupon Mr. Jeremiah smiled at her, and 'she 
 plucked up heart and smiled in return. 
 
 And he considered a moment, and said, " I will 
 tell you now the story of 'Little Jack Horner who 
 sat in a corner.' That is a tale very few people 
 
26 PRINCESS ROSALIND 
 
 know nowadays in the world from which I have 
 come, but it was one with which their grandparents 
 were familiar ; and I dare be bound that it will not 
 be without interest to you." 
 
 Then the little blue-eyed fairy went up to the king 
 and whispered, and he nodded approvingly. 
 
 Whereupon she picked a little stalk of whortle- 
 berry, on which was one blue fruit, and, going 
 timidly up to Jeremiah, she offered it to him. He 
 took it with a grateful smile and put it into his 
 mouth ; and, wonderful to relate, at once it was to 
 him as though his bent back became straight as 
 that of other people — no more stiff and forcing him 
 to stoop. He sat upright against the stone, and 
 could touch it with his shoulder. Then in good 
 cheer he began his second tale; 
 
JACK HORNER 
 
II. 
 
 THE PLEASANT TALE OF 
 JACK HORNER 
 
 ' ' Some talk of Alexander, 
 
 And some of Hercules, 
 Of Hector and Lysander, 
 
 And such great names as these ; 
 But of all the world's brave heroes 
 There 's none that may compare 
 
 With little Jack Horner 
 
 Who sat in a comer, 
 And had not a plum to spare." 
 
 IT is a strange ^thing that so little is recollected 
 about this great hero and notable man, except 
 that he ate a Christmas pie ; and in eating it put 
 in his thumb and pulled out a plum, and said, "What 
 a good boy am II" And yet his history is to be 
 found in ancient books ; and the picking out of the 
 plum is the least remarkable thing he did of which 
 record remains. 
 
 Jack Horner was born at Islington, and he had 
 very respectable and good parents. And an old 
 ballad sings : — 
 
 " While little Jack was sweet and young, 
 If he should chance to cry, 
 His mother pretty sonnets sung 
 With fal-la-lul-a-by ; 
 27 
 
28 THE PLEASANT TALE OF 
 
 With such a dainty, curious tone, 
 
 As Jack sat on her knee. 
 So that e'er he could go alone 
 
 He sang as well as she. 
 A pretty boy of curious wit, 
 
 All people spoke his praise ; 
 And in the corner he would sit 
 
 In Christmas holidays. 
 When neighbours did together meet 
 
 To pass away the time, 
 Why, little Jack was sure to eat 
 
 His Christmas pie in rhyme. 
 And said Jack Horner, ' In a corner 
 
 Gets good Christmas pie, 
 And with his thumb pulls out a plum,' 
 
 And said, ' Good boy am I ! ' 
 These pretty verses, which he made 
 
 Upon his Christmas cheer, 
 Did gain him love, as it is said. 
 
 Of all, both far and near. 
 The lasses loved his company 
 
 Each day above all other ; 
 They knew right well that he would be 
 
 A man before his mother." 
 
 Now when Jack was grown to the age of twenty 
 his father took him to a good worshipful knight who 
 lived a long, long way distant, and he offered Jack 
 to him as a servant. 
 
 The knight consented to receive him, and so the 
 father left him with the knight and bade him be true, 
 faithful, and honest. 
 
 It was so that this knight, who came out of Corn- 
 wall, belonged to a vastly ancient and noble family 
 
JACK HORNER 29 
 
 and it had the exclusive honour of the members 01 
 it being born with shadows of gold-leaf attached to 
 them instead of the vulgar grey and sometimes black 
 shadows that adhere to common people. 
 
 But although the possession of gold-leaf shadows 
 was a great distinction and made the KilHgrewes 
 hold up their heads very high, yet this privilege 
 of noble birth was one of considerable inconveni- 
 ence ; for gold-leaf is very liable to get torn, either 
 by falling on thorns or sticking to damp soil. 
 
 Moreover, as gold is the most precious of metals, 
 when any rogue came near the knight he endea- 
 voured to tread on his shadow and secure as much 
 of the gold-leaf as he could tear away by so doing. 
 It may, therefore, be well understood that although 
 having a shadow of gold-leaf was a distinction, yet 
 it was not conducive to comfort. 
 
 As many gentlemen keep valets to attend to their 
 clothes, to brush, fold, and lay them out, and to pack 
 and unpack their valises for them, so this knight was 
 obliged to have about his pergon a goldbeater to 
 attend to his shadow. Whenever it was torn he 
 had to hammer out what remained to fill the gap, 
 and he had, further, to unite the torn edges when by 
 beating he had expanded the gold-leaf sufficiently. 
 This process necessarily made the shadow grow more 
 thin and liable to be torn every day, and of course 
 made the knight less inclined to leave the house 
 and expose his gold-leaf shadow to risk. 
 
30 THE PLEASANT TALE OF 
 
 The goldbeater naturally encouraged his master 
 to remain within the house, so as to save himself 
 trouble, for, indeed, when the knight was at home 
 the goldbeater had nothing whatever to do but eat 
 and drink and amuse himself 
 
 The knight, whose name was Sir Gorman Killi- 
 grewe, retained also what he called his varlet, which 
 is much the same as a modern valet. The gold- 
 beater declared that he was not engaged to do 
 anything more to the shadow than patch it when 
 torn, and the care of it daily devolved on the varlet, 
 who was expected to lay it out in the morning and 
 fold it up at night. This latter process was per- 
 formed on paper that had finely-pounded pounce 
 powder on it to prevent the gold-leaf from adher- 
 ing to the paper. 
 
 Now the varlet was a great rogue, and he clipped 
 the shadow all round so as to reduce it in size 
 without altering it in shape. By this means he 
 cunningly appropriated a considerable amount of 
 gold, which he disposed of to a Jew, without his 
 fraud being detected. 
 
 Whenever he was short of money this was how 
 he eased himself of his difficulties. 
 
 Now when Jack Horner came into the service 
 of Sir Gorman Killigrewe, he very soon saw that 
 the knight was being ill-treated by the goldbeater 
 and the varlet, who made use of him to serve their 
 own purposes — the one to do nothing, the other 
 
JACK HORNER 31 
 
 to cheat. He considered it his duty to stop the 
 roguery if he could, but without betraying his fellow- 
 servant. 
 
 Now there had been a big black goat killed. So 
 he got the skin, and one night put it over him 
 and drew the head and horns over his own head, 
 and thus disguised he bounded, when the varlet was 
 asleep, into his bedroom, leapt on the bed, and began 
 to caper and make hideous noises as he danced on 
 his chest. 
 
 The varlet woke in the most dreadful fright and 
 screamed out. 
 
 Then Jack said, " I will dance on you and trample 
 out your wicked heart unless you give up the gold 
 you have stolen from your master." 
 
 " It is in my locked drawer, and the key is under 
 my pillow," cried the man in fear. 
 
 Then Jack jumped off the bed, took the key, un- 
 locked the drawer, and found a thin edging of gold 
 laid out there. This he removed and ran out of 
 the room. When he placed this edging round the 
 knight's shadow it fitted it exactly, so he summoned 
 the goldbeater and made him hammer till he had 
 fastened it on and made all as it had been before. 
 But Jack soon perceived that the varlet had not told 
 him all. He had given up only the last clipping 
 of the shadow ; so he again assumed the goatskin, 
 and again gambolled at night on the man's chest. 
 The varlet, now in great pain and terror, confessed 
 
32 THE PLEASANT TALE OF 
 
 that he had sold the other clippings to Mordecai the 
 Jew. 
 
 Now when Jack Horner heard this he was troubled, 
 for it requires a vast deal of cleverness to get the 
 better of a Jew. However, he determined to try 
 what he could do. 
 
 So one day that was a fair -day he started for 
 the market town. 
 
 It was a pleasant, sunshiny holiday, and as he 
 went along the road he heard the market people 
 talk about a very aged hermit who lived in a wood 
 on a hill near by. He had never seen a hermit, 
 and, moreover, he desired advice how to proceed 
 with the Jew, so as to recover his master's shadow 
 parings. Accordingly he turned aside from the 
 highway to visit him. 
 
 He found the aged man seated in a cave. 
 
 " His locks were white as snow, 
 Strange hollow eyes and wrinkled brow. 
 His nose and chin did meet." 
 
 He was a kindly old man, bent double, and very 
 hard in his breathing. He listened attentively to 
 Jack's story, and Jack told him everything. Then 
 the hermit said, " I am much indebted to your 
 master. Sir Gorman KilHgrewe, for he provides me 
 with a new habit every third year. You are an 
 honest lad. I have not long to live, and my soul 
 desires on earth but one thing, a jug of nappy brown 
 
JACK HORNER 33 
 
 liquor bought at your cost, for I have no money of 
 mine own." 
 
 Jack promised to bring it him, and then asked 
 how he was to manage with the Jew Mordecai. 
 
 Then the hermit said that he would give him a 
 pair of enchanted pipes and an invisible coat, so 
 that :— 
 
 " Whoever hears it when you blow 
 Shall dance and jump about ; 
 They shan't be able to stand still 
 
 While you the music play. 
 But after you, o'er dale and hill, 
 They all shall dance the hay." 
 
 The "hay," you must understand, was an old 
 dance much liked at that time. 
 
 The advantage of the invisible coat was this : — 
 
 " If you should with an hundred meet 
 
 When thus you pass along. 
 Though in the very open street. 
 
 Not one in all the throng 
 Shall ever see you in the least, 
 
 But hear the music sound. 
 And wonder that both man and beast 
 
 Is forced to dance around." 
 
 Jack took the pipes and put over him the in- 
 visible coat, and the old man advised him what he 
 was to do. Then he went on his way. 
 
 Now as he proceeded, he saw a woman going to 
 the fair with a basket of eggs on her arm, so to 
 try the effect of his pipes he played a tune. 
 D 
 
34 THE PLEASANT TALE OF 
 
 At once up went her feet, and she capered with 
 might and main, and the eggs in her basket danced 
 as well, till all were broken. Jack threw a piece 
 of gold into the basket to make some amends to 
 the poor woman, and proceeded further. 
 
 At length it was his happy lot 
 
 To cross a pleasant mead, 
 When he six lazy fiddlers spied 
 
 A-going to the fair. 
 Beneath their coats crowds at their side, 
 
 And many others there. 
 Amongst the rest, six jolly blades 
 
 Behind those crowders came ; 
 They on their shoulders carried crates 
 
 With glasses in the same. 
 Now crowders they be rogues, I know. 
 
 And cratesmen they, are worse, 
 They cozen all where'er they go. 
 
 And pick each lass's purse. 
 
 It must be explained that in Old English a 
 "crowd" is a fiddle, and a "crowder" is a fiddler, 
 and that " to cozen " signifies to cheat. 
 
 Then Jack began to play his pipes, and the fiddlers 
 and the men with their crates began to dance after 
 him all along the way into the town and down the 
 street. 
 
 Like morice dancers they did prance 
 Up to their knees in dirt. 
 
 He led them before the Jew's house, and there 
 they capered and flung about their legs; the glass 
 
JACK HORNER 35 
 
 in the crates was broken, and fell in shivers on the 
 pavement. Now Mordecai was in his shop ; he had 
 just opened the drawer in which were the clippings 
 of Sir Gorman's gold-leaf shadow, and he was 
 about to melt them together into one solid lump 
 of gold, when he heard the uproar in the street, 
 and looked out of his window, and there saw not 
 only the fiddlers and the crate-men dancing, but 
 all the people who stayed to see the fun, they also 
 were kicking about. 
 
 The Jew was so amazed at the sight, that he 
 went to his door, and at once the fit came on him 
 also, and he danced like a young man. 
 
 Jack took advantage of the opportunity and col- 
 lected all the skimpings of gold-leaf, rolled them 
 carefully up, and left without anyone having seen 
 him. 
 
 After this, and after he had supplied the hermit 
 with his ale, Jack returned to Sir Gorman Killi- 
 grewe. The rascality of the varlet was now so well 
 established that the knight dismissed him. The 
 goldbeater was, however, retained to hammer the 
 shadow into condition again. 
 
 Jack Horner had rendered his master so great 
 a service that he took on him now to give the 
 knight his opinion. He strongly advised him to 
 have his shadow of gold-leaf, when put completely 
 to rights, framed and hung up in his hall among 
 the family portraits, where it would come by no 
 
36 THE PLEASANT TALE OF 
 
 hurt, and to provide himself with a grey -black 
 shadow like ordinary people. The knight considered 
 that it would be a great come-down in life to do 
 this, but finally consented on condition that Jack 
 would furnish him with an ordinary shadow. This 
 also the obliging youth promised to do. He visited 
 the hermit again and asked him in what way he 
 should proceed. 
 
 The anchorite told him that the Land of Shadows 
 lay in the heart of the earth, and was ruled over 
 by the King of Shadows, who both supplied new 
 shadows to such as were born into the world, but 
 also took charge of the shades of such as died. 
 The way into his realm was down one of those 
 great swallow-holes, like craters or wells, that gape 
 in all limestone countries. He must descend one 
 of these, taking with him the pipes that made all 
 who heard them to dance. The jacket of invisibility 
 he would not require; but he lent him what would 
 avail, the shoes of adhesion, which would enable 
 him, like a fly, to ascend or descend a perpendicular 
 wall, and even to walk along a ceiling with his head 
 downwards. 
 
 So Jack started, and he went to Yorkshire, 
 where he heard were several of these holes in the 
 earth. 
 
 When he found one, he proceeded to descend. 
 
 This was very laborious and also extremely 
 dangerous work, as the sides were precipitous. 
 
JACK HORNER 37 
 
 He was obliged to hold on by small projections 
 of rock, and to place his feet in crannies. As he 
 descended further there was so much stalagmite 
 that he found it slippery, and the danger became 
 even greater. Still he had a good heart, he never 
 lost his presence of mind, and by going on, using 
 the utmost precaution, feeling his way when it 
 became too dark to see, he gradually reached a 
 vast hall, and found his feet rest on a level sur- 
 face. 
 
 Then he looked about him, and found that he was 
 in the cavern of the King of Shadows. 
 
 The walls on all sides were pierced with pigeon- 
 holes. At the extreme end of the hall sat the king 
 in an iron chair, and he had a table or counter before 
 him. When disengaged, he stretched out his very 
 long, thin legs, and spread his toes apart as far as 
 was possible, then his arms, and distended his 
 fingers ; he after that stretched his neck almost to 
 dislocation, and yawned as widely as he could 
 without throwing his jaws out of joint. This was 
 the manner in which he took exercise and diversion. 
 He had much to occupy him. 
 
 Down the several swallow-holes on the surface of 
 the earth came fluttering the shadows of men, after 
 they were dead and had no more use for their shadows. 
 The moment a shadow arrived, the king caught it 
 in one hand, laid it on the counter, got a flat iron 
 from a stove hard by, smoothed it out, then rolled 
 
38 THE PLEASANT TALE OF 
 
 it up, tied a black band round it, affixed a label with 
 the name of the person who had worn it, and the 
 date of his death, the length of time he had used 
 his shadow, and then thrust it away into one of 
 the pigeon-holes on his right hand side. But that 
 was not all his work. He also produced from lockers 
 on his left hand the shadows that would be wanted 
 for newly-born people. These were white, and of 
 a cobweb consistency. He did not send these up 
 one by one, as he received the old shadows ; but 
 he despatched them in batches up a funnel-shaped 
 chimney that extended to the surface of the earth 
 and opened as a crater at the top of a high moun- 
 tain. 
 
 You might suppose that there would be a difficulty 
 in doing so. There was none in the least. The 
 whole process was perfectly simple, and it was 
 worked by an ordinary law of Nature. Every well- 
 instructed person is aware that cold air is heavier 
 than hot air. The latter mounts and the former 
 descends. Now the air warmed below ascended 
 by the funnel-shaped opening, and as it went up, 
 wafted the white shadows with it, whereas a cold 
 and heavy current descending through the swallow- 
 holes, conveyed the used and done -with shadows 
 in the most natural manner possible to the counter 
 of the King of Shades below. The result of this 
 continuous circulation of air in the vault was that 
 an eternal draught prevailed there, and conse- 
 
JACK HORNER 39 
 
 quently the King of Shadows always suffered from 
 a bad cold in his head. 
 
 We here above see the sky covered with what 
 we call mackerel clouds, but what we see are not 
 clouds at all. They are the shadows sent up by 
 the king below, to fly about till required. 
 
 No sooner do they adhere to such as are newly 
 born than they become discoloured, grey, even 
 black. 
 
 "What do you want here?" asked the king, 
 staring at the young man who had invaded his 
 realm, uninvited. 
 
 " I am come," answered Jack, " for the shadow of 
 Sir Gorman Killigrewe." 
 
 '' He has one of his own of gold-leaf." 
 
 " Of that he is tired. Now he desires one of 
 ordinary nature, but your best quality." 
 
 " Ours are all of one quality, warranted to last a 
 lifetime." 
 
 " Will your Majesty graciously let the knight have 
 one?" 
 
 "No, I will not. He did not take the trouble, 
 or was too high and mighty, to obtain one when he 
 might. Now he must do without." 
 
 Then Jack pulled out his pipes and began to 
 play. 
 
 Thereupon ensued a wonderful thing. The shadows 
 that were rolled up and stowed away in the pigeon- 
 holes began to move; they turned over, burst the 
 
40 THE PLEASANT TALE OF 
 
 bands that tied them, and sent filmy their legs 
 down, then completely uncoiled and fell a-dancing 
 on the floor. Not only was this the case with such 
 as were the shades of the dead, but also with the 
 white gossamer shadows of the unborn. Never was 
 seen before, never again will be seen, so extra- 
 ordinary a spectacle as the dance of black and white 
 shadows. 
 
 The king stretched his legs and his arms ; he 
 jumped to his feet ; he screamed ; he ran about ; he 
 turned somersaults ; he was as one mad ; for all 
 order in his repository was lost. 
 
 He pranced before Jack and shrieked to him to 
 desist, and that he might take three, four, a dozen, 
 shadows if he liked for his master, Sir Gorman 
 Killigrewe. 
 
 When he had promised this, then Jack Horner 
 ceased playing, and the shadows fell back, and 
 fell into vast confusion and some altercation, none 
 knowing exactly which were their proper lockers, 
 into which to retire. 
 
 Jack declined to take more than half a dozen 
 shadows. These he rolled up, tied them in a bundle, 
 slung them over his back, and, thanks to the aid 
 afforded him by the shoes of adhesion, was able to 
 climb the swallow-hole by which he had descended, 
 and reach the upper world in safety. 
 
 He hastened to his dear master, who made a good 
 selection, and chose the handsomest shadow from 
 
JACK HORNER 41 
 
 among the six, and adjusted it to his person. Then 
 he had his gold-leaf shadow framed, and hung up in 
 the hall beside his portrait. 
 
 Sir Gorman Killigrewe now went out of doors, 
 and as the day was fine and the sun shone, his 
 shadow ran about, now before him, then behind him ; 
 now it was at one side, then on the other. It leaped 
 walls, it scrambled over hedges, it laid itself out 
 flat on a muddy pond, and to the knight's infinite 
 satisfaction it was none the worse for its antics. 
 When he returned from his walk there was not a 
 rent in his entire shadow. He had not left a patch 
 of it behind. 
 
 Sir Gorman Killigrewe was so gratified by the 
 services of Jack that he said to him, " My good 
 lad, I will reward you. I have an only daughter; 
 she shall be yours. She is beautiful, and will be 
 wealthy." 
 
 Jack was delighted, and he asked where she was, 
 as hitherto he had not seen her. 
 
 " Upon my word," answered the knight, " there 
 you raise a difficulty. My daughter was born with 
 a common shadow, like common people ; in that she 
 took after her mother. But I at that time felt very 
 keenly on the matter of gold-leaf shadows, and I 
 did not love and regard my daughter as I ought 
 to have done. She was allowed to run about where 
 she liked, and one day she was lost. Since then 
 I have neither seen her nor heard anything of her. 
 
42 THE PLEASANT TALE OF 
 
 However, yours she shall be as soon as you have 
 found her." 
 
 Jack respectfully thanked the knight, and went 
 to the hermit to ask his advice. 
 
 The old man answered that his throat was very 
 dry, but that if moistened with nappy ale he might 
 be able to recover his voice. 
 
 So Jack went to the town, brought him a jug 
 of good beer, and when the hermit was refreshed 
 he said to him, " My son, I believe that Sir 
 Gorman's daughter has been carried off. I will 
 lend you my little dog. Find. You must let him 
 snuff a shoe of the lost damsel; after that he 
 will be able to track her anywhere. But for this 
 adventure you will not take either the pipes, or the 
 invisible coat, or the shoes of adhesion ; no amount 
 of piping will make the giant Grim dance; and he, 
 I strongly suspect, has taken away the young lady. 
 If you wore the invisible coat the dog would not 
 see you and be able to attend you ; and there will 
 be nothing to climb, so you will not need the shoes ; 
 but take with you the Five Shadows." 
 
 Now it happened that there were some shoes 
 of the lost damsel at Sir Gorman's castle, so the 
 dog Find was given them to smell. He snuffed 
 meditatively for a minute, then shook his ears, and 
 started running with his nose to the ground ; and 
 Jack went after him. 
 
 Well, the little dog ran and ran, ever nosing the 
 
JACK HORNER 43 
 
 ground, till it arrived in front of a cave that was 
 occupied by a giant. 
 
 This very giant could with ease 
 
 Step fifty feet in length ; 
 Up by the roots he pulled oak trees, 
 
 So mighty was his strength. 
 His lips, they opened like two gates ; 
 
 His beard hung down like wire ; 
 His eyes were like two pewter plates ; 
 
 His breath was smoke and fire. 
 
 How could Jack succeed with such a monster ? 
 
 Happily he had a sword, which had been lent him 
 by Sir Gorman Killigrewe. 
 
 The giant, seeing the dog at the entrance to the 
 cave, ran out, whereupon the little creature began 
 to snap and bark. 
 
 Jack brandished his sword and dared the giant 
 to come on. The monster laughed and got his 
 cudgel and advanced, but the dog jumped behind 
 and bit the calves of his legs, and the giant turned 
 to try to drive him away. Then, by a dexterous 
 movement. Jack untied his bundle of shadows and 
 threw them over the giant. 
 
 All at once the ogre found himself supplied with 
 six shadows, his own and five in addition, and he 
 turned and stared, and got them entangled the one 
 with the other ; some got between his legs ; others 
 got across his arm ; one got into his eyes and held 
 him in darkness. He struggled and kicked, and the 
 
44 THE PLEASANT TALE OF 
 
 shadows got knotted, and their entanglement be- 
 came every moment the greater; and all the while 
 the little dog jumped at his legs and bit him. 
 
 Now whilst the giant was thus engaged with all 
 these shadows Jack sprang on him, and by a blow 
 cut off his right hand ; then with another he hewed 
 at his ankle and cut off the foot. Thereupon the 
 giant fell prostrate, and Jack succeeded in cutting 
 off his head. 
 
 Then he entered the cave and found the poor 
 young lady mewed up there in a cage. The giant 
 had kept her there as his singing bird, and he would 
 never give her water or sugar unless she sang to him 
 a pretty ditty. 
 
 Jack released her from the cage, conducted her 
 home, was married to her, and lived ever after most 
 happily. As the ballad says : — 
 
 He married the fair beauty bright ; 
 
 Her charms he did admire ; 
 And since her father was a knight, 
 
 Young Jack was made a squire. 
 
 When this story was ended, then all the pixies 
 began to clap their hands, and the fairy with the 
 blue eyes laughed and applauded as well. 
 
 The queen also had for the time been interested 
 in the tale, and had forgotten her sorrow. But un- 
 happily just as Mr. Jeremiah finished, her eye fell 
 on the skin of the poor beast which had been hung 
 on one of the stones of the circle, and her grief again 
 
JACK HORNER 45 
 
 obtained the mastery, and she sobbed bitterly. The 
 king made a sign to the blue-eyed fairy, and she 
 brought Mr. Toope another little purple berry. He 
 ate it, and bowed his thanks to her ; and no sooner 
 had he swallowed it than his lame leg became 
 flexible as the other. He started up delighted, and 
 stamped, and found himself as other men in this 
 respect. So he was very greatly rejoiced ; and, full 
 of thankfulness, he obeyed a sign from the king, and 
 began to relate his third story. 
 
III. 
 THE STORY OF HEMING 
 
 THERE lived in Norway, in the island of 
 Torgit, a man named Aslak, who was rich 
 and owned the whole island and the fisheries around. 
 He had two sons, and the name of the first was 
 Biorn, and the name of the second was Heming. 
 
 Olaf the Saint was then king, and he came one 
 day to Torgit and sat at the table of Aslak, and 
 ate and drank. Then his host brought in his two 
 sons, and the king spoke to the two boys, but 
 suddenly became grave. He had taken the youngest 
 on his knee, but he set him down and said nothing. 
 
 Then Aslak asked the king if the child had in 
 any way offended him. But Olaf said, " I can see 
 into the future. Well will it be for your son and 
 my brother Harald Hardrede if they never meet; 
 but I foresee that one will cause the death of the 
 other. And what is more," continued the king, " I 
 foresee that my brother Harald will one day be king 
 over Norway." 
 
 Now it was well known in the land that Olaf 
 had the faculty of seeing beforehand things that 
 
 46 
 
THE STORY OF HEMING 47 
 
 should come to pass. When, therefore, King Olaf 
 was gone, then Aslak sent a faithful servant with 
 his little boy far away into the north, to be given 
 to be fostered and brought up by a Finn and his 
 wife, where he believed that Harald Hardrede would 
 never find him, even if he came to hear of King 
 Olaf's saying. Now it must be told that Saint 
 Olaf was killed in a great battle that was fought 
 in 1030, and he was succeeded by his son Magnus, 
 who was not quite eleven years old when his father 
 fell, and for five years Norway was under the 
 dominion of the Danes. Magnus died in 1047, 
 and as he left no sons behind him, Harald, the 
 brother of Saint Olaf, was the undisputed heir to 
 the throne. 
 
 When Harald was king, then he went all about 
 the land seeing the great men, and feasting in their 
 houses. So he purposed to pay a visit to Aslak 
 at Torgit, and he sent him word to come and see 
 him. 
 
 Now it fell out one night that the king woke in 
 his sleep. In those times kings and nobles, and 
 indeed all folk, lived in great wooden halls, with 
 side aisles, much in shape like churches. Down 
 the middle of the hall ran a trough in which fires 
 were made, and before the fire on each side were 
 benches, and when there was a feast, tables of 
 boards on trestles were set up before the benches. 
 There were wooden pillars that supported the roof. 
 
48 THE STORY OF HEMING 
 
 and, between eacji bay, boards were erected so as 
 to turn each into a separate room, and in each such 
 room was a bed. Now King Harald, as he 
 woke, looked into the hall where was the fire, 
 and he saw an old man sitting there warming his 
 hands. He wore a very broad-brimmed hat, and a 
 great, long wadmal cloak of dark grey. 
 
 The king had never seen this old man before, and 
 he called out to him to know who he was, and why 
 he came there. Then the old man stood up, and 
 as he stood up there hopped two tame ravens on 
 to his shoulders, one on each shoulder. He came 
 into the king's bedroom and stood by the king's 
 bed. Then Harald saw that the old man had but 
 one eye. 
 
 Again the king addressed him, and said, "Who 
 are you, and what do you desire ? " 
 
 Then the old man said, "I am Odin, the god 
 whom your forefathers worshipped. But you and 
 most men in Norway have left me, and my temples 
 are in ruins. You also are a Christian in name, but 
 inasmuch as your life is rather that of a heathen 
 than that of one who worships Christ, I have a 
 liking for you. And now I am come to warn you 
 that Aslak of Torgit has a son named Heming, and 
 he is doomed to be your death-bane unless you first 
 slay him. Therefore cut him off if you can, for 
 one of you two must fall before the other. The king 
 Olaf said it, and I say it also." 
 
THE STORY OF HEMING 49 
 
 Then all at once the old man with his ravens 
 vanished. 
 
 In the next room to King Harald slept a man 
 called Nicolas, who was his kinsman. The king 
 called to Nicolas and woke him, and bade him 
 come and speak with him. Then Nicolas did so, 
 and Harald asked how many sons Aslak had. 
 Nicolas said he did not know, but he had been as 
 a boy on Torgit and had there seen one called Biorn, 
 and another, a very active, sturdy little fellow, whose 
 name he forgot, and of whom he had heard nothing 
 since. 
 
 When Aslak arrived before King Harald, and heard 
 that the king desired to feast at his house, then Aslak 
 began to make difficulties. He said that he would 
 pay all the expense such a visit would entail, but that 
 he was not prepared to receive his royal master. 
 
 "But why do you object to receive me?" asked 
 the king. 
 
 "I do not consider my house splendid enough 
 to receive such great men as you,'' answered Aslak. 
 
 "If there is a big hall, that will suffice," said 
 Harald. 
 
 " I have not the vessels and furniture wherewith 
 to accommodate you," said Aslak. 
 
 "Say what you will," exclaimed Harald, "at the 
 time I appoint I shall be with you." 
 
 "And when will that be?" asked Aslak. 
 
 " No later than to-morrow," answered the king, 
 E 
 
50 THE STORY OF HEMING 
 
 Then Aslak went home and made all ready as 
 well as he could. And on the morrow the king 
 arrived with a retinue of a hundred men. 
 
 Aslak went to meet him, and welcomed him, and 
 led him to his house ; and the king saw a grand hall, 
 hung round with shields and curtains of many 
 colours. 
 
 "If the feasting is as noble as the decoration of 
 the hall," said the king, "then indeed we shall do 
 well here." 
 
 That evening there was a great banquet, and all 
 was of the best, and the king was highly pleased. 
 
 Next morning he called the master of the house 
 to him and said, "Aslak, do you know the law 
 made by Olaf the Saint ? " * 
 
 " What law ? " asked the man addressed. 
 
 " Is it not a law that no bonder shall have a son 
 fostered among heathens and away from his home ? " 
 
 " That is news to me," answered Aslak ; " I thought 
 every man might send his son to be brought up 
 by whom and where he would." 
 
 " I have heard something concerning you," said 
 the king. 
 
 "What have you heard?" asked Aslak. 
 
 " I have been told that you have a son fostered 
 far away from home. Is that so?" 
 
 "Who said that?" asked Aslak. 
 
 '' I told the king this," said Nicolas ; " and I have 
 got myself into difficulties, like one who is between 
 
THE STORY OF HEMING 51 
 
 the skerries and the billow. I can remember, many 
 years ago, there was a little fellow here who was 
 said to be your son. I was then ten years old, 
 and I remember now that his name was Heming. 
 We played together, and he surpassed me and all 
 his playmates. Yet he was younger than myself, 
 and was but six years old. I have never heard 
 more of him." 
 
 Then the king asked, "Aslak, what has become 
 of this son of yours ? " 
 
 " It is true," answered the bonder reluctantly ; " I 
 had a son of that age and that name, but he lost his 
 senses and had to be put away at a great distance. 
 Since then I have heard no news of him, and I do 
 not know whether he be alive or dead." 
 
 Then said the king, "This is my decision. We 
 will go on our way, and in twelve months we shall 
 be back here again, and by that time let your son 
 Heming be here that I may see him." 
 
 " I cannot understand why you should desire 
 this," answered Aslak, " but I have no choice in the 
 matter, so must obey." 
 
 Then the king departed. 
 
 But next year at the same time Harald returned, 
 as he had said, to Torgit, and was well received and 
 entertained by Aslak. 
 
 Then Harald said to the master of the house, 
 " Where is your son whom you have brought up in 
 secret ? Lead him into my presence." 
 
52 THE STORY OF HEMING 
 
 "I have forgotten all about sending for him," 
 answered Aslak. " He is a very long way off." 
 
 The king was angry, and he said, " You incur my 
 heaviest displeasure, yet I will not punish you as you 
 deserve. We will go on our way, and be absent for 
 two months ; and at the end of that time I shall 
 return, and it will fare badly with you unless you 
 produce your son." 
 
 " The matter is not worth such fuss being made of 
 it," said Aslak. 
 
 Then the king departed to the mainland and 
 visited various portions till a month before winter, 
 and then he returned to Torgit 
 
 Aslak received him well, and seemed most cheerful 
 and provided a splendid banquet. 
 
 Next morning the king said to Aslak, " Where is 
 your son Heming, about whom you have made such 
 difficulties ? '' 
 
 " I forgot you were so impatient to see him," 
 answered the farmer. 
 
 Then the king said angrily, "Now I will not be put 
 off in this way. Here I remain as your guest till he 
 arrives. So I advise you to despatch men after him. 
 And if you fail to produce him, I shall soon put an 
 end to your giving of banquets." 
 
 Then Aslak called to him a steward he had named 
 Kalf, and two of his servants, and he said to them, " I 
 must send you away north till you come to a head- 
 land called Framnes. There you must disembark. 
 
THE STORY OF HEMING 53 
 
 and four men with you, Kalf ; and leave two to guard 
 the boat. You will find a path going through the 
 forest. You must follow this track for four days, and 
 towards sunset you will come out of the forest, and 
 you will see a valley before you, between high cliffs. 
 The valley does not divide. You will pursue it till 
 you light on a little farm. There you will find no 
 more than an old man and his wife. They will ask 
 you what you want, and you tell the truth. Accept 
 their hospitality, and spend the night there ; but one 
 keep watch all night. If you see a tall, handsome 
 man who comes in and sits by the fire, then rise and 
 salute him by the name of Heming, and tell him that 
 he is to come here to me, and that my life and his 
 brother's depend on his coming. He may hesitate, 
 but I think he is certain to obey the summons." 
 
 Then Kalf and six men started on their northward 
 journey, and they did all as the farmer had ordered, 
 and at the time Aslak had said they arrived at the 
 little farm, and saw there the old man and his wife, 
 who received them with great cordiality when they 
 knew whence they came. 
 
 Kalf and his men went to bed, and the old man 
 and his wife sat by the fire talking. Then she said, 
 " Our foster-son is late in coming home to-night." 
 
 The old man answered : " I'm a poor man, but I 
 would give all I have that he should remain abroad 
 for a week. What is the meaning of these fellows 
 coming here but to take him away from us ? " 
 
54 THE STORY OF HEMING 
 
 " I do not think I can bear to lose my dear foster- 
 boy," said the old woman. 
 
 Just then in came a tall, handsome young man in 
 a scarlet kirtle, and he had the spoils of the chase 
 under his belt. He had a strip of gold round his 
 head, and long hair flowing from under it over his 
 shoulders. Never had Kalf seen so fine a man. His 
 foster-parents started to their feet, and saluted him 
 under the name of Heming. He answered them 
 affectionately, and seated himself beside the fire. 
 The old man asked what sport he had had. Heming 
 answered that he had seen plenty of wild fowl, but 
 had taken only just what he wanted. Then he 
 inquired who were the strangers that had arrived. 
 The old man replied that they were messengers of 
 his father sent to fetch him home. 
 
 " He has been long enough about it," said Heming. 
 
 Then Kalf stood up and saluted the young man, 
 and told him all his father had said. 
 
 " I don't know," he answered. "I 'm not over-ready 
 to go." 
 
 " Do not jump at a decision before you know all 
 the circumstances," said Kalf "Your father's and 
 brother's lives are in the scale." 
 
 Heming answered that he would give no reply at 
 once. On the morrow early they were to go back by 
 the way that they had come, and if he did not appear 
 before they started in the boat, they were to give him 
 up. 
 
THE STORY OF HEMING 55 
 
 Next morning early they departed without him, 
 and did not halt till they reached the sea, when they 
 entered into the ship. But almost immediately they 
 saw Heming coming down to the shore on snow- 
 shoes. He jumped into the vessel. Kalf and his men 
 were glad, and they all started together for Torgit. 
 
 Aslak received his son with great warmth. Heming 
 arrived when most men were at church, and as the 
 congregation dispersed, and the king came towards 
 the hall, Aslak led his son before Harald, who looked 
 hard at him and knitted his brows. This was the 
 man who must fall before him, or he before this 
 man. 
 
 Harald said to him, " In what does your main skill 
 lie?" 
 
 Heming replied that the old man and his wife with 
 whom he had been reared were hardly good judges, 
 but they considered he could do most things well : 
 shoot and swim, and go on skates. For his own part, 
 he considered himself most skilful on snow-shoes. 
 
 " Very well," said the king, " I will put you to the 
 test in all these accomplishments." 
 
 Now Aslak came to the king and said, "All is 
 ready for your departure, sire." 
 
 Harald replied, " We will not depart to-day." 
 
 In the island was a wood, and, by order of the 
 king, all men went to the wood. Then Harald 
 planted a spear in the ground, and he took a bow, 
 put an arrow on the string, and shot up into the air. 
 
56 THE STORY OF HEMING 
 
 The arrow went up high as a lark can soar, then 
 turned and fell, and so fell that it stuck in the end 
 of the spear that was upright. Thereupon he bade 
 Heming try his skill. 
 
 Heming took his bow, put an arrow on the string, 
 and shot so high that none could follow and see it 
 turn ; and when it came down it struck the cleft in 
 the king's arrow that stood in the end of the spear, 
 and split it. 
 
 Thereat the king waxed red and wroth. He 
 plucked up the spear and cast it, and he cast it 
 so far that all marvelled. He bade Heming see if 
 he could surpass that ; and Heming said he would 
 not try, it was such a royal cast. Harald insisted 
 that he should do so, and make one attempt to 
 surpass if he could. 
 
 V Heming obeyed reluctantly, and his spear flew far 
 beyond where that of the king had fallen. 
 
 Then Harald took his knife and stuck the blade 
 in an oak tree, and shot with his bow, and the arrow 
 stuck in the haft of his knife. Then Heming took 
 his arrows. The king stood by him, and said, 
 "Your arrows are inlaid with gold. You must be 
 a marvellous workman." 
 
 " I did not inlay them myself," said Heming, and 
 drew his bow and shot, and his arrow pierced the 
 haft of the king's knife, split it, and penetrated to 
 the sharp end of the blade, where it entered the 
 handle. 
 
THE STORY OF HEMING 57 
 
 The king's face was red as blood, so angry was 
 he. He said, " We will try something more," and he 
 shot with his bow and pierced a slender branch on 
 the top of a tree. Heming also shot, and he split an 
 oak-apple on the end of that same branch. 
 
 All who saw this marvelled. 
 
 Then said the king, " You shall take an oak-apple 
 and put it on the head of your brother Biorn, and 
 aim at it with your spear from no nearer distance than 
 this, and if you miss the oak-apple you shall die."* 
 
 Heming answered, " My life is in your hands ; I 
 will not attempt this." 
 
 Biorn said, " Brother, do not hold back. Every 
 man must do what he can to save his life.'' 
 
 Heming said, " I can do what is desired, but only 
 if you, brother, will stand perfectly still." 
 
 " I shall do that, undoubtedly," said Biorn. 
 
 " Let the king stand by," said Heming, " and see if 
 I hit the gall-nut." 
 
 " Nay," answered the king, " I will stand by you 
 whilst you shoot, but Odd Ufeyson shall stand near 
 Biorn and watch how the arrow goes." 
 
 Then Odd went, as he said, to see fair play ; and 
 Heming took up the position appointed by the king, 
 and before he raised his spear he said, " God be my 
 
 * This is the Tell story. But the story of Heming was composed 
 before Tell was born. The earliest MS. of the story, however, dates 
 from 1337 ; the same is told of Palnatoki, of Eindrith Ilbreith, and 
 of a certain Egill. The story of Palnatoki was written in the twelfth 
 century. Tell lived in 1307. 
 
58 THE STORY OF HEMING 
 
 witness that I had rather die myself than see my 
 brother fall. If evil comes of this, let the blood that 
 is spilt be on the head of King Harald." 
 
 Then Heming took steady aim, and flung his spear. 
 The spear flew, direct as an arrow, and it passed 
 between the gall-nut and the crown of Biorn's head ; 
 and Biorn was not hurt in the least. 
 
 Then the king came up, and he asked Odd where 
 the oak-apple was. 
 
 Odd answered, " Will you believe me if I tell you ?" 
 
 The king said, " One must bear whatever news is 
 told." 
 
 Then Odd said, " He has shot better than I could 
 have thought. The spear raised the oak-gall, passed 
 beyond it, and left it on the head where it had been 
 placed." 
 
 " I could not have believed this if I had not seen 
 it,'' said the king. 
 
 The king looked at Heming, and saw that an 
 arrow, inlaid with gold, was in his belt. He said to 
 Heming, " What is that arrow stuck there for ? " 
 
 " Sire," answered the bold archer, " had I struck 
 my brother with my spear, this arrow would have 
 pierced your heart." 
 
 The king became red and angry, but said nothing. 
 
 So they returned to the house, and caroused that 
 night. 
 
 Next morning Aslak came before the king, and 
 said to him, " All is ready for your departure, sire." 
 
THE STORY OF HEMING 59 
 
 But Harald answered, " I shall stay here another 
 day." 
 
 Then Harald turned to some Icelanders who were 
 about him, and said, " We will test his powers to-day 
 in swimming " ; and he asked them to swim with 
 Heming, but they all declined. 
 
 Then he turned to his kinsman Nicolas, and bade 
 him go into the water with Heming. 
 
 Nicolas said, " I do not know what the end will be ; 
 but I will do my best if you desire it." 
 
 The king ordered him to strip and dive against 
 Heming. 
 
 So both men cast off their clothes, and prepared 
 to swim. 
 
 "We will race each other in the water," said 
 Heming. 
 
 So they swam for long, and dived, and after a while 
 Nicolas said, " Heming, shall we turn back ? " 
 
 " Why turn back ? " answered Heming. " I am not 
 tired." 
 
 They continued swimming a while longer, and 
 then Nicolas said, "Shall we not turn back to 
 land?" 
 
 " Turn back if you will," answered Heming. " I 
 shall swim further." 
 
 Nicolas now swam to a rock, crawled upon it, 
 and was so exhausted that he fainted. 
 
 After a while Heming came to him, and asked 
 him how he fared. 
 
6o THE STORY OF HEMING 
 
 Nicolas answered curtly, "That is no concern of 
 yours ; go your own way." 
 
 " I shall not leave you here to die," said Heming ; 
 " and I see very well you have no power to swim to 
 land yourself. I will carry you on my back." 
 
 So he took Nicolas on his back, and swam with 
 him to the place whence they had started. Nicolas 
 was so stiff that he could hardly creep to where his 
 clothes were. The king asked him how matters had 
 gone. Nicolas answered that unless Heming had 
 carried him, the king would never have seen him 
 alive again. 
 
 Then the king was very angry. He threw off his 
 clothes, and bade Heming come on into the water 
 with him and wrestle there, and see which could hold 
 the other under till he was drowned. 
 
 Aslak whispered to his son, " Run away into the 
 wood. The king is determined to have your life." 
 
 " No, father," answered Heming ; " when eagles 
 meet they fight out their quarrel." 
 
 Heming had been seated on a stone above the 
 water, and now the king caught him, and both 
 plunged into the sea and wrestled with each other 
 in the water. 
 
 Those on shore could see only the lashing of the 
 waves, the foam, and then one head up, and then 
 another. The day was declining when this game 
 began, and at last it became too dark for any to 
 see. 
 
THE STORY OF HEMING 6i 
 
 Presently the king came up on the strand and 
 began to clothe himself. He was so angry, none of 
 his men dared speak a word to him. He walked to 
 the hall of Aslak and seated himself. There was 
 little cheer at supper that evening; the king's face 
 was black as night, and Aslak was sad because of 
 his son. 
 
 The king sat in the high seat, and the fires were 
 kindled up. 
 
 Then in at the door came Heming, and went up 
 the hall before the king, and put a knife on his knee ; 
 and all knew it was one that Harald had worn 
 in his belt that day. No one dared inquire, but 
 all believed that the king had taken the knife with 
 him into the water, and had tried to stab Heming 
 with it whilst they were together, and that Heming 
 had wrested it from his murderous hand. 
 
 All went early to bed that night. 
 
 Next morning Aslak came before the king, and 
 said, "Sire, all is ready for your departure if you 
 wish to leave." 
 
 The king answered, " I will not tarry here longer, 
 but will leave Torgit with all my men, and will take 
 Heming with me." 
 
 It was so. He departed, and he made the young 
 man go along with him. 
 
 He sailed till he came under the mountain called 
 the Smalsar Horn, that jutted into a tremendous 
 precipice over the sea. 
 
62 THE STORY OF HEMING 
 
 " Now," said Harald, " let me see what your success 
 is on snow-shoes." 
 
 " There lies very little snow on the mountain, and 
 what there is is whipped into drifts, and the rest is 
 rough," answered Heming. 
 
 " Where all ways are smooth," answered the king, 
 " there any man can go." 
 
 Heming then put on his snow-shoes. 
 
 The mountain was steep, and had few ledges 
 on it. 
 
 Heming started and zigzagged up the mountain on 
 his snow-shoes, and made the circuit of the top, and 
 then came down rapidly. All who looked on thought 
 it was the most wonderful achievement that they had 
 ever seen on snow. 
 
 When Heming came to the king, he said, "Sire, 
 I hope now that you are satisfied, and that you will 
 put me to no more tests of skill. For my part, I 
 have done." 
 
 " No," answered the king. " I will try you once 
 more, and once only. Now you shall ascend the 
 mountain aslant, and when you have reached the top, 
 then I require you to shoot down directly towards 
 the edge of the precipice, and check yourself on the 
 very brink." 
 
 Heming exclaimed, '' If you are resolved on my 
 death, you can kill me in shorter fashion than that." 
 
 Harald said, " If you will not venture this, you 
 shall be flung over the edge." 
 
THE STORY OF HEMING 63 
 
 " The saying goes, ' Let every man snatch at every 
 chance,'" retorted Heming. "But it seems to me 
 that there is little choice between being cast over 
 the edge and casting oneself over. Whichever way 
 is a bad way, and a way without escape/' 
 
 Then Aslak went before the king, and said, " Sire, 
 take all my possessions, and spare the life of my 
 son." 
 
 But Harald answered roughly, "Keep your pos- 
 sessions ; I want them not. But I am resolved to see 
 Heming do this adventure." 
 
 Others now interfered, especially Odd the Ice- 
 lander, but Heming bade all desist. The king was 
 resolute, and they would gain nothing by their 
 intercession. Then Odd drew Heming aside and 
 said to him privately — 
 
 "When I was in the Holy Land I got possession 
 of a great relic. It is the winding-sheet in which 
 S. Stephen, the first martyr, was buried. I wear 
 it wrapped round me. Now this I value highly ; 
 and I had intended to take it with me to Iceland 
 and there to build a church and dedicate it to S. 
 Stephen, and to put the winding-sheet therein. But 
 it seems to me that now is a good chance of proving 
 whether it is worth more than any common piece 
 of linen, and also of doing you a good turn if I 
 may. Take this winding-sheet that I strip off 
 me, and put it about your waist as a white shirt." 
 
 "God reward you for the good intent," answered 
 
64 THE STORY OF HEMING 
 
 Heming. " I will do as you say ; the sheet at least 
 can do no harm." 
 
 So they separated, and none knew what had 
 passed between them. 
 
 Then Heming took the winding-sheet, and he 
 first wrapped a portion round his waist and then 
 threw the length that remained over his left shoulder 
 and fastened the end with his girdle. In his hand 
 he held a stout balancing pole. 
 
 So he started. 
 
 Now the king and his men went up the height to 
 the edge of the cliff, and the king stood near it sup- 
 porting himself on his spear. He wore a red cloak 
 with a strap to fasten it, that was itself made to 
 hold by a pin. He took out the pin and put it in 
 his belt. Nicolas and the rest stood behind Harald, 
 with their hands resting on their hips. 
 
 Heming now mounted to the top of the Smalsar 
 Horn, and there put on his snow-shoes. 
 
 He started and came down at a tremendous pace, 
 guiding himself with his balancing pole. All looked 
 on breathlessly, and he shot down hard upon the spot 
 where stood the king, and now he drove his pole into 
 the snow and the turf under it, and endeavoured to 
 check his pace. Just as he neared the precipice he 
 leaped high in the air and shook off his snow-shoes, 
 which flew away over the cliff brow. But he himself 
 was carried forward by the force wherewith he had 
 come down, and he caught at the king's cloak. 
 
THE STORY OF HEMING 65 
 
 The king bowed his head suddenly, and the mantle 
 came away in Heming's hand, and over the edge 
 of the precipice he went, carrying the red cloak with 
 him. Then Harald said, " If I had not happened to 
 unpin my mantle, he would have carried me over 
 along with him." 
 
 Now Odd the Icelander was so wroth at the 
 cruelty of the king, that he shouted out, "And well 
 had it been had that been the case. But one thing I 
 know. If you and Heming had fared together at the 
 same time out of this world, and gone before God's 
 throne, then you would have been cast into the outer 
 darkness for this deed alone." 
 
 The king was so angry to hear this that he ordered 
 his men to throw Odd over the precipice after 
 Heming. Now there was a whole party of Ice- 
 landers present, and one of these stood forth and 
 said to the king, " If you do this to our countryman. 
 Odd, you do so to all of us. But if you do, know 
 then, O king, that there is not a man in that land of 
 ice and snow who will not swear to take no ease till 
 he has slain thee." 
 
 Harald was silent for a moment, and then said, 
 "Well, I will not insist on this. But this is my 
 sentence. Let Odd at once leave my presence, and 
 in spring leave Norway. And as soon as he is out of 
 the land I will outlaw him, that should he ever set 
 foot in Norway, or run into one of the fiords of 
 Norway, it will be at the choice of any man to slay 
 F 
 
66 THE STORY OF HEMING 
 
 him, and I will give its weight in silver to him who 
 then brings me his head." 
 
 "That must fall which is fated," said Odd, and 
 he left the king's presence, and next spring sailed 
 for his Icelandic home. 
 
 Now must be told of Heming, after he shot over 
 the brink of the precipice. 
 
 It will be recollected that Odd, the Icelander, had 
 given him the winding-sheet of S. Stephen. Now 
 as the brave Heming fell through the air, the wind 
 caught and swelled out the folds of the great sheet 
 of linen both about his waist and his back and 
 shoulder, so he was let down more slowly than he 
 expected, and was caught in a projecting mass of 
 rock. 
 
 At first he was so giddy and amazed that he knew 
 not whether he was alive or dead, but after a while 
 his senses came to him, and he scrambled on to a 
 ledge of the cliff and ensconced himself there, where 
 none could see him and where he would be safe. 
 
 The king and all believed that he had fallen into 
 the sea, or on to the skerries at the foot of the cliff, 
 and had been dashed to pieces. 
 
 Heming did not deem it wise to stir till night fell 
 Now as soon as the sun went down all the sky was 
 lighted up with a grand display of the Aurora 
 Borealis — the Northern Lights. There was an arc 
 of rose-coloured fire, and rays that shot like golden 
 spears across the firmament. 
 
THE STORY OF HEMING 67 
 
 Lighted by this glorious illumination of the heavens 
 Heming began to climb the cliff, and being very sure 
 of foot, he got a long way up. But just at the top 
 the rock overhung, and he did not know what to 
 do. Then he heard a voice speaking, and looked 
 up, and saw the Icelander, Odd, who stretched out 
 his hand, and Heming laid hold of it and was pulled 
 to the summit. 
 
 Thereupon Heming thanked Odd, and Odd told 
 him how that he had to fly from the king, but had 
 come to the brow of the cliff to see if he could 
 observe any traces of Heming. He advised his 
 friend to leave the country as quickly as possible. 
 Heming would at once have returned to Odd the 
 winding-sheet, but Odd would not receive it then, 
 as Heming was still in great danger of his life. 
 " But," said he, " if we meet again, then you shall 
 give it me." 
 
 " Yes," answered Heming ; " and if we meet again, 
 and things go well with me, I will give a third of all 
 I have to you for what you have done to me." 
 
 So they separated, and Heming stole homewards, 
 but very cautiously. 
 
 And as he drew near home he saw lights in the 
 church, so he went to the church door and looked in, 
 and found there his father and brother on their 
 knees; and they were praying for him. 
 
 You may well believe that Aslak and Biom were 
 rejoiced to see Heming alive. They took counsel 
 
68 THE STORY OF HEMING 
 
 together, and resolved that Heming should leave the 
 country and call himself by another name, lest it 
 should reach the ears of King Harald that he was 
 still alive. 
 
 "Then," said Heming, "let me be known hence- 
 forth as the Outcast from Home. If you hear tidings 
 at any time of the doings of the Outcast, you will 
 know that they concern me." 
 
 After that, in great secret, Aslak contrived to get 
 one of his boats away, with Heming his son in it ; 
 and Heming did not remain in Norway, but crossed 
 over into England. 
 
 This was at the time that Edward the Confessor 
 was king. 
 
 Heming arrived in the Thames and called himself 
 "Outcast," and went before Edward the king, and 
 asked to be given entertainment for the winter. The 
 king consented, and Heming promised the king that 
 if there was any fighting to be done, he would help 
 him. 
 
 Nothing, however, is told of anything that Heming 
 did, except that he made some money by merchan- 
 dise, and then he sent word to Odd in Iceland that 
 he was ready to pay him a third of all he had made 
 and to return to him the shroud that had been 
 lent him. 
 
 So Odd came to England, and there was a warm 
 meeting between him and "Outcast." 
 
 Now whilst they were together. Odd spent the 
 
THE STORY OF HEMING 69 
 
 money Heming gave him in buying a church bell 
 and timber wherewith to lade his vessel, for he 
 wished to do as he had made up his mind : build 
 a church in Iceland and dedicate it to S. Stephen. 
 
 One day in spring King Edward the Confessor 
 held a great gathering at Westminster, and to it, 
 among others, came a stranger, who bore a very 
 beautiful sword, and wore a handsome cloak lined 
 with fur. Odd looked at him with surprise, went 
 straight up to him, and asked him his name. 
 
 The stranger said he was called Athalbert. 
 
 Then Odd asked him where he got that sword 
 and cloak. 
 
 The man replied that he had bought both. 
 
 Odd said, " My brother had just that sort of sword, 
 and a very similar cloak. He sailed away from 
 Iceland two or three years ago, and I have never 
 heard tidings of him since. My belief is that you 
 have killed him; and possessed yourself of his goods. 
 Now I will avenge his death." 
 
 Then Heming, or Outcast as he was called, inter- 
 fered, and begged Athalbert to tell the truth. Athal- 
 bert at last confessed that he had fallen in with the 
 ship of Odd's brother, had fought it, had killed all 
 on board, and had taken the plunder. 
 
 Now the matter was brought to the notice of 
 King Edward, but Odd could hardly be restrained 
 from drawing his sword and killing the man. 
 
 King Edward heard the case, and then he pro- 
 
70 THE STORY OF HEMING 
 
 nounced sentence that Athalbert should be given 
 over to Odd to kill, and that all his property and 
 ship should fall to the share of Odd. " But," said 
 the king, " though it is just that Athalbert die, yet 
 I hate to have blood shed, and if you will grant me a 
 favour you will spare his life." 
 
 Odd answered that he would do as the king 
 judged. Then Athalbert was banished, and his 
 ship, with all its lading, given to the Icelander, and 
 in it he found much of his brother's goods. 
 
 Now as soon as a fair wind blew he sailed away. 
 Presently the wind rose to a storm, and to save him- 
 self and his two vessels. Odd was forced to run into a 
 fiord in Norway, and that was the Drontheim fiord. 
 
 It happened that King Harald was there then, and 
 when he heard of the arrival of Odd he was full 
 of rage, and he thought that now he would punish 
 the Icelander for what he had once said. But as for 
 Heming, he believed he was dead. So he gave 
 orders for his long warships to run out and block 
 the mouth of the fiord, and intercept Odd lest he 
 should escape; at the same time Harald armed his 
 men and lined the shore. 
 
 Now when Odd's shipmates saw this, they were 
 dismayed, but he bade them not be downcast ; he 
 told them that their lives were in God's keeping, and 
 that the God who had preserved a dear friend of his, 
 when falling over a cliff, could preserve him also in 
 this emergency. 
 
THE STORY OF HEMING 71 
 
 Presently a strong wind from the east sprang up, 
 and Odd spread every sail, and set his men to row 
 with all their might, and he led the way with the ship 
 taken from Athalbert, which had a beak of bronze ; 
 and what with the force of the wind and the stout 
 arms of the rowers, he ran against one of the king's 
 warships and sank it, and sailed out of the fiord 
 with his own merchant vessel in its wake. 
 
 The king, Harald, is said to have been furious at 
 this having happened. 
 
 Odd sailed away to Iceland, and he landed in 
 Middle Frith, in the north of the island, and there he 
 built the church of the timber he brought from 
 England, and hung his bell, and there he put the 
 winding-sheet that he brought from the Holy Land, 
 and which had saved the life of his friend Heming. 
 
 [Now I must tell you that I, who write this story in 
 English, have been in the church. I was at the place 
 which is called Mellr one Sunday in 1861. Indeed, 
 the exact day was July 20th, and I attended service 
 in that church. But at that time I did not know the 
 story of the foundation of the church, for the Ice- 
 landic history of Heming had not at that time got 
 into my hands. If it had, I would have climbed up 
 the roof to see if the bell that now hangs there is that 
 which came from England in the time of Edward the 
 Confessor. Of course the old oak beams brought 
 from England have been replaced many times, but 
 the site of the church has not been altered, nor has 
 
72 THE STORY OF HEMING 
 
 that of Odd's house, of which I made a sketch. — 
 S. B. G] 
 
 Now we will return to Heming in England. 
 
 In the year 1066 Edward the Confessor died, and 
 the English people elected Harold, son of Earl 
 Godwin, to be king. This was the best choice that 
 could have been made, for Earl Harold had really- 
 governed England for many years under the amiable 
 but weak-minded Edward. He was an energetic 
 man and just, and a brave warrior. 
 
 Unhappily his brother Tostig became furiously 
 jealous, and thought that, as the choice of the English 
 people had not fallen on him, he would win the 
 crown by force of arms. At the same time William, 
 Duke of Normandy, laid claim to England. 
 
 If Harold had had only the Normans to resist, he 
 very likely might have driven them back across the 
 seas, but through the wicked spite of his own brother 
 Tostig, he was obliged to fight him as well as Duke 
 William. 
 
 Tostig went to Sweyn, king of Denmark, and asked 
 him to assist him, but Sweyn refused. Then Tostig 
 went to Norway, and invited King Harald Hardrede 
 to help him to conquer England ; and the Norwegian 
 king, who was ever ready to do acts of violence and 
 injustice, though he had no quarrel at all with his 
 namesake, the king of the English, yet promised to 
 help to overrun England. 
 
 So, in September, 1066, he sailed away with the 
 
THE STORY OF HEMING t^ 
 
 largest fleet which up to that time had ever left the 
 shores of Norway. About twenty thousand warriors 
 embarked. Harald sailed away, taking with him his 
 wife, the daughter of the king of Russia, and his two 
 daughters, and went to Orkney, where he made the 
 earls swear to obey him, and give him as large a body 
 of men as they could collect, and ships likewise. Earl 
 Tostig also had collected many men, so that the total 
 force amounted to thirty thousand men in three 
 hundred and fifty ships. 
 
 King Harald Hardrede left his queen and daughters 
 in Orkney, and sailed down the coast of Scotland to 
 Northumberland. Then he came south, plundering 
 and burning, and sailed up the mouth of the Humber, 
 and entered the river Ouse, and landed at a place 
 called Riccall, and there left Earl Paul of Orkney 
 with the ships, and marched inland. 
 
 They came to Fulford by the Ouse, and there were 
 encountered by Earls Edwin and Morkere, whom the 
 English king, Harold, had sent against them. A 
 great battle was fought, and the English made part 
 of the army of the Northmen to fly, and pursued 
 them ; but then at this juncture King Harald Hard- 
 rede arrived, and so furious was his onslaught that 
 the English were routed and fled ; many were killed, 
 and Tostig and the king of Norway pursued their 
 advantage and captured York. 
 
 Harold of England was now aware of the great 
 danger that menaced him from the north, and he 
 
74 THE STORY OF HEMING 
 
 gathered men together to march to the assistance of 
 his earls, and Heming at once offered his services; 
 they were gladly accepted. English Harold hasted 
 north, and came suddenly upon the Northmen, who 
 did not expect him, at Stamford Bridge, on the 
 Derwent. 
 
 The day (September 25 th) was warm, and the 
 Norsemen had thrown aside their armour, and were 
 lounging about on both sides of the river. 
 
 As soon as English Harold's army appeared, they 
 sprang to arms in some confusion. Norse Harald 
 mounted his black horse, but as he spurred it, it 
 stumbled and threw him. He rose in haste, and 
 remounted, saying, "A fall brings luck to a farer." 
 
 English Harold saw this, and he asked his men 
 who that was whose horse had thrown him. Then 
 Heming, who stood at his side, said, " Sire, that stout 
 man with the fine helmet who fell is the king, 
 Hardrede himself" 
 
 " Then," said English Harold, " his luck has 
 deserted him." 
 
 The English king sent forward messengers. He 
 was grieved that his brother should be in arms 
 against him, and he desired to detach him from his 
 allies. But he himself rode with his messengers, for 
 he would speak to his brother himself Then, at the 
 summons. Earl Tostig went forward, and English 
 Harold said to him, " Come to your proper duty, and 
 you shall have all Northumberland." 
 
THE STORY OF HEMING 75 
 
 "And what will be given to my friend Harald 
 of Norway ? " asked Tostig. - 
 
 " Seven feet of good English ground, and if that 
 suffices not, an inch or two more." 
 
 Then Tostig broke off communications, for he 
 would not desert his Norse allies. 
 
 When Tostig rode back. King Harald Hardrede 
 said to him, " Who was that man spoke with you? " 
 
 Tostig said it was his own brother, the king. 
 
 Then Norse Harald was angry, and vowed if he 
 had known it, he would have had him murdered, 
 ambassador though he were. 
 
 Immediately the battle began, and a furious contest 
 ensued. The Norsemen were drawn up in the shape 
 of a heart, with their shields and spears outwards ; 
 and thus the English could not break them. But 
 presently the invaders thought the English were 
 thrown into confusion, and they opened their ranks 
 to charge. At once the English turned and rushed 
 in on them ; and there ensued a hand-to-hand fight. 
 
 King Harald Hardrede stood by his banner, and 
 he hewed with his sword and dealt mighty blows. 
 It seemed as though he was turning the course of 
 affairs, for the English began to fall back. 
 
 At that moment Heming drew his bow to his full 
 strength and shot, and his arrow flew and pierced 
 King Harald Hardrede in the throat, so that he fell 
 at the foot of his banner. 
 
 Then the king plucked at the arrow and tore it 
 
^e -THE STORY OF HEMING 
 
 out, and lo ! it was inlaid with gold. He looked 
 at it, and said, " The like of this I have seen before ; 
 it is the arrow of Heming, the son of Aslak. Now 
 what is feyed, falls sure. I must die by his hand." 
 
 And in truth he spake no more. 
 
 That was a mighty battle, and in it the English 
 completely routed and cut to pieces the army of the 
 Norsemen. 
 
 Four days later Duke William of Normandy 
 landed in Sussex. Had it not been for the treachery 
 of Tostig and the war in the north, he could not 
 have landed. Harold had to return south, with his 
 troops exhausted by forced marches, to encounter 
 him. The fatal battle of Hastings ensued on October 
 14th. We hear no more of Heming, except that 
 he left England after the fall of Harold, the English 
 king, and paid a visit to Italy. 
 
 " This," said the schoolmaster, " is a historical tale, 
 and is accordingly instructive." 
 
 "But I do not like to be instructed," said the 
 queen, pouting. 
 
 Then the king said, " My good schoolmaster, you 
 must forget that you are a schoolmaster, and must 
 endeavour to amuse, without giving instruction. And 
 because on this occasion you have endeavoured to 
 convey information surreptitiously, I shall not allow 
 my daughter, the Princess Noyalen, to give you any 
 fruit." 
 
THE STORY OF HEMING ^^ 
 
 "Sire," answered Mr. Jeremiah, "you have given 
 me on this occasion something better than a whortle- 
 berry. You have told me the name of that lovely 
 little angel who listens to my stories with delight, 
 and across whose sweet face no shadow of vexation 
 has fallen, even although I did convey some historical 
 information in the form of a tale. The English 
 general public, I am well aware " 
 
 "Never mind about the English general public," 
 retorted the king irritably ; " you are now in the 
 world of pixies, and must endeavour to please them, 
 and them only." 
 
 " I stand condemned," said Jeremiah ; " and happy 
 am I that I can stand upon both legs with ease — a 
 thing that I was never before able to do, as one was 
 stiff and shorter than the other. I see by the pitiful 
 and sympathetic face of the Princess Noyalen that 
 she is sore at heart not to be able to give me another 
 of those healing, invigorating little berries. I will 
 endeavour to deserve one with the next story I shall 
 tell, my fourth, by making of it a vehicle for no 
 instruction, moral or historical. Allow me, your 
 Majesty, to reseat myself." 
 
IV. 
 
 CLEOMENE 
 
 THERE lived a queen named Cleomene ; she 
 was extremely beautiful, she ruled over a great 
 nation, had large armies, a full House of Lords, three 
 palaces, but was able to think and talk only of purely 
 domestic matters. Her mind never went, so to speak, 
 abroad. It remained fettered to her kitchen and store- 
 closet. 
 
 When profound or far-reaching matters were dis- 
 cussed before her in Privy Council, Cleomene sat 
 silent, till she found an opportunity to remark that 
 the tapioca pudding had been burnt. When bulletins 
 arrived relative to military events connected with her 
 armies, she took no interest in them, but concerned 
 herself greatly when the knives had their edges 
 turned by the rotary cleaning apparatus. Physicians 
 were consulted, and decided that she suffered from 
 "mental inertia," for which pills and powders would 
 avail nothing. 
 
 One day the queen was out walking, when she 
 happened to sit down by the side of a lake, under a 
 flowering elder-tree, and the elder-flowers scattered 
 their pollen over her as she sat. 
 
 78 
 
CLEOMENE 79 
 
 Now it is the property of the elder to open the eyes 
 to things of the spirit world. And, as the flower-dust 
 lodged on the lashes of Cleomene's eyes, she rubbed 
 them, and at once acquired the power to see things 
 previously invisible. 
 
 This is what she saw : an elf-mother washing her 
 children in the lake, and sponging them with a puff- 
 ball. Then one of the children got hold of its mother's 
 nose and pulled it, and, as the nature of elf-bodies is 
 similar to the nature of india-rubber, the child pulled 
 out the nose to five times its normal length. 
 
 And, for the same reason, when the children 
 screamed they literally stretched their mouths from 
 ear to ear. This was all so droll, that Cleomene burst 
 into a fit of laughter, and pointed, first at the elf- 
 mother's nose, then at the mouths of the infants, and 
 fell from one fit of laughter into another. 
 
 The elf-mother turned round, and was very angry. 
 Her eyes flashed, and she said — 
 
 " Cleomene, why do you fleer and mock ? " 
 
 But the queen could not answer, but laughed the 
 louder and more convulsively. 
 
 Then the elf-mother came before her with an angry 
 countenance, and said, "Because you have seen me 
 washing my babes, and have jeered and mocked, and 
 you have had no feeling for my troubles, and no 
 admiration for the beauty of my little ones, you shall 
 travel and undergo hardship and adventure till you 
 have composed an entire poem of seven lines, a week 
 
8o CLEOMENE 
 
 of verse, every line rhyming with what I asked at 
 
 first : — 
 
 ' Cleomene, why do you fleer and mock ? ' 
 
 And each line must contain an idea suggested by 
 some experience of your own." 
 Then all at once the elves disappeared* 
 Slowly, much puzzled in mind, the queen returned 
 home. When she reached her palace, she learned 
 that during her absence a revolution had broken out. 
 Riots had occurred ; the Ministry had resigned ; the 
 Republicans were in power, and had turned the 
 State upside down, and were tinkering at its bottom. 
 Royalty had been abolished, and the throne had been 
 converted into a Bath-chair for the use of the indigent 
 poor who were paralysed in their extremities. A 
 provisional Ministry had been set up, which undertook 
 that all provisions should be sold at half-price to 
 hona-fide artisans. A Committee of Public Safety 
 had been appointed to meet and counteract the 
 machinations of the queen, and this committee had 
 resolved to put her in a barrel and set her adrift 
 in the ocean, with seven currant buns and a bottle 
 of orange cordial for her sustenance. But as a body 
 of electors belonging to the teetotal persuasion pro- 
 tested, the cordial was disallowed, and it was re- 
 solved that she should have the buns only. 
 
 This sentence was at once carried into execution, 
 and Cleomene, enclosed in a hogshead, was committed 
 to the winds and waves 
 
CLEOMENE 8i 
 
 Cleomene wept all the first day, and had no 
 appetite ; nevertheless, from a sense of duty, she 
 ate one bun. On the second day she did not cry 
 so much, but felt dull and stupefied. She ate on that 
 day the second bun. 
 
 On the third day, being desirous to know some- 
 thing of the world outside the hogshead, she applied 
 her eye to the bunghole, but could discern nothing 
 save sky and drifting clouds. She ate the third bun, 
 and resigned herself to her situation. 
 
 On the fourth day she became restless, and she 
 put out her forefinger through the bunghole to ascer- 
 tain the direction of the wind. When she withdrew 
 her finger she put it to her lips and tasted salt. Then 
 she knew that the wind blew over the sea, and was 
 freshening, so that the spray came on her finger. She 
 ate the fourth bun. 
 
 During the night a storm arose, and the barrel 
 tossed and pitched distressingly. Cleomene had 
 much ado by shifting her position to maintain the 
 balance of the cask and prevent it from turning over, 
 in which case the water would have rushed in at the 
 bunghole, and she would have been drowned. Next 
 day was spent in great discomfort, and she nibbled 
 fitfully at the fifth bun. 
 
 Then the waves abated. Cleomene looked sadly 
 
 at her last bun. She put her finger through the 
 
 bunghole, and when she withdrew it discovered that 
 
 a sulphur butterfly had alighted on the tip. By this 
 
 G 
 
82 CLEOMENE 
 
 she knew that she was nearing land. Now her great 
 desire was to get ashore. In her distress she broke 
 into words : — 
 
 " Because at the elves I did fleer and mock, 
 Upon the ocean condemned to rock ' 
 
 She had hardly uttered these words before a grating 
 sensation thrilled through her body, and in a moment 
 the cask was stranded. 
 
 But how was she to escape? With the ebb she 
 had been cast ashore ; with the next tide she would 
 be carried out to sea again. 
 
 While thus musing she heard voices. 
 
 The natives of the country had seen the drifting 
 hogshead ; and, anticipating that it contained spirits 
 and would afford them much pleasure, they rushed 
 down to the beach to secure the prize. 
 
 They began to roll it up the sands, a proceeding 
 that caused the queen indescribable discomfort. She 
 cried out. This greatly astonished the natives, and 
 with their axes they fell on the cask and broke the 
 staves. 
 
 Thereupon the lovely Cleomene issued from the 
 broken barrel and stood before them. She shook 
 her ruffled garments, brushed her golden hair behind 
 her ears, and entreated the natives to conduct her to 
 their king. 
 
 They obeyed, but the king was at the moment 
 engaged in counting out his money, and he said, 
 
CLEOMENE 83 
 
 without looking up from the table, "Put her in the 
 garden and bid her weed the paths." 
 
 The king had a head gardener, who was a most 
 accomplished man. His mind was so superior to his 
 duties that he left everything to be done by his sub- 
 ordinates, and spent his time in talking, mostly about 
 his own accomplishments. 
 
 Cleomene was committed to this man, who set her 
 to weed the beds and paths. 
 
 By working hard, her deficiency in conversational 
 powers passed unnoticed. And, indeed, having no 
 household to manage, she had at this period nothing 
 about which she could talk. 
 
 The king forgot all about Cleomene, and the head 
 gardener was only too delighted to retain her in the 
 palace garden throughout the winter, so diligent a 
 worker did she prove. She therefore remained in 
 her situation till it was time, in spring, to sow the 
 seeds. The head gardener one day, when it was 
 suitable for sowing annuals, committed the task to 
 Cleomene, whilst he went to converse with people 
 who were passing on the highway. She sowed dili- 
 gently and unflaggingly all day, and in every flower- 
 bed, as she had been given one seed-packet, she 
 sowed everywhere the selfsame seeds, which happened 
 to be the Ten-Week Stock. She had not been told 
 that variety is pleasing. 
 
 Nothing occurred deserving of mention till the 
 seeds came up, but then a gentle surprise was 
 
84 CLEOMENE 
 
 depicted in the face of the king. He sent for the 
 head gardener, and expressed to him his astonish- 
 ment at seeing everywhere throughout his flower- 
 garden only plants of the same character. The head 
 gardener replied that, as all babies are alike at first, 
 so is it with all seedling plants — differentiation takes 
 place later. 
 
 When, however, all the plants began to blow, and 
 in every flower-bed, in the sunk-garden, in the wall- 
 garden, in the herbaceous border, in the sub-tropical- 
 garden, everywhere nothing bloomed but Ten-Week 
 Stock, then the wrath of the king blazed forth, and 
 he sent for the head gardener, who at once laid the 
 entire blame on Cleomene. 
 
 "The sun cannot shine everywhere," said he; 
 " neither can my eyes be in all parts at once. I am 
 not to blame." 
 
 " An example must be made," said the king. " We 
 will have that young woman branded on the nose 
 with 'T.W.S.,' to let it be known everywhere and 
 by all that she sowed no other seed than Ten-Week 
 Stock." 
 
 Cleomene was introduced into the torture- chamber. 
 A brazier stood there, full of glowing charcoal, in 
 which was an iron stamp wherewith she was to be 
 indelibly marked. 
 
 "Young woman," said the king, "hold out your 
 nose, and hold it steady, or the brand-letters will be 
 scattered over your face." 
 
CLEOMENE 85 
 
 Then Cleomene threw herself sobbing on the 
 floor, and cried : — 
 
 " Because at the elves I did fleer and mock, 
 Upon the ocean condemned to rock, 
 To be branded for sowing but Ten-Week Stock " 
 
 She had hardly uttered the line before the king 
 repented of his cruel purpose, and said, "The girl 
 is not bad -looking; she has a handsome nose; it 
 would be a pity to spoil it. She shall be given 
 another chance. Let her redeem her character in 
 the kitchen." 
 
 Accordingly Cleomene was released, and the exe- 
 cutioner, with a sigh, laid aside his implement of 
 torture and extinguished the charcoal. 
 
 Cleomene now found herself in quite a different 
 sphere. She had to prepare the meals for the royal 
 party — something nice for breakfast, a simple, whole- 
 some, not too substantial lunch, and to exert all her 
 powers on dinner for the evening — pieces de resist- 
 ance and kors d'ceuvres. There was a head cook on 
 the establishment, who took to herself all the en- 
 comiums lavished on dainty cookery, and laid on 
 the underlings all the blame for burnt puddings, 
 heavy pastry, and underdone or overdone fish and 
 meat. She was not a person of rude health, and 
 usually succumbed to exhaustion in the afternoons, 
 and did not reappear till late the next morning. 
 
 Cleomene did her best. She was desirous to 
 
86 CLEOMENE 
 
 please and to show the king that she was grateful 
 for having been spared the ignominy of a branded 
 nose. 
 
 She considered what would be a suitable dish for 
 dinner, as the king had invited a neighbouring 
 potentate to visit him, as also the President of a 
 great Republic ; she thought that cottage-pie was 
 not only simple and easy of construction, it was 
 likewise nutritious, and above all, economical, for in 
 it she used up scraps of cold meat, minced, with 
 pepper and onion, and, over all, potatoes nicely 
 browned. 
 
 As there was to be a large dinner-party of twenty 
 personages, she first made a small cottage-pie, and 
 ate of that as much as she could, as a standard unit, 
 and then multiplied by twenty the amount consumed 
 by herself, and made cottage-pie commensurate with 
 this requirement. But, as there was no dish large 
 enough, she divided the amount by three, and made 
 three pies, one containing six portions only for the 
 president, but one containing seven for each of the 
 sovereigns. This, it must be allowed, showed an 
 amount of intelligence and calculation hardly to be 
 anticipated in one of Cleomene's calibre. 
 
 As she had found, after eating her portion of 
 cottage-pie, that she had no appetite for anything 
 further, Cleomene calculated that it would be the 
 same at the royal board, and so provided nothing 
 more. 
 
CLEOMENE 87 
 
 The dinner-party resulted in a fracas between 
 the potentates, royal and republican, and the king 
 who was entertaining them. They insisted that he 
 had invited them to his table only to insult them, 
 and they retired in dudgeon and with threats of 
 invasion. 
 
 The king, in fury, summoned his Cabinet to con- 
 sult what was to be done, and the Cabinet agreed 
 that the cook had been guilty of high treason, and 
 must lose her head. The head cook — shortly to 
 become a headless cook — was conducted into the 
 royal presence heavily ironed. She maintained her 
 serenity, buoyed up by conscious rectitude. She 
 declared that she had not been in the kitchen 
 when the cottage-pies were made. On principle she 
 never entered the kitchen when dinner was being 
 prepared, lest she should injure her complexion at 
 the range. The dinner in question was due to the 
 underling; if his Majesty thrust the scum of his 
 country into the kitchen, what else could be ex- 
 pected ? 
 
 The king saw the force of this self-exculpation, 
 and ordered the chains to be knocked off the cook's 
 hands and feet, and Cleomene was sent for. 
 
 It was in vain for her to protest that what she 
 had done was her best, and done with desire to 
 please. The king in council condemned her to die 
 by the axe. She was immediately conveyed to 
 execution. The headsman sharpened the instrument 
 
88 CLEOMENE 
 
 of death on a whetstone, and the block was produced 
 and placed in the courtyard. 
 
 Cleomene was conducted to the spot where she 
 was to die. 
 
 The sight of the scaffold draped in sable, of the 
 masked executioner, overcame her, and with a bitter 
 cry, as she wrung her hands, she exclaimed : — 
 
 " Because at the elves I did fleer and mock. 
 Upon the ocean condemned to rock. 
 To be branded for sowing but Ten-Week Stock, 
 And for cottage-pie doomed to the fatal block " 
 
 Hardly were the words uttered before she saw an 
 anchor that had caught in the executioner's block, 
 and turned it over. It was attached to a rope that 
 hung down from the clouds. Instantly Cleomene 
 caught the rope and planted herself on the anchor. 
 Next moment she was drawn up, over the heads of 
 the crowd, above the roof of the palace. She looked 
 down on the city ; all grew small and ever smaller 
 under her, and she became alarmed, when, looking 
 up, she saw a cloud, in shape like a ship, from which 
 the rope depended to which was attached the anchor 
 that was occupied by her. She heard the clank of 
 a windlass, and saw pale faces looking over the 
 bulwarks of the cloud-ship. Presently she was drawn 
 up the white side of the vessel, and in another 
 moment was on deck. 
 
 She now discovered that she was actually in a 
 
CLEOMENE 89 
 
 cloud-ship, that navigated the upper firmament. It 
 had sails that caught the wind and carried it forward. 
 It was manned by spiritual beings, vaporous and 
 transparent, with wan faces, like the moon by day- 
 light. One mysterious being approached her, and 
 said, " I constitute thee stewardess.'' Cleomene 
 discovered that so long as the wind blew and the 
 vessel made headway, the crew had no need for 
 her assistance ; but in a dead calm, when the cloud- 
 ship was motionless, they suffered poignantly, and 
 the stewardess was much in request. 
 
 In the aerial bark Cleomene voyaged day and 
 night. Sometimes the vessel passed more swiftly 
 through the sky than at other times. She enjoyed 
 the freshness of the air, and the repose. When 
 thunder and tempest menaced, the cloud-ship was 
 lightened, and soared high above the region of 
 meteorological disturbance. When the storm was 
 over, it descended again. Life on board was un- 
 eventful. The spirit-mariners never spoke, and their 
 faces expressed no emotion or interest. The only 
 variety in her life on board was produced when the 
 spirit bark skimmed past volcanoes in active eruption, 
 when sometimes masses of pumice and scoria were 
 thrown into the boat. These masses materially in- 
 commoded the vessel and impeded its motion. She 
 sank in the atmospheric ocean. But always, when a 
 mariner saw that this was the case, he went to the 
 spot where lay the erupted matter, and threw it over- 
 
90 CLEOMENE 
 
 board. When such a mass fell on earth it was called 
 a meteoric stone. Directly the ship was lightened it 
 rose in the air with renewed buoyancy. This was 
 disappointing to Cleomene, who was pleased to sail 
 near the world, to see its mountains and pastures, 
 rivers and towns. 
 
 When the ship sailed high, then the world below 
 looked like a map, and that unpleasantly reminded 
 Cleomene of the school-room. As the sailors never 
 spoke, the dulness became at last intolerable, and 
 Cleomene grew most desirous to be on earth again. 
 
 Such had been her life for a month and a day, when 
 in sailing over Stromboli she managed to secure some 
 lava projected from the crater, and to secrete it under 
 her skirts. 
 
 As now the vessel swam low, the captain became 
 uneasy, and sent the sailors to search the vessel ; but 
 they found nothing. As they passed Etna a great 
 mass of rock was flung out of the volcano, and fell 
 on the ship. Again with dexterity Cleomene rolled 
 it under her, and sat upon it. The ship now sank 
 very low. 
 
 The ghostly mariners moved about uneasily, and 
 examined the hold to see if any gross air had got 
 into it. One went over the side to explore the 
 bottom and learn if any swallows — air barnacles — ■ 
 had attached themselves to the keel. But all at 
 once a sailor, the man at the wheel, detected a piece 
 of the stone projecting from under the skirts of 
 
CLEOMENE 91 
 
 Cleomene. Immediately the captain and crew were 
 summoned, and they stood about her with indigna- 
 tion flashing in their faces Hke summer lightning in 
 clouds. They were very angry, as well as alarmed, 
 for if the vessel ran against a mountain it was likely 
 to go to pieces. They moved their arms threaten- 
 ingly, and she feared they would throw her overboard. 
 In her alarm she exclaimed : — 
 
 " Because at the elves I did fleer and mock, 
 Upon the ocean condemned to rock, 
 To be branded for sowing but Ten-Week Stock, 
 And for cottage-pie doomed to the fatal block, 
 I weighted the ship with erupted rock " 
 
 Instantly the cloud -vessel ran on breakers and 
 went to pieces. The crew were visible drifting 
 about as bits of fleecy vapour, some clinging to 
 pines, some striving ±0 soar ; but Cleomene breathed 
 happily to find her feet once more on substantial 
 soil. 
 
 The country in which she found herself was 
 strange to her eyes. The trees were of a dull 
 green, and with drooping but not deciduous foliage. 
 There was no song in the birds, no fragrance in 
 the flowers. 
 
 After descending the hill on which she had landed, 
 Cleomene came on a plain with open grassy tracts 
 studded with tree-clumps. Here she discerned a 
 habitation, and directed her steps towards it. 
 
 A man with a shaggy beard and unkempt head of 
 
92 CLEOMENE 
 
 hair, a coloured shirt open at the throat, and hands in 
 his pockets, lounged at the door. 
 
 He eyed her as she approached, without removing 
 the hat from his head, the pipe from his lips, or his 
 hands from his pockets, and said, "Wull, who are 
 you, this time o' day ? " 
 
 " I am Cleomene, Queen of Coralia," answered she. 
 " I shall be obliged if you will give me something to 
 eat and drink." 
 
 " Queen, are you ? " 
 
 "Yes, I am a Queen." 
 
 " Queens be blowed ! " observed the Vulgar Man. 
 
 " That," responded Cleomene, " is what I am par- 
 ticularly averse to. I have, in fact, been blown about 
 a great deal too much. Now I am on solid soil I 
 want substantial food. Aloft I had a vaporous diet, 
 of which it took a great deal to allay the appetite, 
 and yet there always remained a void." 
 
 " Have a drink ? " said the Vulgar Man. " What 's 
 your tipple ? " 
 
 " Milk, if you please." 
 
 " Humph ! " said the Vulgar Man. " If you get 
 anything from me you must pay for it " 
 
 " I have no money." 
 
 " Then you must work for it. I '11 give you 
 junks of salt pork and lots of whisky. You shall 
 look after my nursery of kangaroos. I am short 
 of a governess. Give 'em air and exercise, and 
 keep 'em clean." 
 
CLEOMENE 93 
 
 So Queen Cleomene passed into the service of the 
 Vulgar Man, whose talk was Slang. 
 
 The first day he said to her, " If you lose or injure 
 one of my kangaroos, I '11 settle your hash." 
 
 " I have not had any hash since I was in Coralia," 
 said the queen. "There I turned up my nose at 
 it." 
 
 Cleomene found that the charge of the kangaroos 
 was laborious. These beasts jumped prodigiously, 
 and she had to keep on the run incessantly to 
 retain them in a flock. She was so exhausted with 
 each day's work that she felt the life was unendur- 
 able. 
 
 Then Cleomene recollected having seen performing 
 fleas. These insects had been entirely cured of their 
 propensity for leaping, so the exhibitor had asserted, 
 by enclosing them in a box where, when they leaped, 
 they struck their heads against the cover. In the 
 course of two or three days the fleas were entirely 
 broken of their habit of jumping. 
 
 The Vulgar Man had a drinking-bar and a dancing- 
 saloon near his house, but, as there were no men in 
 the neighbourhood to drink, and no women within a 
 hundred miles to dance, neither was frequented. Into 
 this bar and dancing-saloon Cleomene introduced the 
 thirty kangaroos entrusted to her care, and, sitting in 
 the bar with her knitting, allowed the kangaroos full 
 liberty to leap and knock their heads against the 
 ceiling. 
 
94 CLEOMENE 
 
 By evening all the flock was completely prostrated. 
 The beasts had jumped and had banged their skulls 
 till all laboured under concussion of the brain, and 
 lay their length on the floor. Cleomene attempted to 
 rouse them, but they were senseless, and breathing in 
 a stertorous manner that alarmed her. In a panic 
 she ran from the saloon ; she feared the vengeance 
 of the Vulgar Man, and she did not cease running 
 till she reached the seashore. There she cast her- 
 self on the sand and gasped : — 
 
 " Because at the elves I did fleer and mock, 
 Upon the ocean condemned to rock, 
 To be branded for sowing but Ten-Week Stock, 
 And for cottage-pie doomed to the fatal block, 
 I weighted the ship with erupted rock, 
 And settled the hash of my kangaroo flock " 
 
 Instantly she was aware of a boatload of English 
 sailors hard by. She entreated them to save her 
 from the Vulgar Man, and they assented with en- 
 thusiasm. They rowed her to their ship, and pre- 
 sented her to their commanding officer, Commodore 
 Sir Samson Furzeby, of the Furious. 
 
 Sir Samson asked Cleomene what she desired. 
 
 She replied, to work her passage. 
 
 To this he assented, and told her that her duty 
 would be that of housemaid to the ship — to dust 
 the bunkers, and brush down cobwebs from the 
 yardarms — and that the ship was a man-of-war, and 
 an ironclad. 
 
CLEOMENE 95 
 
 Cleomene performed her duties with alacrity, and 
 became a general favourite. In the evenings she told 
 the sailors yarns, which were strictly true, for they 
 concerned her adventures. She was frequently inter- 
 rupted in her narrative by the recommendation to 
 " tell that to the Horse Marines,'' and this she readily 
 undertook to do on the earliest available occasion, 
 when she made acquaintance with that gallant body 
 of men. 
 
 Cleomene might have remained long on board the 
 Furious but for an untoward accident. 
 
 One morning, while dusting the cabin in which 
 were kept the wines of the mess, with her skirts she 
 swept down an entire dozen of sparkling hock be- 
 longing to the mess — and a pretty mess she made 
 thereby. 
 
 The captain overheard the crash of bottles, and 
 shouted from his crib to know what was up. Cleo- 
 mene replied that the sparkling hock had been very 
 much up, but was so no longer. 
 
 Sir Samson piped all hands to the side of his bunk, 
 and held a court on Cleomene, and sentenced her to 
 be keel-hauled. 
 
 Keel-hauling is a frightful punishment in daily 
 employment in the British navy. It consists in 
 dragging a person down one side of a vessel by a 
 rope under the keel and up the other side. When 
 Cleomene heard her sentence she was paralysed with 
 terror, and sobbed forth ; — 
 
96 CLEOMENE 
 
 " Because at the elves I did fleer and mock, 
 Upon the ocean condemned to rock, 
 To be branded for sowing but Ten-Week Stock, 
 And for cottage-pie doomed to the fatal block, 
 I weighted the ship with erupted rock, 
 And settled the hash of my kangaroo flock. 
 And knocked down a dozen of sparkhng hock " 
 
 Then the under-officers and all the crew prostrated 
 themselves before the commodore, bit the dust, tore 
 their garments, and implored some lenity. Sir 
 Samson relaxed, and commuted the sentence to 
 being put ashore on a desert island. 
 
 As a desert island was immediately sighted on 
 the larboard side, the boat was lowered, and, amidst 
 the tears of the men of the fo'castle, Cleomene was 
 conducted to the islet, and was there left. As soon 
 as the man-of-war had disappeared in the offing, 
 Cleomene looked about her. The island was 
 volcanic, and consisted of a cone. To her surprise, 
 she saw a post with a board nailed to it near the 
 landing-place. She read : — 
 
 "TAKE NOTICE. 
 
 "This island is inhabited by the Gryojock, a quadruped 
 and a mammal, in shape like a deer, but with a human 
 appearance in the head, with projecting ears. Its favourite 
 diet is human flesh. The legs on the right side before 
 and behind are half the length of those on the left side. 
 This is a wise provision of Nature, adapted to the habitat 
 of the animal. It enables it to ascend and descend the 
 conical bills of yojcanic islands such as it frequents, 
 
CLEOMENE 97 
 
 Voyagers are specially requested to observe the habits 
 of this animal. One pound reward to any such as can 
 describe the colour of its eyes." 
 
 Cleomene had hardly read this before she heard 
 a trumpeting sound, and, looking up, saw the 
 Gyrojock on the apex of the cone, snuffing the 
 breezes. It had discovered her, and began in rotary 
 fashion to descend the mountain. 
 
 Had there been a level spot on the island, 
 Cleomene would have been safe, as there the 
 monster could not stand. Her only chance was to 
 ascend the cone spirally in an opposite direction 
 to that taken by the Gyrojock as it descended, and 
 to manage to be on the one side of the mountain 
 when it was on the other. This she did with great 
 exertion, and when she reached the summit there 
 it was at the bottom, snuffing and trumpeting. But 
 the monster soon perceived her, and recommenced 
 its rotary ascent, and she her rotary descent. 
 
 Thus for some time she baffled the creature. But 
 this could not last for ever. She was exhausted, and 
 sobbed forth : — 
 
 " Because at the elves I did fleer and mock, 
 Upon the ocean condemned to rock. 
 To be branded for sowing but Ten- Week Stock, 
 And for cottage-pie doomed to the fatal block, 
 I weighted the ship with erupted rock, 
 And settled the hash of my kangaroo flock, 
 And knocked down a dozen of sparkling hock. 
 And circumvented the Gyrojock." 
 H 
 
98 CLEOMENE 
 
 She had hardly uttered the words, before the 
 elf-mother appeared before her, smiling, and said : 
 " ' Circumvented the Gyrojock ' ! Fine, prodigiously 
 fine ! That is true poetry, and warms the heart. It 
 is concise and epigrammatic. I would rather have 
 written that line than have composed Thomson's 
 Seasons, Falconer's Shipwreck, Browning's The Ring 
 and the Book, or Sir Matthew Arnold's Light of Asia. 
 I put an end to all your troubles." 
 
 The elf vanished, and Cleomene found herself 
 wher6 she had been before she began her series of 
 adventures. The Revolution was at an end. The 
 Provisional Government had provided for the 
 working-classes only tinned meats, which they ab- 
 horred. The Committee of Public Safety had laid 
 its hands on the funds, invested them abroad, and 
 had followed them to see that they were secure. 
 
 The queen was received with enthusiasm. Cleo- 
 mene was greatly altered. Her conversation was no 
 longer confined to domestic matters. She had been 
 in various situations, as gardener, cook, stewardess, 
 nursery governess (to kangaroos), housemaid (on 
 board a man-of-war), and she had come to under- 
 stand that in such situations there was much that 
 was trying and called for forbearance. Formerly she 
 had been censorious with her servants ; she was this 
 no more. 
 
 Cabinet Councils were now looked forward to with 
 eagerness, merely for the sake of hearing the queen 
 
CLEOMENE 99 
 
 tell yarns ; and the speech from the throne was 
 devoured with avidity. And so, instead of telling 
 her adventures to the Horse Marines, Cleomene 
 retailed them to her kingdom, and kept it thenceforth 
 in the best of humours, and entirely loyal to the 
 throne, which, as all the subjects found, was full of 
 sympathy with everyone who was in trouble. 
 
 " I hope, your Majesty," said Mr. Jeremiah Toope, 
 " that you have not learned anything from the story 
 of Cleomene, that it has left your mind as blank 
 after hearing it as it was before. That, I take it, 
 is what we who seek to amuse should study, whether 
 we attempt it in literature, or on the stage." 
 
 The king looked at the queen. 
 
 At a sign from him, whilst the story of Cleomene 
 was in course, some of the pixy attendants had 
 removed the skin of the hedgehog and had con- 
 cealed it. 
 
 Now the queen's eyes wandered in quest of it. 
 There is a pleasing pain in self-abandonment to 
 grief, even over a hedgehog, and the queen sought 
 occasion for more tears. 
 
 Meanwhile, with eyes full of entreaty, the fairy 
 Noyalen was watching her father. He saw it, and 
 nodded assent. At once she tripped up to the 
 schoolmaster, and presented to him another spray, 
 on which was a tiny purple berry. 
 
 He readily took it, and no sooner was it between 
 
too CLEOMENE 
 
 his lips than it was as though a stopper had been 
 taken out of one of his ears. He heard more 
 distinctly than it had ever been possible with him 
 before. He heard the rushing of a distant moorland 
 river as it plunged over boulders ; he heard the 
 twitter of a night bird in a marsh, and the whisper 
 of the wind among the fern. He was so delighted 
 with the novel sensation that he would have listened 
 in silence for an hour, had not a sign from the king 
 reminded him that he was there to tell stories ; 
 so hastily collecting his thoughts, he began the fifth 
 tale. 
 

 THE ASU-MAID 
 
V. 
 
 THE STORY OF THE ASH-MAID 
 
 THERE lived, in the springtime of the world, 
 two knights that loved each other very dearly. 
 They had been friends as children, and were com- 
 panions-in-arms when men. Now it so fell out that 
 both married and lived at some distance from each 
 other in their castles, and thenceforth saw but little 
 of each other. But for all that there was no abate- 
 ment in the love each bore to the other. 
 
 And it came to pass that the one had by his wife 
 two little children, born in one birth, and both were 
 boys. Then Sir Eglamour, for that was his name, 
 thanked Almighty God for so great a gift; and 
 summoned to him a messenger and bade him go 
 to his good friend Sir Triamour, and invite him to 
 come and be godfather to his children. 
 
 The messenger hasted and went on his journey, 
 and he arrived at the castle of Sir Triamour when he 
 sat at meat in his hall, with his lady and all his 
 retainers. Then he bent his knee and greeted the 
 knight, and told him all his errand. 
 
 The knight, Sir Triamour, was pleased, and gave 
 
I02 STORY OF THE ASH-MAID 
 
 the messenger a palfrey as present for his good 
 tidings. Now when the lady heard that her hus- 
 band's great friend's wife was mother of twins, 
 she laughed, and said, " My cat has more at a litter 
 than that It were well that one of these pups 
 should be drowned." 
 
 When she spoke thus, the messenger was sore 
 ashamed, and Sir Triamour waxed wroth and 
 rebuked his wife ; but she spoke further rude and 
 unmannerly words. 
 
 Sir Triamour departed for his friend's house, and 
 a sorrowful man was he, lest the messenger should 
 tell his friend the ugly words let drop by his wife. 
 But whether Sir Eglamour heard thereof or not we 
 cannot tell, for he gave no token of displeasure to 
 his friend, but received him with open arms, and with 
 joy of heart did welcome him. Likewise did his 
 sweet lady salute Sir Triamour with gracious words, 
 and showed him with pride and pleasure the two 
 lovely, innocent babes she had brought into the 
 world. 
 
 Now it came to pass that after a year had gone 
 the wife of Sir Triamour also bare children, and 
 became the mother of twin daughters. Then she 
 thought of what she had said, and how everyone 
 would heap scorn on her, for that she who had 
 mocked Sir Eglamour's lady was come into the 
 same plight. It was so, that her lord and master 
 was absent from home at the time. 
 
STORY OF THE ASH-MAID 103 
 
 Then she bade a nurse-girl carry away one of the 
 babes and dispose of it so that she should see it no 
 more. 
 
 The good girl said to the lady, "Give to me the 
 little babe, and you shall not hear of it again." 
 
 So the lady gave a beautiful mantle lined with 
 miniver, in which the babe was to be wrapped, and 
 she took a ring of gold and put it on the arm of the 
 child, attached thereto by a piece of silk lace. 
 
 Now at night the maid stole out of the castle by a 
 secret way, carrying the infant in her arms, and she 
 traversed a wild heath. The season was winter, and 
 the night was dark and windy. The poor babe 
 sobbed in the maiden's arms, and would not be 
 comforted. 
 
 At length the maid reached a forest, where there 
 was shelter from the icy blast, and took a road that 
 ran through the forest, and she came at length to a 
 convent; but all therein were wrapped in sleep, and 
 there shone but one light from the windows, and that 
 was from the church. 
 
 Then the maiden stayed her steps, and she saw 
 growing by the church door an old ash tree that was 
 hollow. She took the babe, wrapped it well in the 
 fur cloak, and laid it in the hollow of the trunk 
 of the ash, and then fled away to return to her 
 mistress. 
 
 When the day began to dawn, then the porter of 
 the abbey arose, rang the bells, lighted the tapers, 
 
I04 STORY OF THE ASH-MAID 
 
 laid forth the books, and then undid the church door. 
 Now only did he perceive some fur in the ash tree, 
 and going to examine it more closely found the babe 
 wrapped in it. He at once took it to his home and 
 delivered it to his daughter, and bade her warm and 
 feed it. 
 
 She gladly accepted the charge, she unwrapped 
 the child and laid it to sleep. 
 
 Now when the abbess and nuns had finished the 
 service in the church, then the porter went to the 
 abbess and told her what he had found, and that he 
 believed the little babe came of noble family, because 
 of the gold ring bound round its arm and the mantle 
 of miniver in which it was wrapped. 
 
 Then the abbess bade that the little maiden should 
 be baptised, and because it was found in an ash tree, 
 therefore the name given was Freyne, which in the 
 British language signifies an ash. 
 
 This Freyne throve from year to year, 
 The abbess's niece men thought she were. 
 In all England there was none, 
 A fairer maiden than she was one. 
 
 Now when she was grown, and well instructed, then 
 the abbess asked her if it was her good will to 
 become a nun in the convent. But Freyne told 
 her that, though she had been happy in her love 
 and in the peaceful life of the cloister, yet she had 
 no desire to become a nun. The abbess told Freyne 
 all about how she was found in an ash tree, and that 
 
STORY OF THE ASH-MAID 105 
 
 a girl without friends and relatives would have a 
 hard time of it in the world. She gave Freyne the 
 mantle of miniver and the gold ring that were found 
 with her, and she said that she would put her in 
 service into some good house where she might earn 
 her daily bread. 
 
 Now it so came to pass that she was placed as 
 a servant in the castle of a good knight who was 
 young and lived with his mother, a discreet lady, 
 a widow, and she was the widow of Sir Eglamour. 
 The one of her twin sons tarried at home and kept 
 the castle, but his brother was with the king and 
 served him. 
 
 It was so, that the fair Freyne attended on the 
 lady, and did good service, and was ever gentle, 
 and cheerful, and willing. 
 
 Now the maid Freyne had not served long in 
 the house before the eyes of the young knight 
 rested on her, and he was smitten with great love; 
 likewise did she think that there never could be a 
 more gentle and courteous man than was he. His 
 name was Guroun. But inasmuch as she was but 
 a poor serving-maid, he strove to turn his mind 
 from her; and she, in that she was one whose 
 parentage was unknown, also knew that love for 
 her young master would give her a sore heart and 
 bring her no happiness. 
 
 Many a night she wept and prayed and wished 
 she were back in the convent, and yet when day 
 
io6 STORY OF THE ASH-MAID 
 
 came and she saw the gallant knight, she felt as if 
 she could never be happy away from the house 
 where he dwelt. 
 
 Now the mother- of the young knight saw how 
 his mind was leaning towards Freyne, and she knew, 
 as a wise and prudent woman, that this must not be 
 allowed to proceed further. 
 
 Therefore she urged her son greatly to marry ; and 
 she bade him ride to the castle of his father's great 
 friend, Sir Triamour, for he, said she, hath a fair 
 daughter who is wonderfully beautiful, so all men 
 aver, and she is the heiress to his broad lands. And 
 the young knight, though he had no wish to marry 
 anyone save Freyne, yet on his mother's persuasion, 
 and moved by his own sense of what was fitting, 
 mounted his horse and with a great retinue went to 
 visit Sir Triamour. And there he saw his daughter, 
 who was named Hazel, and the reason why she was 
 called Hazel was this : after that her twin sister had 
 been taken away, the babe could in no way be 
 comforted ; it sobbed and refused to be fed. 
 
 It fell out that as the maiden returned from dis- 
 posing of the one daughter at the convent gates, she 
 walked till the dawn broke ; and as she went along 
 she passed a hazel bush on which were catkins, 
 although the time of year was early. And she 
 plucked a twig hung with catkins, and she came 
 along swinging the pendent blossoms. 
 
 And when she arrived at the castle, her mistress 
 
STORY OF THE ASH-MAID 107 
 
 was in tears and despair because of the weeping of 
 the babe. Then the maiden took the branch of 
 catkins and dangled them before the eyes of the 
 child, and drew them lightly to and fro over the 
 babe's face, and it laughed and was happy. So 
 when the child was christened they named her 
 Hazel. She was tall and fair and graceful, and 
 withal of a sweet disposition, but ever with a slight 
 shade of sadness in her face. 
 
 Verily, the young knight, the son of Sir Eglamour, 
 would never have cared to ask for her in marriage, 
 had he not thought that he saw in her a something 
 that reminded him of his dear Freyne, the ash-maid. 
 
 Before he had been there many days he asked 
 to be given Hazel to wife, and the marriage was 
 to take place within a month at his own and not 
 at the bride's house, and when his dear twin brother 
 could be summoned from the court of the king. 
 
 Now when Freyne heard that her lord was to 
 be wedded to another lord's daughter, then was her 
 heart nigh breaking. 
 
 She wept and grew white and wan, moreover she 
 resolved to return to the convent, and there spend the 
 rest of her days as a holy nun. 
 
 She told her intent to her mistress, but the lady 
 said she could in no case spare her till the marriage 
 was over. After that she might go. Very sadly, 
 and against her will, Freyne tarried in the castle. 
 And all men might see that the young knight was 
 
io8 STORY OF THE ASH-MAID 
 
 likewise ill at ease ; that he could not be content 
 to be married to the fair Hazel, but that his heart 
 hung on the fair Ash. His mother was even alarmed 
 lest now, at the last moment, he should break away 
 from the maid to whom he was promised and follow 
 his own inclination. 
 
 At length the wedding party arrived, and the 
 bishop came likewise to bless the marriage. 
 
 Now it was the duty of Freyne to attend to the 
 chambers, and when she came to do the room for the 
 bride she thought that the bed was not warm enough, 
 and had not on a sufficiently handsome coverlet. So 
 she hasted and fetched her own mantle of miniver 
 and laid that over the bed. 
 
 Next it must be told how that Sir Triamour had 
 been with his lady and daughter to the king's court, 
 and there had been jousting and dancing and much 
 merry-making there, and at that time the twin 
 brother of Sir Guroun was also there ; and he had 
 worn catkins to his crest and a sprig of hazel painted 
 on his shield in the tournament, and had behaved 
 himself right valiantly, and all knights had been un- 
 horsed before him, whatever were their crests. Lions, 
 leopards, eagles, drakes, had all gone down before the 
 hazel-bough hung with catkins. 
 
 And the reason why Sir Ferimond, as the twin 
 brother of Sir Guroun was called, bore the catkins in 
 his crest and on his shield was that he thought Hazel 
 was the fairest thing his eyes had ever rested on. 
 
STORY OF THE ASH-MAID 109 
 
 And although he came to very little speech with her, 
 yet did his heart cleave to her. 
 
 Right sorrowful was he when the tidings reached 
 him that his brother was to be espoused to the Hazel 
 Maid. Very dear though Guroun was to him, he 
 could ill bear that he should carry away the Hazel, 
 on whom his heart was set. Nevertheless he returned 
 home when his mother and brother summoned him ; 
 but his countenance was sad. 
 
 Moreover, when Hazel beheld him, she changed 
 hue, and the tears came into her eyes, for she knew 
 that she loved Sir Ferimond, whereas she only liked 
 his brother, Sir Guroun. 
 
 Great was the banqueting and loud was the mirth 
 at the table ; only was the bride cast down and the 
 bridegroom and his brother were discouraged. 
 
 Now when the lady mother of the fair Hazel took 
 her daughter to the chamber where she was to put on 
 her most beautiful white garments in which to go to 
 the church to be married, then it was so that she 
 spied a splendid mantle all furred with miniver laid 
 over the bed. 
 
 And thereat she uttered a loud cry, for she knew 
 that it was the very cloak in which the twin sister of 
 Hazel had been carried forth by the maid. 
 
 She cried out for the chamberlain, and she asked 
 him whence he had gotten this mantle. But he 
 answered that he knew not whence it came, it was 
 none of his providing. 
 
no STORY OF THE ASH-MAID 
 
 Then came in the handmaid, Freyne, and the 
 lady spoke to her, and asked whose mantle that was. 
 Thereupon the maiden fair replied : — 
 
 " It is mine without leasing; 
 I had it together with this ring." 
 
 And she told how that she was found at the abbey 
 
 door, wrapped in miniver, and with the ring on her 
 
 arm. 
 
 Then the lady was astonished sore. 
 " Fair child ! my daughter ! I thee bore ! " 
 She swooned, and was well-nigh dead. 
 And lay sick, weeping on the bed. 
 
 Then she sent for her husband, and told him all ; 
 how that she had been the mother of two daughters, 
 and how, because she feared to be mocked, she had 
 sent one away, and that with the child she sent the 
 mantle and the ring, whereby it might be known 
 again. 
 
 Now the bishop stood by the altar in the church, 
 and the tapers were alight, and he was ready with his 
 ministers to bless the spousal. 
 
 But strange was the way in which he was kept 
 waiting, and wondrous was the noise of shouting and 
 merriment that came to his ears from without. 
 
 But presently, still more to his wonder, there 
 entered two happy couples, who desired him to bless 
 them and unite them in marriage; and more won- 
 drous still, Sir Guroun did not desire him to give in 
 marriage to him the Hazel, as was intended, but 
 
STORY OF THE ASH-MAID in 
 
 instead, the Ash; whereas his twin brother, Sir 
 Ferimond, took the Hazel. 
 
 Yet, great though was his wonder, the bishop could 
 not there, in the church and at the altar, ask why this 
 change was ; he had to content himself with asking 
 each over twice whether he, Guroun, took the Ash, 
 and whether he, Ferimond, took the Hazel. And as 
 neither had any doubt at all, neither had the maidens 
 any hesitation in saying to which knight she con- 
 signed herself, the bishop pronounced the benediction 
 which was to make each couple happy for ever and a 
 day. 
 
 By this time the queen had forgotten the hedge- 
 hog; she no longer looked for its skin. She had 
 raised herself to a sitting posture, and had allowed 
 her husband to wipe the tears from her cheeks. She 
 looked at the sweet princess and made a sign 
 to her. This was encouraging, for it showed that 
 she was able to think of something other than her 
 sorrows and of someone else beside herself, and that 
 she even entertained a sense of gratitude instead 
 of having all her emotions concentrated on the loss 
 of her pet. The king himself was pleased. 
 
 Then Noyalen timidly but smilingly approached 
 Mr. Jeremiah, and this time opened her little palm, 
 that was like a delicate rose-coloured sea-shell, and 
 in the midst was one little purple berry like a dark 
 pearl. 
 
112 STORY OF THE ASH-MAID 
 
 Mr. Jeremiah stooped and took up the berry with 
 his lips, and at the same time kissed the little hand, 
 that was at once hastily withdrawn, and a lively 
 crimson blush came over the fairy's face. 
 
 Then said Mr. Toope, " I will tell you the story 
 now of ' Patient Helen ' ; and this shall be my 
 sixth." 
 
 " We are anxious to hear it," said the king. 
 
 Thereupon the schoolmaster was aware that he 
 saw with one eye very differently from what he did 
 before; and above all he saw how lovely Noyalen 
 was. In very truth, as he told the next story he was 
 unable to take this clear-seeing eye off her. 
 
V 
 
 
 PATIENT HELEN 
 
VI. 
 
 PATIENT HELEN 
 
 THERE lived once upon a time in Constantinople 
 a king called Anthony, and he had a beautiful 
 daughter called Helen, She was asked in marriage 
 by the king of the Huns, and Anthony gave his 
 consent, for he wished to be on good terms with the 
 Huns. 
 
 But the Hun king was hideously ugly. His ears 
 grew where are the eyes of most people, and his eyes 
 were in the place where your and my ears grow. 
 
 Helen could not bear the thought of being married 
 to this dreadful man, so she ran away from home 
 and went on board a merchant vessel. She put on 
 her dress of cloth of gold embroidered with silken 
 flowers. But above this she cast a thick old mantle 
 of common stuff, patched about with many pieces of 
 cloth very unlike the original material. 
 
 Now as the ship went sailing down the Bosphorus, 
 all the bells in all the churches rang of their own 
 accord. 
 
 The ship had not got out of sight of land before it 
 was attacked by a pirate vessel, and the pirates killed 
 I J.3 
 
114 PATIENT HELEN 
 
 the merchant and all the crew, and carried off all the 
 merchandise ; but because Helen was in a poor 
 beggar's dress they thought nothing of her, and they 
 left her on the ship, and cut a hole in the ship's 
 bottom to sink the vessel and drown Helen in it. 
 
 The pirates sailed away laden with plunder. 
 
 Then Helen saw that the ship she was on was 
 filling with water and began to sink. So she managed 
 to loosen one plank, and when the ship sank she 
 floated on the sea, seated on this one plank. She 
 spread her veil, and the wind blew, filled the veil, and 
 wafted her far, far away, and cast her on the shore of 
 Britain. Then she stepped on land, and because 
 she was very hungry and weary, she went into an 
 orchard, in -which was a crystal fountain. And she 
 sat by the fountain and ate the apples and drank the 
 water. 
 
 It so fell out that the old king of England was 
 dead, and the realm was in the hands of his wife the 
 queen-mother and her young son, Constant. Now 
 Helen threw off her cloak of patches, and her golden 
 gown was visible underneath, but it was sadly marred 
 with seaweed ; and she was picking the seaweed off 
 when the young King Constant came into the 
 orchard. He at once stopped to speak to her, and 
 he saw how white and worn she seemed. Then he 
 said, "You have a very grand dress, but it is all 
 covered with seaweed." 
 
 She said : " I was in a merchant ship, and pirates 
 
PATIENT HELEN 115 
 
 came and plundered the vessel and killed the crew, 
 and because they thought I was only a beggar, they 
 left me behind, and bored a hole in the ship to sink 
 her. But I escaped on a plank." 
 
 Then the king sent his chamberlain for food and 
 wine, but Helen was so faint that she could scarce 
 eat. So he sopped the bread and cake in the wine 
 and put it into her mouth. 
 
 And when she was better, then the king conjured 
 Helen to tell him who she was. And she told him 
 all. 
 
 Then King Constant determined that he would 
 marry the maiden he had found in the apple orchard. 
 
 His mother when she heard this was very angry, 
 and she said, " Why are you so mad as to take such 
 a girl, who comes no one knows whence, out of the 
 sea, covered with weeds, and who, if she have a gold 
 gown, most assuredly stole it ? " 
 
 But the young king was so much in love with the 
 beautiful Helen that he would not listen to his 
 mother. He made a sumptuous wedding feast, and 
 his mother pretended to be glad at heart, but she was ■ 
 scheming evil all the while. 
 
 Now it fell out that soon after the wedding the 
 King Constant went with a great army to fight 
 against the Saracens. Before he departed he had 
 three royal seals made, and he kept one for himself, 
 he gave one to Helen, and the third to the Earl of 
 Gloucester, whom he made viceroy of England whilst 
 
ii6 PATIENT HELEN 
 
 he was away. Then he departed, and the separation 
 was sad between him and his dear Helen. 
 
 Helen remained mostly in London, where was the 
 earl. The queen-mother lived at Dover, and she 
 came sometimes to see her daughter-in-law. She 
 spoke to her lovingly, and quite deceived Helen, 
 making her think that she was much attached to her. 
 But all the while this wicked woman was consider- 
 ing how she might destroy her. 
 
 Now it happened one day that Queen Helen felt 
 very sleepy whilst her mother-in-law was with her, 
 and the queen-mother said to her, " Lay your head 
 on my lap and sleep." She did so. 
 
 Whilst Helen was asleep, the queen-mother felt in 
 the purse that was hung at Helen's belt, and found 
 the seal, and hid it away. Then, after Helen awoke, 
 she hurried to Dover and sent for a goldsmith, and 
 bade him make her an exact copy of the signet. 
 
 When he brought it, then she took a knife, stabbed 
 him to the heart, and threw him out of the window 
 into the sea. She next rode to London, and she 
 contrived unperceived to restore the seal of the king 
 to the purse of Helen. 
 
 Not long after that. Queen Helen became the 
 mother of two beautiful boys, twins, beautiful as 
 the day. 
 
 The earl thought he must write and tell the king, 
 so he wrote a letter and said in it how beautiful 
 the two baby boys were, and he sealed it with 
 
PATIENT HELEN 117 
 
 the royal signet and sent the letter off by a 
 messenger. 
 
 Now when the messenger came to Dover and 
 was waiting for the vessel to take him across the 
 straits, the servants of the queen-mother met him, 
 and as they were instructed by their mistress, they 
 asked him to come and speak with her. He agreed 
 and went to her house. She bade a feast be 
 made for him, and she spiced his wine with some- 
 thing that would make him sleep. So he ate and 
 drank, and then felt drowsy, and went to sleep 
 with his head on the table. 
 
 When the queen-mother saw this, she took away 
 the letter that he carried. She opened it and 
 read what the Earl of Gloucester had written. 
 Then she called her scribe, and made him write 
 instead that the queen had given birth to two 
 hideous monsters, with the heads of black dogs, with 
 the wings of bats, and with web-feet, a clear evidence 
 that she was a witch. This was signed in imita- 
 tion of the writing of the Earl of Gloucester, and 
 sealed with the imitation of the king's signet. 
 
 When the messenger awoke, he was rather 
 ashamed at having slept ; he started up and hurried 
 to the ship, and he had no idea as to what had 
 been done while he was sleeping. 
 
 When the king got this letter he was greatly 
 surprised and concerned. He thought about it, 
 and he felt quite sure that there was some mistake. 
 
ii8 PATIENT HELEN 
 
 So he wrote a letter to the Earl of Gloucester to 
 say that every care and kindness should be shown 
 to his dear Helen and to the two babes, and that 
 he would inquire into the matter when he returned. 
 
 Now by her orders the servants of the queen- 
 mother were on the watch for the return of the 
 messenger, and when he reached Dover they in- 
 vited him to sup at the house of their lady, whilst 
 his horses were being got ready. He agreed, and 
 was well entertained, and again the queen-mother 
 spiced his cup so that he fell asleep. 
 
 Whilst he slumbered she took the letter from 
 him, opened it, and read what the king had written. 
 Then she called her scribe and made him write 
 that the Queen Helen and her two babes were 
 forthwith to be burnt alive, and that some token 
 was to be retained to show that the earl had 
 faithfully fulfilled what he was required to do. 
 Then she sealed up the letter and put it in place 
 of the other among the despatches of the messenger. 
 
 No sooner had the Earl of Gloucester received 
 and read this letter than he was out of countenance, 
 and did not know what to do. He consulted 
 his wife, and she bade him do nothing, but wait 
 and send another letter to the king. 
 
 Now it fell out with this second letter as with 
 the first. The queen-mother got it into her hands 
 and altered its tenor. And it was the same with 
 the return letter. When she had that, she read 
 
PATIENT HELEN 119 
 
 that the king bade the earl do nothing ungentle, but 
 be careful of the queen and babes till the king's 
 return. 
 
 The queen-mother altered all that, and made her 
 scribe write seven letters, all to the same effect, that 
 the queen and the babes were forthwith to be 
 burnt on a little isle in the midst of the river 
 Thames. 
 
 She sent only one of these letters by the return 
 messenger of the Earl of Gloucester. When he 
 was gone, then she ran a knife into the heart 
 of her scribe, lest he should betray what had 
 been done, and threw his body out of the window 
 into the sea. 
 
 The Earl of Gloucester was sore abashed when 
 he got this second letter. He called together the 
 councillors of the realm to decide what was to be 
 done, and he showed them the two letters he had 
 received. Whilst they were consulting, there arrived 
 another messenger with a third letter, and the tenor 
 was the same. 
 
 The Council could come to no decision, and re- 
 solved to meet again the next day. But when they 
 assembled next day, there came a messenger with 
 a fourth letter, and so it was every day up to seven. 
 And in the last letter they were all threatened with 
 death unless they complied at once with what the 
 king commanded. 
 
 Then the Council said, " It were best to obey the 
 
I20 PATIENT HELEN 
 
 king and burn this woman, than that we should be all 
 given up to be hanged." 
 
 The earl went home in great grief, and he showed 
 the letter to the queen. 
 
 She was sore amazed, and could not understand 
 why the great love of Constant was changed to hate. 
 But being meek and patient, she said, "As the 
 king wills so must it be. I grieve only for my 
 pretty babes." 
 
 Now the Earl and Countess of Gloucester had a 
 daughter, Mary, and she was warmly attached to the 
 queen, and was quite heart-broken at the thought of 
 what was to be done to her mistress. She said that 
 when the queen was dead she knew she would die of 
 sorrow also. 
 
 The earl was greatly grieved, but he could not see 
 how he was to disobey the king's repeated orders. 
 He said to Helen, " Fair lady, what can I take and 
 present as a token that I obey my lord the king? 
 How am I to show him that I have done what he 
 commanded ? " 
 
 Thereupon she replied, "This is my hand. On 
 this hand he put the gold ring when he married me. 
 You must cut it off." 
 
 The earl did not wish to do this, but he did not 
 see how else he was to assure the king that he had 
 obeyed faithfully, so next day he sent for the execu- 
 tioner, and he cut off Helen's left hand at the wrist 
 Then he took a piece of her golden garment in which 
 
PATIENT HELEN 121 
 
 she had been washed ashore, and wrapped the hand 
 therein. 
 
 Now when this had been done, his daughter Mary 
 came weeping and entreating, and she said, " Burn 
 me in place of my dear mistress, the queen ; and I 
 will make two dolls of rag, and carry them, and they 
 will be thought to be the babes." 
 
 The queen would not for long consent to this, but 
 because Mary was urgent, and because she desired 
 to preserve her dear little twin babes, she at last 
 yielded. 
 
 Then, forasmuch as it was known that the queen's 
 hand was cut off, it was necessary that the left hand 
 of the earl's daughter should be cut off also. And 
 next day the good and faithful Mary, dressed in her 
 mistress's robe, and carrying two rag dolls, was 
 hurried to an island in the Thames, and was there 
 burned to ashes. But the people, and the soldiers, 
 and the executioner, all thought she was the queen, 
 because she had but one hand. 
 
 Now it must be told that the earl hasted with 
 Helen to the seaside, and put her in a little boat, 
 with a barrel of wine and three loaves. He had 
 drawn the ring from the finger of the queen's hand 
 that was cut off and had put it on his daughter's 
 hand that was also cut off. And he enclosed the 
 hand of the queen, wrapped round in the gold bro- 
 cade, in a common cover, and bound it to one of 
 the babes, fast to its side. 
 
122 PATIENT HELEN 
 
 Then the earl, weeping sore, thrust the boat out to 
 sea, and commended it to the gentlest winds of 
 heaven, and he returned home, and put his daughter's 
 hand with the ring on it in a golden casket set with 
 pearls and emeralds, and set it in his bedchamber. 
 
 Now it must be told how that the wind wafted the 
 patient Helen, as she sat nursing her two babes, over 
 the blue water towards the coast of Brittany. She 
 could do little with the boat, for she had one hand 
 only, and with that she attended to the twin babes. 
 
 The waves drove the boat up on the shore, and 
 Helen stepped out, carrying her babes, and went into 
 an oak wood, and found a rock, and under the shade of 
 the rock she laid the children. They were fast asleep, 
 so she returned to the boat for the little cask of wine 
 and the three loaves. She was some time in bringing 
 them, because she was not as yet accustomed to 
 having one hand. ' 
 
 Now when she came back to the rock, both the 
 children were gone. They had, in fact, been carried 
 off by a lion and a bear. 
 
 The poor mother ran through the wood crying and 
 calling, but all in vain. She saw no more traces of 
 her innocent babes, and for some time she wished she 
 were dead. 
 
 After a while, in her wanderings, she came to a 
 town. When there she went to the house of a widow, 
 and served her. She could not become a servant in a 
 great house, nor with people who required much, for 
 
PATIENT HELEN 123 
 
 she had one hand only. With that one hand, because 
 there was an honest heart with good will behind, she 
 did more, so the widow thought, than many a girl 
 who had two hands. 
 
 After she had remained some years with the widow 
 woman, this woman, her mistress, died, and Helen 
 was constrained to go elsewhere. She took ship, and 
 in the ship she sailed to Constantinople^ and when 
 she arrived there she was sore afraid that her father, 
 King Anthony, would not forgive her for running 
 away, and therefore she did not disclose who she 
 was ; and as she was very poor, she made her abode 
 under the stairs that led up to the palace. 
 
 Every day the king came down, and she put forth 
 her hand, and he dropped into it a penny, for he 
 pitied greatly the woman who had but one hand. 
 
 Now it came to pass that his thoughts began to 
 trouble him concerning his daughter, and he resolved 
 to go about the world in a great fleet seeking her. 
 Little did he think that he was really so near her, 
 and that it was to her that he gave an alms every 
 day. So King Anthony got a fair fleet of ships 
 ready, and he sailed the sea, seeking everywhere for 
 his lost daughter. 
 
 Now we must return and tell of what happened to 
 the babes. 
 
 A lion and a bear had carried them off, and they 
 ran with them through the forest. 
 
 There was a hermit lived in that forest, and he was 
 
124 PATIENT HELEN 
 
 out picking sticks when he heard the beasts come by, 
 and each carried a human babe. Then he shouted 
 and rushed upon them, and the bear let go the child 
 it was carrying and fled away. But the hermit 
 picked up the babe and ran after the lion, pursuing 
 his traces through the forest till he came to his lair. 
 Then he went boldly in, and forasmuch as he was 
 a good man, fearing God, the lion would not hurt 
 him, and let him take up the other babe, and carry 
 it away. 
 
 So the hermit took the twins to his house in the 
 wood, and he christened them ; one he called Lion, 
 and the other Brice. And the children grew up with 
 him, and he well instructed them in letters and in all 
 godly knowledge. When he took the babes home he 
 was much surprised to find that bound to one of 
 them was a fair woman's hand, wrapped up in costly 
 gold brocade. He put it by and cared for it, and he 
 told the boys that he had no doubt this hand was the 
 hand of their mother ; he could not be certain, but 
 he believed it was so. Thus the boys remained with 
 him and grew up during several years, and learned 
 to talk and to read, and all good things. 
 
 In course of time King Constant returned to 
 England, and when he arrived in Dover the wicked 
 queen - mother came to meet him, and with many 
 tears told him that his wife was dead ; she had been 
 killed along with his beautiful boys by the Earl of 
 Gloucester. 
 
PATIENT HELEN 125 
 
 When the king heard this he was very wroth, and 
 would ride at once to London and have the earl put 
 to death. The queen-mother went with him. When 
 the king arrived in London, and saw the earl, he 
 drew his sword and would have cut him to pieces on 
 the spot, but his knights went between, and they said, 
 " This is not English custom, to condemn and kill a 
 man unheard." 
 
 But the old queen-mother said, "Strike, my son, 
 and do not spare." 
 
 Nevertheless, as Constant was a just man, and 
 would not be above the laws, he asked the earl how 
 it was that he had put his wife and children to death. 
 Then the earl answered that he had done this by 
 the king's express command, sent him in eight 
 letters. 
 
 The king was very astonished to hear this, and he 
 said that unless these letters were produced, and he 
 were satisfied that they were his, he would condemn 
 the earl to death. Then the Earl of Gloucester sent 
 for the letters. 
 
 Now whilst they were being sought, there came 
 a herald into Westminster Hall, where was the king, 
 to say that there had arrived the fleet of Anthony, 
 King of Constantinople, and that he desired to visit 
 and salute the king. So Constant gave orders that 
 he should be forthwith conducted into the hall. 
 
 Now when King Anthony arrived, he told King 
 Constant that he was searching for his daughter, who 
 
126 PATIENT HELEN 
 
 was named Helen, and was the most beautiful woman 
 in the world, and as virtuous as she was beautiful. 
 And straightway King Constant told him how a beau- 
 tiful stranger in cloth of gold had arrived on a plank 
 in Britain, and how he had married her, and how 
 she had been traitorously done to death by the 
 Earl of Gloucester, whom he was now trying for 
 the crime. 
 
 When King Anthony heard this he nearly swooned 
 away, for he made sure he had come to the land 
 where his daughter had been, and was too late to 
 find her alive. 
 
 Now there entered into the hall the earl with the 
 eight letters, and he brought with him likewise the 
 messengers. The king looked at the letters, and 
 examined the seals, and he was much astonished. 
 He made the messengers tell their story. Of these 
 men seven were false witnesses, for they had been 
 suborned by the queen-mother to say that they had 
 come all the way from Saracenland, where King 
 Constant had been fighting. 
 
 Then the king said, " I know but two of these men, 
 who brought me letters from the earl, and took back 
 my letters to him. The other men I never saw ; 
 moreover, I never wrote these letters. The writing 
 is like mine, but it is not mine, and the seal is indeed 
 mine.'' 
 
 When the queen-mother heard this, she cried out, 
 " Put the earl to death ; you have heard enough." 
 
PATIENT HELEN 127 
 
 But the king said : " I have only heard enough to 
 be sure that there has been treachery, not enough to 
 tell me who committed it." 
 
 It never for one moment entered Constant's head 
 that his mother could be guilty of such wickedness. 
 
 He asked the earl for his signet, and he showed it. 
 He himself had one, and one had been carried to the 
 stake, he supposed, by his unfortunate queen. 
 
 Then the Earl of Gloucester produced the hand 
 that had been cut off. It was a very beautiful hand, 
 and on the finger was the gold ring the king had put 
 on his wife's hand when they were married. 
 
 King Constant wept sore, and said that indeed it 
 was Helen's hand. 
 
 But King Anthony looked hard, and said it was 
 not ; for his daughter had a little white crescent on 
 each finger-nail, and this hand had none. 
 
 When King Anthony declared this, then the good 
 Earl of Gloucester professed the whole truth : how 
 his daughter Mary had given herself to be burned in 
 the place of her mistress, and how that this was in 
 truth her hand, whereas the true hand of Helen was 
 bound to the side of one of the babes. He told, 
 moreover, how that he had sent away the poor queen 
 in an open boat, and how that two rag dolls had been 
 burned in place of the beautiful babes. 
 
 Now the King Constant saw that there was great 
 
 difficulty to get at the bottom of the fraud that had 
 
 . been played, and he ordered his council to meet on 
 
128 PATIENT HELEN 
 
 the morrow, when he would go into the matter more 
 thoroughly ; and he ordered that the messengers 
 should be thrown into prison till they were required. 
 
 The wicked queen-mother was now fearful for her- 
 self, for she saw that in time her son would unravel 
 the whole plot. 
 
 She sat at dinner beside King Anthony, and he 
 noticed that she was very careful about her purse that 
 was attached to her belt, and fearful of losing it 
 Moreover, she began to speak very friendly with him, 
 and she whispered to him to come with her into the 
 garden after the meal was ended, for she had some- 
 thing to say to him. 
 
 Accordingly he followed her when all rose from the 
 table, and when they were alone she said, " This is a 
 great and a beautiful kingdom. At Constantinople 
 you are hard pressed by the Saracens. Here there 
 are none to fear. If you will marry me I will poison 
 my son, King Constant, and you shall become king 
 of England." 
 
 " Is this your real intent ? " asked Anthony. 
 
 " Yes," she said ; " I will poison him to-night." 
 
 " Then," said he, "let us change our belts; you take 
 mine, and I yours, in token that you desire to make 
 this covenant with me." 
 
 The wicked queen-mother at once unbuckled her 
 girdle and handed it to King Anthony, with the 
 purse attached to it. 
 
 He took it. 
 
PATIENT HELEN 129 
 
 Then she cried out and said, " Stay ; let me first 
 remove the purse, which I cannot part with." 
 
 " Not so," answered King Anthony ; " not till we 
 have seen what is in it." 
 
 Then he walked straight back to the hall, where 
 were the king and his men, and he opened the 
 purse there before all eyes, and in it was the false 
 signet. 
 
 And immediately King Anthony proclaimed what 
 the queen-mother had said, and he declared her to be 
 the schemer of all the treachery. 
 
 This seemed likely enough, for there had been 
 made three signets only, and here was a fourth that 
 was manifestly counterfeit. 
 
 Accordingly Constant ordered the guards to re- 
 move his mother and take her to the Tower of 
 London. 
 
 Next day a great court was held in Westminster 
 Hall ; then the messengers, who had been paid by 
 the queen-mother to declare that they came from 
 her son, when they found that she was arrested, at 
 once spoke the truth, and told how that they had 
 been bribed by her to take the letters and tell a lie 
 as to whence they came. 
 
 The king showed the letters which had been sent 
 him, and the earl said that these had never been 
 written by him. Accordingly messengers were sent 
 to Dover, and the mansion of the queen-mother 
 was ransacked, and there were discovered the true 
 K 
 
I30 PATIENT HELEN 
 
 letters of the earl and of the king, which she had 
 suppressed, and in place of which she had substituted 
 others. 
 
 There was now no doubt about her guilt, and the 
 king ordered her to be kept confined in the Tower all 
 the rest of her life. 
 
 Now, just before the court rose there came in an 
 old hermit with two young boys. He had arrived 
 by ship in England, that he might put the boys 
 in some school where they would learn more than 
 he could teach them. On his way he saw the great 
 commotion about Westminster Hall, and he went 
 in, and heard people talk about the poor queen who 
 had lost her hand, and who was herself lost with 
 her pretty babes. Then the old man was greatly 
 astonished, and, followed by the lads, he went up 
 the hall, and he said, " Oh, kings, here are two boys 
 that I rescued from a lion and a bear. I know not 
 who they be, but one of them has a fair lady's hand, 
 that he always carries about with him." Then he 
 made the boy disclose the little bag in which was 
 contained the gold brocade wrapped about the 
 hand. 
 
 Now when King Constant saw the brocade he 
 cried out, " This is part of the beautiful garment in 
 which I first saw Helen, and here are still some 
 particles of seaweed adhering to it." 
 
 And King Anthony cried out, when he saw the 
 hand, " Verily, this is my daughter Helen's hand, for 
 
PATIENT HELEN 131 
 
 here is a half-moon distinctly marked on every 
 nail." 
 
 Then the two kings were greatly rejoiced, and 
 kissed the lads that were the sons of one and the 
 grandsons of the other. 
 
 Presently King Anthony grew grave, and said, 
 " Now I come to think of it, under the stairs of my 
 palace at Constantinople lives a poor woman, and 
 she has one hand. It was passing strange — I never 
 could see her but I thought upon my daughter, 
 and it came about thus : every day I gave her a 
 penny, and she closed her hand on it, and then I 
 saw the crescent-moons in her nails. But I never 
 considered who she might be, only, seeing these 
 marks on her nails, I was carried in mind to my 
 child whom I had lost." 
 
 Then said King Constant, " Let us take ship, 
 and sail to Constantinople, and find this fair 
 woman." 
 
 Thereupon they mounted their ships, the two 
 kings and their escort, and they took with them 
 the hermit, and the two boys, Lion and Brice. 
 
 They had a fair wind and a prosperous voyage, 
 and in course of time reached Constantinople. There 
 they went to the palace, and as they went up the 
 steps the woman who lived below the stair opened 
 her hand, and each cast in a gold coin ; and when 
 she closed her fingers, there on the nails were the 
 half-moons, as King Anthony had said. 
 
132 PATIENT HELEN 
 
 So they all stood on the head of the stairs, and 
 the heralds blew the trumpets, and the people were 
 gathered together, and the kings said to the boys, 
 " Go and fetch her who lives under the stairs." 
 
 Then they went and brought her, but she trembled 
 and wept, and supposed she was being taken to be 
 sentenced because she had run away from home 
 rather than marry the king of the Huns, whose ears 
 grew where should be his eyes, and his eyes looked 
 out of the sides of his head. 
 
 When she stood before the kings and with all 
 the people below, King Anthony said to Brice, 
 his grandson, " Unfold what is in the bag, and 
 show it." 
 
 Thereat the boy Brice drew forth the woman's 
 hand. And the king said to the woman, " Hold 
 forth thy left arm." 
 
 She did this trembling. 
 
 Then the hand was put to the stump, and instantly 
 it was fastened to it, and she moved her fingers just 
 as if the hand had never been cut off. 
 
 Thereat King Constant stooped, and put on the 
 finger the golden ring which he had drawn from 
 the dead hand of Mary, daughter of the Earl of 
 Gloucester. And he said, " You are my own Helen, 
 and these are your two sons." 
 
 So there was great embracing and many tears 
 were shed, and all the bells of Constantinople rang, 
 and the people shouted and sang. 
 
PATIENT HELEN 133 
 
 There was made great feasting. All the fountains 
 spouted wine, and all the birds of the air flew about 
 ready roasted, so as to be eaten, and the fishes swam 
 on the waters fried or boiled, just as folk liked best. 
 Then when the feasting was ended. King Constant 
 and his queen returned to England with their two 
 sons. But the name of Lion was changed to Alfred, 
 and he was the greatest king after his father that 
 England ever saw. 
 
 Now when Mr. Toope had ceased speaking, he 
 looked round at the king, and he saw that he was 
 wroth. 
 
 " You shall receive nothing for this story," said he. 
 " It is instructive — there is in it history again." 
 
 " I assure you not," replied Jeremiah. " It is not 
 history at all ; it is rather history turned topsy-turvy. 
 You could not, if you tried, put dates to any of the 
 incidents in this tale." 
 
 " I care not," said the king. "It has a sort of a 
 historical smack about it that I like not. Go on with 
 another — a seventh tale, to put the taste of history 
 out of my mouth." 
 
VII. 
 
 FLOWER-DE-LUCE 
 
 THERE was a time when war had been carried 
 on between England and France for twelve 
 years, with great loss of life, and at great cost of 
 money on both sides. Moreover, at the end of the 
 twelfth year no more prospect of peace appeared 
 than at the opening of the war. 
 
 This grieved the Fairy Morgana greatly, and she 
 was ever a protecting genius to the island. Although 
 fairies can intervene in the affairs of individual 
 people, and perform great wonders, yet they never 
 have been of any political importance, nor have their 
 powers influenced the course of history. 
 
 Morgana's only chance of bringing this disastrous 
 condition of affairs to an end was by drawing together 
 the sovereign houses of France and England by a 
 family tie. 
 
 With this end in view she one day appeared to 
 the prince, the son of the English king, and said to 
 him, " I have brought you a bowl of May dew. 
 Bathe your face in it, and you shall see her who is 
 destined to be your bride." 
 
 134 
 
PLOWILR-DE-LUCE 
 
FLOWER-DE-LUCE 135 
 
 The prince was keen and curious to behold the 
 lady who was some day to be his wife, so he took 
 the May dew and washed his face. 
 
 At once he felt as though plunged in light and 
 warmth, and in the brilliancy that he saw before him 
 opened a garden, and in that garden stood a beautiful 
 girl picking an iris : she was dressed in violet-blue 
 and gold. 
 
 As the moisture dried off the face of the prince so 
 did the vision fade. 
 
 Now when it was clean gone he was pensive and 
 sad, and he felt that he could not be happy, could 
 find no rest till he had seen and spoken with that 
 beautiful girl in person. 
 
 Then he asked the fairy Morgana who she was, 
 and was told that her name was Flower-de-Luce, and 
 that she was the daughter of the King of France. 
 
 Thereat the prince was startled and distressed, 
 because the war made it a difficult, if not impossible 
 matter for him to meet the princess. However, he 
 sought his father and asked him to conclude the war, 
 but the king refused to do so unless some better 
 reason for making peace were to be found than the 
 desire of his son to see and talk to the daughter of 
 the King of France. 
 
 The prince, with tears in his eyes and drops of 
 sorrow in his heart, told Morgana of the unsuccess 
 of his interview with his father. She assured him 
 that she would do for him what was in her power, 
 
136 FLOWER-DE-LUCE 
 
 which was not much. She could furnish him with a 
 pair of waxen wings, with which he could fly across 
 the Channel and fly back again ; but he must 
 attempt this only in early morning or evening, as 
 with the heat of the sun the wax would melt. 
 
 " So long," said she, " as the morning dew lies on 
 the grass you are safe. Also you are safe from the 
 moment the dews of evening begin to descend. 
 But on no account attempt to use the waxen 
 wings during broad day, or they will fail you." 
 
 The prince thanked Morgana, and promised to 
 be exact in obedience to her commands. She fitted 
 the wings to his shoulders, and before daybreak 
 he started, flitted across the Channel as the clouds 
 in the east were becoming tinged with crimson 
 and gold, and he hovered over the city of Paris 
 as the sun rose, and then he was as a golden bird 
 against the blue sky. 
 
 He descended rapidly into the garden of the 
 royal palace, and there he saw Flower -de -Luce 
 walking in the morning air gathering an iris. 
 
 He came down in a part of the garden where 
 she was not, and folding his wings he advanced 
 towards her, saluted her with profound respect, 
 and found her to be even more beautiful and engag- 
 ing than he had imagined. 
 
 She was at first surprised and frightened, but his 
 courteous demeanour and his graceful presence re- 
 assured her, and she listened with pleasure as he 
 
FLOWER-DE-LUCE 137 
 
 told her who he was, and how he had seen her when 
 his face was bathed with May dew, and how he 
 had flown from England to France to see her, 
 and how that he hoped if she would be his wife 
 that the two countries might be brought to 
 peace. 
 
 She sighed and entreated him to depart. She 
 promised to take none but him, but she knew her 
 father was a wrathful and impetuous man, and 
 that if he found the prince there and in his power 
 he would entirely disregard all the laws of chivalry, 
 which are, indeed, greatly admired in the abstract 
 in France but not always carried into practice — never, 
 in fact, when contrary to personal or political advan- 
 tage. She feared that if he got the prince into his 
 power he would imprison him and not surrender 
 him unless the English king submitted to degrading 
 conditions. 
 
 Whilst she was speaking the voice of the king 
 was heard. He was shouting, "Who is in the 
 garden talking with my daughter? Send me the 
 executioner at once ! Call out the guards ! " 
 
 The princess implored the prince to escape, and 
 he immediately unfurled his waxen wings and rose 
 on them and sped away. 
 
 But alas ! the sun was hot. 
 
 The Princess Flower-de-Luce saw him fly like 
 a bird of paradise for some way and then suddenly 
 drop. 
 
138 FLOWER-DE-LUCE 
 
 Full of distress and dismay she opened the 
 garden gate and ran in the direction where she 
 believed he might have fallen, and entered into a 
 vast forest. 
 
 She knew not if her dear prince had come by some 
 great hurt, or whether he had fallen among the 
 boughs and green leaves that had received him 
 and held him from injury. 
 
 Wand'ring all the night, 
 
 Without dread at all, 
 Came that sweet lady bright. 
 
 Within echo's call. 
 " You fair woods," quoth she, 
 " Honoured may you be. 
 
 Harbouring my heart's delight ; 
 Which doth encompass here 
 My joy and only dear, 
 
 My trusty friend and comely knight. 
 Sweet, I come unto thee, 
 Sweet, I come to woo thee ! " 
 
 As she wandered on, she heard the moaning of 
 a man, and breaking through the bushes she dis- 
 covered her prince lying sorely bruised and wounded 
 on the ground. His waxen wings had melted in 
 the hot sun of day, and he had fallen and been 
 torn by the branches, and had been injured by the 
 hard ground on which he had descended. 
 
 His pale lips, alas ! 
 
 Twenty times she kissed. 
 And his face did wash 
 
 With her briny tears. 
 
FLOWER-DE-LUCE 139 
 
 Every bleeding wound 
 
 Her fair face bedewed, 
 Wiping off the blood 
 
 With her golden hair. 
 " Speak, my love," quoth she, 
 " Speak, dear prince, to me. 
 
 One sweet word of comfort give ; 
 Lift up thy fair eyes. 
 Listen to my cries, 
 
 Think in what great grief I live." 
 
 The prince was too much hurt to speak, he sighed 
 and looked tenderly on Flower-de-Luce. 
 
 Then she ran in search of help, and she heard the 
 sound of a dog barking, and she went in the direc- 
 tion whence proceeded the sound and came on a 
 forester's cottage. She went in and saw an old 
 man clothed in green, and she told him that her 
 dear love was lying ill on the ground under a 
 tree. So he rose up and accompanied her to the 
 spot, and raised the prince and brought him to his 
 lodging and tended him carefully there till he was 
 recovered. Greatly, moreover, was he aided by 
 an aged priest who lived as a hermit in the forest, 
 and who was skilled in leechcraft. Now when 
 the prince was quite restored, then there rose a 
 great difficulty as to what was to be done. He and 
 the princess could not escape to England, nor could 
 she return to the palace of her father, the King of 
 France. 
 
 She had been very careful not to tell the forester 
 
I40 FLOWER-DE-LUCE 
 
 who she was, nor who was the wounded and bruised 
 man ; and he took them to be ordinary lovers. 
 
 So when the prince was sound and strong, he 
 proposed to him to become his assistant in the 
 forest. He himself was getting old, and thought of 
 giving up work, and he had as yet got no one to 
 take his place. 
 
 The prince joyfully accepted, and then the hermit- 
 priest married him to Flower-de-Luce, and they lived 
 in the cottage with the old forester. 
 
 He was out all day chasing the doe, or in pursuit 
 of the wolf and the boar, and often Flower-de-Luce 
 took to him a little basket and his midday meal, and 
 they sat together on the grass under an oak and ate. 
 So five years passed, and the old forester died, and 
 the prince succeeded in his place to be the ranger of 
 the woods. He and his wife had three beautiful 
 children, two boys and a little baby girl. 
 
 It fell out one hot summer's day that the prince, 
 who was greatly fatigued, fell asleep, and Flower-de- 
 Luce sat by him and knitted. 
 
 Now as she knitted she saw a weasel run out of 
 her husband's mouth ; a little rill was hard by, and a 
 branch of oak had fallen across the stream. The 
 weasel ran over the stick, and after galloping through 
 the grass a little way entered a hole in the ground 
 and disappeared. 
 
 Flower-de-Luce touched her sleeping prince to 
 wake him, but he could in no way be roused. 
 
FLOWER-DE-LUCE 141 
 
 After a full three hours had elapsed she saw the 
 weasel come out of the same hole into which it had 
 entered, trot over the oak branch, and dart into the 
 mouth of the prince : whereupon he stretched himself 
 and awoke. 
 
 The princess told her husband what she had seen, 
 and he said, " Flower-de-Luce, I believe my soul went 
 from me. I have dreamed, and in my dream I thought 
 I came to an immense river, larger than the Seine or 
 the Thames, and over it was cast a magnificent bridge. 
 I traversed this bridge, and came to a grand portal, 
 and entered this portal, and found myself in a sort of 
 tunnel. I hastened through it, and came out in my 
 own native England." Then, after a pause, he con- 
 tinued : " There I met the Fairy Morgana, who re- 
 proached me for having neglected attending to the 
 instructions she had given me, and the promise I had 
 made. She told me that she still had my interests 
 and those of England at heart, and that she would 
 provide me with fresh means of escape. She in- 
 formed me that she would give me five very small 
 golden pennies, and that you and I and the three 
 children were to put them on our tongues, and there- 
 upon we should become small as weasels, and be 
 able to run underground through the passage that 
 communicates between France and England, and so 
 would come into my native island, and when there, 
 terms of peace might be concluded with France with 
 that generosity and dignity which characterise all 
 
142 FLOWER-DE-LUCE 
 
 the transactions of the English Government with 
 every people. But we must be very careful not to 
 speak, for if we drop the golden pennies, then we 
 shall assume our full dimensions immediately, and 
 if that were to take place in the passage we should 
 perish of suffocation." 
 
 The princess agreed to go with her husband 
 wherever he wished. When he opened his purse 
 there were the golden pennies, not much larger than 
 pins' heads. 
 
 So next day Flower-de-Luce rolled three of these, 
 pennies in melted sugar and peppermint, and made 
 of them three lollipops, to give to the children to 
 suck ; and she hoped she had coated them sufficiently 
 with sweetstuff to last all the way from France to 
 England. Of course the baby girl would be carried 
 by her, as it was too young to walk the whole way. 
 
 So they started next evening, and each had a gold 
 penny on the tongue, and each thereupon became 
 quite tiny, and able to go into such a hole as a 
 weasel can run in. The prince went first; then 
 came Flower-de-Luce carrying the baby, and the 
 latter was sucking the lollipop vigorously. 
 
 Then came the two little boys, each with a lollipop 
 in his mouth. But just as the elder was entering the 
 hole, he turned his head and said to the younger, " It 
 is dreadfully dark in there." 
 
 Instantly the penny fell out of his mouth, and he 
 swelled to his full size, and had not his head been at 
 
FLOWER-DE-LUCE 143 
 
 the moment outside, he would have been buried alive, 
 because of his swelling to fill the entire hole into 
 which he was entering. 
 
 When he had extricated himself with great diffi- 
 culty, then he joined his brother behind, also restored 
 to his full height, because he had been so astonished 
 at what had taken place that he also let the penny 
 fall out of his mouth. 
 
 When Flower-de-Luce perceived that something 
 was gone wrong, with great prudence she turned back, 
 and uttered no word till she was outside again ; then 
 she spoke and learned the truth from the boys. At 
 the same time she dropped the gold penny, and 
 resumed her natural size. The prince had not gone 
 far without looking behind him, and when he per- 
 ceived that his wife had retreated, he also returned. 
 
 It was now impossible to think of the passage any 
 more, and the prince settled down as forester in the 
 wood, and lived there for six years longer, during all 
 which time the war continued with unabated ferocity, 
 for owing to the disappearance of the prince, the 
 King of England accused the French king of having 
 sent secret emissaries into the island to steal or to 
 assassinate him ; and the King of France laid a 
 similar charge against the King of England because 
 he had lost his daughter. 
 
 Now it fell out that the king announced that he 
 would hunt in the forest with his nobles, and the 
 forester was to prepare to meet him. 
 
144 FLOWER-DE-LUCE 
 
 As to the prince, who by this time had seven 
 
 children — 
 
 He clothed his children then, 
 Not like to other men, 
 
 In party-colours strange to see ; 
 The right side cloth of gold, 
 The left side to behold 
 
 Of woollen cloth still framed he. 
 
 The King of France came thither, 
 It being pleasant weather. 
 
 In the woods the hart to chase. 
 The children then did stand 
 On right and on left hand. 
 
 Each had a pleasant face ; 
 
 Their mother richly clad 
 In crimson, rich brocade. 
 
 Their father all in grey. 
 And then this gallant king. 
 Noting of everything. 
 
 Did ride that way. 
 
 Now when the king saw the forester's wife in gold 
 and pearl and crimson velvet, and the children half 
 dressed in gold and half in grey, he was wroth. 
 He deemed it a most daring piece of pride in the 
 forester to deck out his homespun wife in such 
 fashion, and that he should put gold cloth on his 
 children. 
 
 But when he drew nigher, then he recognised his 
 own daughter, and he was sore abashed. 
 
 " How is this ? " he cried ; " a princess of France so 
 demean herself as to marry a common forester of no 
 
FLOWER-DE-LUCE 145 
 
 birth ! This is high treason, and she shall be burned 
 alive, she and all her seven brats of children," 
 
 His nobles interfered, and entreated the king to 
 spare the poor princess and her children. But he 
 would not listen ; he cried out, " It is demeaning 
 the royal blood of France ! If she had wed a duke 
 or a marquis I might have forgiven her. I would 
 even have pardoned her, and that joyfully, had she 
 married the son of mine enemy, the King of England ; 
 but to take to her a common forester is more than 
 I can endure. Away with her and her brats to 
 the fire." 
 
 Then the forester knelt to the king on one knee, and 
 said, "And what if the prince of England had married 
 your daughter ? " 
 
 " Then I would have been glad, and have made 
 peace with the king of that saucy isle." 
 
 " I am he," said the prince at once. " I came here 
 out of love to your daughter. I have married her, 
 and these are our children, partly clothed in the 
 glittering display of France, and partly in the sterling 
 linsey-woolsey of old England, that does not make 
 great show, but is tough." 
 
 Then the King of France was as good as his 
 word. He forgave his daughter. He set all the 
 bells in Paris a-ringing, and all the choristers a- 
 singing, and all the butlers a-pouring forth of good 
 wine, and all the cooks a-cooking, that honest men 
 might dine. 
 h 
 
146 FLOWER-DE-LUCE 
 
 Then was peace made between Britain and France, 
 after war having lasted twenty-five years. 
 
 After that for many hundreds of years on the arms 
 of England were displayed, along with its golden 
 lions, the silver fleurs-de-lys. 
 
 " There, you are once more doing what I forbade," 
 said the king angrily. " Again at history." 
 
 " I cannot help myself," pleaded Mr. Jeremiah ; " I 
 am from head to foot a schoolmaster. I assure your 
 Majesty that my stories are calculated to confuse 
 minds as to the stern realities of history, and not to 
 enlighten them. Will not that satisfy you ? " 
 
 "Do not be angry," said the queen ; "he really does 
 not mean to instruct." 
 
 " Well," said the king, "let him take his own course; 
 but I solemnly warn him, unless he keeps clear of 
 historical personages and historical themes, he shall 
 have no whortleberries." 
 
 The Princess Noyalen looked piteously, pleadingly 
 at the king. 
 
 " Well," said he, " I can deny you nothing, my best- 
 loved child. If Mr. Toope will solemnly assure me 
 that the story he has told tends to obfuscate the mind 
 relative to history, instead of enlightening it, I will 
 allow you to give him another berry." 
 
 " I assure your Highness, no manner of sifting 
 could extract a grain of fact out of the tale I have 
 told," 
 
FLOWER-DE-LUCE 147 
 
 " I am content," said the king. 
 
 Then again the schoolmaster was given a little 
 purple berry, and when he had tasted it, then his 
 second eye became clear, and he saw the sweet face 
 of the Princess Noyalen twice as distinctly as he did 
 before. 
 
 With beating heart he began the eighth tale. 
 
VIII. 
 
 THE WATER OF LIGHT 
 
 THE great, fertile, and populous realm of Loegria 
 is not a kingdom, but a queendom ; that is to 
 say, it is always governed by a woman. This is 
 because the so-called Silic Law holds good in Loegria. 
 This law requires the succession to the Crown to 
 pass through females to females, and excludes males. 
 Consequently the son of the queen does not ascend 
 the throne on her death, but the daughter mounts 
 it, and the prince is married off with a portion to 
 some neighbouring- potentate's daughter. 
 
 At the time of this history the Queen of Loegria 
 was Euphrasia. She was even liked by those about 
 her person constantly ; she was loved by those who 
 saw her occasionally; and the bulk of her subjects 
 adored her image on the current coin of the realm. 
 
 Queen Euphrasia had two children — a son. Prince 
 Floribel, and a daughter, two years younger, the 
 Princess Coeca. According to Silic Law, the 
 princess was predestined to succeed her mother. 
 But three years after her birth a great affliction fell 
 on her. She became blind, and by the Silic Law 
 
 148 
 
THE WATER OF LIGHT 
 
THE WATER OF LIGHT 149 
 
 this would prevent her attainment of the crown, 
 for the sovereign was required to be sound in body 
 and in mind. In the event of the princess remain- 
 ing blind, the succession would pass, after the death 
 of the queen, to her sister, Pomarea, the widow 
 of the King of Limonia, the adjoining realm. It 
 was suspected by some, believed and insisted on 
 by others, that Queen Pomarea had procured from 
 a bad fairy that a spell should be cast on her niece, 
 afflicting her with blindness, to prevent her from ever 
 obtaining the crown of Loegria, in the hopes of 
 uniting under her own sceptre the two contiguous 
 realms. 
 
 It was the custom in Loegria for the queen to be 
 given a husband. A respectable, amiably disposed 
 man was chosen for the purpose from among the 
 dethroned sovereigns in the world, who were shelved. 
 Such a man was always revaccinated before his 
 marriage ceremony, his nails cut, and his moustache 
 waxed, and he was given the title of Serene High- 
 ness, and went by the familiar name of "the 
 Hubby." So as not to offend the realm which had 
 ejected him, he was allowed no place in the Govern- 
 ment or command in the army. After the Hubbies 
 had been consorts for a while, and the queen was 
 blessed with a daughter, they were no longer 
 needed ; and, as a relief to the finances, were destroyed 
 by the application of a drop of nicotine on the 
 tongue. 
 
I50 THE WATER OF LIGHT 
 
 In this way, after the birth of Princess Coeca, the 
 father of Floribel and Coeca had been destroyed. 
 It was afterwards regretted, when Coeca lost her 
 sight and with it her eligibility to the throne. Prince 
 Floribel and Princess Coeca loved each other ten- 
 derly. At first he thought nothing of the infirmity 
 of his sister, as he was but a child, and a child is 
 inconsiderate. 
 
 But as he grew older he began to understand 
 how great was her privation. Coeca had large, soft, 
 beautiful brown eyes, but there was no light in them. 
 In the depths it was as though something intervened 
 that was impenetrable. Floribel could not see her 
 happy, innocent soul look out through these 
 windows. 
 
 As to her blindness being a bar to the crown, 
 of that he did not think. 
 
 One day he went to the queen. 
 
 He told his mother that he could not be at ease 
 so long as Coeca remained blind. He asked her 
 if there were any means whereby her sight might 
 be restored. 
 
 Euphrasia answered, weeping, that she had con- 
 sulted the physicians, who had recommended various 
 pills, and she had administered these pills for an 
 entire year to her daughter, and with them had made 
 her seriously ill. Then she consulted the apothe- 
 caries, who had advised her to cover the face of the 
 princess with plaster, to shave her head, and plaster 
 
THE WATER OF LIGHT 151 
 
 that as well. This she had not liked to do, lest it 
 should permanently disfigure Coeca, and disfigure- 
 ment would as certainly incapacitate her for mounting 
 the throne as would blindness. 
 
 Then she had consulted the quacks, who had sold 
 her electrical toe-rings to draw the irritation away 
 from the eyes, or to establish a therapeutic current. 
 But although this treatment had been expensive, and 
 had necessitated the addition of a penny in the 
 pound to the income-tax, it had availed nothing. 
 As a last resource, she had appealed to Coeca's fairy 
 godmother, and this fairy had informed her that 
 nothing could recover the princess of her blindness 
 save a drop of the Water of Light. 
 
 "And where is this water?" inquired the prince. 
 
 " It springs out of a glacier among the Mountains 
 of the Moon," replied his mother. 
 
 " I will go for it," said he. 
 
 "There are dangers in the way," remarked 
 Euphrasia. 
 
 " I contemn them," answered Floribel. 
 
 "You have not yet ascertained what they are," 
 said the queen sharply. 
 
 " What are they ? " asked the prince. 
 
 " This is like you men," said she. " First you 
 say you despise the dangers, and then inquire what 
 they may be. I esteem the wisdom of the ancients 
 of Loegria, who established the Silic Law in the 
 realm." 
 
152 THE WATER OF LIGHT 
 
 After a pause the queen said, "You must go to 
 the fairy godmother, and inquire of her. Follow 
 this." 
 
 She plucked a hair from her head, blew it away, 
 and said, " That will lead you to Coeca's godmother. 
 Go after it at once." 
 
 As the hair sailed out of the window in a current 
 of air, Floribel leaped forth after it, and pursued 
 where the hair drifted. 
 
 It led him through the country of Limonia, but 
 his aunt, Queen Pomarea, did not stay him, for the 
 news of the purport of his journey had not reached 
 her. The wind at the time was blowing from 
 Limonia to Loegria, and so it carried all the tittle- 
 tattle of the former realm to the latter. Had it been 
 contrary, the Queen of Limonia would have known 
 about the intention of Floribel, and have intercepted 
 his journey. 
 
 Now it was a remarkable fact that the hair of 
 Queen Euphrasia travelled, as do thunderstorms, 
 against the wind. 
 
 Prince Floribel went a day's journey in the 
 country beyond Limonia. He was much struck with 
 the quantities of gossamer that hung to the hedges 
 and was spangled with dew. But he would not have 
 delayed to investigate it had not his mother's hair 
 lodged in a web. Then he put his finger to it, to 
 disengage the guiding hair. Instantly the web was 
 inflated by the wind, and before he could recover 
 
THE WATER OF LIGHT 153 
 
 from his surprise, it had enveloped him, and he was 
 carried off his feet and wafted to the clouds. 
 
 He was so frightened, that for a moment he lost 
 consciousness, and when he recovered it he found 
 himself in the Fairy World, and a kind old fairy 
 stood before him. 
 
 She smiled, held out her hand to him, and said — 
 
 " I am Coeca's godmother. Here in the Fairy 
 World we also obey the Silic Law, and make the 
 males do menial work. We are the governing 
 power, executive and administrative. I will do for 
 you what I can, for your purpose is good. You 
 shall visit the Mountains of the Moon. I cannot 
 greatly assist you, but I will give you three things 
 that may be serviceable to you — a pin-tray, your 
 mother's hair after I have manipulated it, and a bit 
 of advice." 
 
 The prince expressed his most profound thankful- 
 ness. He was extremely well educated. Actually, 
 he did not think the pin-tray or the advice worth 
 much, and his mother's hair he had already. 
 
 The fairy promptly handed him a little sandalwood 
 tray. Then she took his mother's hair and stroked 
 it, and lo ! it grew long, and ever longer, and she 
 twisted and reeled it off on a spindle. And she said, 
 " Never ask for more than the least you require!' 
 
 Then the prince inquired the use of the pin-tray, 
 and she said, " When you require a boat, step into 
 it. As to the hair, look ! " She cast an end before 
 
154 THE WATER OF LIGHT 
 
 her, and the spindle began to unwind rapidly, as the 
 end of the hair flew away, till no more than one 
 extremity remained, fast to a notch in the spindle- 
 wood. 
 
 "There!" said she. "Follow the guiding line; 
 lay hold of the end and wind as you go along, and 
 unwind as you come back. Going, it will lead you 
 aright ; returning, it will restrain you." 
 
 Again the prince started. The gossamer sail 
 enveloped him and wafted him down to the land 
 below ; yet always he held the spindle and wound 
 at the hair. 
 
 As he set his feet on earth, he observed a rusty, 
 dirty crowbar, that had been used by labourers or 
 quarrymen or masons, who were out on strike and 
 had neglected this useful tool, and left it to be rust- 
 eaten. 
 
 The prince was indignant that so valuable an 
 implement should be thus disregarded, and, picking 
 it up, with sand he rubbed it clean. Then he laid 
 it on his shoulder, and still holding and windmg the 
 hair, he went forward. 
 
 Presently he arrived at a new and stately palace, 
 as yet unoccupied, that had been erected by a dis- 
 tinguished architect, who prided himself on his 
 originality. But it was inconvenient in several ways. 
 It was two hundred and fifteen feet long and only 
 twelve feet wide, exclusive of the offices. All the 
 windows looked north. 
 
THE WATER OF LIGHT 155 
 
 The sun, which is so lavish of its light, could not 
 by any means shine into the apartments, and was 
 constrained to envelop the back premises alone in 
 its golden beams. The state halls and reception- 
 rooms were superbly painted, gilded, and uphol- 
 stered, but their beauties were imperfectly seen on 
 account of the lack of light. 
 
 The sun was under a compact to rise in the east 
 and to set in the west, and, desire as he did to 
 illumine the apartments, he could not do so. He 
 went in rising as far E.N.E. as his conscience would 
 allow him, but no further. To rise N.N.E. would 
 have been immoral. He could not do it. 
 
 The house, moreover, was unhappy because it 
 could not make display of its splendours, and it had 
 been twisting and straining to get round, so that 
 cracks had opened in it which the architect called 
 settlements. 
 
 The prince, who had a tender and sympathetic 
 heart, pitied both the sun, which desired to do a kind 
 thing, and the house, condemned to be without 
 sunshine in its rooms. If the workmen had not 
 been all on strike he would have summoned them, 
 and with the assistance of cranes and levers and 
 jacks, would have shifted the house round. But 
 as the workmen were unavailable, he said, " Even 
 with a crowbar and my two arms I may achieve 
 something." 
 
 There were some logs lying about. So the prince 
 
156 THE WATER OF LIGHT 
 
 set to work, dug under the foundations, and kicked 
 the rollers in as he raised the house ends with the 
 crowbar, that served as a lever. Archimedes said 
 that he could shift the position of the world with one 
 if he could find a fulcrum, and the prince managed 
 to turn the house a point from the north. Then he 
 shifted the rollers, and again applied the bar, and 
 met with further success. 
 
 He toiled on energetically, never doing very much 
 each time, but something, and every point gained 
 was something. He did not cease from his labours 
 till he had completely turned the house about, so 
 that the face was presented to the sun, and the back 
 premises were left in shade. 
 
 Then Floribel knocked away the rollers, and the 
 house settled down on its foundations, and the cracks 
 closed. Just as the prince was about to leave, he 
 noticed a lanky ivy plant in a pot in one of the 
 windows. This plant had been neglected, and its 
 roots had filled the pot and consumed the soil. It 
 had consequently become feeble and sickly in 
 colour. 
 
 Prince Floribel pitied the poor plant, and removed 
 it from the pot, and planted it in rich soil against the 
 palace. 
 
 As he was thus engaged, he heard a sighing and 
 a sobbing proceeding from the palace. The state 
 apartments, instead of being filled with joy, were 
 lamenting. They had thought themselves so splendid 
 
THE WATER OF LIGHT 157 
 
 in their velvet upholstery and gilding, that the sun 
 would make them superlatively resplendent ; how- 
 ever, instead of that it revealed dust, cobwebs, moth- 
 holes, and mildew. 
 
 The sobbing was produced by humbled pride. 
 Floribel stood amazed. Then he heard the rooms 
 say in muffled tones, " If we can help you with our 
 former gloom — that is now superfluous, command 
 us." 
 
 He saw that the leaves of the ivy were glistening 
 and dripping — it was with tears of gratitude, because 
 it had space in which to expand its roots. And it 
 said, "I also, if I can, will help you." "And I," 
 said the sun, "Will give you my light, for you have 
 enabled me to look into the state apartments, and 
 I hated to be excluded — I — the king of luminaries." 
 
 The prince pursued his way, winding the hair 
 on the spindle as he went on. After a long march 
 over a barren limestone plateau he came to the 
 edge of a chasm one thousand feet deep, at the 
 bottom of which rolled the River of Light. 
 
 Up this river he must travel to the source. He 
 clambered cautiously down the precipice, clinging 
 to bushes. At the bottom of the ravine the vegeta- 
 tion was luxurious. The river was beautiful, and 
 flashed like diamonds. 
 
 Now Floribel placed his pin-tray in the water, 
 stepped into it, and it expanded into a boat. He 
 took a pole and punted. 
 
158 THE WATER OF LIGHT 
 
 The stream ran strong, and in places rushed in 
 rapids. Floribel alternately punted and wound the 
 hair, and with great labour advanced against the 
 current. He was obliged to guide the little barque 
 in its course to avoid rocks. It took Floribel the 
 entire day to ascend the river. 
 
 At last he saw the glacier of the moon shining 
 before him, half-way up the heavens, and seeming 
 to be sliding out of the sky. The sun was setting, 
 and its red rays lit the glacier-head. Below in the 
 gorge all was dark save the River of Light. That 
 emitted a bluish gleam, like the lantern of the glow- 
 worm, for it required the sunlight to make it sparkle 
 like diamonds. 
 
 From the glacier fell a waterfall, that broke into 
 drops of light. By a bold stroke Floribel brought 
 his boat under the pearly rain, and caught a drop 
 in the palm of his left hand. 
 
 Then he knew that he had got what he wanted, 
 and he turned the head of the boat and shot down 
 the river. It was night now, and he could see 
 nothing of the mighty cliffs on each side. He saw 
 only the bluish flashes of the river, and overhead 
 a strip of sky, in which the stars twinkled. He 
 could use one hand only, for he was obliged to hold 
 the left palm turned upwards, with the drop of the 
 Water of Light in it. 
 
 As he proceeded, with the spindle under his arm 
 rapidly unreeling, he found his difficulties increase. 
 
THE WATER OF LIGHT 159 
 
 The Water of Light was deceptive. It was luminous 
 on the surface only, and so concealed the rocks over 
 which it flowed, and Floribel could neither dis- 
 tinguish where to strike his pole nor what to avoid. 
 
 Then he wished it were day, and that the sun 
 shone. But he checked the thought, remembering 
 the advice of the fairy, and desired to have only 
 sufficient sunlight to illumine the drop in his hand, 
 so as to serve him as a lamp. Hardly had he 
 framed this wish, before a ray of sunlight, that had 
 lost its way or had loitered after the set of day, fell 
 and filled the prince's open palm, illuminating the 
 drop of water and making it blaze. 
 
 Floribel held his hand above his eyes, and the 
 light flowed over the river and penetrated to its 
 profoundest depths. It cast fantastic shadows from 
 the palm and elm trees on the banks upon the pre- 
 cipitous crags on each side. 
 
 Thus the prince travelled on, checking his descent 
 by means of the thread of hair, which he allowed 
 to unwind only cautiously as he went down the 
 stream. 
 
 He looked in vain for the spot where he had 
 descended from the plateau above. He did not 
 know where to arrest his course nor whither flowed 
 the River of Light. 
 
 Presently he was alarmed to hear a thundering 
 sound, which he did not remember to have noticed 
 before. It was the roar of a mighty waterfall. The 
 
i6o THE WATER OF LIGHT 
 
 thunder of falling water became momentarily louder 
 and more deafening, 'and in his agitation the prince 
 let slip the spindle with the reeled hair. There was 
 now no check on his descent. The river ran with 
 great rapidity; it became like a mill-race. Now he 
 saw before him a vast cavern, and into this the river 
 plunged and disappeared. 
 
 His heart stood still, and he so trembled that the 
 shining drop in his hand danced and almost fell. 
 
 Would the boat and he be engulfed in the yawn- 
 ing abyss? Oh that some mighty tree flung its 
 branches across the river, that he might cling to 
 it, and be saved ! But no, an ivy-lace would suffice, 
 thought he. Instantly he saw a frail streamer of ivy 
 hanging down the cliff, wavering in the draught from 
 the river as it leaped into the jaws of the earth. 
 Floribel caught it with his right hand just in time, 
 clung to it, and his boat shot from under his feet, 
 went over the edge, and disappeared in the hideous 
 chasm. 
 
 Holding to the ivy, Floribel climbed. He could 
 use but one hand, so that his ascent was painful and 
 slow. However, he persevered, and after two hours 
 reached the summit of the precipice, and was once 
 again on the limestone plateau. 
 
 He knew his direction, for he had learned astro- 
 nomy, and took his course by the Polar star. 
 
 After he had been walking for many hours the sun 
 rose, and he recognised that he was approaching the 
 
THE WATER OF LIGHT i6i 
 
 confines of Limonia. It would not do for him to 
 enter his aunt's territories with the drop of water 
 in his hand by means of which he hoped to destroy 
 the prospect of Pomarea's succession to the crown 
 of Loegria. He would be arrested at the frontier 
 and be deprived of the precious drop. It would be 
 well were some of the old disused gloom of the 
 palace to envelop and conceal him. Yet no; that 
 would be exacting too much : he needed sufficient 
 only to obscure the drop of the Water of Light that 
 he held aloft. 
 
 Instantly what he desired took place. A shade 
 fell and quenched the brilliancy of the drop. It 
 seemed to everyone who encountered him that he 
 held nothing. 
 
 When he reached Limonia, great was the merri- 
 ment provoked. The custom-house officers reported 
 to the queen that her nephew had arrived empty- 
 handed. 
 
 The queen said, " I thought it would be so. He 
 has either failed to catch a drop from the source, 
 or else, if he caught one, he has spilt it by the way. 
 Let him pass through my lands — he is innocuous." 
 
 So Floribel traversed the kingdom of Limonia 
 unmolested, but exposed to the mockery of rude 
 boys. 
 
 When the prince arrived in Loegria, he hastened 
 at once to his sister's room in the palace, and found 
 her there at a window, expecting his return ; but 
 M 
 
i62 THE WATER OF LIGHT 
 
 being blind, she sat with her back to the prospect 
 and her face to the wall. 
 
 Floribel did not speak, but running to her, dashed 
 the water in her eyes. At once, with a cry as of 
 pain, she sprang to her feet — she saw ! 
 
 I need not declare the happiness of Floribel, nor 
 how full of wonder was Coeca at all she saw, nor 
 how glad was the queen-mother, nor how great were 
 the rejoicings of the people, nor how exceeding was 
 the vexation of Pomarea. 
 
 All at once the fairy godmother appeared, and 
 said, "You have done well in fulfilling what I 
 advised. Had you not done so, you would not have 
 returned. When you found the masons on strike, 
 you would have liked to call them together and set 
 them to work to alter the aspect of the palace. But 
 you contented yourself with doing what you could 
 with the crowbar. Had you summoned the men, 
 then the ingenious architect, to show his originality, 
 would have interfered and inverted the palace, 
 making of the floor a roof, and the chimneys he 
 would have converted into cellar stairs. You would 
 not have enjoyed the gratitude of the house nor of 
 the solar orb. You helped the poor ivy, and in time 
 of necessity the ivy assisted you. When you half 
 desired that the sun should shine on you, had you 
 fully wished it, you would have been so enveloped 
 in dazzling light as not to see the river and the 
 rocks. But you wished for light in sufficiency only, 
 
THE WATER OF LIGHT 163 
 
 no more. When about to be engulfed, you were 
 inclined to wish for a tree-bough to which to cling. 
 Happily for you, you did not do so, but desired only 
 a strand of ivy. A branch would have saved you 
 from plunging into the abyss, but would have in 
 no way assisted you to reach the summit of the 
 precipitous crags. You would have held to the 
 bough, and remained on it till your powers failed, 
 and you would have dropped into the water and 
 perished miserably. When you reached Limonia, 
 you were disposed to desire to be enwrapped in the 
 gloom of the mansion you had turned about ; fortu- 
 nately for you, you corrected the wish into one more 
 moderate. Had you desired to be cloaked in dark- 
 ness, you would have passed through Limonia as 
 a column of blackness, and have been a general 
 object of wonder and alarm. Some would have 
 thrust at you with pikes ; others, conceiving you 
 to be a water-spout, would have discharged cannons 
 at you, to dissolve you. And now, in conclusion, 
 my dear Floribel, I put the crowbar at your disposal. 
 Hard and steely as it may seem, it is not insensible, 
 and it is grateful for what you did to it. Behave 
 to men as you have to the crowbar : however rugged 
 and rusty they may be, behave to them with con- 
 sideration and respect, as useful in their spheres, and 
 you will never regret it. Moreover, I recommend 
 you to retain this crowbar as long as the strike lasts, 
 and this will, presumably, last till trade is driven 
 
i64 THE WATER OF LIGHT 
 
 out of the country. Finding nobody to do what you 
 want for you — learn to do it yourself; live to be 
 independent." 
 
 The prince thanked the fairy, and asked if he 
 might open his heart to her by propounding another 
 question. She assented. 
 
 Then he informed her that the sour, envious, and 
 resentful temper of his aunt was very distressing to 
 him, and he ventured to inquire whether the crow- 
 bar could be used as a moral as well as a physical 
 agent. 
 
 " Most assuredly," replied the fairy. " You saw 
 yourself what a transformation it effected in the 
 palace. Try it, by all means, on Queen Pomarea. 
 You can hardly employ the crowbar to a better 
 purpose." 
 
 Accordingly Prince Floribel, having disguised 
 himself, found access to the royal residence of 
 Limonia, and there laboured with the crowbar to 
 change the aspect of his aunt. Hitherto she had 
 looked persistently north at Loegria with an 
 ambitious and malevolent eye. But by sedulous 
 application of the crowbar as a lever to the throne, 
 Floribel succeeded in turning it about, point by 
 point, with his aunt upon it, on rollers, till it finally 
 faced south. Then the sun streamed into the 
 recesses of Queen Pomarea's heart, and showed 
 her all the mean and covetous and spiteful thoughts 
 it had harboured. Then, for very shame, she cried. 
 
THE WATER OF LIGHT 165 
 
 and her tears carried away every soil, and left her 
 heart to be filled with light and love and regard 
 for the queen, her sister, for Coeca, and for Prince 
 Floribel. 
 
 "That is better," said the king. "This story clearly 
 belongs to the domain of fancy. Yes, my dear 
 Noyalen, you may give him something by way of 
 encouragement." 
 
 Then the fairy maid stooped, and up through the 
 mat of moss came two skeleton hands holding a 
 vessel of gold. She took it, and the hands were 
 withdrawn. Only Jeremiah saw them groping at the 
 coverlet of moss, and drawing it together again, till 
 no token remained of the opening through which 
 they had been protruded. 
 
 Noyalen came to the schoolmaster, bearing the 
 goblet. 
 
 It must be understood that although the time was 
 night, yet that a mysterious, beautiful pale light 
 illumined the whole interior of the circle, and shone 
 forth reflected on the faces of the pixy crowd 
 without. 
 
 Noyalen came towards Mr. Toope holding aloft 
 the golden vessel. And now she spoke, and her words 
 were as music in his ear. 
 
 " See," she cried, " this is for you if you can bring 
 the smile back on the lips of the queen, my mother." 
 
 He would have put forth his hands and taken it. 
 
i66 THE WATER OF LIGHT 
 
 but she shook her head and said, " Not yet ; she 
 has forgotten the hedgehog. Her tears indeed are 
 dried. She listens attentively, but she has not as 
 yet smiled." 
 
 " Then," said Jeremiah, " I must again tell a tale, 
 and this will be the ninth." 
 
 " It is well," said the king ; " we are ready to hear 
 it." 
 
 " But stay," said the princess, " let him be rewarded 
 first." 
 
 She put with her tiny fingers a berry between his 
 lips, and at once his second ear heard clearly, dis- 
 tinctly. He heard her breath pass between her coral 
 lips. He heard even the grass grow, and the hearts 
 of the birds beat as they flew through the air. He 
 heard more even than that; he heard the granite 
 rocks as they disintegrated, and little bits of mica, 
 and quartz, and feldspar dropped away, worn by the 
 action of the wind and rain. He heard the clouds 
 rub one against another high aloft as they came in 
 contact, sailing in the breeze ; and he heard the drops 
 of dew as they fell on the sprays and blades of grass 
 about him. He had acquired a faculty of hearing 
 such as had never before been obtained by mortal 
 man. And now also he could hear the pulses of his 
 hearers quicken as his tale excited their interest, or 
 slacken as it became tedious to them. 
 
GENERIDES 
 
IX. 
 
 GENERIDES 
 
 IT fell out that Auferus, King of India, was thrust 
 from his kingdom, and in this wise was it : — 
 
 Auferus above all things loved the chase, and 
 for the love that he had to the chase he neglected 
 his kingdom, its affairs, and his duties. There be 
 in the crown of a king many jewels, but every 
 jewel weighs heavier than lead. Now Auferus cared 
 not for the burden of his crown, but only for his 
 pleasures. Thus it was that he was despoiled of 
 his estate. 
 
 One day this king had ridden forth a- hunting. 
 And he saw and pursued a hart that was yellow 
 as gold, and had gilded horns; and in pursuit of 
 this hart he was separated from all his fellows, and 
 he rode on and never attained to the hart at the 
 setting of the sun. 
 
 Then Auferus found himself in a strange country, 
 and in a forest that had no bounds ; and the way 
 by which he had come he wist not, nor the way 
 out of the forest. Presently he was aware of a 
 little house with flowers growing about, and a fair 
 
 167 
 
i68 GENERIDES 
 
 maid stood at the gate, and as he came she opened 
 to him. She bade him welcome ; there were, she 
 said, none there save herself and a serving- maid 
 and a very aged man. 
 
 She invited him to come within, and she made 
 a supper for the king, and brought forth goodly 
 wine, and entertained him marvellously well, and 
 he wondered greatly who she was, and how she 
 came there into the midst of that lone forest. 
 
 So he asked when he had eaten and drunk. 
 
 Then she replied : " I will tell thee all right 
 gladly. My name is Sereine, and I am daughter 
 and only child to the King of Syria, that lives at 
 Damascus. Now it fell out that a ferocious wretch, 
 the Old Man of the Mountain, all whose followers 
 be assassins, had set his heart to win me as his 
 bride. Then the king, my father, took counsel with 
 his wise men what he should do, and they bade 
 him send me away under the charge of the Bishop 
 Nicholas, my tutor and governor, till the Old Man 
 of the Mountain had found a wife elsewhere; they 
 further bade him make answer that his daughter 
 was learning algebra with her tutor and governor, 
 and that till she had reached equations she was 
 not marriageable. So here be I, hidden in this 
 wood for fear of the Old Man, the King of the 
 Assassins.'' 
 
 Thereupon up spake Auferus and said, "Fair and 
 sweet Princess Sereine, I am a king, and this is my 
 
GENERIDES 169 
 
 kingdom, and right glad will I be if you will take 
 me to your husband, and I will have much to say 
 with that same Old Man of the Mountain if he be 
 wroth that thou hast chosen me and rejected his 
 suit." 
 
 And to this Sereine cheerfully agreed. 
 
 Then were the tapers lit, and Bishop Nicholas 
 put on his robes and sang and prayed and blessed 
 them, and made of the twain to be one by the 
 grace of God. 
 
 Now Auferus tarried in the little house in the 
 wood for days and weeks, even to a month, and 
 thought nothing of his kingdom, so glad was he 
 to have leisure to hunt, and so happy was he in 
 the love and company of his fair wife Sereine. 
 
 It fell out that one morning he awakened very 
 early with hearing a sighing and a sobbing, and 
 so his shirt was wet as though it had been dipped 
 in the sea, and even salter was it, for it was wet 
 with the tears that fell from the eyes of Sereine. 
 Then he asked his wife wherefore she made such 
 moan. And she said : — 
 
 "Good husband and sweet sir, last night I saw 
 the yellow hart with golden horns run through 
 the chamber. And that hart was sent by my father. 
 It brought you to me, and now it is come to bid 
 me haste with all speed to my father; and I know 
 that he needeth me, for his glove is under the 
 circlet of gold round the hart's neck, and that 
 
I70 GENERIDES 
 
 was to be a token betwixt us. And now rise up 
 also, and go to your capital city and proclaim your 
 marriage there. And know this, that none shall 
 ever be able to wash your shirt and wash out the 
 tears that I have shed, save only I who shed 
 them." 
 
 Then Sereine busked her to depart with her maid 
 and the Bishop Nicholas, and right woe to part 
 were she and Auferus. 
 
 Now when she was gone, then the king also 
 mounted his horse and rode away through the 
 forest, and after much wandering came to a 
 charcoal-burner's hut, and he entered to ask the 
 way. 
 
 It happened that the charcoal-burner and his wife 
 were speaking together, and the king heard what 
 they said, and this was the substance of their speech : 
 That Ameloc, the chief minister and uncle of 
 the king, had conspired against him, and as he 
 was gone a-hunting and had been lost, the people 
 agreed to have Ameloc to reign over them, whether 
 Auferus were alive or dead. Further, Ameloc had 
 set a price of a thousand ounces of gold on the head 
 of Auferus, whether alive or dead. 
 
 Now when the king heard this, then was he sore 
 abashed, and because he knew that the charcoal- 
 burner was honest and true, he declared himself to 
 him, and said that he would abide in the hut whilst 
 the man went into the city to see how matters were, 
 
GENERIDES 171 
 
 and whether the nobles and the soldiery and the 
 people would receive him if he returned amongst 
 them, or whether they would slay him. 
 
 Then the charcoal-burner gladly undertook to 
 find out all this, and he was away for three 
 days ; and when he returned it was with a sad 
 countenance. 
 
 The people, he declared, had been so won by 
 the favour of Ameloc, who had made the conduits 
 run wine, and had scattered comfits on them from 
 the church towers, that they had shouted, "Long 
 live King Ameloc ! " And the soldiers had been 
 won by promises to be made all officers and to 
 have their pay doubled ; and the nobles had all 
 been secured, for they had been locked up in a 
 castle, and Ameloc had cut off the heads of such 
 as would not take the oath of allegiance to 
 him. 
 
 Then Auferus saw plainly that he could not 
 return to his capital city. 
 
 He rewarded the charcoal-burner, and rode away 
 till his horse fell under him, and then he went 
 a-foot till he came into the realm of Persia, and 
 there he was fain to serve in the king's palace 
 for food and for hire. And so trusty did he 
 prove, that in time he was advanced to be the 
 steward. 
 
 But now the story must turn about, and tell 
 how it fared with Sereine, the daughter of the 
 
172 GENERIDES 
 
 King of Syria. She hasted on her way, and 
 ever before her ran the gold-coloured hart, and 
 she made little tarrying till she arrived at Damas- 
 cus. There she learned that her father was ill, 
 and in a few days he died, and then was she 
 proclaimed queen of the land of Syria in his 
 room. 
 
 Now it came about that in time Sereine bore 
 a son, and the Bishop Nicholas baptised it ; and 
 the name given to the child was Generides. 
 
 The queen wondered greatly that she heard no 
 tidings of the King of India. She expected every 
 day, but he came not, neither did he send. And 
 she was grieved to the heart. 
 
 Many years passed, and no tidings coming Sereine 
 grew more sick at soul, and wept continuously. 
 But the boy Generides grew, and seeing how 
 sorrowful his mother was, he begged leave of 
 her that he might go into India and seek his 
 father. To this the queen agreed, and she gave 
 him a companion named Nathaniel, and to 
 Nathaniel she gave a ring as token from her 
 to Auferus. 
 
 Then Nathaniel and the young Generides fared 
 away, and they journeyed with little tarrying 
 till they came into the kingdom of India ; and the 
 night before they arrived in the chief city they 
 lodged in the hut of a charcoal-burner. 
 
 Him they asked after Auferus ; and the char- 
 
GENERIDES 173 
 
 coal-burner said, "Alas, masters! That was our 
 good king. But his uncle, Ameloc, conspired 
 against him and holds the kingdom, and no man 
 knoweth where Auferus is. Here he lodged a 
 night or more, and then he went away, and I 
 wist not whither he went and where he be. Nay, 
 my masters, but I doubt not that he is dead." 
 
 When Generides heard this, then he knew that 
 it was in vain for him to go on further to the 
 chief city in quest of his father. So he took 
 counsel with Nathaniel, and they plucked a feather 
 out of Generides his cap and threw it in the air, 
 and they watched which way went the feather, and 
 in that way they rode, seeking Auferus, And in 
 time they came to Persia, where they appeared 
 before the sultan, and to him Generides offered his 
 services. 
 
 The sultan saw he was a comely and stalwart 
 youth, and he welcomed him courteously, and said 
 in gentle fashion, " I am content to have you in 
 my service, but tell me your name." 
 
 Then Generides said how he was called. 
 
 Now the sultan had a daughter and only heir, 
 whose name was Clarionas, and she saw the beauti- 
 ful youth and set her heart on him, and he also 
 saw and loved the sweet maid Clarionas. 
 
 But as she could not come to speak with him, 
 she became sad and white and wan, like to the 
 moon as she wanes. And she had a maid called 
 
174 GENERIDES 
 
 Mirabell, who asked her mistress what ailed her, 
 and at last to Mirabell did Clarionas confess her 
 love for Generides. 
 
 It was even the same with the young prince. 
 He lost all heart in sport, and all zest in work, and 
 greatly concerned over him was Nathaniel, and he 
 lay heavy on him to tell what ailed him. 
 
 Then at the last Generides opened his mind, 
 and told him that he must die unless he came to 
 speak with Clarionas. 
 
 On the next day, as Nathaniel was walking in 
 the court troubled in mind, there came to him Mira- 
 bell, and asked after his young master. Then the 
 faithful Nathaniel told her how ill he was in heart ; 
 and Mirabell came to understand, and each spake 
 fully to the other, and so it was agreed that Mirabell 
 should open the garden gate and that the lovers 
 should be suffered to meet. 
 
 So it was that Generides was admitted into the 
 garden. Now it need hardly be told how that their 
 conversation became pleasant the one with the other ; 
 and before they parted they exchanged rings in 
 token of their love. 
 
 It so fell out that there was a certain knight, 
 Malichias by name, who lusted after mulberries, and 
 there grew in all Persia but one mulberry tree, and 
 that tree grew in the sultan's garden. And as he 
 could not rest till he had eaten mulberries, he climbed 
 the wall, and he was up in the tree a-gathering of the 
 
GENERIDES 175 
 
 fruit when beneath the tree met the lovers and ex- 
 changed rings. 
 
 And Malichias waited till they were parted, and 
 when none were in the garden he descended from the 
 mulberry tree, and went even as he was into the 
 presence of the sultan. 
 
 Then the sultan looked at him and said, " Why is 
 thy mouth so black, Malichias ? Hast thou eaten of 
 the mulberries in my garden ? " 
 
 Thereat the recreant knight said, " I indeed did 
 pick and eat one mulberry that had fallen on the 
 ground off thy tree, but Generides, he will snatch 
 away thy very daughter from the midst of thy 
 kingdom, and make himself king in thy stead, be- 
 cause Clarionas, she is thine heir." 
 
 When the sultan heard this he waxed wroth, and 
 ordered that Generides should be cast into prison, 
 and laden with chains, and be given bread and water, 
 and that there should he lie till he was dead. 
 
 The story now turns about and goes on to tell how 
 that Sereine, the fair queen in Syria, sorrowed more 
 than ever because her son returned not. She had 
 lost both her husband and her child, therefore had 
 she no comfort, day nor night. 
 
 At length she bore it no more. She committed 
 the care of her kingdom to a faithful minister, and 
 departed out of her land in quest of her husband and 
 her lost son. 
 
 Now is good Queen Sereine on her journey. She 
 
176 GENERIDES 
 
 took with her a knight and two squires and seven 
 servants, and went to the kingdom of India, and 
 reached the charcoal-burner's cottage. 
 
 Then she lodged the night in his hut, and he told 
 her how that her husband and her son had been 
 there, and he said how that King Auferus was 
 rejected out of his kingdom, and that Ameloc reigned 
 in his room, and as for Auferus, he wist not where he 
 was. He told likewise how that Generides had been 
 there, and how he had plucked a feather from his 
 cap, and had cast it into the air, and had ridden away 
 whither the wind had wafted the feather. 
 
 Then the queen plucked a golden hair out of her 
 head, and she held it aloft, and the light wind un- 
 curled the hair and carried it in such and such a 
 direction, and ever holding the hair above in her 
 hand, she went on in the direction whither her golden 
 hair pointed. 
 
 So in course of time she and her attendants arrived 
 in the kingdom of Armenia, and she came to a little 
 house down by the river-side, and there she lodged, 
 because that when she came into Armenia, and to 
 the fair city of Erzeroom, then her golden hair sank 
 and fluttered no longer. 
 
 So she asked questions, but none could tell her of 
 Auferus, for indeed, inadvertently he had not called 
 himself by his true name, but said that he was hight 
 Deprivatus. She sent forth the knight and squires to 
 inquire on every side, but they brought in no news ; 
 
GENERIDES 177 
 
 and the sad queen ever sat in the window holding 
 her golden hair, and blew it so that it might unfurl 
 and point the way if that she should go further. 
 
 And so it fell out that one day, as she thus sat, 
 she marked three laundresses down by the river- 
 side — 
 
 AH doing their business — 
 A shirt to wash. Then said she to these three, 
 "What do ye here, fair sisters mine?" quoth she. 
 Spoke one of them, " That were good to know ; 
 It is a wondrous wish with httle doubt 
 To wash a shirt, and ever still I trow 
 For two long years, and never bring about 
 That we can wash the many spots thereout." 
 
 Now when the queen heard this, she said, " Show 
 me the shirt, and I will try what I can do with it." 
 
 No sooner had the queen kneeled down by the 
 waterside and dipped the shirt than all the stains ran 
 out of it, and it was washed whiter than snow. Then 
 she gave the shirt to the laundresses, and they took 
 it to Auferus. But he, when he saw it, cried out, and 
 bade them haste and bring to him her who had 
 washed the shirt ; and when he saw her he knew 
 his own wife, and she knew him, and they wept and 
 were comforted. 
 
 And now must we return to tell of Generides, who 
 was in prison. 
 
 It fell out that whilst he was there, the Old Man of 
 the Mountain, who had been waiting to be married 
 for many years, and been biting his nails till he had 
 N 
 
178 GENERIDES 
 
 bitten them down to the quick, in his waiting for a 
 wife, sent a deputation to the Sultan of Persia to say 
 that he had learned that he had a beautiful daughter 
 named Clarionas, and that unless the sultan gave him 
 his daughter forthwith in marriage he would send his 
 assassins into Persia to murder all his nobles and 
 great men and ministers, one by one, and finally 
 would kill him, the sultan, as well. 
 
 Now the sultan was sore alarmed at this threat, for 
 he knew how terrible a foe the Old Man of the 
 Mountain was ; and while he was considering, sud- 
 denly Malichias was stabbed as he stood by the 
 throne, and the assassin fled before anyone was 
 prepared to arrest him. 
 
 That was the warning given to the sultan. 
 
 And next day another of his nobles was slain in 
 the same manner, and the third day another fell, and 
 the whole city was filled with terror, for none knew 
 where the dagger lurked, and who was in league with 
 the Old Man of the Mountain. 
 
 The tidings of what was happening came to 
 Generides in prison, and he sent his faithful servant 
 Nathaniel to the sultan, and said that if he were 
 set free, then he would give to the sultan such 
 advice as would free him from fear of the King of 
 the Assassins. The sultan, being in deadly alarm, 
 consented, and Generides was brought before him. 
 
 Then said Generides, "Send me and many men 
 to guard the frontier, and I will draw around it a 
 
GENERIDES 179 
 
 line of loadstones, and whenever any assassin draws 
 near, his deadly weapon will leap out of his belt 
 or wheresoever he has hidden it, and will cleave to 
 a loadstone ; and whensoever such an one appears 
 thus secretly armed, hew off his right hand and put 
 out his right eye, and send him back to the King of 
 the Assassins." 
 
 And so it was, that after that, every attempt of 
 the Old Man was foiled, and his murderers returned 
 to him maimed of a hand and blind of an eye. 
 
 Now when he found that he was thus discomfited, 
 he was the more resolved to obtain Clarionas to wife, 
 for hitherto none had been able to resist his power, 
 all had cowered before him in fear, because of his 
 legion of secret assassins. And very well he knew 
 that if he were frustrated by the King of Persia, then 
 his men would think that his strength or his wit was 
 gone, and would desert him. 
 
 Now when he thought on these things, there came 
 before him one of his councillors, named Wyvell, 
 who said, " Trust the matter to me, and I will obtain 
 the princess for thee." So the Old Man of the 
 Mountain agreed, and Wyvell set forth. 
 
 He took with him a ship and men, but no weapons 
 at all. Therefore, when they came to the coast of 
 Persia, and gave themselves out to be merchantmen, 
 they were suffered to disembark, and none feared 
 them, for all thought these men quite harmless. 
 
 Now Wyvell came to the court of the sultan, and 
 
i8o GENERIDES 
 
 gave out that he could eat for twenty-four hours with- 
 out stopping. The sultan was exceedingly curious 
 to see this feat, and he summoned Wyvell into his 
 presence. There the assassin had a great bowl of 
 peas brought in, and he drew forth a pair of ivory 
 chopsticks, and he played with the chopsticks, and 
 threw the peas, one at a time, into his mouth, and 
 so continued hour after hour, and never came to any 
 end, so small was the mouthful each time ; and the 
 sultan looked on till his eyes closed and he could 
 watch no longer. 
 
 Then was Wyvell dismissed with great praise. 
 And next day the emissary of the Old Man of 
 the Mountain said, " I can whistle and make mul- 
 berries come down out of a tree, one by one, and 
 jump into my mouth." 
 
 Then the sultan was very eager to see this feat, 
 but Wyvell said, " Sire, I have heard say that the 
 princess, your daughter, sets great store on the mul- 
 berries, and that it will trouble her exceedingly if 
 I eat them. I advise that she be sent away to your 
 summer palace by the seashore, and that whilst she 
 is away I show you my achievement with the mul- 
 berries." 
 
 The sultan said, "It shall be so." And he gave 
 commands, and the princess was placed in a litter, 
 and was conveyed to the seashore. Then Wyvell 
 was conducted into the garden, and he sat himself 
 down under the mulberry tree and whistled, and 
 
GENERIDES i8i 
 
 immediately down fell one of the fruit and slipped 
 into his mouth. He whistled, and again another 
 came, and so for many hours, to the great delight 
 of the sultan. And when the sultan had seen 
 enough, then he gave his portrait as a present to 
 the messenger of the Old Man, with his autograph 
 underneath, and dismissed him. Then Wyvell 
 mounted his horse and galloped to the coast. 
 
 In the meantime his men had been on the watch, 
 and they waylaid the convoy, and fell on them with 
 ivory knitting-pins, and slew and dispersed them, 
 carried off Clarionas, and set her in their vessel, 
 and only awaited the arrival of Wyvell to set sail. 
 
 It must now be told how that Generides was out 
 making the circuit of the frontiers of Persia to see 
 that all the loadstones were in order, when there 
 came to him his faithful friend and servant, Nathaniel, 
 in hot haste, to say that he had seen Mirabell running 
 from near the sea, and she had declared that her 
 mistress had been carried off by men armed only 
 with ivory weapons. 
 
 Now when Generides heard this, he knew that he 
 had been outwitted, and he hasted down to the sea- 
 shore, but arrived there only in time to see the sails 
 of the vessel as she departed, bearing away his loved 
 Clarionas to the Old Man of the Mountain. 
 
 Then he knew that no time was to be lost ; so he 
 got a ship and a crew, and he sped out to sea in 
 pursuit. And after he had sailed some days, he saw 
 
i82 GENERIDES 
 
 bearing down a noble vessel filled with armed men, 
 and he saluted, and asked who were in the ship and 
 whither she was bound. Then he heard a great 
 cry, and lo ! his own mother was on deck ; she was 
 with Auferus, his father, and they were on their 
 way to Syria to reconquer his realm for Auferus. 
 
 Then Generides told how that he was in pursuit 
 of Clarionas, and that for his happiness it was neces- 
 sary that he should win her. So Auferus and Sereine 
 joined with him, and they sailed towards the territory 
 of the Assassins. 
 
 But Generides knew that he must use subtlety. 
 Therefore he did not cast anchor near to that terri- 
 tory, but disembarked at some distance, in the port 
 of Ptolemais, in Syria; and he bade his father go 
 on and meet the upstart Ameloc, whilst he went 
 in quest of Clarionas. Then he took the juice of a 
 herb, and smeared therewith his face and hands, and 
 he was then like unto a leper. 
 
 Also he put on him old and ragged garments, and 
 took a clapper in his hand, even as do lepers. Then 
 he went alone to the palace of the Old Man of the 
 Mountain in Lebanon. Now it was so, that the King 
 of the Assassins had proclaimed his marriage with 
 Clarionas, and there was to be a great feast, to last 
 three days and three nights. 
 
 Clarionas was very sorrowful, and she wept bitterly 
 and prayed to God, and what she had with her she 
 gave in alms, and she asked of the poor and the 
 
GENERIDES 183 
 
 suffering to entreat God's mercy that she might be 
 delivered. 
 
 And it so chanced that one day there came a leper, 
 sounding his clapper and beseeching alms. 
 
 Then Clarionas beckoned him to draw nearer, and 
 he came forward, and she filled a goblet with wine, 
 and bade him drink and take with him the goblet. 
 
 And as he drank she saw upon his finger the ring 
 she had given to Generides ; thereat her colour 
 changed. Thereupon she dismissed her maids, for 
 that she said she would speak alone with the leper. 
 And when they were together, she asked him in- 
 stantly whence got he the ring. 
 
 And Generides told her all, and bade her escape 
 that night, and he would have horses ready, and they 
 would ride to the sea and cross it. 
 
 Then hastily he went away, rattling his clapper, 
 and she remained, and considered what she should 
 do. There was then in the garden a laundress, and 
 she was washing the linen of Clarionas against her 
 marriage. To her the princess confided all, and the 
 laundress agreed to assist her to escape. So that 
 evening, when the feast had begun, she arrayed 
 Clarionas in mean garments, and bade her take the 
 basket with the linen in it, and follow her. So the 
 laundress went first, and the princess after. 
 
 But as they came nigh the door there stood Wyvell, 
 and he stopped the laundress, and asked, "Whom hast 
 thou with thee ? " 
 
i84 GENERIDES 
 
 The laundress answered, " Thou art an impudent 
 varlet to stay my maid. Do you think I can both 
 wash the linen and also carry the basket ? " 
 
 She thrust forward; then Wy veil put forth his hand 
 to raise the veil of Clarionas ; but the laundress 
 stayed him, and said, " Foul befall thee, thou recreant 
 and ungentle knight, to put forth thy hand and raise 
 the veil, though it be only of a washerwoman's 
 maid." 
 
 So Wyvell desisted, and both women passed out. 
 Then they went to the garden wall, and there was 
 Generides with the horses, and he mounted Clarionas 
 behind him, and Nathaniel took the laundress behind 
 him, and they rode away. 
 
 Now Wyvell bethought him that it was a strange 
 thing that on this only occasion had the laundress a 
 maid with her ; and when there arose a great cry in 
 the palace that the princess was lost, then he made 
 sure that she had been carried off in disguise with the 
 privity of the laundress. 
 
 Therefore he pursued in hot haste, and he was nigh 
 on those who fled, but he was alone on his horse. 
 
 Now Clarionas cried out that they were being 
 pursued. Then Generides alighted off his horse and 
 drew his sword, and knelt, and Wyvell galloping on, 
 and regarding nothing, ran his horse upon the sword 
 of Generides, and the horse was pierced to the heart, 
 and reeled and fell, and threw Wyvell. Thereat 
 Generides leaped up and smote off his head. 
 
GENERIDES 185 
 
 Now when he and Clarionas came to the waterside, 
 there he washed his face, and his skin was fresh and 
 white again. Also great was his joy, for no sooner 
 was it known that Auferus was landed than all the 
 people of Syria rose against Ameloc, who had proved 
 a very tyrant, and slew him. And they welcomed 
 their rightful king with acclamations. And after that 
 did all go to the chief city, and there was exceed- 
 ing joy, and Generides was married to his beloved 
 Clarionas. 
 
 Thenceforth Auferus ruled wisely and well. He 
 had learned by bitter experience that there were 
 duties to be performed by a man, and that he must 
 not neglect his duties to follow after pleasure. 
 
 The king shook his head. "There is a moral to 
 this story," said he, " therefore I do not like it." 
 
 But the gentle and sweet Noyalen stole on tip-toe 
 to Jeremiah and whispered, " Therefore I do like it." 
 
 And he thought that was the best return he could 
 have had for his story. But he was to receive some- 
 thing more. 
 
 Noyalen took the gold cup and shook over it the 
 tufts of flowered gorse, now heavy with dew, and they 
 dropped their moisture into it. Then she dipped her 
 finger-tips in the chalice and flipped a few clear drops 
 in his face. 
 
 At once he felt a change there, but what it was he 
 could not tell. He passed his hand over his features. 
 
i86 GENERIDES 
 
 and found that something there was other from what 
 had been before, but what that was he knew not. 
 
 Then Noyalen brought the golden cup to him and 
 bade -him look therein, and, lo ! the crystal dew there 
 collected served as a mirror, and he saw himself 
 reflected as in a glass, and his face had become 
 youthful as of old. 
 
 Full of gladness of heart, and with a more confi- 
 dent look at the princess, he began the tenth story. 
 
X. 
 
 SIR CLEGES 
 
 THE course of life is as the turning of a wheel, 
 or as a see-saw. Now you are up and to- 
 morrow are down, and he that is bottom-most will 
 shortly soar high aloft, and let him be shrewd when 
 aloft to keep his head and not fall. 
 
 In the days of Pendragon, father of King Arthur, 
 there was at his court a right honourable and gallant 
 knight, whose name was Cleges. He was tall, well 
 built, and of fair hair and very bright blue eyes. 
 
 Now Cleges did his duty by the king, and then, 
 instead of remaining at the court doing nothing 
 but dancing and perfuming himself, and saying 
 pretty or smart things, he returned to his home, 
 for he was happier there than anywhere else in the 
 world. He loved his people on his land, and he 
 loved his land, but above all he loved his wife. 
 She was a good and gentle woman, and gracious 
 to everyone, rich or poor. Dearly Cleges and his 
 wife loved each other. He was generous to all, 
 and so was she ; and they were both entirely content 
 to live far from the envy and revelry of a court 
 
 187 
 
i88 SIR CLEGES 
 
 among their own people, and find happiness in each 
 other, and in the sports of the field, and in the 
 cultivation of a garden of herbs and sweet flowers. 
 There lacked in Cleges but one thing, and that 
 was a sound judgment, to know when to stay his 
 hand. He was ready to give to all who asked, 
 and his wife never ventured to say to him — Be less 
 liberal, for thou art becoming prodigal. 
 
 Moreover, they kept open house, and whosoever 
 passed that way received there good entertainment. 
 Every year at Christmas they made a great feast in 
 honour of the festival of Christ's birth of a pure 
 maiden. 
 
 " As royal in everything, 
 As if that he had been a king. 
 
 To none would he say Nay. 
 Minstrels were not behind, 
 For there they mirth did find, 
 
 There gladly would tarry they. 
 
 "And when the feast was done, 
 Without good gifts went away none, 
 
 Beside their ale and food. 
 Horses, and robes, and costly rings. 
 Gold, silver too, and other things. 
 
 That suited to their mood." 
 
 Now it may well be supposed that a man of so 
 free a hand and large a heart would in time come 
 to penury. No fortune would endure such extreme 
 generosity — we may say prodigality. And so it 
 was that the estate of the good knight Cleges was 
 
SIR CLEGES 189 
 
 lessened; moreover losses came on him for which 
 he was not accountable. But this he ought to 
 have weighed, that evil days come on most men, 
 and that a lesson may and ought to be taken from 
 the ant that lays by against the winter. 
 
 When Sir Cleges was no longer able to entertain 
 as afore, then his friends drew away from him. 
 No more did the minstrels come to his castle and 
 harp on their harps and sing merry ballads. 
 
 So he and his wife and children lived in great 
 straits, and with hardly an attendant in the castle, 
 which itself fell into ruin ; and the grass grew in 
 the courts, and the wild wallflowers started out 
 of the joints between the stones. One day the 
 good knight saw a pretty pink blossom crowning 
 the decaying walls, and he laughed and said to his 
 wife, " See, that is Thrift. It comes on our ruin ; 
 would that we had it in our hearts in the days of 
 prosperity." 
 
 The slates of the roof were carried away by 
 gales, and let through the rain. 
 
 Now it befell on Christmas Even that the king 
 summoned to a great entertainment at Cardiff, 
 where he then abode. And he went forth hunt- 
 ing, and his hawk was on his wrist. Then he 
 unhooded it and sent up the falcon on high — 
 and the bird flew away and he saw it no more. 
 Thereat King Uthyr was sore aggrieved, because 
 that was his best hawk, and he loved the bird 
 
I90 SIR CLEGES 
 
 greatly ; and he . issued a proclamation that who- 
 soever found the hawk should bring it to him at 
 Cardiff, and he should be largely rewarded. 
 
 Now it came to pass that same day, that 
 Cleges, looking forth from a broken window, saw 
 minstrels and knights wending their way to Cardiff 
 with much mirth, and all gaily accoutred. And 
 not one turned in at his gate and saluted him. 
 Moreover, he knew that he had no palfrey and no 
 knightly accoutrements befitting his rank, so that he 
 could not go to Cardiff. 
 
 And as he walked upon the ground. 
 Sore sighing, then he heard a sound 
 
 Of pleasant minstrelsy. 
 Trumpets, and pipes, and twitf ring flutes, 
 Of chiming harps, and pleasant lutes. 
 
 And of the psaltery. 
 
 On every side he heard men sing. 
 And silver bells on bridles ring, 
 
 As on their way they went. 
 Sir Cleges wrung his hands to think 
 That he should stand on ruin's brink. 
 
 These all on pleasure bent. 
 
 And as he stood in mourning so, 
 His good wife unto him did go 
 
 With smiles, as she were glad. 
 She kissfed him, and said, " My dear 
 Sweet lord, I pray be of good cheer, 
 
 And be not all so sad." 
 
 She bade him come within and eat what meat 
 
SIR CLEGES 191 
 
 they had in the house, and make merry with the 
 
 children, who, with their pretty ways, were good 
 
 sport. 
 
 With their children play they did, 
 And after supper went to bed 
 
 When it was time of night ; 
 And on the morrow went to church — 
 God's service not left in the lurch — 
 
 As it was reason and right. 
 
 Now when divine service was done, then Sir 
 Cleges walked in his garden, and sad thoughts came 
 over him once more. 
 
 As he walked, he passed under a cherry tree, and 
 to his great marvel, not only were there green leaves 
 on the cherry tree, but ripe fruit as well — ^just as in 
 June ; yet was the time winter, and the day the 
 Feast of Christmas. 
 
 As he stood full of wonder, looking into the 
 cherry tree, he heard a bird flutter, and he saw that 
 in the tree sat a falcon — a finer bird he never had 
 seen. And the bird was plucking at the cherries. 
 
 Then Sir Cleges took his glove, and softly ap- 
 proached, and drew his glove over the head of the 
 bird, or ever it was aware, and so caught it. 
 
 Now when he had done this, then he brake a 
 branch of the cherry tree on which were green 
 leaves and a bunch of seven ripe cherries all to- 
 gether, and he seated the falcon on the branch and 
 conveyed it within. 
 
192 SIR CLEGES 
 
 So when his wife saw this, then was she glad, 
 and she said : — 
 
 " To-morrow, when the day doth spring, 
 You shall to Cardiff to the king. 
 
 And give him this," she said. 
 " Then such a gift you may have there 
 That we shall better fare this year 
 
 Than in the past that's sped." 
 
 To this Cleges agreed. 
 
 On the morrow early he started, and had his eldest 
 son with him. They went together towards Cardiff, 
 and the knight held the branch of fruited cherries 
 whereon sat the beautiful bird. He had no horse, 
 and was fain to walk and assist his steps with a 
 staff. 
 
 When Cleges and his boy reached the palace of 
 the king, then the knight walked up the steps to the 
 grand hall, as he was wont to do in former days, and 
 to enter by the great doorway. 
 
 But now he was in poor, homespun array, and the 
 porter repelled him, and said, "You churl, get you 
 gone at once ! This is no place for you." 
 
 Then the good knight said, " I pray you, let me 
 in, for I am taking to the king a present of ripe, 
 red cherries in mid-winter, and of a falcon, the which 
 I think he must have lost, for there is a gold circlet 
 round the neck, on which is graven a dragon dis- 
 played. If this be a bird of his, he will give me a 
 great reward for having recovered it," 
 
SIR CLEGES 193 
 
 The porter now looked at the branch with the 
 ripe cherries. They made his mouth water. And 
 he took two of the seven, and ate them himself. 
 As to the falcon, he knew that it belonged to the 
 king; so he said to Sir Cleges, "Very well, I will 
 let you pass, but only on one condition — that you 
 give me one third of the reward which the king 
 grants you. Consent to this, or you do not pass 
 at all." 
 
 Sir Cleges said, " I assent." 
 
 He let him through. In he went 
 
 Without more delay. 
 In he went at a great pace. 
 The usher within the door was. 
 
 And him with staff did stay. 
 
 The usher threatened to strike the knight for 
 entering without his leave, and he said, "Go back, 
 churl, or I will thrash you black and blue, and send 
 you away crying." 
 
 " Good sir," said Sir Cleges, " I pray, be not so 
 fierce with me. I have brought a present of ripe 
 cherries to the king, and I have found a bird that 
 I believe is his, and which I would restore to him. 
 For this he will give me a reward." 
 
 Now when the usher saw the ripe cherries, he 
 lusted after them, and took two himself. Then he 
 said, "Fellow, I will suffer you to pass, but on one 
 condition only — that you give me one third of the 
 reward granted you by the king." 
 O 
 
194 SIR CLEGES 
 
 Then said Sir Cleges, " I agree," and so passed on 
 into the hall. 
 
 The steward walked there withal 
 Among the lords within the hall, 
 
 Robed in rich weed. 
 " Churl," he said, " thou art too bold ! 
 Withdraw thee in thy clothes old 
 
 Smartly, I thee rede (advise)." 
 
 Then answered the knight, " Good sir, I have here 
 a present for your master and mine, even red cherries 
 at Christmas, and what is more, a rare falcon." 
 
 Then the steward plucked two of the cherries, 
 and put them into his mouth ; and he knew the 
 bird to be that of the king, which had been lost 
 for some while, so he spoke less roughly, and said, 
 " Fellow, you may go on and offer the present, but 
 only on condition that I receive one third of what 
 the king orders shall be given you in reward." 
 
 Sir Cleges bethought him then, 
 
 " My part is small between these men, 
 
 I shall in sooth have naught ; 
 For my labour shall I not get 
 More than a mouthful of good meat " ; 
 
 Thus, sighing sore, he thought. 
 
 But as he could get no further without he assented, 
 he agreed it should be as the steward had required, 
 so was allowed to go forward. 
 
 He now walked up to the king's high table, and 
 he presented him with the cherry-bough, on which 
 
SIR CLEGES 195 
 
 was now one single cherry ; for the porter, the usher, 
 and the steward had eaten the rest. 
 
 But the king was rejoiced, and he took the twig 
 with the one ripe fruit on it, and said, " I will not 
 eat it myself, but I will send it to the fair lady out 
 of Cornwall, my wife, and it will give her great 
 pleasure." 
 
 Right glad was he to receive the falcon, which had 
 been lost for many days, and he said to Sir Cleges, 
 " Good man, ask a reward, and it shall be given you, 
 if so be that there be naught immoderate therein." 
 
 Then Cleges said : — 
 
 " Grammercy, liege king, 
 This is to me right comforting, 
 
 I tell you in verity. 
 But to have houses and land. 
 Or golden pieces in hand. 
 
 That is too much for me. 
 
 But in that I may choose. 
 Give me twelve lusty blows 
 
 To deal as it liketh me. 
 With my staff to pay them all, 
 Whom I will in this hall. 
 
 Grant it in charity." 
 
 King Uthyr Pendragon was much surprised. He 
 laughed and said, " I repent me of my grant. Take 
 instead houses and land and a gold fee in hand." 
 
 But Sir Cleges held to what he had demanded, and 
 as the king had passed his word, he could not with- 
 draw it. 
 
196 SIR CLEGES 
 
 Sir Cleges went into the hall, 
 Among the lords great and small, 
 
 Without any words more. 
 He sought after the proud steward. 
 For to give to him his reward, 
 
 Because he had grieved him sore. 
 
 He gave the steward such a stroke 
 That he fell down like a block. 
 
 All the company before. 
 And after, he gave him other three, 
 Who cried, " Sir, of your courtesy, 
 
 Smite me no more ! " 
 
 He went to the usher in haste. 
 Saying, " You also strokes shall taste. 
 As is both fit and meet." 
 
 He caught the usher by his neck, and he dealt him 
 such heavy blows that he could not fulfil his duties 
 for two days after that. 
 
 " There," said Cleges, " now you have a third part 
 of my recompense. I have already paid the steward 
 his third part." 
 
 Next he went to the porter, and he belaboured him 
 as well, and said, " Now you also have received your 
 third of the reward. I hope you are content there- 
 with." 
 
 It was so that the king was in his parlour, and a 
 harper was before him singing a ballad. But the 
 king did not hearken. He was thinking of the old 
 man who had brought him the cherry branch, and 
 had returned to him his falcon. 
 
SIR CLEGES 197 
 
 There was something familiar to him in his 
 features, and he felt confident that he had seen 
 him before. 
 
 Then all at once King Uthyr stayed the minstrel, 
 and said to him, " Thou hast travelled far and wide ; 
 tell me, hast thou ever seen a knight of the name of 
 Cleges? He was wont at one time to come to my 
 court, but I have not seen him for many years. There 
 was somewhat in the face of that old clown who 
 brought me the bird and the cherry bough that 
 recalled Sir Cleges to me." 
 
 The harper replied that he knew Sir Cleges at one 
 time full well, but that his estate had fallen to 
 decay, and the knight himself was reduced to great 
 poverty. 
 
 " Then by my head ! " exclaimed the king, " I trow 
 that poor man was he." 
 
 Thereupon he sent for him, and Sir Cleges came in 
 and kneeled on one knee to the king, and told his 
 name. 
 
 Then the king was glad, and welcomed him, and 
 he said that he fain would know why he had made 
 the singular request for the twelve blows. 
 
 Sir Cleges answered and told him all : how the 
 three men had each taken two cherries, and had left 
 but one for the king ; and how they would not let 
 him pass till he had covenanted to give to each, one 
 third of the reward granted by the king. 
 
 The lords all laughed, as did also the king ; and he 
 
198 SIR CLEGES 
 
 said, " This is a noble knight indeed. And as to my 
 servants, the steward, the usher, and the porter, they 
 have been well served, and I would that others who 
 come to me would deal with them in like manner." 
 
 Then the king gave him lands and servants, and 
 made him governor of the castle of Cardiff. 
 
 Now before that Sir Cleges left his ruinous home, 
 he went up on one of the crumbling walls and plucked 
 thence a bunch of the pink flower that is called thrift, 
 and he took it away with him to Cardiff, and he said 
 to his dear wife, " Let a posy of thrift be ever in my 
 chamber before mine eyes, that I may remember to 
 what sorrow and poverty I came in my past life 
 through want of thrift. And when I am dead, then 
 give some of these pink flowers to my sons, and tell 
 them that the best heritage they can have, better than 
 houses and lands and gold, is THRIFT." 
 
 The queen's lips moved ; she was about to smile, 
 when she observed a frown on the brow of her royal 
 consort. 
 
 "This will not do," said he. "Again have you 
 transgressed. There is distinctly a moral to this tale, 
 and morals are what I particularly detest. No, 
 Noyalen, he shall receive nothing for this. I shall 
 insist on his telling us a more amusing story, or the 
 crock of gold will most assuredly not be his." 
 
 Thereupon Mr. Toope began the eleventh tale. 
 
XI. 
 
 HEART OF ICE 
 
 THERE were once upon a time a king and a 
 queen who gave away everything that they 
 had, because they were the kindest and most 
 considerate people in the world, and could not see 
 anyone want. 
 
 King Bamboo, a neighbour, knowing that they 
 had exhausted their treasures, entered the country 
 with a large army, and made himself master of it. 
 
 The poor king, having nothing left either for his 
 defence or his sustenance, was obliged to disguise 
 himself, and to make off on foot with the queen, 
 his wife, who with some difficulty carried in her 
 arms the little Conall, their only son, three years 
 old, and very pretty. By this means they had the 
 good fortune to escape the pursuit of King Bamboo, 
 who would otherwise have put them to death. 
 
 In this manner they traversed wild moors and 
 barren rocks, till after incredible fatigue they de- 
 scended into a beautiful valley, through which ran a 
 brawling stream that watered green meadows. Now 
 the king had always been fond of fishing, and he 
 
 199 
 
200 HEART OF ICE 
 
 was wont to carry his flies and gut wound round 
 his hat. By good fortune he had fled wearing his 
 fishing hat, and he now found that he had the 
 means of catching a dish of trout for supper. He 
 made his line fast to a distaff which the queen 
 had luckily preserved, and in a few minutes he 
 had caught a number of fish, of which he made a 
 good repast, for the poor folk had eaten nothing 
 on the moors except berries and such roots as they 
 were able to chew. 
 
 Charmed with the pleasantness of the place, they 
 resolved to remain there. The king fashioned a 
 hut of stones and turf, and thatched it with bracken. 
 He gathered abundance of heather, and therewith 
 made a good bed. Thus this little habitation seemed 
 to them not without agreeableness. We judge all 
 things by comparison. But something was still 
 wanting, and that was a flock of sheep, which the 
 queen thought she could manage very well with 
 the little prince, whilst the king was engaged in 
 fishing. 
 
 Indeed his Majesty continued to catch a great 
 plenty of fish, and saw that they were of ex- 
 quisite beauty, and their- scales of iridescent 
 colours. This was not all, for upon further exami- 
 nation he found that they were easily tamed and 
 were eminently tractable, so much so that he easily 
 taught them to whistle like a bullfinch and even 
 talk like a parrot. 
 
HEART OF ICE 201 
 
 This discovery made him resolve to go and sell 
 them in a city not far distant from his retreat. 
 And this was the more necessary as the queen 
 was deficient in groceries, and could not possibly 
 make milk punch, of which his majesty was fond, 
 without lemons, and lemons cost money. And 
 money the royal couple were without. 
 
 The king accordingly went to the town, and seeing 
 no fish in the market of that sort which he had 
 caught, he exposed his for sale, at the same time 
 telling the people what properties his fish possessed, 
 and assuring them that they were very young, 
 tractable, and capable of vast improvement. So 
 singular a thing would have answered in any 
 country, but in a city where luxury prevailed, he 
 could not fail making his account of them, for 
 everybody was eager to buy ; they paid him the 
 price he demanded, and insisted on his bringing 
 more. In a little while these fishes became so 
 fashionable that no people who made any pretence 
 to be, as they termed it, "in the swim," that is, in 
 Society, could be without them. They put the fish 
 in crystal globes, which they hung up as we do 
 cages, in their apartments, where their rainbow, 
 shifting colours were most conspicuous, and such 
 fish as had a predominant colour or tint were suited 
 to the furniture of the room. With the money the 
 king got for his fish he bought a flock of sheep 
 and some lemons, so that his queen might occupy 
 
202 HEART OF ICE 
 
 her leisure in pasturing the former, and labour at 
 graver periods in brewing him punch. 
 
 He soon came to consider his lot in the valley, 
 occupied by day in fishing, and by night sipping 
 punch, as ideally happy, and he ceased to regret 
 the loss of his kingdom. 
 
 Years passed, and the peaceful and calm pleasures 
 enjoyed by the queen and her royal consort did 
 not pall on them ; and as the demand for fish of 
 the sort his majesty caught did not slacken — for 
 they became matter of export to foreign lands — 
 he was daily occupied in a healthy and harmless 
 pursuit. 
 
 Meanwhile Prince Conall grew to man's estate, 
 and as the demand for fish increased the king was 
 wont to send his son to market with them, whilst 
 he laboured with the line and angle. 
 
 One day, when Prince Conall was in the market 
 place, he heard a flourish of trumpets, and saw an 
 embassy arrive. The ambassadors mounted a 
 platform and announced that the Princess Sable 
 of Oowanghoo having lost her heart, which was 
 congealed in the Mountain of Eternal Snows, her 
 royal father proclaimed that her hand and succession 
 to the kingdom of Oowanghoo would be assured to 
 the man who would bring her heart to her. At 
 the same time a picture of the princess was hoisted 
 up, and the chief ambassador with a stick pointed 
 out her chief points of beauty. 
 
HEART OF ICE 203 
 
 Prince Conall no sooner saw this beautiful picture 
 than he fell in love with Princess Sable, and felt that 
 no toils could be too great, no dangers excessive, if 
 only he might win her as his bride. 
 
 He returned home to the Peaceful Vale, and in- 
 formed his parents of his intention to go in quest of 
 the heart of the Princess Sable. 
 
 Both were greatly affected, and lamented his inten- 
 tion, but saw that it would be in vain to dissuade 
 him. Accordingly the king gave him a purse of coin, 
 which he had saved from the sale of the rainbow fish, 
 and his mother furnished him with a change of socks 
 she had knitted out of the wool of her flock of 
 sheep, in the event of his getting his feet wet in the 
 course of his adventures in the quest of the heart of 
 the Princess Sable. 
 
 With many tears they parted, and Prince. Conall 
 started. He went to the nearest seaport town, where 
 he found a ship bound for that part of the world to- 
 wards which he intended to make his way, and 
 finding that he had enough money to pay for his 
 passage, he embarked and sailed. 
 
 After some days at sea a violent storm arose ; he 
 suffered shipwreck, and was the only person saved, 
 and was cast on a desert island. Happily he had 
 preserved his socks, and on being thrown by the 
 waves upon the shore, he had the prudence at once 
 to sit down and change ; consequently no injurious 
 after effects followed on the shipwreck. 
 
204 HEART OF ICE 
 
 On the desert island he lived by the chase, and on 
 such shell-fish and birds' eggs as he could collect. 
 
 One day, as he took a melancholy walk by the sea- 
 side, he perceived a vessel making for the shore. He 
 made signals to the sailors to implore their assistance, 
 but the nearer it approached the more extraordinary 
 it seemed, for he could not discern a living soul on 
 board. The ship came directly on shore, and by 
 accident struck on a sandbank, where she lay as 
 happily as could be desired. 
 
 Now Conall examined her closely, and saw that 
 the masts were green trees, full of leaves. Surprised 
 at the sight, he went on board, where he found the 
 deck grass-grown. There were men on board, alive, 
 but in a most miserable condition, for they were 
 covered with moss, and even ferns grew out of the 
 chinks of their bodies. 
 
 Struck with compassion, Conall removed them one 
 by one to the shore, where he scraped them and got 
 all the moss off them, and healthy flesh appeared 
 beneath this coat ; he also uprooted the ferns that 
 grew out of the ears, nostrils, corners of the mouth, 
 and between the fingers and toes, of these unhappy 
 people. In short, he took such pains with them that 
 in a few days they found themselves in a condition to 
 move and work as before. 
 
 He ascertained from the sailors that they had been 
 becalmed off an island in the south, that was covered 
 with woods and rank with vegetation. The wind 
 
HEART OF ICE 205 
 
 when it arose was but a light breath from off shore, 
 and it carried the pollen of the plants, and with that 
 covered the deck and clothed the masts ; also as an 
 impalpable powder it adhered to their bodies. Not 
 being able to get water to wash this away, it had 
 germinated, and thus it was that the ship had become 
 as a bower, and they themselves had become moss- 
 grown. They became quite stupid under the effect, 
 and so stiff and unwieldy, that they could not move 
 about. 
 
 Conall collected into a box a good deal of the 
 powder that still lay about in the ship, thinking it 
 might serve him some purpose at a future time. 
 
 As to the vessel, it was absolutely useless, as the 
 masts had rooted themselves, and the fibres had 
 completely filled the cabin and the hold, thick as 
 matting. They had, however, produced a fruit, some- 
 thing like very large acorns. He plucked one of 
 these and took it ashore, and put it in the ground. 
 Next day he was surprised to see that during the 
 night it had begun to germinate, and had produced 
 a tiny little ship. This grew daily, till it was of 
 sufficient size to put to sea in, when Conall and the 
 sailors who were on shore became impatient to be 
 off, and they launched the vessel and found her to be 
 entirely seaworthy. 
 
 They now put to sea, and steered east by north- 
 east. After a voyage of about a week they drew 
 near to land. 
 
2o6 HEART OF ICE 
 
 When they approached they discovered several 
 large spaniels on the coast, who seemed to be on 
 the watch, and several others formed into troops at 
 a distance. Those of the advanced guard came 
 boldly to reconnoitre the vessel, and seeing that 
 Conall made no sign of hostility, but, on the con- 
 trary, saluted them with "Good morrow to you, 
 doggies ! " they began to express content by a 
 general barking and by wagging their tails. In 
 the most courteous manner they offered him their 
 paws on his landing, and seemed to invite him to 
 follow them, and abandon himself to their conduct. 
 
 They easily made him understand that they were 
 indisposed to repose the same confidence in his sailors.- 
 Curiosity determined Conall to follow them ; he there- 
 fore ordered his people to wait for him a fortnight, 
 after which time, if he did not reappear, they were 
 to continue their voyage. 
 
 Then he abandoned himself to the guidance of 
 the good animals, and about half a mile from the 
 coast he discovered a large village. Before he 
 arrived he was met by several carriages, drawn by 
 other animals, but driven by dogs. He was much 
 surprised at the culture of the land, and to see every- 
 where tokens of industry and ease, and that without 
 perceiving any other inhabitants except dogs. They 
 gave him refreshments in the village whilst they put 
 a pair of horses to a chaise, which was driven by a 
 large spaniel. 
 
HEART OF ICE 207 
 
 Conall travelled in this manner some twelve miles, 
 till he reached a large city. He could not doubt but 
 that it was the metropolis, for all the inhabitants were 
 at the gates, or on the walls, or lining the streets. It 
 was evident that he was expected, and that this was 
 the object of his destination. 
 
 Conall was infinitely pleased with the acclamations 
 and caresses of the dogs, and the tokens of welcome 
 and of pleasure that they manifested at his arrival. 
 
 He arrived at a palace, and was led to a great court 
 through which he passed among a great many dogs 
 all shorn, and each had whiskers, and most of them 
 pipes in their mouths, much like performing dogs in 
 circuses. He passed through them into the palace, 
 where he was received by the king, seated on a 
 Persian carpet, surrounded by a number of poodles, 
 who whisked the flies off him. He was a beautiful 
 spaniel, with very intelligent eyes and something 
 noble and dignified in his manner. After a cere- 
 monious introduction, the king made a sign to all the 
 attendants to retire, and calling to him a secretary of 
 state, dictated to him a compliment, signifying how 
 sorry he was not to be able to converse with Conall 
 in his language, but only in that of dogs. He could, 
 however, by the aid of his secretary, have his words 
 translated and written in the language of men, but 
 owing to the canine formation of his secretary's 
 mouth, the latter, though he could write the language, 
 could not speak it. 
 
2o8 HEART OF ICE 
 
 Conall made a proper reply, and after some com- 
 pliments, begged the king to satisfy his curiosity 
 concerning everything he saw surprising in his court 
 and kingdom. This request recalled some melancholy 
 reminiscences in the king, but after he had taken a 
 little time to recover himself, he told him (still by the 
 means of his secretary) that he was called Wow ; that 
 a fairy had been enamoured of his person, and had 
 used all methods to engage him to love and espouse 
 her, but that he could never bring himself to do so ; 
 and that at last, the love of the fairy being turned to 
 fury, she had transformed him into the condition of a 
 dog, in which he was to remain, deprived of the use 
 of human speech, and she had even extended her 
 cruelty to his subjects. 
 
 Conall was much affected by .this discourse, and 
 protested that there was nothing he would not under- 
 take to oblige so amiable a prince, and to draw him 
 out of his deplorable state. But Wow told him that 
 he had no resource, for that the fairy had said to him 
 at the instant of his change, " Go ! bark, and be 
 covered with hair, till such time as the mountain of 
 ice be dissolved in which I have placed the heart of 
 the Princess Sable." 
 
 " But," exclaimed Prince Conall, " it is I that am in 
 quest of that mountain, for I most fervently desire to 
 obtain the love of that princess, and I know but too 
 well that she can never love me till her heart is re- 
 leased from the icy fetters in which it is now bound." 
 
HEART OF ICE 209 
 
 " If that be so," said the dog king, " then her re- 
 covery and mine will alike be the object of your 
 quest. I will help you by every means at my dis- 
 posal. Command me when in need. Here is a 
 whistle ; put that to your lips when you desire 
 assistance, and my dogs will fly to your aid." 
 
 Conall returned to the seashore, when to his 
 dismay he found that the vessel had left. The un- 
 grateful mariners, in their impatience to return to the 
 bosoms of their families, would not wait the fortnight 
 stipulated for his return. 
 
 The dogs, seeing his distress and his earnest desire 
 to be off, found an open boat, the only vessel they 
 could procure. Into that he went and rowed out to 
 sea. He rowed till overcome with fatigue, when he 
 rested on his oars. He was already out of sight of 
 land. 
 
 As he rested, a number of flying-fish passed over 
 his bark, but some of the fish dropped into the boat. 
 Almost immediately an albatross that had been 
 following the movements of the fish swooped down 
 to snatch those from the boat that had fallen into it. 
 Prince Conall seized the immense bird by the legs 
 and held it. The albatross made desperate efforts to 
 escape, but these were in vain. She tried to rise in 
 the air, but could not lift the prince and the boat out 
 of the water. She then plied her wings vigorously, 
 and by this means drew the boat along through the 
 sea at a prodigious rate, so that the water foamed up 
 P 
 
2IO HEART OF ICE 
 
 over the bows. At how many knots an hour she 
 sailed is unrecorded. 
 
 At last land hove in view, and Conall saw that it 
 was a country quite unknown to him. 
 
 He now released the bird, that immediately soared 
 on high and disappeared. 
 
 Conall went on shore, and found that he was not in 
 a country inhabited by dogs. The country was, how- 
 ever, frightfully barren ; it was, in fact, one vast rocky 
 desert. Only here and there did plants grow out of 
 cracks in the rocks, and it was on the fruit and grain 
 of these plants that the miserable inhabitants lived. 
 They had no fields ; there was, in fact, no soil at all, 
 and every single plant that grew had its roots in solid 
 rock. 
 
 Conall asked the natives how it was that they 
 obtained a livelihood from such a soil. They told 
 him that they would infallibly perish of destitution if 
 it were not for the moorhen. This bird knew where 
 schamir was, a tiny stone which, when laid on rock, 
 split it. When they desired to sow their crops they 
 watched for the moorhen and observed where she had 
 her nest. Then they placed a sheet of glass over the 
 nest ; and as the bird was unable to sit on her eggs 
 till the glass was broken, she flew away, found the 
 mysterious stone, and brought it in her beak to the 
 nest, laid it on the plate of glass, and it was at once 
 shattered to pieces. 
 
 Then those who had been watching raised a great 
 
HEART OF ICE 211 
 
 shout, and kindled and waved torches, and so fright- 
 ened the bird that she flew away and let drop the 
 stone, which they at once picked up. This stone they 
 then applied to the rocks and it split them, and where 
 split, there they dropped the seed of the plants they 
 cultivated. 
 
 Every family was by this means provided with 
 a stone, the schamir, which was treasured. But 
 no young people could marry and set up a house- 
 hold till one of them was provided with a schamir, 
 wherewith to break up a rock that was allotted to 
 each householder on which to grow sufficient grain 
 and berries to sustain a family. 
 
 Conall was extremely interested at what he heard, 
 and desired greatly to possess one of these stones. 
 But the inhabitants were most reluctant to part 
 with them. However, at last he heard of a family 
 that had died out without children, and the nearest 
 relatives, for the sake of a pinch of the fertilising 
 dust that the prince gave them out of his box, 
 agreed to surrender the stone. This he now care- 
 fully put away and continued his journey. He had 
 received a direction from the people who lived in 
 Rockland as to his course to the land where reigned 
 the father of Sable. It was due north of where he 
 then found himself, consequently he no longer 
 needed his boat. They furnished him with an 
 intelligent guide, from whom he acquired much 
 useful information. 
 
212 HEART OF ICE 
 
 His guide described to him the habits and nature 
 of the moorhen. This bird is of a peculiarly warm 
 temperament ; indeed, so warm that she has been 
 known to revivify her eggs even after they have 
 been addled. Occasionally she has been long from 
 her nest, kept away on account of the obstruction 
 placed there by those who want to obtain schamir, 
 and she has had to fly in quest of the stone; and 
 again, when she had split the glass, may have been 
 frightened away by the cries of the people and 
 waving of torches — then, naturally, the eggs left for 
 so long a time become addled. Nevertheless, so 
 warm is the bosom of the bird and so ardent her 
 maternal affection, that she cuddles down on the 
 eggs, and with the heat actually restores to them 
 the life that had been chilled out of them. 
 
 This very remarkable fact interested Conall ex- 
 tremely, and he desired greatly to obtain one of 
 these birds and test the heat developed by maternal 
 solicitude. He had not with him at the time a 
 thermometer for taking temperatures, but he resolved 
 on buying one as soon as he was able. 
 
 His guide assured him that he could catch a moor- 
 hen for him. The way to do this was to find a nest, 
 remove the eggs, and put pebbles in their place. 
 Then the bird sat so hard on these stones that 
 nothing could induce her to leave them. 
 
 On the journey, most happily, the guide was 
 able by this means to secure a moorhen. Conall 
 
HEART OF ICE 213 
 
 clipped her wings, and taught her to sit on his 
 shoulder; and she became quite tame because he 
 set the nest with the pebbles in it upon his 
 shoulder, and the bird would on no account leave 
 them. 
 
 However, after a while this became inconvenient, 
 for the heat of her body penetrated through the 
 nest and his clothing, and made his shoulder dis- 
 agreeably hot. But by this time he had reached the 
 land of the father of Princess Sable, and he was 
 able to put the nest in a room of his lodgings. 
 
 Prince Conall now changed his socks— he had 
 nothing else he could change — and demanded an 
 interview with the king. This was granted to 
 him. He was graciously received, but was informed 
 that the king was just then in great straits, for his 
 territories were invaded by a neighbour called 
 Arogant, at the head of a large army, and he im- 
 plored Conall to join in the defence of the land 
 and of his throne. 
 
 Conall cheerfully did so, and at once hastened 
 to the troops of the king. He found them few in 
 number compared with those of the enemy, and 
 destitute in cavalry. Arogant deemed his victory 
 certain, indeed everything seemed to promise it ; 
 the ardour of his troops, the superiority of his forces, 
 and above all his splendid cavalry. 
 
 However, no sooner was the signal for an engage- 
 ment given, than Conall drew out his whistle and 
 
214 HEART OF ICE 
 
 blew. Thereupon a thousand dogs appeared on 
 the scene, and at once jumped on the cruppers of 
 all the horses of Arogant's cavalry. By this means, 
 they not only threw the whole squadron into disorder 
 by frightening the horses, but also getting at the 
 throats of the riders from behind, they precipitated 
 them from their saddles, and the steeds, riderless 
 and mad with terror, turned and plunged through 
 the ranks of the infantry, throwing them into such 
 utter confusion that, when the signal to charge was 
 sounded in the army of the father of Sable, that 
 host rushed forward, dispersed and annihilated the 
 enemy. Arogant was taken captive, and conducted 
 in chains to the palace of the father of Princess 
 Sable, but unable to support the sudden turn his 
 fortunes had taken, he expired of mortification on 
 his arrival at the foot of the throne. 
 
 After this victory the dogs disappeared, and Conall 
 returned with the army to be received in the capital 
 with triumphal acclamations. 
 
 The king now allowed him an interview with 
 Sable. He found her to be singularly beautiful, very 
 accomplished, but absolutely heartless. 
 
 "Oh," said the princess, "you are one of my 
 suitors, I suppose. There have been twenty-eight 
 already." 
 
 "Where are they now?" asked Conall. 
 
 " I cannot answer for all," replied Sable. " One, 
 I know, was eaten by polar bears after they had 
 
HEART OF ICE 215 
 
 hugged him to death ; two were frozen to death ; 
 one was crossing a crevasse in a glacier, and slipped 
 and fell in, and he went down. They tell me 
 that it will be at least a century before his body 
 is disgorged by the glacier. Some have turned 
 and gone home, frightened at the dangers of the 
 journey. One had his ears and nose frost-bitten, 
 and they mortified and fell off; so he is disfigured 
 for life. One was attacked by a pack of wolves, 
 and they ate him, bones and all ; and it would not 
 have been known but that they left some of his 
 buttons with the crest on thefn. Two princes, very 
 nice young men in their way, went together, but 
 their provisions fell short, and they ate each other, 
 and nothing, not even buttons, was left of either of 
 them." 
 
 " How dreadful ! " exclaimed Conall. 
 
 " Yes, I daresay it was." 
 
 " And do you feel no remorse at causing the death 
 of so many nice young men ? " 
 
 " No ! Why should I ? They take their chance." 
 
 "And you will not concern yourself greatly if I 
 perish as well .' " 
 
 " I shall not concern myself at all. It is your con- 
 cern, not mine. If you don't like it, don't go. No 
 one forces you." 
 
 Prince Conall was quite shocked at the callousness 
 of Sable. But he considered that she had no heart, 
 and could not help it. 
 
2i6 HEART OF ICE 
 
 Whilst he was talking with her, there arrived a 
 deputation from the portion of the land ravaged by 
 King Arogant. They waited on the king to inform 
 him of the destitution of the people. The enemy 
 had burnt the villages and destroyed the harvest. 
 The poor peasants had nothing on which to sustain 
 themselves during the winter that was coming on, 
 and no hovels even to shelter them from the cold. 
 
 "It would be the best thing, father," said the 
 princess, " to have them all mown down with grape- 
 shot or poisoned off. That is the simplest and 
 readiest way to solve the difficulty. You see that, 
 obviously, when the sufferers have been got rid of 
 the misery will end." 
 
 However, his Majesty and the council would not 
 hear of this device. Princess Sable thought that 
 they managed very stupidly when they chose to 
 send waggons of food and clothing to the starving 
 people, and supplied them with ranges of galvanised 
 and corrugated iron sheds in which to spend the 
 winter. Presently the mistress of the robes entered 
 to inform the princess that the needlewomen engaged 
 on her new ball dresses had worn several of their 
 fingers to stumps with the hard work set them. 
 
 " Are all their fingers worn down ? " she asked. 
 
 " No, your royal highness ; not all." 
 
 "Then," said Sable, "keep the girls till all their 
 fingers are reduced to stumps, and then chuck them 
 away." 
 
HEART OF ICE 217 
 
 "Chuck what away?" asked Conall, greatly shocked. 
 
 " Chuck the workwomen away. They will be no 
 good to anyone, and, having no fingers, will not be 
 able to work for their living ; so chuck them away 
 into the ashpit." 
 
 " But this is most dreadful ! " exclaimed Conall. 
 
 " Why so ? " asked the princess in surprise. 
 " When I have got a broken needle I throw it away ; 
 why not a worn-out needlewoman ? " 
 
 Conall would have declined to prosecute his search 
 after the heart of the princess, but that his honour 
 was engaged ; and, moreover, he was under the fas- 
 cination of her beauty. 
 
 When he had resolved on starting, he blew his 
 whistle, whereupon a team of dogs appeared, and, 
 as he had purchased a sledge, he started over the 
 snows due north to the mountains of ice, to obtain, 
 if he could, the frozen heart of the princess. 
 
 At some distance beyond the last village within the 
 realms of the king, he found himself on a vast snow- 
 covered plain, and here he at once equipped the 
 sledge. He had brought with him his box with the 
 vegetative powder, the stone schamir, and the nest 
 with the moorhen sitting in it hard on the pebbles, 
 which she was vainly endeavouring to hatch. 
 
 He had forty-eight dogs, and these he attached 
 to the sledge. The immensity of snow had a sort 
 of beauty in itself, but it was a beauty full of horror. 
 Glittering in the sky, indicating the direction to be 
 
2i8 HEART OF ICE 
 
 taken, was the Polar Star. As yet no signs of a 
 mountain could be seen. In the sledge was stacked 
 an immense heap of dried herrings, intended to 
 serve as food for the dogs. But it was not till 
 Conall had been for some hours careering over the 
 snow that it occurred to him that he had brought no 
 grain of any sort wherewith to feed the moorhen. 
 
 After a long journey of seventeen hours the dogs 
 were much exhausted, and Conall deemed it expe- 
 dient to halt. 
 
 And now he scattered some of the powder from 
 his casket on the snow. At once the snow melted, 
 and the ground underneath appeared, and speedily 
 became clothed in verdure. This was most satis- 
 factory, for now in the herbage the moorhen was 
 able to pick up a subsistence. This she did with 
 feverish haste, and then hurried back to the pebbles 
 to sit on them before they became cold. 
 
 The night was spent in the herbage, and as under 
 the snow lay sticks and faggots, Conall collected 
 these into a heap and lighted them, and enjoyed a 
 pleasant fire. The dogs were fed on herrings, and 
 then curled up and went to sleep. 
 
 Conall continued his journey for several days. 
 Sometimes the sky was glorious with aurora 
 borealis. The cold was intense, but he was well 
 clothed, and some of the heat of the moorhen com- 
 municated itself to him ; for he always carried the 
 nest in his bosom, and the bird never left the nest 
 
HEART OF ICE 219 
 
 except when he halted, and then she snatched a 
 mouthful of food and was back again. Conall began 
 to observe with serious dread the failure of his pro- 
 visions. Forty-eight dogs eat a great many fish. 
 Already the heap had diminished to a handful, when 
 a brilliant idea occurred to him. Whilst the moor- 
 fowl was engaged picking up grain and worms, he 
 hastily substituted a herring's roe for a couple of 
 the pebbles, and he was agreeably pleased to find 
 in the morning that the moorhen had hatched out 
 all the eggs in the roe, to the number of a hundred 
 million. This was, of course, more than the sledge 
 and team could carry, and the pack of dogs was 
 regaled with as many fish as they could eat, and the 
 rest thrown away. But Conall always reserved a few 
 herrings with hard roes, and took them along with 
 him, and proceeded to hatch them out, with the 
 assistance of the moorhen, at each night station. 
 
 At length before his eyes rose the Mountain of 
 Ice. On the way, at intervals, he passed congealed 
 princes and other adventurers, who had essayed to 
 find and get back the heart of the princess, and 
 had failed. The rigour of the cold had perfectly 
 preserved them, and the features of the frozen men 
 might be seen expressing the emotions of despair 
 or distraction of mind they were in at the instant 
 of congelation. When Conall reached the mountain, 
 as it was perfectly clear crystal ice throughout, he 
 saw into its depths, and perceived a minute speck 
 
220 HEART OF ICE 
 
 in the middle. This, he had no doubt, was the heart 
 of the princess. 
 
 Although exceedingly impatient to possess it, he 
 tarried the night, encamped at the foot of the 
 mountain, melted a patch of snow, and produced 
 herbage with the vegetative powder, and lit a fire, 
 beside which he slept through the night. 
 
 Next morning early he rose and applied schamir 
 to the Mountain of Ice, when at its touch it was 
 shattered into tens of thousands of fragments, and 
 walking amidst these fragments he went direct to 
 the middle where was the heart. This he took up, 
 wrapped it in his pocket-handkerchief, and care- 
 fully preserved it. It was, however, so deadly cold 
 that his kerchief was frozen about it as hard as a 
 board. 
 
 Having gone back to his equipage, he returned by 
 the same road, and picking up the frozen men on 
 the way, he passed a rope about them, and stacked 
 them like a faggot on his sledge, and so brought all 
 he could find back to the first village on the frontier, 
 where, the temperature being mild, they gradually 
 thawed and came to life again. 
 
 Ever and anon Conall looked at the heart of the 
 princess, but it had lain so long and so deep in 
 the Mountain of Ice that it showed no sign of 
 softening. 
 
 At length he arrived at the capital, and asked for 
 an audience. . 
 
HEART OF ICE 221 
 
 This was accorded him, and he was introduced to 
 the king and the princess. 
 
 As soon as Sable saw him, she said, " Oh ! you are 
 back again." 
 
 " Yes," answered Conall. " Are you glad ? " 
 
 " I don't care one way or another," was the in- 
 different reply. " Have you found my heart .' " 
 
 " Yes ; it is here," said he, producing the heart and 
 placing it on the table. 
 
 The king touched it, but it was so cold that it took 
 the skin off the tips of his fingers, and he drew back 
 with an exclamation. 
 
 "It will be worse than before," said he, " if that 
 frozen lump be introduced into her bosom." 
 
 "Let us see what can be done," said the prince. 
 Then he brought forth the nest with the moorhen 
 sitting on the pebbles with her usual assiduity and 
 intentness of purpose. 
 
 " She has eaten nothing for a day," said Conall. 
 "Will your Majesty be so good as to procure an 
 earthworm or some berries, and lay them on the 
 table?" 
 
 The king gave the necessary command, and these 
 articles were produced. 
 
 No sooner did the hungry bird perceive these 
 delicacies than she jumped off the nest and hastened 
 to them. 
 
 Whilst her back was turned Conall surreptitiously 
 removed the pebbles and placed the heart of the 
 
222 HEART OF ICE 
 
 princess in the nest. With the utmost rapidity the 
 moorhen gobbled up the food provided for her, and 
 then returned to her nest. 
 
 The heart struck a chill into her as she seated 
 herself on it, and she got up, turned round, and 
 looked at it. But if it puzzled her, it also gratified 
 her, for she thought it a prodigiously fine egg, if a 
 cold one, and she clapped herself down on it and 
 sat hard, with the utmost conscientiousness. In less 
 than an hour the heart was thawed, and began to 
 throb. Those looking on could discern this, for every 
 pulsation of the heart made the hen move. The 
 lively beating of the heart under her perplexed the 
 hen, and she got up, turned herself about, and 
 looked at what she had been sitting on. Its appear- 
 ance was to her so extraordinary and so unexpected 
 that she remained staring at it in silent astonishment. 
 
 The prince hastily took the heart up and handed 
 it to Sable, who clasped it to her bosom, and in an 
 instant by some mysterious means it had returned to 
 its proper position inside her. 
 
 " Oh, the poor, poor bird ! " exclaimed the 
 princess. "Do observe the distress it is in. The 
 hen thinks that she has been robbed of the fruit 
 of so much labour, I mean of so long a setting. 
 Quick ! I have some young peachicks ; run and 
 fetch them, and perhaps the moorhen will be com- 
 forted at seeing them, and will believe she has 
 hatched them out." 
 
HEART OF ICE 223 
 
 And in fact the bird was running about the room 
 in a distracted manner, searching in all directions, 
 under buffets, chiffonniers, and sofas, for that which 
 it supposed had been hatched out under her. 
 
 The prince and the king and queen were charmed 
 at this evidence of sensibility in the princess, and 
 wept tears of joy. 
 
 "Why do you weep?" asked Sable. "Oh, my 
 father ! oh, my mother ! you rack my heart with 
 distress to see those tears." 
 
 Then she looked with an expression full of 
 tenderness at Conall and said, " What sufferings, 
 what perils you must have undergone for my sake ! 
 Oh, I was never worthy of it." 
 
 "Madam," said he, "if I had had a hundred 
 lives I would have sacrificed them with joy to be 
 able to see you as you are now." 
 
 Just then a great uproar was heard without, and 
 courtiers rushed in greatly excited to say that all 
 the dogs that had been in the retinue of Conall 
 had been transformed into men, and desired to enter 
 and pay their respects to the prince, who by recover- 
 ing and restoring to the princess her congealed heart, 
 had also been the means of breaking the spell that 
 had been laid upon them and on their master. 
 
 The king was so delighted that he at once deter- 
 mined to abdicate and surrender his throne to his 
 daughter, who was to be married forthwith to 
 Conall. 
 
224 HEART OF ICE 
 
 " But where are your parents ? " asked Sable. 
 " Surely we must send post - haste to convey to 
 them the glad news that their son has achieved the 
 object of his journey and is in health." 
 
 Conall was delighted at this new token of her 
 sensibility. 
 
 Then she added : " There have been some poor 
 needlewomen who have worked their fingers down 
 to stumps in my service. What can be done for 
 them ? I shall never be happy unless they are 
 provided for." 
 
 Conall said that he had little doubt that the 
 vegetative powder would make the fingers grow 
 again. 
 
 "And there are a number of unhappy people 
 whose harvests have been destroyed, and who are 
 left unprovided and in despair," said the Princess. 
 
 " Some of the vegetative powder will restore and 
 redouble the harvests," said Conall. 
 
 "And those poor fellows who ventured and lost 
 their lives for my sake in the snows?" 
 
 "Such as were not eaten by wolves or hugged 
 by bears I have brought back and thawed," said 
 Conall. 
 
 Was there ever such a transformation ? Conall 
 felt that though he might have married a heartless 
 princess he could never have been happy with her; 
 but now that he had won one with a tender, beating, 
 and sympathetic heart, he knew that his happiness 
 
HEART OF ICE 225 
 
 was secure. And if one thing more were needed 
 to make their felicity complete, it was to see the 
 pride and exultation of the moorhen, which strutted 
 about with three young peachicks after her, and 
 believed implicitly that she had hatched them all 
 out through her great internal warmth. 
 
 This story made the queen laugh till the tears 
 ran down her cheek. She broke out into laughter 
 first when she heard how puzzled the poor moor- 
 hen was when it got up and looked at the heart 
 beating in the nest. But when afterwards she heard 
 of the moorhen being deluded into believing that 
 it had hatched out peachicks, then she laid her head 
 laughing on her husband's shoulder. 
 
 The king was highly pleased, and he made a sign 
 to Noyalen to give the crock of gold to the school- 
 master. But Mr. Toope was a man of a noble and 
 free temperament, and he waved it back : — 
 
 " No, sir ! " said he ; " not yet. I have told you 
 eleven stories. One more will make the dozen. 
 If that please you as well as the last, then give 
 me the cup of gold and let me depart." 
 
 " Very well," said the king ; " so be it." 
 
 Thereupon Mr. Toope began the twelfth and last 
 tale. 
 
XII. 
 
 BRAINS-IN-HIS-TOES 
 
 THERE was once a lad who was so stupid that 
 everyone said that he thought with his toes. 
 
 He never was able to look ahead and see what 
 would be the consequences of any act he did ; if he 
 were given a command, he fulfilled it without a 
 thought as to what was the purpose of him who gave 
 the command, and what was the object that would 
 be attained by his obeying. 
 
 One day his master, who was in the house, and 
 who was a farmer, said to the boy, "Go and put 
 the horses into the waggon." So he went out, and 
 got first one horse, and he whipped it, and tried 
 to make it jump into the waggon ; but he could do 
 no more than make the beast plant his fore-hoofs on 
 the back of the cart. 
 
 His master came out of the house and saw what 
 he was about, and he took the whip to his shoulder, 
 and said, " Brains-in-your-Toes, acting like a fool 
 again ! Harness the horses. I have a heavy load 
 of sand to take, and I must have four — two behind 
 and two in front." 
 
 226 
 
BRAINS-IN-HIS-TOES 227 
 
 Then he went into the house again, and the boy 
 brought out the four cart-horses ; and he harnessed 
 two to the front of the waggon, and two to the 
 back. 
 
 Now when his master saw what he had done he 
 was so angry that he drove him away. 
 
 " Go," said he, lashing him unmercifully with the 
 whip, "go where folk want fellows like you, who 
 have brains, not in their heads, but in their toes." 
 
 So he went away, crying heartily, for he did not 
 know where to get his supper, and he had not the 
 smallest idea how to earn his daily bread. He 
 walked on till the sun set, and he seated himself on 
 a bank and waited, hoping that his meal would 
 come to him, as he did not know whither to go to 
 get a meal. 
 
 When night had set in the moon shone pale and 
 bright, and Brains-in-his-Toes was bathed in the 
 beautiful clear rays of the moon. 
 
 Now, without thinking at all, he began to twitch 
 his forefinger and thumb, just as he saw his mother 
 move them when she was spinning. The moon- 
 light was about his hand, and, without thinking or 
 knowing, he spun the moonlight in a fine silver 
 thread. 
 
 He saw it lie like the purest metal in a coil at his 
 feet, but he paid no attention to it till he was brought 
 up short, finding that the moonbeam which he was 
 twisting would not run out any more. Then he tied a 
 
228 BRAINS-IN-HIS-TOES 
 
 knot in it, so that it might not untwist, and, as he held 
 the knot, all at once he felt himself being drawn on 
 high. He did not think this was strange, he did 
 not think whether he might fall. He did not think 
 whither he was being drawn. His feet clutched 
 the silver line below him, all his toes thought of 
 was how to hold fast. 
 
 So he was pulled higher and higher, and he pasSed 
 through a fine cloud. 
 
 At last he saw the moon very large above him, 
 and presently he saw that there was a man in it ; he 
 also heard a dog bark at him ; he also heard the 
 man tell the dog to be quiet. 
 
 Next moment a rough hand laid hold of him, 
 and he was drawn over the edge, and was in the 
 moon. 
 
 The old man stood and looked at him. But 
 Brains-in-his-Toes seated himself on a bundle of 
 sticks that was there, and thought of nothing except 
 the cold, which made his feet feel uncomfortable. 
 
 " I am glad I have got someone here at last," said 
 the old man. 
 
 The boy looked at the man ; he was dressed in 
 a very warm coat, and he had a thick fur cap on his 
 head. His beard was frosted, and even his long 
 eyebrows were hoary with frost. 
 
 The Man in the Moon said, " I am tired of being 
 here all alone, and I want to get away. I will make 
 you a present of a thick cloak I have been knitting. 
 
BRAINS-IN-HIS-TOES 229 
 
 It will keep out cold and heat. And you will 
 have no trouble in putting it on or putting it off. 
 You have only to say, ' On,' and it will at once fit 
 itself to your shoulders, and 'Off,' and it will at 
 once leave you. Now, I give you this mantle, that 
 you may go on your way in comfort till you find 
 out how I may be released from the moon. Promise 
 me you will come back and tell me, when you have 
 found out." 
 
 "Yes," said the boy. 
 
 "And," continued the old man, "when you do 
 return, I will cut for you a great round of silver 
 from the moon, and you shall carry it home with 
 you, and it will serve as your fortune till you die." 
 
 " Yes," said the boy. 
 
 Then the old man put a very thick, warm cloak 
 about his shoulders, and stooped, picked up the 
 bundle of sticks, and upset Brains-in-his-Toes in so 
 doing, for the boy was seated on it. Then the dog 
 began barking, and flew at his shins, and he was so 
 frightened that he ran away and tumbled over the 
 edge of the moon, and would have fallen to the earth 
 and been dashed to pieces, had he not caught the 
 moonbeam with his feet; then he grappled it with 
 his hands, and let himself down to earth. 
 
 As soon as his feet were on the soil once more 
 he was content, as far as he could be content on 
 an empty stomach. 
 
 He let go the spun moonbeam and walked along. 
 
230 BRAINS-IN-HIS-TOES 
 
 Presently he saw a strange figure staggering along 
 in the light of the moon. 
 
 It walked very slowly, and he was able to catch it 
 up. Then he saw that it was really a man with 
 an old woman hung like a chain about his neck. 
 
 " Good sir ! " said the man, " will you take a tuft of 
 grass and wipe my face ? I am bathed in perspira- 
 tion. I have been carrying this old woman a long 
 way, and for a long time." 
 
 The boy was good-natured and he complied. 
 
 Then the man said, " I am the old Nick of the 
 Mountain. I am one of those who may grow old, 
 but can never die. I am carrying Katie, the spinster. 
 She is a very cross old woman, snappish as a cat, 
 and works her tongue like a flail. No one has ever 
 asked her to marry him, for every young man is 
 afraid of her. The other day, as I was passing her 
 door, it was her birthday, and she was on that day 
 forty. There was going to be a village dance, and 
 nearly every girl of the village had been fetched away 
 to go to the maypole, and make merry there, but no 
 one had asked Katie to accompany him. Then she 
 began to rail and storm, and she cried out, ' I would 
 go, even if old Nick of the Mountain were to fetch 
 me.' Well, I felt in a lively mood, and so I said to 
 her, ' I am old Nick of the Mountain, will you come 
 with me ? ' She jumped for joy, and hung on to my 
 arm. I took her to the village green, and there I 
 danced with Katie. I bought her ginger-bread, 
 
BRAINS-IN-HIS-TOES 231 
 
 almond-rock, and lemon-drops, and she ate and 
 sucked to her heart's delight. 
 
 " As soon as the dancing was at an end, I said to 
 her, ' Now, Katie, I will take you home.' ' Oh dear! ' 
 exclaimed she, ' I should like to dance with you for 
 ever. Where do you live ? ' 
 
 " ' Put your ear up and I will whisper.' She did so, 
 and I told her that I was the Spirit of the Mountain, 
 who never died, and that I lived in the heart of the 
 granite rocks where no sun shone. ' I do not care, 
 I will go with you,' she said, and click ! round my 
 neck she threw her arms, and I have been carrying 
 her ever since. I do not dare to go into the granite 
 palace of the mountains, for I should be laughed at 
 there, bringing this old woman hanging round my 
 neck. I have promised her silver and gold and 
 diamonds, but it is in vain, she will not let me go. I 
 wish you would help me.'' 
 
 Now, as I have already said, Brains-in-his-Toes 
 never considered consequences. He was vastly 
 good-natured, and he was sorry to see the poor 
 spirit so overcome with dragging the old woman 
 about, hung like a chain about his neck. So, with- 
 out a thought, he said, " Katie ! will you come to 
 me?" 
 
 The old woman looked out of the corners of her 
 eyes, and seeing that Brains-in-his-Toes was young 
 and good-looking, whereas Nick of the Mountain 
 was old and ugly, she let go her hold of the latter. 
 
232 BRAINS-IN-HIS-TOES 
 
 and snap ! in a moment she had her arms fast round 
 the neck of the lad, and hung there a dead weight. 
 
 Nick of the Mountain burst out laughing, and the 
 lad now saw that having this old woman hanging to 
 him was no laughing matter at all. Brains-in-his- 
 Toes had now quite enough to carry, what with Katie, 
 and what with the thick mantle given him by the 
 Man in the Moon. In a very short time he was tired, 
 and strove to disengage himself from his burden. In 
 vain ! Katie would listen to no remonstrances, to no 
 entreaties. The more he struggled the tighter she 
 clung. 
 
 Presently he came near a pool. Oh, if he could 
 but cast her in ! Then he remembered that he 
 could easily rid himself of his mantle, and he said, 
 "Off!" 
 
 Instantly away fell the cloak, with the old woman 
 hanging to it, and Katie and it went together into 
 the water. 
 
 " My best of friends," exclaimed the old Nick of 
 the Mountain, "you have done me a great service. 
 But for you, I might have had Katie hanging round 
 my neck for years and years, and have been unable 
 to release myself Now, look you here. I will do 
 what I can for you. What do you require ? " 
 
 " I want my supper," said the lad. 
 
 " That you shall have. What more ? " 
 
 " I want to tell the Man in the Moon how to escape 
 from it." 
 
BRAINS-IN-HIS-TOES 233 
 
 " That I cannot tell you. It is a secret locked up 
 in the treasury of the King of Rodesia, and to that 
 treasury there are three keys. The chancellor keeps 
 one, the prime minister the second, and the king has 
 the third. Without these three keys the treasury 
 cannot be opened and the secret disclosed. But 
 I will tell you what I will do ; being what I am, 
 it lies in my power to repay you in my poor way 
 for your services. I will forthwith proceed to the 
 capital town of Rodesia and will haunt and pinch 
 and torment the chancellor till life is a burden to 
 him. As soon as all doctors have failed to free the 
 chancellor from me, do you go to the town and offer, 
 for the price of one of the treasury keys, to free the 
 chancellor from my plaguing him. Then stand before 
 him, say ' Hocus pocus ! ' and I will disappear, and 
 torment him no more. But I will go and haunt and 
 pinch and plague the prime minister. When all 
 other means of cure have failed, do you offer, for the 
 price of the second treasury key, to free the prime 
 minister. Go to him, say ' Hocus pocus ! ' and I will 
 disappear, and torment him no more. Then I will 
 go to the king, and will plague and haunt him as I 
 have the others. And now I warn you, beware how 
 you venture to drive me away from the king. Should 
 you, notwithstanding this caution, risk the attempt, 
 I shall tear you limb from limb. You may ask, 
 ' How am I then to get the third key .' ' You must 
 use your best persuasion to induce the king to part 
 
234 BRAINS-IN-HIS-TOES 
 
 with it before you proceed to cure him. As soon as 
 you have the key, go to the treasury, discover the 
 secret you want, and then escape as best you may. 
 But beware how you say ' Hocus pocus ! ' to me a 
 third time." 
 
 The boy expressed his acknowledgment in the 
 best and most appropriate terms of which he was 
 master, and so the two separated, but not before a 
 noble supper had suddenly appeared spread on the 
 grass. 
 
 A day or two later a rumour spread that the chan- 
 cellor was not quite comfortable. He was troubled 
 with frightful dreams, he was pinched black and blue, 
 he could attend to no business. All medicines tried 
 failed to relieve him, and the doctors gave him up in 
 despair. 
 
 Now Brains-in-his-Toes came to the town, and 
 declared that he knew how to cure the chancellor. 
 All other resources having failed, the king determined 
 to give the boy a chance of trying what he could 
 do. 
 
 As soon as Brains-in-his-Toes entered the room, 
 he saw that the chancellor was in a dejected and 
 miserable condition. Invisible hands were incessantly 
 pinching him, pulling his hair, and flipping in his 
 face. 
 
 Brains-in-his-Toes demanded the key to the 
 treasury as his fee for curing him. The chancellor 
 did not at all like to give this up, but he consented 
 
BRAINS-IN-HIS-TOES 235 
 
 to do so if cured, when he considered that without 
 two other keys the treasury could not be entered. 
 
 Brains-in-his-Toes now approached the unhappy 
 man. 
 
 " Hocus pocus ! " said he in commanding tones, 
 and with a solemn face. 
 
 Away went Nick of the Mountain, though nothing 
 was seen ; but from that moment the chancellor 
 had ease, and he at once surrendered his key. 
 
 The young man received it and went away. 
 
 But it was soon noised abroad that something 
 was wrong with the prime minister, and it was 
 suspected that the same trouble which had afflicted 
 the chancellor had fallen on the prime minister. 
 What was to be done? 
 
 Regular practitioners were first of all applied to, 
 but they could do nothing. 
 
 When all had failed, then Brains-in-his-Toes was 
 sent for, and at the price of the second key to 
 the treasury he agreed to perform a cure. Every- 
 thing took place as in the former case ; the cure 
 was effected, and the youth obtained possession of 
 the second key. 
 
 Now Nick of the Mountain struck at higher 
 game ; he pinched, tortured, haunted the monarch. 
 As might have been expected, people were not a 
 bit the wiser for past experience, and the doctors 
 were sent for, and their medicines applied as in 
 the former cases, also ineffectually. 
 
236 BRAINS-IN-HIS-TOES 
 
 Then they sent for Brains -in -his -Toes, but he 
 refused to come. They sent again, but he said he 
 would only visit the king if assured that he should 
 have the third key. This was promised him, and, 
 because he did not think and look forward to con- 
 sequences, he was forgetful to ask to have the key 
 before he performed the cure. 
 
 The king was in a most deplorable state, and 
 the old Nick of the Mountain was there, behind 
 his throne, visible to Brains-in-his-Toes. 
 
 " Ha ! " exclaimed the Spirit, " did I not warn 
 you not to attempt this cure." 
 
 " Steady," said the lad ; and stealing on tiptoe 
 to where he saw the Nick, with his hand to his 
 mouth he whispered, "Do you think me such a 
 fool as to attempt anything of the kind ? I 've 
 come to tell you that — that — Katie is out of the 
 pool, and is inquiring after you ! " 
 
 " Katie ! " gasped Nick of the Mountain. " Then 
 I 'm off." And he vanished. 
 
 Now the king was cured, and reluctantly he 
 handed the third key to Brains-in-his-Toes ; but he 
 said to him — 
 
 " If you take one gold piece from my treasury, 
 I will have your head cut off." 
 
 " I will take nothing," said the lad ; " but I want 
 to see what is within." 
 
 Then he was led to the treasury, and he unlocked 
 the three locks with the three keys, and entered, 
 
BRAINS-IN-HIS-TOES 237 
 
 the king, the prime minister, and the chancellor 
 attending him. He saw piles of gold and silver, 
 but he did not regard them greatly; only his foot 
 stirred a bit of paper on the floor, and he stooped 
 to pick it up, and thereon was written, "Say 
 Bondricasfusbos." 
 
 Brains-in-his-Toes went away, and the king for 
 his services gave him one guinea, the prime minister 
 gave him one shilling, and the chancellor one penny. 
 Their gratitude would not enrich him. 
 
 He left the town and walked a long, long way, 
 and as he went he rattled the coins in his pocket, 
 and turned the word Bondricasfusbos in his mind. 
 
 At last, when night fell, he came to the silver 
 coil of spun moonbeam that still lay where he had 
 descended. 
 
 He began to climb, and directly his weight was 
 on it, the Man in the Moon began to pull, and very 
 soon he was being helped over the edge. 
 
 "Well," said the man, "have you found out how 
 I am to be released ? " 
 
 "Yes," answered Brains-in-his-Toes, "you must 
 say — say — say " 
 
 He had forgotten the word. 
 
 " Sit down on the faggot of sticks and try to recall 
 it," said the man. 
 
 The lad seated himself, but the word was lost. He 
 could not remember it. 
 
 Then the Man in the Moon was very angry. 
 
238 BRAINS-IN-HIS-TOES 
 
 " Because you have been in search of the secret, 
 and because you have found it," said he, " I will give 
 you a great piece of silver cut out of the moon. 
 Come again whenever you recall it, and you shall 
 have five times the amount — indeed, you shall have 
 the whole silver moon all to yourself" 
 
 Then he took a great knife and cut a piece out of 
 the moon as big as a millstone, and he scooped a 
 hole through the middle 
 
 " Now," said he, " put your head through this hole, 
 and you shall carry the silver down. Remember, the 
 whole moon is yours when you recollect and tell me 
 the word to enable me to escape." 
 
 So Brains-in-his-Toes put his head through the 
 hole, and found the silver fitted him very tightly, and 
 was also very heavy. As he went to the moonbeam 
 to descend, the dog flew at his heels, and the Man in 
 the Moon, being angry and disappointed, cried, " Bite 
 him ! bite him ! " 
 
 Brains-in-his-Toes was so frightened that he fell 
 over the edge, and went . sliding down the moon- 
 beam head foremost, for the weight about his neck 
 made that part of him the heaviest, and when he did 
 reach the earth he received such a bump on his head 
 that all the brains were shaken out of his toes into 
 his skull. 
 
 And then — immediately he recollected the word. 
 
 But now he began to consider. Suppose that he 
 told the word to the Man in the Moon, what would 
 
BRAINS-IN-HIS-TOES 239 
 
 be the consequence? The man would be released, but 
 then the moon must have some man in it to steer it 
 along its course. Brains-in-his-Head considered that 
 it would be advisable to let someone else take the 
 word to the Man in the Moon. 
 
 So he went on his way. 
 
 Presently he arrived at the farm of his master 
 with whom he had been apprenticed, and who had 
 thrashed him so unmercifully. 
 
 " Halloo ! " said the farmer, " so you are back 
 again." 
 
 "Yes, I am back." 
 
 " Have you made your fortune ? " 
 
 " It is round my neck." 
 
 " What ! that collar, like a millstone ? " 
 
 " It is all pure silver. It will buy a farm as big 
 as yours." 
 
 " How did you get it ? " asked the farmer. 
 
 Then Brains-in-his-Head told him all. 
 
 "And you now recollect the word?" asked the 
 man. 
 
 " Certainly I do. It is Bondricasfusbos." 
 
 " And if the Man in the Moon is told that word, 
 the whole moon of pure silver will be yours ? " 
 
 "Yes, all." 
 
 " Then you are still Brains-in-the-Toes not to have 
 climbed the moonbeam and told the man the word 
 that would release him." 
 
 When the farmer had said that, he started run- 
 
240 BRAINS-IN-HIS-TOES 
 
 ning, and ran and ran, fearing every moment that 
 the lad would outstrip him, till Ije reached the spun 
 moonbeam ; and then, full of eagerness, he laid hold 
 of it. 
 
 At once he was drawn up, and pulled over the 
 edge of the moon. 
 
 " Hah ! " said the grey old man then, " who are 
 you?" 
 
 " I have come to give you the word of release, 
 and to claim the reward." 
 
 " You shall have it. What is the word ? " 
 
 " Bondricasfusbos." 
 
 " Bondricasfusbos ! " repeated the Man in the 
 Moon. "And now, sir, please to take my place, 
 and look after my dog. I am free, but you must 
 remain. Now another word has been framed, and 
 till that word has been discovered, and you have 
 learned and repeated it, here you remain, and the 
 whole silver moon is yours." 
 
 Then he bowed, said good-bye to the dog, and 
 went over the edge of the moon. 
 
 And in the moon sits now the farmer, and there 
 he will sit till someone finds the word of release and 
 conveys it to him, and takes his place. 
 
 Now when Noyalen heard this story, her eyes 
 danced and sparkled ; but presently an expression 
 of sadness came into them. She held the chalice 
 of gold to the lips of Mr. Toope, and he tasted, and 
 
BRAINS-IN-HIS-TOES 241 
 
 lo ! at once there ran through his arteries a flash of 
 fire, and he felt that he was young. 
 
 The sap of life flowed freely and full through his 
 veins, and he felt towards the beautiful fairy Noyalen 
 an inexpressible tenderness, the like of which he had 
 not felt before. 
 
 " The time has come," said the king of the pixies, 
 " that we must part ; I smell the breath of the morn- 
 ing. The crock of gold is yours ; take it." 
 
 Then the schoolmaster took the vessel, but he did 
 not look at it; he looked at the full eyes of the 
 princess, and his heart grew heavy and sad. 
 
 She whispered to him — 
 
 " When you desire to return to us, when you find 
 life among gross men unbearable, then go forth in 
 the early morning, shake dew from the gorse bushes 
 into the bowl and drink, and then " 
 
 But he heard no more. At once it was as though 
 smoke passed before his eyes, and he saw nothing, 
 heard nothing, till he opened his eyes as one awaken- 
 ing out of a dream, and lo ! the sun was rising above 
 the hills to the east as a golden spark ; he was shiver- 
 ing with cold, and his head was wet with dew. 
 
 He stood up and looked about him. He saw now 
 distinctly as he had never seen before, he heard the 
 larks trilling in the sky, his back was straight, and 
 his legs nimble, and in his hand he held the crock of 
 gold, smitten with the first ray of the rising sun and 
 shining like fire. 
 R 
 
242 BRAINS-IN-HIS-TOES 
 
 What had been experienced was no dream. He 
 felt that he was young again ; he started to run, and 
 he leapt a brook, then turned, sought a place where 
 the stream formed a pool, and in it looked at his face 
 there reflected. It was fresh and handsome. He 
 was in verity a young man once more, but a young 
 man very different from what he had once been. 
 
 He walked forward, singing on his way, to Tavi- 
 stock, with the crock of gold concealed in his 
 bundle. 
 
 On reaching the town, he inquired about the 
 school, and was told that the whole body of trustees 
 was summed up in one man — the portreeve. 
 
 To him Jeremiah Toope went, and when the 
 portreeve saw him, he very willingly gave him the 
 appointment, and he became schoolmaster at Tavi- 
 stock. 
 
 Moreover, the portreeve was very courteous to him, 
 and bade him dine with him as oft as he liked. 
 
 So all went smoothly for a twelvemonth ; but then 
 there came a ruffle, and the portreeve no more smiled 
 on Mr. Toope, but bit his thumb at him, frowned, and 
 shook his head. 
 
 This made the schoolmaster unhappy, and he 
 plucked up courage one day to go to the portreeve's 
 house, and inquire of him in what way he had 
 offended. 
 
 That gentleman answered, " I will be frank with 
 you. You owe your appointment solely to me. I 
 
BRAINS-IN-HIS-TOES 243 
 
 gave it you, and I expect a return. I have seven 
 marriageable and unmarried daughters. It is alto- 
 gether unreasonable and unnecessary that I should 
 be cumbered with them all. I cannot ask of you to 
 take to you more than one ; but I do expect, seeing 
 what are your obligations to me, that you will reduce 
 the number on my hands to six. Take one or 
 relinquish your position." 
 
 Mr. Toope did not speak for amazement, 
 
 Then said the portreeve, " I will order them in and 
 make all seven pass before you. Throw your glove 
 at her whom you choose." 
 
 He gave the requisite orders, and in ten minutes 
 the daughters entered in file. 
 
 The first was of a sour aspect, very stiff in back and 
 wooden in all her movements. 
 
 She passed on. 
 
 The second came in tripping and chirping " I 'd 
 be a butterfly born in an hour." 
 
 She passed on. Mr. Toope thought her unduly 
 frivolous. 
 
 The third was pretty, but so extremely self-con- 
 scious that her every movement was rendered uneasy 
 through affectation. 
 
 She passed on. " Reality," said Toope, " not sham, 
 for me." 
 
 The fourth was a slattern ; her dress was burst at 
 the seams, and the braid of her skirt hung down in a 
 loop behind. 
 
244 BRAINS-IN-HIS-TOES 
 
 She passed on. Mr. Toope frowned. 
 
 The fifth was vastly ugly, and stupid withal. 
 
 " She requires drawing out," said her father. 
 
 Jeremiah was not inclined to take the trouble to 
 do this, so he allowed her also to go forward. 
 
 The sixth was a blue-stocking ; she affected to be 
 learned, and wrote Kikero where ordinary mortals 
 write Cicero, and could not bring herself to speak 
 of an Anglo-Saxon King Ethelbert as other than 
 ^thelberht, and a queen Elgiva as other than 
 Aelfgifu. 
 
 Jeremiah turned his chair about with a sense of 
 loathing. 
 
 The seventh was a chatterbox, but she had no other 
 subject of talk than the delinquencies of her neigh- 
 bours; she was an inveterate fault-finder and scandal- 
 monger. 
 
 "No thank you," said Jeremiah, and let her pass on. 
 
 " Well," said the portreeve, " you have not cast 
 your glove." 
 
 " N-n-o," answered Jeremiah sadly. 
 
 " Then," said the portreeve, " I withdraw from you 
 the Grammar School. Leave the place at a month's 
 notice." 
 
 Thus Jeremiah Toope was again adrift. But how 
 could he choose one of those seven damsels offered to 
 him, when all the while before his mind's eye he saw 
 the pleading face of the fairy Noyalen, and her blue 
 eyes intently fixed upon him ? 
 
BRAINS-IN-HIS-TOES 245 
 
 Mr. Toope walked disconsolately back to the 
 school-house, and began to pack up his books. What 
 books he had there ! What stores of stories ! Not 
 once had he been asked to tell any of these latter to 
 his pupils in the school. But then, he had not sought 
 to win their ears, so full was his mind of the pixies 
 on the moor. Presently he lit on the gold crock. 
 
 He held it in his hand, and fell into deep thought. 
 Still thinking, he left the house, holding it ; lost in a 
 dream he went away, up on to the moor, where the bees 
 were humming, gathering honey from the sweet gorse 
 flowers. Wrapped in thought, Jeremiah put his gold 
 vessel under a branch of gorse and shook the plant. 
 At once a number of dewdrops fell from it into the 
 bowl. He sipped — he was still in a dream — and no 
 sooner had he drunk than he vanished clean away, 
 disappeared from the sight and knowledge of men, 
 and has never been seen or heard of since. 
 
 It is thought that he has gone to the Pixy land, 
 has married the Princess Noyalen, and has become 
 a Pixy, and has ceased to be a Mortal. 
 
NOTES 
 
 I. Princess Rosalind. 
 
 All the first part to the return of the princess is from " The 
 Ballad of the Outlandish Knight." One evening on Dartmoor 
 in a kitchen I heard a moorman, named Gregory, sing a 
 version of this ballad that was new to me. The knight was 
 not an outlandish man, but a "fiend-knight," and the verses 
 were a variation on the stall-printed copies. Immediately after 
 he had done, another man, named Setter, said that he knew 
 the ballad, but it was not as Gregory sang it ; and he chanted 
 the well-known " Ballad of the Outlandish Knight." I have 
 tacked on another story to the first part so as to complete the 
 tale, which in its original form is fragmentary. 
 
 II. Jack Horner. 
 
 The old chapbook history of Jack Horner was printed in 
 London in 1750, at Newcastle in 1770, and there were also 
 Glasgow editions. 
 
 In the original there is no background out of which the 
 several adventures spring. They are detached. I have sup- 
 plied this by the introduction of " The Gold- Leaf Shadow." 
 
 III. Heming. 
 
 The "Deeds of Heming" is a short Icelandic saga, of which 
 one MS. belongs to a.d. 1334, but the story is far older, and 
 forms the basis of several Faroese and Norse ballads. It is 
 certainly founded on some historic grounds, but the contest 
 between Heming and King Harald Hardrede is copied from 
 
 247 
 
248 NOTES 
 
 that of Endrid and King Olaf Tryggvason. The saga is, 
 moreover, incomplete. As it stands, there is no explanation 
 why Aslak should have sent his son away north to the Finns ; 
 nor any motive given for King Harald's barbarity towards 
 Heming; nor, indeed, for his determination to have him 
 brought before him. Both these matters must have existed 
 in the earliest form of the story. I have ventured to restore 
 them. The incident of the apparition of Odin is taken from the 
 saga of King Olaf Tryggvason and from that of King Olaf the 
 Saint, the brother of Harald Hardrede. Another obvious gap 
 in the Icelandic saga is this : — King Harald remarks that 
 Heming's arrows are inlaid with gold ; and there all ends. 
 There is a hasty conclusion of the story telling how Heming 
 dealt Harald his death-wound in the battle of Stamford 
 Bridge, and this we know was through an arrow shot from the 
 English host. Here again I have connected the two circum- 
 stances as they must have stood in the original story. In the 
 Tell legend Tell retains an arrow, after having aimed at 
 the apple, and when asked why he has done this, says that 
 it was for Gessler in the event of his having killed his brother. 
 This incident, which surely occurred in the Heming's saga in 
 its original form, has also dropped out, and I have restored 
 it. The " Heming's Thattr " was first published in 1855, at 
 Reykjaveh, in a collection called Sex Sogn Thaetter, but this 
 is scarce and difficult to procure. It was reprinted by Mobius 
 in his Analecta Norrcena, Leipzig, 1859. The account of the 
 battle of Stamford Bridge is in the Heimskringla of Snorro, 
 and also in the saga of Harald Sigardson {Forn Manna Sogur 
 vi., caps. 118, 119). 
 
 An Aslak, a bonder, is mentioned in the sagas of King Harald, 
 as also the visit of Odd the Icelander, and a quarrel with the 
 king relative to trading with the Finns in the north without 
 his leave ; but Heming is not mentioned. Odd Ufeig's son is 
 also mentioned in the " Grettis Saga " and the " Bandamanna 
 Saga," and is altogether a historical personage. The latter 
 saga relates a good deal about him. 
 
 The story has never been translated from the Icelandic. 
 
NOTES 249 
 
 IV. Cleomene. 
 This story Jeremiah must have composed himself. 
 
 V. The Ash-Maid. 
 
 The only existing copy of the English lay of Le Frain is in 
 the Auchinleck MS., in the Advocates' Library, Edinburgh, but 
 is, unfortunately, like every other poem in that valuable collec- 
 tion, incomplete. It can, however, be completed, as far as the 
 story goes, from Marie of France's Lai le Freisne, of whose 
 compositions only one MS. is known to exist, and that is in the 
 British Museum. It was dedicated apparently to our Henry 
 III., and was a Norman- French rendering of Welsh ballads. 
 
 The tale is a very general one ; it is that which is given as 
 the mythical origin of the Guelfs. The story is this : At the 
 end of the eighth century Count Isenbard, of Altdorff, one of 
 Charlemagne's generals, espoused Irmengard, the sister of the 
 Empress Hildegard. Irmengard having one day heard that a 
 woman had borne three children at a birth, persuaded her hus- 
 band to order them to be drowned. Isenbard was sent on an 
 expedition. Shortly after his departure his wife gave birth to 
 twelve boys at once. Terrified at the judgment she had passed 
 on herself, she persuaded an old nurse to drown eleven of the 
 children. In the meantime, at the solicitation of Isenbard, the 
 emperor allowed him to return. On his way home he met the 
 old woman going to do her office, and asked her what burden 
 she had upon her back. She answered they were young whelps 
 which she was ordered to drown. 
 
 The count insisting on seeing them, the old woman confessed 
 the whole affair, upon which he ordered her to conceal the 
 discovery from his wife. The children were bred up at the 
 house of a miller. When they were six years old the count 
 introduced them at a feast. Their similarity to the twelfth, who 
 had been bred at home, greatly astonished the guests. Isenbard 
 then demanded, " What does the mother deserve who intended 
 to murder her children ? " Irmengard swooned at the feet of 
 her husband, and prayed his forgiveness, which he granted her. 
 
250 NOTES 
 
 In commemoration of the adventure he denominated his sons 
 The Young Whelps. Eleven of them died without heirs. The 
 twelfth, who had been retained by his mother, is said to have 
 been father to Judith, second queen to Louis I., successor to 
 Charlemagne, to Conrad, ancestor of Hugh Capet, and to 
 Rudolf, founder of the houses of Brunswick and Hohen- 
 zoUern. 
 
 Similar tales are found elsewhere. The same story is found 
 in Devonshire, and has been worked up by Mrs. Bray in her 
 Peep at the Pixies. The English lay has been published by 
 H. Weber in his Metrical Romances of the thirteenth, fourteenth, 
 , and fifteenth centuries, Edinburgh, 1810. The liberties I have 
 taken with the story are very slight ; the reason for them will 
 be obvious to anyone who studies the original and considers 
 who will be the readers of this book. 
 
 VI. Patient Helen. 
 
 The story of Patient Helen is taken from the old romance of 
 La Belle Helene. The fair Helen was, no doubt, originally 
 intended to be S. Helena, wife of Constantius Chlorus, and 
 mother of Constantine. All kinds of fables circulated con- 
 cerning her in the Middle Ages. She was said to have been 
 daughter of Coel, King of the Trinobantes, the founder of 
 Colchester, and to this day a mound at Lexden, forming a 
 portion of the old British town, is called " King Cole's 
 Kitchen.'' This king also is the famous King Cole " who was 
 a merry old soul," whose memory is still fragrant in our 
 nurseries. It was said that Helena found the true cross at 
 Jerusalem by digging on the top of Calvary, and accordingly 
 the town of Colchester bears on its arms the cross, with 
 crowns to represent that inherited by S. Helena and those 
 acquired by her union with Constantius. In the romance 
 every trace of the religious aspect of the story has disappeared. 
 In the late form in which the romance has come to us, 
 Constantius has been converted into Henry. I have ventured 
 to restore to him his proper name. 
 
NOTES 251 
 
 VII. Flower-de-Luce. 
 
 This Story is based on the old black-letter ballad of "A 
 Prince of England's Courtship to the King of Frances 
 Daughter," sung to the tune of "Crimson Velvet." It was 
 reprinted in A. Phillips's Collection of Old Ballads, London, 
 1723, vol. i. The date of this ballad is in the reign of James I. 
 It is probably a still earlier ballad rewritten. I have taken 
 some liberties with the story. In the original, the prince 
 is actually slain and the princess marries a mere forester, 
 whom the king creates Earl of Flanders. The story is much 
 improved by the healing of the prince and by making him 
 become a forester. I have added a few other touches, which 
 may be excused, as the story is told for children. 
 
 VIII. The Water of Light. 
 
 Cannot be traced ; apparently a product of the brain of 
 Jeremiah. 
 
 IX. Generides. 
 
 The metrical romance of Sir Generydes is of vast length. 
 Even that copy published by the Early English Text Society 
 which is without a portion that has been lost, consists of 6997 
 lines. The romance was first edited by Mr. Furnival for the 
 Roxburgh Club in 1866. That from another MS. is edited by 
 Mr. Aldis Wright, 1878. No traces so far have been found 
 of it in old French. A printed edition appeared in 1569, but 
 no copy is known to exist. I have had to condense the story 
 so as to make it endurable to a modern reader. 
 
 X. Sir Cleges. 
 
 Sir Cleges is one of the few English fabliaux that exist. It 
 is found in a MS. of the fourteenth century, and was printed 
 by Weber in Metrical Romances, 1810, vol. i. 
 
 I have made a little alteration in it. Into the English story 
 the royal hawk is not introduced ; but in Sachetti's Novelli, 
 written about 1376, occurs the same story, told of Philip of 
 
252 NOTES 
 
 Valois, and the hawk occurs in this. In Sachetti's story a 
 peasant finds the hawk, and knowing that it is the property 
 of the king, by the fleurs-de-lys engraved on the collar, goes 
 with it to the palace. But in Sachetti's tale there is nothing 
 about the cherries at Christmas. The English story is full 
 of picturesqueness of detail. 
 
 XI. Heart of Ice. 
 
 A very free version of a tale, "Short Boots," in A New 
 Collection of Fairy Tales, London, 1750. I have followed 
 the outline of the story. 
 
 XII. Brains-in-his-Toes. 
 
 A free rendering of a widespread tale, found in various forms, 
 in the Pantschatantra, Tutinamch, and in a Bohemian form in 
 Wenzig, Westslawische Marchen, Leipzig, 1857. See for its 
 many variations, Benfey, Pantschatantra, Leipzig, 1859, 1, p. 5 10 
 et seq. 
 
 PLYMOUTH: WILLIAM BRENDON AND SON, 
 PRINTEJiS. 
 

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