ZAC'S BRIDE.
King Fridolin sat gloomily in the ancient halls of his race. A mightyrace, forsooth, had they been for many a long year, and a mighty kingwas Fridolin. I shall not tell you the precise situation of hiskingdom, for it is only by avoiding particular descriptions that wehistorians escape a variety of impertinent and troublesome questions.Suffice it to say that the monarch ruled over a territory of goodlysize, containing mountains, forests, houses, vineyards, cornfields, andeverything else which the neighbourhood of a mighty river could supply.For a river, mighty, indeed, in size and reputation, flowed through hiskingdom, and was the principal glory of his land. The monarch hadsucceeded to the throne at an early age, and had reigned for long yearsover his people. They, poor creatures, had apparently only been createdin order to minister to his comfort. Ground down by oppressivetaxation, their spirits broken, their bodies subject to the will oftheir despotic master, their homes held only at his pleasure, andscarcely daring to call their very thoughts their own, they dragged onsuch a miserable existence as was permitted to them, without a hope oran idea that their condition could ever be improved by any effort oftheir own. But with him, their imperious lord, the case was surelydifferent. He, one would have imagined, had everything to make himhappy. Lands, vassals, money--what would he more? And yet King Fridolinsat gloomily in his ancient halls. His crown was upon hishead--surmounted by his favourite crest, representing the figure of aneagle clapping its wings; his left hand rested upon the hilt of themighty sword which he and his fathers before him had so often wieldedin battle, whilst in his right hand he held a watering-pot, by means ofwhich he tormented his Lord Chamberlain, who, having offended him, andbeing troubled with a bad cold, had been ordered to stand below thebalcony upon which his majesty sat, whilst the royal hand let icedwater fall upon his bald head. But even as he watered, King Fridolinpondered, and melancholy were his thoughts the while. Broad, indeed,were his lands, full were his coffers, obedient his vassals, but helacked that sunshine of the heart, without which life is dull and heavyat the best. Moreover, he had no one who dared to contradict him, noone who ventured to suggest to him any alteration in his way of living,no new occupation which could relieve him from the oppressive dulnessunder which he suffered. So there he sat, watering and thinking andwishing for he knew not what--_anything_ to relieve the dreary monotonyof his existence. Suddenly he started up.
"I've hit it!" he cried--which, if he referred to the LordChamberlain's head, he certainly had, for, as he spoke, thewatering-pot fell directly upon the bald pate of that unluckyfunctionary.
"I've hit it!" again cried the king--and the Chamberlain was notprepared to dispute the statement. In fact, the king gave him no timeto do so, for the next moment, apparently forgetting his cause ofdispleasure against the high official in question, he eagerly calledhim up to the balcony, and bade him listen to the development of a newidea which had suddenly entered his royal brain.
"Pompous," he cried (for such was the name of the Lord Chamberlain),"Pompous, I've thought of something!"
"Happy the thing which has had the honour of occupying your majesty'smind," returned the ancient courtier, deeming it right to preservehoney upon his tongue, although bitter gall was in his heart, inconsequence of the treatment to which he had just been exposed.
"Don't be an ass, Pompous!" replied the king hastily. "I tell you I'vethought of something. Guess what it is."
The Lord Chamberlain drew himself up to his full height, bowed low,coughed, hemmed, and, after repeating this process several times,meekly answered that he could not tell what his gracious majesty mighthave been pleased to think of.
"Tell? Why, of course not, you old noodle," said the King, whose mannerof addressing his attendants was occasionally barely polite. "Whoexpected you to tell? I told you to _guess_, but since you are toostupid to do so, I may as well tell you what it is. We'll have apig-race!"
"A _what_, your majesty?" faltered out the Lord Chamberlain.
"A pig-race, you old idiot!" roared the king into his ear. "P I G, pig,R A C E, race--_pig-race_. Do you hear now?"
And the old man was obliged to own that he did; but although he heard,he hardly understood what the king could really mean. Old Pompous,however, was a thorough courtier, and having had the misfortune tooffend his royal master _once_ that morning, was far too good ajudge to do so again, if he could by any possibility avoid it. Hetherefore put on a smiling face, declared that the idea was excellent,and pretended to enjoy it vastly, all the time wondering what couldhave caused the king to think of such a ridiculous project, and by whatmeans it could ever be carried out. Whether any difficulty hadsuggested itself to the mind of the king, or what had put the projectinto his head at all, are questions which it is both useless andunnecessary to ask. It is sufficient to know that there it was, andwhen the despotic king of a country has a practical idea, somethinggenerally happens in consequence, and it is a fortunate thing for hispeople if it is nothing worse than a pig-race. Now it happened that thekingdom of Fridolin was famous for its breed of pigs. They grew to avery large size, and were much thought of by the people of that andneighbouring countries, who bred, bought, sold, and ate them to a greatextent. A pig-race, however, was not a common event, nor, indeed, hadone ever been heard of in the memory of the oldest inhabitant. A pighad certainly been more than once turned out, on festive occasions,with his tail soaped, and a prize given to the rustic who shouldsucceed in securing the animal by holding on to that appendage; butthis was not what the king meant. He announced his intention of givinga prize, to be run for by pigs, each pig to be ridden by a boy underfourteen years of age, and fixed that day month for the event. Pompousreceived the order with obsequious readiness, and was too wise to raiseany objection to the project, or express any doubt as to thepossibility of carrying it out. Next morning, accordingly, it was madeknown to the world, and the whole kingdom was agitated from one end tothe other. It was not a great racing country; but, if it had been, arace between pigs, and pigs, too, ridden by boys, would have been anovelty, and the publication of the king's intentions caused a greatdeal of surprise and excitement. The race was to take place upon acommon in the immediate neighbourhood of the capital city of thekingdom, and the course, which was to be half a mile long, was settledand marked out long before the day arrived on which the event was tocome off. A great number of competitors had entered for the race, andit was calculated that at least twenty would start. Some complaintsthere had been of the shortness of time allowed for training eitherboys or pigs; but that was not a country in which many complaints weremade against anything the king did, as those who made them generallyhad their heads cut off with a promptitude which had a signal effect inpreventing others from following their example. So there was verylittle said against the arrangements which had been made, and peopleonly talked of the curious scene they expected to witness, andspeculated upon the chance of success possessed by the pigs which camefrom their several neighbourhoods. As the day approached, theexcitement increased, and every available lodging was occupied inanticipation of the great event. It is right to state, perhaps, thatthe intensity of the interest caused by the coming race, was not onlydue to the love of sport which existed in that country. King Fridolinhad perhaps no other intention than that of providing amusement forhimself, when he first set on foot the race which now attracted so muchof public attention, although he had, as a truly gracious monarch, noobjection to his subjects sharing that amusement, so long as his ownwould not be lessened thereby. But when he came to consider the natureof the prize which he should offer, another thought struck him, uponwhich he had immediately acted.
He had read and heard of many kings who, upon suitable occasions, whenthey wanted their country to be delivered from some misfortune, or ifthey desired to obtain the performance of some mighty deed of valour,or some great feat of agility, had endeavoured to get what they wantedby offering the hand of their daughter as the prize for which allefforts should be made.
This kind of proceeding had, o
f course, its disadvantages, as, in acountry where only one wife was permitted, the prize would be one whichshut out at once from competition all married men, and thus greatlylimited the possible number of competitors. But Fridolin was in apeculiar position in this respect.
In the first place, as only boys of tender age were to ride, there wasvery little probability that any of them would be married, and, in thenext place, he had a daughter whom he thought very unlikely to bemarried, unless by some clever contrivance such as that which he hadnow planned. Belinda was the youngest of three princesses who ownedFridolin for their father, and she was at this time just ten years ofage. But, unhappily, whilst her two sisters, the Princesses Amabiliaand Concaterina were lovely and well shaped, Belinda had no suchrecommendations. Her mother, having had the misfortune to offend apowerful and wicked witch, had expired, through her machinations,shortly after the birth of her third daughter. One would have supposedthat the vengeance of a witch would have been satisfied by the death ofits object; but the witch Nuisancenika was not so easily appeased. Shevisited the dying queen, made use of language which, alwaysobjectionable in itself, was doubly improper, when used at such amoment, and solemnly doomed the baby child to ugliness and deformity.This pretty well finished the poor mother of itself, and she actuallydied outright, when, within ten minutes of the cruel doom having beenpronounced, a palpable hump appeared upon the infant's back, and herfeatures assumed an expression of ugliness seldom seen in the femalesof that country. So the child had grown up, deformed and ugly, thoughwith a sweetness of disposition which atoned for both defects in theeyes of those who knew her well. This scarcely applied to Fridolin, whocared little for his children, although he occasionally had the prettyones down to dessert to show off to his friends, whilst poor Belindawas left alone and neglected in the nursery.
Under these painful circumstances it was singular that Belinda shouldnot have grown up as deformed in mind as body, and this might verypossibly have been the case but for the unwearied love and devotion ofher foster-mother. This estimable person was the wife of one of theking's shepherds, and no mother could have watched over her own childmore constantly or more tenderly than she tended Belinda. Beingmoreover of a remarkably even temper, and blessed with a kindlydisposition withal, the good woman doubtless did much towards thedevelopment of that remarkable sweetness of character, which theprincess had inherited from her mother. Be this how it may, shecertainly grew up in such a manner as to cause the remark to befrequently made that her mind evinced a marked and singular contrast toher body, and she was generally beloved in the royal household. This,then, was the daughter whose destiny King Fridolin had resolved todetermine by the chances of a pig-race, and the fact was duly notifiedto those concerned, and advertised in the newspapers throughout thewhole length and breadth of the country.
Although, as I have said, the circumstances of that country preventedpeople from commenting too freely upon any proceeding of the king's,yet nothing could prevent this matter being talked about in privatecircles, and wherever the conversation could be safely carried on greatsurprise was expressed at the course which Fridolin had thought fit totake. It was argued with some reason that the king, had he so chosen,might have ordered any of his subjects to marry Belinda, should nosuitable admirer have appeared from among any of the neighbouringprinces, and that, if he deemed it necessary that the princess shouldbe married at all, he might in this manner have at least secured forher a husband more eligible than might now fall to her lot. Besides,the class of people who would be likely to contend for the prize in apig-race would be of a varied character. It was undoubtedly true thatmany of the highest nobility of the land were breeders of pigs, but itwas equally certain that there were a far greater number of smallfarmers and even labourers who could also claim to be included in thesame category.
Moreover, it was more than probable that the more aristocratic andrefined was a pig-breeder, the less likely would it be that one of hisown sons would ride in the race, and it was to the rider and not to theowner of the animal that the prize was to be given. So far, indeed, theking seemed to have been kind and considerate, for this plan wouldsecure to his little daughter a husband better suited to her tender agethan if she had been bestowed upon some pig-owner of advanced years, towhom she would have made a most unsuitable wife. But the king'sintention was plainly declared; whoever won the pig-race would winBelinda too, and although a few years might be permitted to pass, sothat her education might be completed and the age of the bridegroom beallowed to ripen, yet at the end of that time, which the king would fixaccording to circumstances, the nuptials would certainly be celebrated.
As I have already said, everyone in the kingdom knew the conditionsbefore the day arrived, and many and various were the speculations asto the result.
At last the sun shone upon the eventful morning of the day which was todecide the issue of the race and the fate of Belinda. From everyquarter people came hurrying into the town; carts, carriages andvehicles of every description and size thronged the roads, which werealso crowded with foot-passengers, all dressed in holiday garments, andpushing forward in one direction, namely, to the race-course. There thecrowd was enormous, and the grand-stand was filled with a distinguishedcompany, as well as by many of those individuals who are onlydistinguished by their extraordinary capacity for getting money out ofother people's pockets.
In a private stand which was appropriated to royalty, sat Fridolin andhis daughters, surrounded by the nobles of the court. The king was inthe highest spirits, chaffing old Pompous, flirting with the maids ofhonour, and teasing his two eldest daughters by telling them that ifthe affair went off to his satisfaction, he should probably haveanother on _their_ account before long. The two princesses tossedtheir heads haughtily at this, although they stood too much in awe oftheir royal parent to make any open protest. They were both dressed inthe extreme of the fashion, and displayed in their features the beautyfor which their race had always been celebrated. At a little distancesat poor Belinda, who had been ordered by her father to be present, butwho did not seem much to enjoy it, although she endeavoured to preservea cheerful demeanour. The child was simply dressed in white muslin,and her dress was in no way calculated to remove the disagreeableimpression produced by her ugliness and bodily defect. As her sisterswere known to be the king's favourites, it was naturally around themthat the courtiers clustered, and Belinda sat neglected, and almostalone, though some of the more kindly disposed and tender-hearted ofthe court ladies paid her a little attention.
There was the usual shouting and betting, card-playing and band-playing,pick-pocketing and cheating, wrangling and chaffing, which accompany arace-course, I am told, even down to the present day; and there was adog, which issued no one knew where from, and ran down the very centreof the course, howled at by the crowd and vainly chased by thepolicemen, just before the race began. Carriages of all sorts weredrawn up by the side of the course, several rows deep, and theoccupants of many of them appeared to have come there principally forthe purpose of eating and drinking, for there was a vast and continuouspopping of corks, carving of chickens and mixing of salads, apparentlymuch enjoyed by those who were no more immediately concerned in theconsumption of the same, and as greatly envied by many hungrylookers-on, who passed and repassed the carriages with eager andlonging eyes.
At last the bell for saddling rung, and after a while the course wascleared, and the animals which had been entered for the race came outof the adjoining paddock for their preliminary gallop. There wereeighteen who actually started, of whom nine were black pigs and ninesandy coloured. The symmetry of their forms was generally admired, andas they cocked their little ears, twitched their tails, and gruntedloudly in anticipation of the struggle, great was the interest andintense the excitement of the spectators. The little jockeys, clad intheir jackets of different colours, sat gallantly on their steeds, andalthough the galloping was of a somewhat curious and uncertaincharacter, no accident occurred, and the eighteen competitors were dulymarshalle
d at the starting post. Then began the difficulty. It seemedas if no power on earth could induce the animals to range themselves asrequired or to keep any order at all. They grunted, squealed, turnedround the wrong way, and exhibited altogether such restlessness andqueer temper, that a fair start really seemed to be an impossibility.This went on for nearly half-an-hour, when suddenly the startereffected his purpose--the flag fell--and a hushed whisper of "They'reoff!" ran through the crowd from one end to another. The excitement wastremendous. Luncheons were abandoned--champagne glasses put down whenin the very act of being lifted to thirsty lips--opera-glasses andtelescopes were everywhere in requisition, and no one in all that vastassembly had for the moment eyes or ears for anything but the pig-race.Those who were in the secret knew that seven of the animals which wererunning belonged to members of the aristocracy, whilst no less thaneleven were owned by breeders and jobbers of an inferior class. Amongthese knowing ones there was great speculation as to the class fromwhich the winner would come, also as to the colour, black or sandy,which would be successful. There was no limit as to the sex of theanimals, and the only stipulation was that each competitor should betwo years old, it being considered in that country injurious to theconstitution of pigs that they should be allowed to run in races beforethat age.
It would take too long to describe the dresses of all the jockeys or togive the names of the animals which they respectively bestrode. If anyof my readers desire to know more than I tell, the matter can be easilyarranged, for the daily journals of that country inserted the fullestparticulars, and were doubtless filed by many racing-men of the time,so that reference can be made to them by the curious inquirer. It issufficient for me to chronicle the fact that cards were everywhere soldupon the day of the race, which contained the names, weights andcolours of the riders, and from these every information could begleaned. The names of the favourite pigs were Lubin, Toby,Trough-lover, Wallower and Hogwash, and it was thought by those whohad, or who assumed to have, most knowledge of such matters, that noneof the other competitors had much chance. How far the event realisedthese expectations will be presently seen. For the first few secondsafter the start there was a breathless silence, whilst all eyes wereeagerly fixed upon the advancing animals. Two or three could hardly besaid to have earned that epithet, for they only advanced a few yardsbefore they stopped, set their fore feet firmly in the ground and stoodthere squealing loudly and defying every effort of their riders to urgethem forward. Another presently turned sharply aside and charged intothe crowd of bystanders, grunting fiercely, and as he was a large hogof savage aspect and mighty bristles, the people scattered right andleft and he disappeared from the course. But the other pigs pushed onfor a while, until some six or seven appeared to have decidedlyoutstripped the others and to be those from whom the winner wouldundoubtedly be taken. The "knowing ones" seemed to be pretty right, forall the five animals whose names I have given were among those who led.
Trough-lover, a rough built, sandy-coloured pig, with a rider in aviolet jacket with white sleeves, came on with a long steady gallopwhich augured well for his chance; the scarlet jacket of the boy whorode Toby, also a sandy pig, showed well to the front, and Wallower'sdark and bony frame, bestridden by a jockey in pink and white was alsowell up. But the principal interest of the race was concentrated uponHogwash and Lubin, who were running neck and neck together in theforemost place, whilst the three already named, with a couple of"outsiders" were several yards behind. The two favourites were bothblack pigs; Lubin, a remarkably well-shaped animal, whose jockey showeddark blue colours, whilst Hogwash was a beast of huge dimensions,ridden by a boy of complexion almost as dark as his own, whose jacketof lilac had been conspicuous in the front rank from the first momentof the start. They ran on in the order which I have mentioned, afterthey had shaken off the "ruck" of pigs, until within about a couple ofhundred yards from home, when Lubin gradually came back to his pigs,and Hogwash forged slowly but surely ahead. The shouting on all sideswas tremendous, and the excitement of the spectators was at its height,when at about a hundred yards from the winning post the position of theleading pigs appeared unaltered, save that Toby seemed to have somewhatgained on the others in the second rank, and Trough-lover was comingalong by the rails with a stealthy, steady gallop, which made thebackers of Hogwash tremble in their shoes. So it was until within fiftyyards from the finish, when a totally unexpected incident suddenlychanged the aspect of affairs. Out from the second rank darted a pig ofa sandy colour, and with a squeal hardly to be expected from an animalwhich had gone nearly half a mile at best pace, shot forward from theothers and rapidly gained upon the leading pig. The shouts from thecrowd now rent the skies, and as the sandy pig closed up with Hogwash,the rider of the latter was observed to be using his whip freely,whilst his rival, a boy of light hair and complexion, displaying acherry-coloured jacket and black cap, sat firmly but quietly in hissaddle, to all appearance neither using nor requiring whip or spur. Attwenty yards from home he collared Hogwash, at ten yards they were neckand neck, racing for dear life, and when, amid the most maddening sceneof excitement the sandy-coloured pig galloped past the winning postnearly a length ahead, the shout that went up from the crowd wassomething appalling in its vehemence. There was no doubt about it.Hogwash was beaten and so were all the favourites, and an outsider hadwon. Who was it? The faces of the book-makers fell, and people lookedeagerly to see what number went up, for no one had an idea of what wasthe name of the winner, except those who were sufficiently calm toconsult their cards, and ascertain what pig it was that the "cherry andblack" jockey had ridden. It was soon known, Number 17 had won, andNumber 17 was "Sandy Sue," the property of Giles Dickson, a smallfarmer very little known among the great pig-breeders of the kingdom.
Before I go further, I may as well explain the clever manner in whichthis great race was actually won, which was thought to reflectconsiderable credit upon those who had contrived it. Farmer Dickson,though not in a large way of business, had plenty of brains, and it hasbeen remarked by men of undoubted sagacity that there are two classesof men into which the world may be divided, namely those who havebrains and no money, and those who have money and no brains, the latterbeing created principally for the benefit of the former. Now FarmerDickson belonged emphatically to the former class, and as soon as everthe race was announced and the course fixed, he conceived a projectwhich he immediately carried into execution.
At the end of the course, and not above a hundred yards or sotherefrom, was a fence, beyond which was situated a small farm, thehomestead of which was thus very near the winning post, or at least notabove three or four hundred yards distant. Being well acquainted withthe tenant of this farm, the sagacious farmer made known his plan tohim and they agreed to carry it out together. "Sandy Sue," as the largesow was called upon whom Farmer Dickson had resolved to set his hopesand stake his money, had not long since presented her owner with a finelitter of pigs. These were all removed forthwith to the farm near theracecourse, and their mother was also comfortably housed in thefarmyard. Day by day she took her gentle exercise, and day by day wasshe well fed at a spot as near to the racecourse as could be managed.More than this, her favourite food was always given to her about thetime at which the race had been fixed to come off, and to thisprecaution the strictest attention was given. The consequence wasexactly that which the confederates had expected.
Although her condition was probably not quite so good as that of someof the pigs with whom she had to contend, it was sufficiently so toenable her to run her best for a course so short as half a mile. Then,when she came near to the finish, recollections of feeding time notonly crowded upon her, but she had directly before her the very spotwhere her daily food was served out to her, and where she wasaccustomed to receive the visits of her beloved children. Stimulated torenewed exertions by these facts, she did exactly that which wasexpected from her, and forgetting every other consideration, made sucha splendid "spirt" as to carry her triumphantly to the victory in themanner which I have descri
bed. These things all came out afterwards,but they did not affect the decision of those who had to judge upon therace, and "Sandy Sue" was without objection or protest hailed as thewinner.
As soon as her jockey had dismounted and been duly weighed, he wassummoned to the presence of the king, who was not unnaturally desirousto behold his future son-in-law. The boy accordingly mounted the stairswhich led to the royal stand, and was forthwith ushered into thepresence of his sovereign. As soon as he appeared, Fridolin advanced afew steps to meet him, and then stood still and regarded him with acurious eye.
He was, as I have said, a boy of light complexion, with light brownhair and light blue eyes, and by no means of an unprepossessingappearance, especially in his jockey dress. He stood bashfully beforethe king, with blushing cheeks and eyes cast down, until, after a fewmoments of silence, Fridolin addressed him.
"Well, boy," he said, "thou hast won the race and hast gained theprize. Of what house and lineage dost thou come?"
"Please, sir, my lord, your kingship's majesty," said the boy intrembling accents, entirely mistaking the question, "our house bean'tbut a small one, and as for linen, mother does the washing and I don'tknow nothing about it."
At this reply the king burst into a fit of laughter, in which hiscourtiers joined, although some of them felt a sensation of regretwithin their hearts when they considered the illiterate ignorance ofthe youth to whom the Princess Belinda was to be sacrificed. Thisreflection apparently did not trouble the king greatly, for hepresently remarked, "the bridegroom must be introduced to his bridewithout delay. Come hither, boy," and with these words advanced towardsthe spot where Belinda was sitting. The poor child, understanding buttoo well what had happened and what was about to follow, trembled withvisible emotion as they came near, and would gladly have made herescape. But Fridolin did not intend that this should be the case by anymeans. He called to her as she rose from her seat and bade her be readyto receive the winner of the race and her future husband. Meekly andhumbly she obeyed, taking her seat again, and fixing her eyes modestlyupon the floor.
"There," cried the king as he pushed the boy forward towards theprincess, "there is the youth who will one day be your husband, child.Kiss her, boy, and make friends at once."
A deep blush suffused the face of the shrinking Belinda, who had not asyet even looked upon the other's countenance, and she trembled morethan ever. But with a grace which no one had expected from the quarterfrom which it came, the boy, immediately on receiving the king'scommands, stepped forward towards Belinda's chair, and, kneeling on oneknee, raised her hand gently to his lips.
"Bravo, boy!" cried the king with another laugh. "I vow you're half acourtier already. Two or three years' training and you'll be perfect."
He then proceeded to inquire more particularly about the youth's ageand condition, and found that he was called Zachariah Dickson, orusually "Zac" for shortness, that Farmer Dickson had several other sonsand daughters, but that this boy, being just under the limit of age,had been selected as the rider of "Sandy Sue." He learned, moreover,that the education of the Dickson family had been somewhat neglected,and that though Master Zac could certainly read and write, he was nogreat proficient at either accomplishment. Altogether it appeared thatthe pig-race had secured for Belinda a husband so very much beneath herin rank, position, breeding and education that her future happinesscould hardly be said to be very certain.
As, however, Fridolin had made the arrangement without any reference toits probable effect upon his daughter's happiness, but entirely togratify his own whim, he was not greatly concerned with thisreflection. He told the youth, indeed, that he had something to learn,before he could be really fit to be a king's son-in-law, but as in thatcountry a king's word was always sacred, and as good as his bond, henever for one moment entertained the idea of trying to be off thebargain.
No: "Zac" Dickson should be Belinda's husband, come what might. "He hadwon her and he alone should wear her." So said the king again andagain, at the same time avowing his determination that the boy shouldbe forthwith sent at the royal expense to one of the best colleges inthe country, in order that he might pursue his studies, and preparehimself to discharge the duties of that lofty position to which he hadbeen called by the voice of Fate. This announcement was received withrespectful submission by the boy, and with unfeigned satisfaction byold Dickson, who, besides having won a considerable sum of money on therace, now saw the prospect of having one of his boys entirely taken offhis hands and better educated than he could possibly have been withoutsuch aid.
The king further declared that three years should elapse before thewedding, but that then, when the bridegroom was seventeen and the bridethirteen, the marriage should certainly be celebrated, youthfulmarriages being always the fashion in that country. After the interviewon the royal Stand, the winner of the race was allowed to return homefor the night, but with orders that he was to take up his abode at thepalace upon the following day. Then the king ordered his carriages andthe royal party left the course. The crowd was already broken up, andpeople were streaming in every direction over the common upon which thesport had taken place.
The common was ere long left desolate and alone, only tenanted by agrazing donkey or two, and a few wretched human creatures who wanderedover every spot upon which carriages had stood and luncheons had beeneaten, in the hope of finding something which they might convert intomoney in order to aid the necessities of their miserable lives. Soon,too, these took their departure: the crowd of people returning homegrew smaller and smaller, gradually the road was less and lessthronged, the people were only seen going along it by twos and threes,then at last these, too, had found their way home, silence reignedwhere all had so lately been talk and mirth, noise and revelry, andnight came down upon the earth with her sable cloak, extinguishing thelast flickering rays of the sun which had so gaily and brightly shoneupon the day of the great pig-race.
The Princess Belinda woke next morning with a load upon her youngheart, and a novel sense of responsibility which made her feel quite adifferent being from the child of the day before. She was, indeed, noordinary child. Even in her appearance _that_ could hardly be saidof her, poor girl! for she was not so much ordinary as decidedly ugly,but the epithet was even less applicable to her intellectual powers,which were undeniably of a superior order. Having moreover beendebarred by her deformity from the more active pastimes of childhood,she had from a very early period sought her pleasure in books, and was,even at the early age of ten, far better acquainted with the literatureof the day than many young ladies of twice her age. Well informed,however, as she was, and fortified as she might be against the stormsof the outside world, as much as the fortifications of a prudent heartand well-regulated temper can avail against such adversities, shenevertheless awoke, as I have already said, to a new feeling upon themorning after the pig-race. Her childhood seemed to be over, and thereal cares of life to have commenced. She had no longer only her ownlife to regard, the life of another was thenceforth inseparably boundup with her own. The actual marriage, indeed, was to be deferred forthree years, but the boy who had been presented to her as her futurehusband was practically, for the future, a part and parcel of her life,and his doings must be always of great and paramount interest andimportance to her. To tell the truth, he had made a very favourableimpression upon the heart of the youthful princess.
Unaccustomed to go much into that society of which her more fortunatesisters were at once the ornaments and the delights, Belinda was lessstruck than might otherwise have been the case by the somewhat roughand countrified bearing of the boy, and indeed, as has been alreadysaid, his action in kneeling before her on his first introduction hadbeen far from ungraceful. She had remarked with pleasure the honestgaze of his blue eyes, and the healthy clearness of his faircomplexion, whilst no one could deny that his form was well-shaped, andhis figure lithe and active. Still, the age of ten is one at which itis somewhat early to be engaged to be married, and it is scarcely to beconsidered a matte
r of wonder that the little princess regarded herprospects with some apprehension.
The youthful Zac was brought to the palace next day, according to theking's orders, and forthwith took up his residence in the royal abode.It was a curious arrangement, and one that was made the subject of muchcomment by the court, although it was allowed on every hand that, sincethe king had determined upon bestowing the hand of his youngestdaughter upon the winner of the pig-race, there was much good sense, aswell as kindness, in his resolution to have that winner properlyeducated. It must be owned, too, that the lad did no discredit to histeachers. He was diligent, attentive, and showed no small capacity forlearning. Whatever there had been of vulgarity in his accent rapidlydisappeared, uncouth and ignorant language was banished from hishearing, and consequently very soon from his speech, while his errorsof grammar speedily became things of the past. In short, it wasconfessed even by those who had at first shaken their heads with agravity befitting the occasion, and had declared that the old proverb"you cannot make a silk purse out of a sow's ear" would be verified inthis case, and that a person of humble birth could by no means beconverted into a gentleman; even these persons, I say, began to take adifferent tone, to talk about another proverb, namely that "exceptionsprove the rule," and to express their feelings towards Belinda's futurehusband in no unfavourable terms.
He made such progress in his books that his tutors were quiteastonished, and Belinda was herself delighted. Once a week he wasallowed to visit her for an hour, and from time to time she found aperceptible difference in his manners and conversation, and a decidedimprovement in both. In this manner a whole year passed over the headsof the people of whom we are speaking, and during that time no eventoccurred of a character so specially interesting as to require aseparate allusion. People were born, married and died as usual. Whilstthey lived they ate, drank, and paid their taxes--three things commonto all mankind who happen to be resident in civilized countries--andafter they were dead they were comfortably buried by their relations,who then went home and remembered them as long as people usually do,and no longer. The world, in short, went steadily on, and the inmatesof the palace did much the same as the rest of the world. Lord Pompous,it is true, fell occasionally into disgrace, being rather a stupid manand apt to offend the king when he most wanted to please him. But as healways got out again very soon, this did not signify. Fridolin wasrather fond of the old man, if the truth must be told, and though heenjoyed teasing him now and then, never really meant to get rid of him.So they jogged on together happily enough, and nothing occurred toseriously disturb either of them.
The king, however, felt time hang as heavy upon his hands as is thecase with most people who either have nothing to do, or are too idle todo what they really _have_ to do in the shape of work. He oftenlooked back to that idea of a pig-race which had afforded him such agood day's amusement, and once or twice hinted to his two elderdaughters that it had turned out remarkably well. The princesses,however, viewed the matter in a different light, for they guessed atonce at their father's intentions, and had no notion of allowing themto come to any practical issue. It was all very well for Belinda,indeed: a third sister, with neither beauty nor wealth, might fairly bedisposed of in any way that happened to be most convenient. It wasentirely different, however, with girls who had beauty to recommendthem, and no lack of admirers to tell them so. Wherefore the fairAmabilia and the sweet Concaterina promptly checked their father's mostdistant allusion to the subject, and as they were the only people ofwhom he stood at all in awe, he soon abandoned the idea, and gave upall thoughts of having another pig-race.
After young Zac's first entrance into the palace, Fridolin hadconcerned himself very little about the boy, being content, as manypeople are, to let matters drift on as long as they gave no trouble tohimself. But it happened one day that he overheard some of thecourtiers speaking in praise of the lad, and this excited his curiosityto a degree sufficient to induce him to desire that Zac should besummoned to his presence. This occurred about the end of the first yearof Zac's residence in the palace, and was really the beginning to himof another existence. For King Fridolin was so pleased with thealteration in the youth, that he thought he should like to see more ofhim. Having no son of his own, why should not the future husband of oneof his daughters be as a son to him? Thus the result of his great ideamight turn out altogether fortunate, and he should have conferred abenefit upon himself as well as Belinda after all. He forthwith gavedirections that Zac should be present on all occasions when the kingappeared in public, or gave a reception to any of his subjects, and healso desired that he should be frequently admitted to the royalpresence upon other occasions. The boy always conducted himself so wellthat he gradually became a great favourite with the king, and not onlywith the king but with the other princesses.
This occurrence was the reverse of fortunate, but perhaps it was notunnatural. Amabilia was little more than a year older than Zac, andConcaterina about his age. His good looks, his pleasant manner, theunfailing sweetness of his temper, and the general intelligence whichhe evinced, were all calculated to make an impression upon the tenderhearts of the two princesses. Surrounded by flatterers and sycophants,the simple character and honest bearing of the youth had the additionalcharm of novelty, and this was increased by the natural manner inwhich, considering these as his future sisters, he accepted hisposition and treated them frankly as such. Accordingly they both felldeeply in love with him. It was very sad, and I am sorry to be obligedto tell it, but it is no use concealing the truth, and there was and isno mistake about the matter. The two sisters were not long indiscovering each other's secret, and as soon as they had made themutual discovery, a coldness sprang up between them which was mostdistressing. I am bound to say that no thought of or for Belinda evercrossed the mind of either of them. It was not that they disliked theiryounger sister, or that they were habitually unkind to her, but theyhad got into the way of considering her as a kind of inferior being,whose thoughts, hopes, and wishes must never for a moment interferewith their own, and who could on any occasion, and in any matter, bepushed aside as best suited their convenience, so that it scarcely atall, if ever, occurred to either of them that it was either wrong,dishonourable, or unkind to rob Belinda of her promised husband, and ifit _had_ occurred to them, I am afraid that they had both been toomuch accustomed to have their own way to have hesitated even under theinfluence of such a thought. Nurtured as they had been in theirfather's court, surrounded by people who had taught them to believe inthe divine right of kings to reign over their people, and the enormousprivilege which it was to be of royal blood, and the incomparablesuperiority of beings such as they were over the common herd ofmortals, one would have thought it probable that their pride would haveprevented them from yielding to the soft influence of love in such acase as that of the boy of humble birth with whom they had thusaccidentally been associated. But poets and writers of olden time havealways told us that Love is invincible, and I can only suppose that hechose to give another instance of his prowess by conquering the heartsof the two princesses, and forcing them to bow before his resistlesssway. At all events, to cut the matter short, they both fell in lovewith Zac Dickson, so that his very name (though to me there seemsnothing at all savouring of melody about it) was music to their ears,their eyes delighted to behold him, and their blushes would soon havetold the tale, if indeed their tender looks and affectionate manner hadnot been such as to reveal to the youth the ill-concealed secret oftheir young hearts.
Extraordinary though it be to relate, and difficult to believe, Zac wasconsiderably more annoyed than pleased by the discovery. Most boys offifteen would have been far from insensible to the attentions ofbeautiful damsels even of their own rank and station, and few there arewho would not have been flattered--and perchance fluttered too--by thepalpable affection entertained towards them by lovely princesses.Nevertheless, this was not at all the case with Zac. By some curiousfreak of Nature, he had been constituted with an acute sense andappreciation of t
he difference between right and wrong, and a steadydesire and determination to avoid the latter whenever he possiblycould. He remembered full well the manner in which he had obtainedaccess to the palace, and the terms upon which his admission had beenarranged, and the means provided for his education. Strange to say,moreover, he had conceived a real regard and affection for Belinda. Heremembered her first reception of him as her future husband; he did notforget the uniformly meek and modest nature which she displayed in herweekly interviews with him; nor was he oblivious of the kindly interestshe had ever taken in his mental progress and development of thosequalities which go to make a man's life both useful and advantageous tohimself and others. He had perceived, too, in the youngest princess,that sweetness of disposition for which she had ever been remarkable,and had learned gradually to understand, and, as he understood, to loveher better.
If, at his first entrance upon the scene of our history as the winnerof the pig-race, he had been offered the choice of any one of the threeprincesses, it is highly probable that he would never have looked uponBelinda a second time. The beauty of the elder sisters was undeniablygreat; their manners pleasant, though occasionally haughty; and theywere girls who would at once have captivated the susceptible heart ofany young man suddenly placed in Zac's position. But a year's residencein the palace, and that under his peculiar circumstances andengagements, had made all the difference. Bound in honour to Belinda,he would as soon have thought of stealing the king's crown as of makinglove to either of her sisters, nor could he believe for a long timethat they had any such intentions towards himself. This, however, onlyserved to make matters worse, because he took no pains to keep out oftheir way, and was rather glad when any opportunity for meeting eitherof them chanced to occur. Nay, when Amabilia pressed his hand tenderly,he saw in it nothing more than the regard which Belinda's sister had aright to entertain towards him, and when Concaterina, as they werebending together over a photograph, put her arms softly round his neck,and when their faces were almost touching, pressed her lips softly uponhis cheek, he even then deemed it but a proof of sisterly affection,and at once returned the compliment, without a suspicion that anythingmore was meant. His eyes, however, were opened at last, when theattentions, looks, and words of the two elder princesses becameunmistakable, and their design of winning him from Belinda but tooapparent.
The boy was grieved beyond measure, for not only was he sharp enough toknow that his own position at court might be seriously imperilled bywhat was before him, but he also felt that, through him, Belindaherself might be made to suffer. Yet what was to be done? Deceit wasrepugnant to his honest nature, and had it been otherwise, it couldscarcely have been long maintained, since not only one, but bothsisters were aiming at the same thing, and to deceive the two wouldhave been beyond human skill and subtlety. If he appeared to favoureither one, the other would probably be bitterly offended; if he seemedto care for both, but to hesitate between the two, their mutualjealousy would be stimulated, and, besides, if Belinda should hear ofit, as would be but too likely, her tender heart would be filled withsorrow. On the other hand, if he spoke his mind out to the twoprincesses, openly and boldly, they had only to agree together todenounce him to the king, and his position would be most precarious,whilst Belinda would be quite unable to assist him.
The matter caused the poor boy much anxious thought. At first, when hebecame quite certain that he was not mistaken, he tried, by every meansin his power, to avoid Amabilia and Concaterina, and was never alonewith either of them if he could possibly help it. But very often hecouldn't help it, do what he would. He made his studies a constantexcuse for absence from luncheon, to which meal he had latterly beeninvited, and at which the two elder princesses were always present,although Belinda had her solitary meal in the school-room.
Sometimes the king was there, and then Zac dared not be away, sinceFridolin liked him to be present, and sent for him if he was not. Buthis time of trial was "Five o'clock Tea."
The two sisters had a joint sitting-room, a very comfortable place,with inviting arm-chairs, delightful sofas, all the new novels, andevery knick-knack you can imagine, arranged as only a lady's taste_can_ arrange things, but so managed as to make the room wonderfullyattractive to the male who has the good fortune to be admitted to asight of its treasures. Their tea was always brought in on a silvertray soon after five, and to this most enjoyable meal they frequentlyinvited such of the courtiers as they specially favoured. Zac hadconstant invitations of a general character, but whenever one of thesisters chanced to be absent from any cause whatever, the other wassure to send specially to request his attendance. This was his time oftrial. The "request" of a princess in that royalty-loving country wasequivalent to a command, and it was entirely contrary to etiquette forany one to refuse compliance, save on the score of ill-health, domesticaffliction, or some other equally valid excuse. Therefore it was verydifficult for Zac to refuse, though he knew only too well what awaitedhim. Amabilia or Concaterina, whichever it happened to be--no matterwhich--was certain to be alone, and always received him with suchoverpowering affection as quite bewildered him. His only safety lay inthe fact that the two girls had become so jealous of each other, thatone never left the other alone at five o'clock tea if she couldpossibly help it. Still, sometimes such an occurrence was unavoidable,and if Amabilia was ever kept up-stairs by a bad cold, or Concaterinahad been detained elsewhere by some accidental circumstance, as sure asfate, one of these special invitations came to Zac, and the poor boyhad to go and face the lovely princess as best he could.
So things went on for several months, well into the second year of theyouth's residence in the palace, until at last matters seemed coming toa crisis. For the second time, Concaterina had indulged him with akiss, which he could hardly with politeness refrain from returning, andthe lovely Amabilia actually began the same game.
She secured him for a five o'clock tea, and whilst sitting by his sideon the sofa, and talking in her usually affectionate manner, shesuddenly laid her fair head upon his shoulder for an instant, and thenext moment as suddenly raising it, exclaimed in an energetic andemphatic tone: "_Dear_ Zac!" and imprinted at the same instant a warmand loving kiss upon his young lips.
Poor Zac was terribly perplexed, but more in thought than in action,for of course he could do no less than promptly return the complimentjust paid him by the princess. But when she took his hand in hers,pressed it warmly, and regarded him with loving eyes, with her facestill closer to his than any face but Belinda's should have been, hefelt that this was really carrying things too far, and that he mustsomehow or other put an end to it. How he would have done so it isimpossible to say, inasmuch as the princess, evidently of a differentopinion, appeared desirous of prolonging the situation, and hisdifficulty in preventing her from doing so would probably have beenconsiderable.
Fortunately--or unfortunately, as the taste of my readers may lead themto determine--the door suddenly flew open, and the princess had barelytime to spring to the other end of the sofa when the portly figure ofLord Pompous entered the apartment. As Lord Chamberlain, Old Pompoushad the general right of entry everywhere, although he rarely venturedto approach the sitting-room of the princesses without specialinvitation, and probably would not have done so upon the presentoccasion had he not been sent directly by the king. I do not think thatAmabilia ever quite forgave the old man for his unwelcome intrusion;but he really was not to blame in the matter. King Fridolin had gotinto a difficulty about some curtains which he had recently ordered forhis study, and which, when they came home, he fancied were of colourswhich did not match; those destined for one window being of a differenthue to those which belonged to another. Having referred the matter toLord Pompous, that worthy ventured to be of an opinion contrary to thatof his sovereign, and held that the curtains matched perfectly. Uponthis Fridolin first threw a footstool at the head of his lordchamberlain--on dodging which he tumbled over the waste-paper basketinto the coal-scuttle, and spoiled a new white waistcoat--and thendirected h
im, since he was such a blind old fool as to be unable totell one colour from another, to go immediately to Amabilia's room andask her to come there and decide the knotty point. Accordingly, thesubmissive Pompous hurried off to obey the orders of the king, andarrived at the particularly opportune or inopportune moment which Ihave described.
As far as Zac was concerned, the intrusion appeared to him to be littleless than providential. The princess could do nothing else than obey,and as it would not have been etiquette for her either to have invitedhim to accompany her, or told him to await her return, she had noalternative but to dismiss him from the apartment. This she did with aloving look, which certainly could not be misunderstood by its object,and could hardly have escaped the observation of any bystander lessblind and stupid than Lord Pompous.
The princess then sought the presence of her father, and Zac, havingdeeply cogitated upon the whole matter, after his return to his ownroom, made up his mind that, unless he was to run away--a proceedingwhich would be difficult, uncomfortable, ruinous to his futureinterests, and very disagreeable to others beside himself--the onlyalternative he had was to open his whole heart to Belinda upon the veryfirst opportunity.
Having quite resolved upon this he felt somewhat more happy, for thatwhich had really troubled him most was the apprehension that the youngprincess might discover something of the truth, and not knowing fromhimself how matters really stood, might imbibe some false impressionconcerning the matter, and blame him for having employed unnecessaryand unjustifiable concealment in a business so intimately concerningher interests and future happiness. He had not long to wait for theopportunity he desired. At their very next interview he was able toopen his heart to Belinda upon the subject, and to tell her all theawkwardness of his position as regarded the king, herself, and her twosisters.
At first the poor child wept bitterly, and was quite unable either tocontrol or to conceal her feelings. She had never expected, for she hadnever received, great kindness from her elder sisters, but she hadthought herself quite safe from molestation with regard to her futurehusband. Amabilia and Concaterina had so scoffed at the idea of thepig-race when the project was first started, they had laughed soheartily at the ridiculous notion of the hand of a king's daughterbeing given as the reward of a successful jockey, and they had tossedtheir heads so high at the idea of a common farmer's son being receivedand accepted as the future husband of _their_ sister, that it had neverentered the poor child's head that there was the slightest chance ofeither of them ever desiring to obtain his affection. Yet such was thecase. She was attacked upon the very side upon which she had feltherself most secure, and her surprise was only equalled by herdistress. One consolation, however, she certainly had, than which nonecould well be greater. The fidelity of Zac was a comfort which wasbeyond all price, as it was also beyond all praise. When she was fullyassured of this--and indeed she was too young and too honest to haveever doubted it--she felt almost glad that the occasion to prove it hadarisen. In warm but simple language she expressed at once her gratitudeand her affection for the youth, who, on his part, declared his firmadherence to the troth he had plighted, and in homely words vowed thathe would never be false to his Belinda.
But this mutual interchange of confidence and regard rendered thepresent position of affairs by no means less dangerous anduncomfortable. Zac offered to go to the king if Belinda desired it, butto this there was a double objection. In the first place, Fridolinwould probably be slow to believe anything to the disadvantage of hisfavourite daughters, and an appeal to him, certain to lead to an entiredenial on the part of the princesses, would not improbably recoil uponthe heads of both Belinda and her promised husband. Then, in the secondplace, Zac had a strong and conscientious objection to betraying alady's secret, and had only done so in the present case because Belindawas his affianced wife, and he felt himself bound in honour to tell herhow matters stood between her sisters and himself.
They decided, therefore, that they certainly would not say anything tothe king upon the subject. There was no one else to whom they couldappeal, for Amabilia and Concaterina were omnipotent in the palace, andit would have been hopeless to speak to old Pompous or any of thecourtiers. All that Belinda could think of was to tell her oldfoster-mother, who was allowed to see her twice a month, and who was soutterly devoted to her, that if the worst came to the worst, and thepoor child had to leave the palace, she knew she could find a refuge inthat humble cottage as long as the old woman was allowed to live there.So, after much difficulty, she obtained Zac's permission to confide toher the whole matter, and to ask her counsel regarding it.
The youth left his betrothed with a heavy heart, but rejoiced withal atthe thought that, at all events, she knew the truth, and would place inhim the trust which he so well deserved.
The cottage of Belinda's foster-mother was not far from the palace, andclose to a forest of considerable size, between which and the riverwhich flowed through the fertile plain upon one side of it, were theking's pastures upon which grazed his numerous flocks and herds. As hasbeen already stated, the good old foster-mother was the wife of one ofthe shepherds whose duty it was to tend the king's flocks. He was nowsomewhat advanced in years, and so was his wife; but they were a haleand hearty couple, and still performed their duties with diligence andfidelity. According to her resolution, Belinda confided to herfoster-mother at the very next interview the whole circumstances of herpainful position. The worthy woman was much disturbed at hearing thisnews. No one was better informed than she was of the state of affairsat the palace. She knew that the word of either Amabilia or Concaterinawas law, whilst her nursling had no influence whatever. If, then, thetwo sisters could agree between themselves as to which of them shouldappropriate Zac, there seemed but small hope that Belinda would bepermitted to retain her lover. True, he might have a word to say uponthe subject himself, and would possibly--nay, probably, according toBelinda--be firm and true, but how far that would avail against thewill of those with whom he would have to deal, was a very doubtfulmatter. So when she had heard her child's story, the old womancomforted and petted her at first by condoling with her on the badnessof the prospect before her, and the impossibility of its ever being anybetter. Having thus made both her nursling and herself as miserable asshe could, and having cried together a good deal more than the urgencyof the case required, they began to think whether anything else couldbe done, and for some time no thought entered either head of which anyuse could be made. This interview took place in the palace, and thegood old woman said that she never _could_ think in such a grand placeas that, but that if Belinda could manage to come and see her one ofthose days at her own cottage, they would be able to talk the matterover quietly together, and perhaps something might turn up. To thisBelinda consented, and the old woman took her departure.
For the next few days things went on much the same, the two elderprincesses doing all in their power to attract the affection of Zac,and the honest lad striving to avoid them as much as he possibly coulddo without actual incivility. One day, however, things really came to acrisis. Zac had finished his work earlier than usual, and went into thepalace garden to enjoy the fresh air. He took a book with him, andfinding a pleasant seat in a little summer-house, which had been builtnear a natural waterfall which formed one of the beauties of the place,he sat himself thereupon, and began to read.
It was a lovely spot, and the moment was one which occasionally comesto everybody in the warm summer-time, when the sound of falling water,the rays of the sun just piercing through a thick leafy screen, the lowsinging of the birds and the humming of the insects, all induce a kindof dreamy happiness which gradually steals over the spirit, and notseldom ends in the forgetfulness of sleep. So it was with Zac. He reada page or two with avidity--for his book was interesting--then anotherpage or two rather less eagerly, then more slowly and lazily still;then he ceased to turn over the pages at all, and finally the bookslipped from his hands to his knees, and from his knees to the ground,his eyes closed, and he fell
into a sweet, dreamless sleep.
Now, as luck would have it, the lovely Concaterina had observed theyouth saunter into the garden, as she was watering the mignonettewhich grew in a box placed upon her window-sill. The opportunity for a_tete-a-tete_ seemed too good to be lost, and she therefore shortlyafterwards descended in pursuit of him, having previously made surethat her beloved elder sister was practising music in their jointsitting-room. The princess did not find the boy directly, as shefancied he had gone further into the shrubberies than was really thecase, so that by the time she came upon him in the summer-house he wasstretched at full length upon the seat and sleeping as I havedescribed.
She gazed upon him for some few seconds in a transport of maidenlyaffection--so young and so handsome did he seem in her eyes, with hishead leaning upon one of his arms which he had carelessly thrown behindit as he sank to sleep. Should she awaken him? and how? She did nottake long to decide. In that country there was a proverbial saying--andI believe it is not confined to that country--that if a gentleman findsa lady asleep he has a right to take a kiss by way of legitimate booty.Concaterina had no idea that such a privilege could be properly orfairly confined to one sex, and she therefore leaned gently over theslumbering Zac, and without more ado kissed him tenderly on the cheek.
The boy started from his sleep, and blushed deeply at having been thusawakened and saluted. He stammered forth some apologies for having beenfound as he was, but these were soon stopped by Concaterina, whoaddressed him in the most affectionate terms, and, sitting down by hisside, asked him whether he quite hated her.
To this the youth could make but one reply, namely, that it was not forhim to hate his king's daughter, and that even were she not so, she andher sister had been too kind to him to make it possible for him toentertain any such feeling towards either of them.
At the mention of her sister the fair one pouted prettily, andcontinued to talk to him in terms of endearment.
"Dearest Zac," she said, "if you do not hate me cannot you love me alittle? I am so fond of _you_--so _very_ fond."
Zac did not know how to answer.
"I _do_ love you," at length he said, "as the Princess Belinda'ssister, and therefore one who will some day be _my_ sister too!"
"Ah!" sighed Concaterina, "but I want more than that, you dear boy.Belinda, indeed! you are much too good for _her_, poor ill-favoured,child! How happy we could be together, Zac. You don't think me ugly, doyou?"
Zac certainly did _not_, and therefore could not say so, but when theprincess went on in the same way, and tried to persuade him to let herusurp the place in his affections which belonged to Belinda, he couldonly reply that he knew she could not _really_ mean it, and begged hernot to play tricks upon him in that manner.
"Ah, Zac," she returned, "they are no tricks; I never before saw anyonewhom I could really love, and I do love you, Zac, so _very_ much!" andas she spoke she passed her arm again round the perplexed boy's neck ina loving manner.
What step she would next have taken I am unable to say, for at thatmoment who should enter the summer-house but the Princess Amabilia.
"Pretty conduct this, indeed!" she cried, when she saw the position ofaffairs. "Concaterina! I wonder you are not ashamed of yourself,teasing that poor boy with your affection when you know he wants noneof it!"
The younger sister had by this time withdrawn the offending arm andturned sharply upon the intruder.
"How tiresome you are, Amabilia," she said pettishly; "alwaysinterfering. Zac and I understand each other quite well, and don't wantyou here at all. Do go away!"
"Hoity-toity!" rejoined the other. "_I_ go away, forsooth, that wouldbe very reasonable, when we both know that dear Zac loves me fiftytimes better than he does you. Impudence!"
At this Concaterina fired up.
"He does no such thing!" she cried angrily; "he and I are now nearly ofan age, and if you were a real good sister you would be glad to see howfond he is of me, instead of trying to take him away, you spitefulthing."
Amabilia replied with equal warmth, and poor Zac's position became oneof extreme discomfort, both princesses claiming him as their own, whenhe in reality neither belonged nor wished to belong to either.
Presently, however, they brought their animated discussion to a closeby appealing to Zac himself. Amabilia ingenuously declared that as shewas eldest she ought to have the first choice, and that since mattershad come to this pass, she would not be ashamed of telling Zac to hisface that she loved him dearly, and was prepared to accept him for herhusband. To this she added that in most courts such a hint as she hadgiven would be considered equivalent to a command, and that she wasthankful to say and feel that, as in their case there was love on bothsides, a command would be quite superfluous.
Concaterina then put in her claim. She said that in matters of love itwas not a question of being eldest or youngest, the heart must followits own promptings. She loved Zac--oh, so dearly! and she felt that hereturned her love, only diffidence forbade him to confess it. But if hewould be hers, she was certain her sister would soon find another mate,and that the king, her father, would make no objection. Thus accostedby two young and beautiful princesses, poor Zac would have had a mostdifficult task to decide between them, had it not been that the path ofduty lay straight before him, and he had all along resolved to followit.
"Dear ladies!" he said, addressing them both, and bowing respectfullyto one and the other, "I thought you were but playing with me, and Iwould fain hope so still. If not--what reply can I make to you? I loveyou both--each has been so kind to me since I first entered the palace,that I should be worse than a brute if I did not love you both. But Icame here as the promised husband of your sister Belinda. My troth isplighted to her. She believes in and trusts me. How can I break my wordand her heart? Dear princesses, you are so beautiful that you cancommand love whenever and wherever you wish it. It is not so with poorBelinda. She has but me, and I have vowed to be faithful to her!"
Whilst Zac was speaking thus, his eyes fired with animation, and hisface beaming with excitement, the princesses thought they had neverseen him look so handsome. But when his words showed them that theirefforts to wean his heart from their younger sister had beenunsuccessful, rage gradually took possession of their souls.
"You despise our love!" they both cried out at once. "You, a merepeasant boy, who was only taken into the palace out of charity, you_dare_ to say that you despise our beauty and ourselves, and takeup with that little lump of deformity, Belinda! How can you be such afool?"
Poor Zac protested that he was far from despising either of them, andadmired their beauty greatly, as indeed anyone with eyes must do. This,however, was far from satisfying the enraged damsels. They insistedupon it that the youth had encouraged them both, and the only disputebetween them now was as to which of them had been worse treated by him.They told him, moreover, that his pretended fidelity to Belinda shouldnot bring happiness either to him or her. They would plague her lifeout, for the matter of that. Ugly little toad! why should she have ahusband at all? And as for him--he should be punished handsomely forthis, and that, too, perhaps, sooner than he thought.
They then left the summer-house, and, I am sorry to say, allowed theiranger to carry them far beyond what could in any way be justified. Theyagreed to go to their father that very afternoon, and tell him that Zachad been very impertinent to both of them, and that Amabilia hadsurprized him trying to kiss Concaterina against her will in thesummer-house. This they accordingly did, and the effects were much whatthey had expected.
The king flew into a violent passion, threw both his boots with anunerring aim at the head of Lord Pompous, and vowed that the world mustcertainly be coming to an end. When the courtiers had all agreed tothis as a novel but most reasonable remark, he called them a parcel offools for thinking such a thing at all probable, and ordered Zac to beimmediately arrested. When told of what he was accused, the poor boywas almost beside himself with grief. He was sorry enough for thetrouble he was in, and for
that which might fall upon Belinda inconsequence; but he was still more sorry for the cruel conduct of thetwo princesses, whom he had really liked, and who had behaved soheartlessly to him for only doing his duty. Even now, however, hebehaved like a true gentleman.
When Fridolin asked him what he had to allege in his defence, he bowedlow before the king, and said "Nothing." When asked if he thenconfessed himself guilty, he replied:
"May it please your majesty, I should feel guilty if I allowed myselfto deny any statement made by the noble princesses, your majesty'sroyal daughters."
This speech would have touched many hearts, but Fridolin was in toogreat a passion at that moment to be touched by anything, and he gaveorders that Zac should immediately be thrown into a deep dungeon, fedupon bread and water, and confined there until it should be settledwhether he should be beheaded or banished, which were the only twopunishments which occurred to the king just then. Accordingly, the poorboy was roughly dragged away from the royal presence, taken down agreat many stone steps, until he arrived at the dungeon door, and thenthrust through it, and left to think over all that had happened.
The Princess Belinda, meanwhile, was quite ignorant of the whole affairuntil the next morning, when her two sisters visited her in herapartment. They came, as may be supposed, in no very friendly state ofmind, and told their story in a manner which would have greatlydistressed Belinda, if she had not had the most perfect reliance uponZac. They pretended to condole with her on the circumstance of hishaving repeatedly made love to both of them, playing one off againstthe other, and striving to induce them to persuade the king to let himmarry one of them instead of her. They said that they had refrainedfrom telling her this before, for fear of wounding her feelings, butthat now they were obliged to do so. Then they told their concoctedstory about the summer-house, and related all that had subsequentlyoccurred. Poor Belinda shed bitter tears, but showed her disbelief intheir story so plainly, that they presently changed their tone, askedwho and what _she_ was, forsooth, that a husband should be provided forher--telling her that she should never have him after all, that theywould take care he was kept in the dungeon until he came to his senses,and making all kinds of other unpleasant observations, which made thepoor child very unhappy. So as soon as her sisters had left her, shedetermined to go down to her foster-mother's cottage, and seekconsolation from her.
Off she set, and walked down to the forest, crying all the way, untilshe got to the cottage. There, to her dismay, she found the doorlocked, for the good woman had gone to carry her husband's dinner outto him on the plain, and had locked up the house until her return.Belinda did not know what to do, for as she was not very strong, shefelt somewhat tired with her walk, and not equal to walking back againwithout rest. So she sat down in the trellised arbour by the cottagedoor, and presently fell fast asleep. As she slept, she dreamed acurious dream. She thought that her mother came and looked upon her. Ofcourse, Belinda could not remember her mother, for the very good reasonthat she had died very shortly after the child was born. Still, somehowor other, she knew it was her mother, very bright and beautiful, andwith such a loving look upon her face as only mothers have when theygaze upon their children. When her mother had looked down upon her fora little while, she stooped down and spoke, in a soft, sweet, gentletone of voice.
"My little one," she said, "do not despair and be down-hearted: allwill yet be well with you. You have had much trouble in the past, butyour happiness in the future will be all the brighter by the contrast.If you want help, you are near it now, for Canetto, the Prince of theForest Mannikins, is my cousin, and you are in his country."
Belinda started up wide-awake, just as her mother seemed to havefinished speaking. The words were still ringing in her ears, and shelooked round and rubbed her eyes in great amazement. There was nothingto be seen. A soft breeze from the south gently stirred the leaves ofthe honeysuckle and sweetbriar which enfolded the little arbour intheir fragrant embrace. The doves were gently cooing in the fir-trees,and far, far away she heard the distant bleating of the sheep on theplain, but there was no mortal being near her. The loving mother, then,had been but the unreal vision of a dream, and the encouraging wordshad been no more than a passing thought or fancy of her own,mysteriously clothed for a moment with sound. Yet they seemed sovivid--so true. So certain was she that she had actually heard them,that almost insensibly she found herself repeating them aloud.
"Canetto, the Prince of the Forest Mannikins," she exclaimed, and thenext moment started with affright at the effect which her own words hadproduced.
"Who calls Canetto?" said a voice; and at the same instant sheperceived a figure standing a few yards off from the entrance to thearbour. It was the figure of a little old man, about three feet high,dressed in a dark green coat, with a velveteen waistcoat and whitecorduroys. In his hand he held a hunting-whip, with which he carelesslyflicked off the heads of the daisies as he stood. Upon his head was aspecies of wide-awake, as far as Belinda could judge; at least it wasof that kind of shape, and seemed to be made of some light materialsuited to the heat of the weather. But the most remarkable thing aboutthe old gentleman was the marvellous mixture of intelligence andgood-humour which appeared upon his countenance. His eyes sparkled witha kind of light, which told you at the first glance that he was not aman to be easily hum-bugged, whilst the smile which seemed constantlyhovering upon his mouth betokened a fund of humour and kind-heartednesswhich was very reassuring to the young princess.
"Who calls Canetto?" he said again, in a kind voice.
The maiden knew that common politeness, as well as her own interest,required a prompt reply.
"Sir," she said, "I am Belinda, King Fridolin's youngest daughter, andmy mother was your cousin, I think, and I am very unhappy, and I don'tknow what to do, and I dreamed that my mother came and told me to askyou to help me; and oh! pray don't be angry with me, for I do not wantto do any harm to anybody, only if I may be a little happier!"
While Belinda spoke the little man kept on flicking his hunting-whipand smiling benignly all the time.
"A little happier, my lambkin?" he said as soon as she had finished."To be sure you shall. Why not? Your mother my cousin? That she wasindeed, poor darling! Not only my cousin was she, but we used to be thebest of friends before she married King Fridolin, after which I sawlittle of her, and knew nothing of her great trouble until it was toolate to help her."
At these words the princess quite forgot her own sorrow for the moment,in the intense desire she had to know the history of the mother of whomneither her father nor her sisters ever spoke.
"Oh, sir," she cried in an agitated voice, "please tell me about mydear mother. I have so longed to know all about her, and I never shallknow unless somebody tells me, for she died when I was quite little,and no one in the palace ever speaks of her to me."
A tinge of melancholy replaced the smile upon the little man's face ashe replied to Belinda's question.
"Your mother," said he, "was neither more nor less than an angel, whichis more than I can say for your royal father; although, after all, hisfaults are rather those of his education than any which arise from hisnatural disposition, which is far from bad. But it is difficult forkings, who have the world at their feet and always get their own way,to be all that one could wish them. Your mother was as near perfection,in body as well as mind, as any human being can attain. Why she marriedyour father I could never understand, except it was because she choseto do so. There were others," (here the small gentleman drew himself upto his full height, placed his right hand upon his heart, and heaved adeep sigh), "there were others who loved her as well and might havemade her happier. But Fridolin carried her off, and for a time theywere happy. When your elder sisters were born he was contented,although he had wished for a prince, but he could not object tochildren of such rare beauty. Then came the trouble.
"The fairy Nuisancenika had, and has, wondrous power over the Plaincountry--by which I don't mean the country of 'plain' people, though_she_ is 'pla
in' enough in all conscience, but the flat country,wherever there are no woods and hills. Well, this disagreeable womanwas always jealous of your mother's beauty, because she herselfpossessed none, and was the more angry with her because, I think, shealways had a fancy to be queen herself. Still, she dared not injure aqueen who had carefully avoided doing anything which might give herreasonable cause of offence. True, she did what she could to poisonyour father's mind and make him dislike his wife; but, save for anunfortunate accident, I think she would have failed altogether. Thepoor queen dropped her writing-case upon one occasion, and the wickedfairy, finding it, secured some of her private note paper and envelopeswith her own particular cipher thereupon. Of these she made use bywriting, in exact imitation of your mother's handwriting, some verydisagreeable things about the king, which she took good care shouldfall into his hands. This caused unpleasantness between the hithertohappy couple, and Nuisancenika made it her business to manage that itshould not pass away. Then, most unhappily, in driving out one day inher pony-carriage, your poor mother had the bad luck to drive over oneof the fairy's favourite adders, which was fast asleep on a grass ridewhere it had no earthly business to be, and had no right whatever tocomplain of being killed. But the wicked mistress was furious beyondmeasure; and as the event occurred when the queen was in the plaincountry, driving, I believe, to fetch her husband news how the lambingwas going on, this circumstance somehow or other gave the fairy powerover her which she cruelly used. Had I only known of it in time, thewhole misfortune might have been prevented, but I chanced to be away ona visit, and when I returned, your mother was dead and the mischiefdone. I heard of it too late, and the wretch Nuisancenika had takensuch precautions by her enchantments during my absence that, althoughmy power is greater than hers, I could do nothing at all in the matter;nor could I have even disclosed to you the truth, as I have now done,unless you had, of your own free will, come into my country and askedme the question outright."
By the time Canetto had finished his sad story, the poor child to whomhe spoke was bathed in tears. She thought not of herself, for her wantof beauty and good shape were misfortunes which she had been longaccustomed to regard with resignation; but the sorrows and sufferingsof her mother penetrated her gentle spirit with the profoundestemotion. She looked up through her tears at the little man, and thankedhim in a soft, low voice, broken by her sobs, for his goodness insatisfying her curiosity.
After a short pause he began again:--
"Dry your tears, my petkin," he said, "for I have not come here to makeyou miserable, but the very reverse, if I can but manage to do so. Itwas only right that you should know the sorrows of your mother, and thestory of your birth, but I should not have cared to tell you if I coulddo nothing more. It is now _your_ turn to speak, and tell me the reasonof your coming here; because I have had no communication with thepalace, and could have none, during the time that the spell lasted,which you have this day broken by coming here."
Belinda did as she was told (which young ladies should always do, ifthey wish to be respected and beloved, unless they are told to dosomething which they dislike, in which case of course it is quite adifferent matter) and then proceeded to tell the Prince of the ForestMannikins the whole story of her life, her affection for Zac, theconduct of her sisters with regard to that excellent youth, and herpresent affliction in consequence of his imprisonment by her father.
During the narration of her story, the little man flicked hishunting-whip continually and appeared at once interested and excited.When she had concluded, and seemed much inclined to indulge in anotherflood of tears, he hastily stopped her.
"Little petkin," he remarked, "crying can do nobody any good at all,and least of all anyone who has another and better cure for theirmisfortunes. Come with me, Childerkin, and we will see whethersomething cannot be done to make matters wear a better appearance."
With these words Canetto led the way into the forest behind theshepherd's cottage, and Belinda followed him with the utmostconfidence, being quite sure that he meant to help her if he could. Andhere we must leave our little princess for a time, in order to returnto another individual in whom we ought to be equally interested.
Poor Zac had been cast into a most uncomfortable dungeon, in whichthere was only one half-broken wooden form to sit down upon, whilst theair was close and heavy, the space confined, and the only light camefrom a grating in one corner of the ceiling, probably placed there forthe purposes of ventilation, and opening into the bottom of a kind ofdeep ditch, which itself could only be reached by the light from a longdistance above. This was indeed a sad change for the poor boy, who hadso long been accustomed to the comforts and luxuries of the palace. Hefelt, as was natural, much cast down and dispirited by his suddenreverse of fortune, and his only consolation was that he had notbrought it on himself by any bad conduct of his own. It was veryunpleasant, certainly, to be accused of behaving badly to the twoprincesses, when no one could have possibly behaved better; but hethought to himself that it would have been much worse if he had reallybeen guilty. Besides, he had another consolation, in the firm reliancewhich he felt in the constancy and affection of Belinda. She, he knew,would be true to him, whatever happened, and this thought cheered hisdrooping spirits.
He felt rather hungry, and, finding a loaf of black bread and a pitcherof water near it, determined to satisfy his craving forthwith. Havingdone this there was nothing for it but to sit and think, which heaccordingly did, going carefully over in his mind all the events of hispast life, and wondering much at the curious fate which had befallenhim. He could not recollect anything that had happened when he was_very_ young. He only remembered being very unhappy at his father'shouse, being called by his elder brothers and sisters "the littlegentleman," and pushed about here and there and everywhere, as ifeverybody wished him out of the way. Then he called to mind how hard hehad tried to be gentle and loving to all, and how he had graduallyseemed to get on better and to be more kindly treated. Then came thecircumstance of his having specially to tend the pigs, and then theproclamation of the pig-race, when he remembered a discussion about whoshould ride "Sandy Sue," and how one of the elder Dicksons had beenanxious to do so, but was forbidden by his father, who said that"gentleman Zac" was the only one who could win on her, and ride heshould. Since that day of course he remembered everything verydistinctly--how he had been introduced to the little princess, and hersisters, and the king--how frightened he had been at first, and howsoon he had got over that feeling--how kind they had all been tohim--how he had taken to his learning and delighted in his books; andthen all the sad and trying events of the last few months and hissudden downfall from his career of promised happiness.
All these thoughts passed through the poor boy's head as he sat in hislonely dungeon, and hours slipped by without his taking any count ofthem. The shades of evening had now fallen upon the palace, but thismade little difference to Zac, and indeed he found he could see ratherbetter than upon his first entrance, since his eyes began to becomeaccustomed to the light. All at once he heard a little noise, as ifsome animal was scratching close at hand. He looked listlessly round,and thought how little it mattered to him what it was. A rat or a mousewould be a companion to his solitude, but if such a creature appearedit would probably fly as soon as it caught sight of him. The noisecontinued, and in another moment a little mouse poked its head out of ahole in the corner of the dungeon, and fixed its sharp black eyes uponthe prisoner as if it had come on purpose to see him and was very gladto find him disengaged. Zac did not move at first, being fearful lesthe should disturb his little visitor; but he need not have beenalarmed, for it presently came quite out of the hole and sat a fewyards off from him, steadily looking him in the face. Seeing theconfidence of the animal, Zac thought there could be no fear of hisdriving it away by the sound of his voice, so he said, partly to themouse and partly to himself:--
"Poor little creature, I wonder what _you_ want here?"
To his intense surprise the small creature immediately
replied, in ashrill but by no means unpleasant voice:--
"I came to see you, Mr. Zac, and to tell you the latest news."
"To see me!" exclaimed the astonished boy. "Well, you must be the bestmouse that ever was born to come and take pity upon a poor prisonerlike me. And since you can talk so well, perhaps you will kindly informme what news it is you have to tell."
"King Fridolin is very, very angry with you, Mr. Zac," replied themouse.
"Unfortunately, my little darling, _that_ is no news at all," rejoinedthe boy; "I knew it, to my cost, some hours ago, and it is for thatvery reason that you find me here."
"But," continued the mouse, "he is so angry that he is determined topunish you with the most terrible punishment ever known, and is onlydoubting now whether you shall be thrown into the adder-pit, orstripped, smeared with honey and tied to a tree to amuse the wasps andflies."
The poor boy shuddered at these words; but, recovering his firmnessimmediately, rejoined:--
"Whatever it be, it will be in a good cause that I shall suffer, and Imust bear it as best I may."
The mouse went on:--
"You really ought not to have tried to kiss the Princess Concaterina,Mr. Zac," she said.
"If you know anything at all, little mouse," said the boy, indignantly,"you must know that I did no such thing."
"Then," rejoined the other, "why did you not deny it before the king?"
"Do you think I would brand Belinda's own sisters as the tellers of afalsehood?" returned Zac.
"I think _I_ should, sooner than be thrown into a dungeon, and perhapsinto an adder-pit afterwards," gravely observed his visitor. "But theysay there is some hope for you yet; for the princesses are really fondof you, and if you will consent to marry Concaterina, all may yet bewell with you."
"Do you think I would be so base as to save my life upon such terms?"angrily responded the boy.
"Well, I don't know," said the mouse in a slow, hesitating tone ofvoice, "I think I should, if I were you. I should really advise you todo so. Just consider what a disagreeable, uncomfortable place this is,compared with the palace. Then how _very_ unpleasant it would be tofeel the adders, creeping all over you with their cold, slimy touch,and then stinging you to death at their leisure afterwards. Or howpainful and distressing to feel the wasps and flies biting and stingingyou, cheerfully buzzing about to look out for a tender place. Oh, itwould be a horrible death to die! I should _strongly_ advise you tomarry Concaterina and escape such a fate!"
"What!" exclaimed Zac, "do you come here pretending to be a friend ofmine, and advise me to be false to Belinda and break my plighted word?I am quite ashamed of you for giving such advice, little mouse; as Ishould be of myself if I could listen to it for one moment!"
"As for Belinda," replied the animal, shaking its head sorrowfully, "Ido not think you need concern yourself about _her_. She implicitlybelieves the charge against you, and is eager that you should bepunished; whilst her tender-hearted sisters are inclined to ask theirfather to pardon you."
At these words Zac started up in a great passion.
"Belinda false!" he cried. "Belinda believe me _guilty_! Mouse, I willnever believe it! You have betrayed yourself, and are an enemy insteadof a friend. I would sooner believe evil of myself than of the princessagainst whom you utter this calumny. Take this for your wickedfalsehood!" So saying, he seized his shoe to throw at the mouse; when,to his intense surprise, the little animal became suddenly transformedinto a human being, and Belinda herself stood before him.
"Dearest Zac!" she said, running up at once to the boy and embracinghim tenderly, "forgive me for the trial to which I have put yourconstancy. It was not _my_ wish to do so, but the order of those whohave the right to command. I have found a friend who is as able as heis willing to help us, and by his assistance I believe our happinesswill yet be secured. By his power I have been enabled to visit you inyour dungeon in the shape of a mouse, in order that I might convey toyou some information which is quite necessary to your safety."
"But who is this powerful friend?" asked Zac, when, having returned hercaress, he found words to express his feelings.
"He is Canetto, the Prince of the Forest Mannikins," replied Belinda;"and having been a near relative of my dear mother's, he is very welldisposed towards me."
"What then am I to do?" asked the boy. "For, shut up, as I am, in thishorrid dungeon, it seems to me that nobody can do anything for me,unless indeed they would change me into a mouse, that I might pass outby the same hole as that by which you entered."
"That," said Belinda, "might doubtless be a very good plan, but it isnot the one which I am directed to follow. You must know that ourfriend, all-powerful in the forest, has elsewhere bounds and limits tohis power, the reasons and degree of which you and I cannot understand.It is for this cause that he does not come here at once and deliver youfrom the dungeon; but, though he does not attempt this, he will giveyou such help as shall assuredly procure your deliverance in due time.He bade me tell you that you will certainly be taken out of this placeto-morrow, when the king will advise with his council what to do withyou. Be firm--though this I need scarcely tell you: if they give youyour choice of death, or if they offer you one wish before you die,choose to be killed in the forest, under the shadow of the trees nearmy foster-mother's cottage, and if they grant that wish the rest willbe easy. If (as is of course possible) they offer you no choice at allin the matter, you must pronounce the magic word which alone canprevent them harming you, but with which you are invulnerable."
"And what may that word be?" anxiously inquired Zac.
"It is not an easy one," replied the princess, "but as I may only sayit twice, listen very carefully whilst I do so, that you may rememberit well, since the least mistake might be attended with disastrousconsequences. The word is--'Ballykaluphmenonabababandleby."
"_What?_" exclaimed Zac in a horrified voice; upon which the princessrepeated the word again very slowly; but, though it doubtless appearsvery easy to the reader, it completely puzzled poor Zac. He shook hishead mournfully--
"If it depends upon _that_," said he, "the game is up--I should neverbe able to pronounce that word, if I waited till apples grow on peachtrees."
"I am very sorry," answered the princess in a sorrowful voice, "but yousee I can only tell you what Canetto told _me_, and we must hope forthe best. But now it is time for me to be off, for if I am not back atthe palace soon, my absence will be discovered, and I may be exposed tounpleasant questions." So saying, she once more embraced the boy, andthen, approaching the hole, muttered some words which the mannikin kinghad, no doubt, told her, and in another moment became once more amouse, and vanished from his sight.
The interview had somewhat encouraged Zac, although he had fearfulmisgivings about the magic word, which, strange to say, appeared to himboth long and difficult. However, he resolved to make the best of it;and having finished his loaf of bread and pitcher of water, lay down onsome straw which he found in the corner of his room, and fell fastasleep. In the morning he was awakened by a surly gaoler, who broughthim a fresh loaf and some more water, of which he partook with all therelish of a good appetite. Not long after this, he heard the noise ofpersons descending the steps which led to his dungeon, and presentlythe door was thrown open, and a guard appeared, whose orders were toconduct the prisoner once more before the king.
Fridolin was sitting in his chair of state, surrounded by hiscourtiers; and near him stood the two elder princesses, with downcasteyes and cheeks suffused with modest blushes.
When the boy was brought in, the king frowned angrily upon him, andshook his royal fist in a threatening manner.
"Well, you young villain!" he cried; "have you passed the nightbewailing your sins, and making ready for the death which certainlyawaits you?"
"My lord king," answered the boy, with uplifted head and undaunted eye,"I have done no wrong against you or yours, and I deserve no death atyour hands."
"What?" cried the king in a rage. "Didst thou
not admit thy crimeyesterday? Art thou not guilty of the charge brought against thee byour daughters?"
"Sire," replied the boy, "I said yesterday, and I say again, that Iwill not deny any statement made by these noble ladies."
"This is nonsense," said the king; "this is mere quibbling--again headmits his guilt. What shall we do with him? I say death!"
The courtiers all immediately said death too, as they would with equalunanimity have said anything else if their sovereign had happened tosay it instead.
"Well, then," rejoined the king, "by what death shall he die? What sayyou, Lord Pompous?"
"Boil him," promptly replied the lord chamberlain, who was quite takenaback at being thus suddenly addressed, and who was at the momentthinking of a turkey which he had ordered for dinner, and with which heconfused the prisoner at the moment.
"Pompous, you are a fool!" shouted the king.
"As your majesty pleases," responded the old man, with a low obeisance;and Fridolin went on to ask other opinions, which were all given with aguarded reservation, that they were subject to his majesty thinking thesame, and if not, were no opinions at all.
"I think," said Fridolin presently, "that the pit of adders is the bestplace for him."
"Just so, sire."
"Exactly what we thought."
"The very thing," were the muttered exclamations which immediatelypassed round.
At this moment, Amabilia, rushed forward and threw herself at herfather's feet.
"Oh, no! dear father," she cried in piteous tones; "_not_ such adreadful fate as that, poor boy. Pray be more merciful, for _my_ sake."
Fridolin raised her affectionately from the ground.
"Well, well," he said, "have it your own way, my queenly girl; he shall_not_ be thrown into the adder-pit if you have the slightest objection.Gentlemen," he continued, turning to his council, "what say you to thehoney torture, and giving the wasps and bees and flies a treat?"
"Very good, your Majesty;" "Just the proper punishment for his crime,"and similar observations, again proceeded from the crowd of sycophants.
But at this instant Concaterina jumped up and performed precisely thesame feat as that of her sister. Throwing herself upon her knees, sheclasped those of her father, and begged him not to subject poor Zac tosuch a dreadful fate.
"All right," said the king, to whom nothing was so disagreeable as tosee his daughters cry, which Concaterina was beginning to do, and thatcopiously. "He shall not die thus, if you don't wish it, my beauty; butwhat in the name of all that is wonderful do you want me to do with thefellow, if I am not to execute him according to the regular punishmentsof the country?"
Now both the princesses had begun to be sorry for Zac; for on calmerreflection they had come to the conclusion that it was rather hard thathe should die so young, and die, too, for keeping his faith which hehad plighted to a lady. True, he was a horrid fool for not preferringone of them; but then fidelity was a virtue, and a rare one, and hepunished himself by preferring a plain--not to say ugly--wife to abeauty. They would have been quite content to have given him a littlemore taste of dungeon life, and then let him off, and all this talkabout killing him did not at all chime in with their ideas. Still, theyhad raised the storm, and, as other people in a similar position haveoften discovered, knew not how to allay it. If they recommended Zac'spardon, they feared that their father would begin to doubt whether hehad really committed any offence at all. So they hung their heads andsaid nothing, whilst Zac turned upon them a grateful look for havingsaved him from two such unpleasant alternatives as those which had beensuggested.
After the king had pondered a minute, he struck violently at LordPompous' toe with his sceptre, and gave vent to his usual exclamationwhen excited by a sudden idea--"I've hit it!" which, fortunately forthe lord chamberlain, was in this instance untrue.
"The prisoner," continued the king, "shall choose his own death and theplace of his execution. Thus shall we blend mercy with justice, andmaintain our royal reputation for both."
On hearing these gracious words, the courtiers naturally turnedtheir eyes up to the heavens in admiration of such a display ofelevated feeling; and Lord Pompous looked wiser than ever, thoughhe instinctively edged a little further off from his august sovereign.
The latter now turned to Zac and demanded of him what death he wouldchoose to die, and where it should take place; calling upon him, at thesame time, to take notice of the clemency with which he was treated.
Although this did not strike Zac very forcibly, he was exceedingly gladthat matters had fallen out in this way, especially since histreacherous memory had already completely forgotten the magic word,which might otherwise have been his only chance of escape. He thereforelost no time in answering the king's question.
"May it please your majesty," he said, "since my death is resolvedupon, I should like to be shot in the breast, so that I may stand faceto face with my executioners. For the place, I should like to be takendown to the forest, where of old I kept my father's pigs, a simple boyknowing nothing of palaces and princesses, which have brought me tothis. These were the scenes of my happy childhood. There let me end myshort life."
When the boy had finished speaking, Amabilia and Concaterina both burstinto tears, and would have interceded once more with their royalparent, but the stern frown which he wore on his countenance restrainedthem from so doing.
Fridolin directed that preparations should be made for the executionwithin two hours of that time, and that all his court should besummoned to it. It was to take place in a large open space upon theedge of the forest, not far from the shepherd's cottage; and, inconsequence of the magnitude of the crime, and the exalted positionwhich the criminal had lately occupied as the affianced husband of oneof the king's daughters, the executioners were to be composed ofmembers of the nobility, all of whom were ordered to draw lots by whichit should be decided who should undertake this duty. Some little delaywas caused by the name of Lord Pompous being first drawn, who was knownto entertain a rooted aversion to fire-arms. This being properlyrepresented to the king, and also the extreme probability that the lordchamberlain would in his confusion certainly shoot the wrong man, hismajesty was graciously pleased to allow the name to be set aside, andtwelve others selected. This done, and all the other arrangementscompleted, the royal party set forth at the proper time, and came tothe spot which had been selected for the execution.
The two princesses who had been the cause of all this were by this timeplunged into the deepest distress, for they had never really intendedit to go so far, and thought that Zac would probably have been broughtto his knees and his senses before this, and would have been pardonedon condition of his marrying one of them. They had not taken intoaccount the necessity of satisfying offended royalty, and that theirfather, insulted as he believed himself to have been through them,could not possibly pass the matter over without taking summaryvengeance on the culprit.
Nobody had thought anything of Belinda; but, to the surprise of many ofthe party, she emerged from the door of her foster-mother's cottage,leaning upon the old woman's arm, and apparently overwhelmed withgrief.
When the prisoner had been brought forward, the king in a loud voicedeclared to the people what his crime had been, and what was to be hispunishment.
Then Zac, in a firm, calm tone, spoke to the crowd in these words. "Ihave only one thing to answer to what is brought against me. I wasbetrothed to the Princess Belinda, and I have been loyal and true toher ever since my betrothal."
Before any one could prevent her, Belinda here suddenly sprang forwardwith an agility of which no one believed her capable, and threw herselfinto Zac's arms, exclaiming at the same time--"I believe you, my ownZac; let us die together."
The crowd began to murmur. The king began to waver. The elder sisterscried still more bitterly at the sight of such devotion. There was amoment's hesitation, and a hope that Fridolin might relent from hiscruel purpose; when at that very moment a loud, hissing noise washeard, and the figure o
f a little old woman, long past middle age andwithout the slightest pretensions to beauty, came driving into themiddle of the crowd in a car drawn by pole-cats, whilst upon and aroundher twined numerous snakes and adders, who hissed in such a threateningmanner at the crowd that the latter parted right and left in everydirection, and made way for her to advance within a very short distanceof the spot upon which stood the royal party and the prisoner.
Every eye was at once turned upon the new-comer, who waved her hand inan imperious manner, and looked round with an eye accustomed tocommand. As soon as it was evident she was about to speak, the snakesand adders left off hissing, and there was a dead silence throughoutthe whole body of people present. The old woman's voice was notmelodious--rather the contrary, in fact--but she spoke clearly enough,and there was not the slightest difficulty in understanding hermeaning.
"I am the fairy Nuisancenika," she said, "and I reign, as many of youmay possibly know, over the Plain country. Having been particularlybusy lately in inventing a new kind of adder whose bite shall be beyondthe power of any antidote, I had not heard of the event which has beenappointed for to-day. As soon as I _did_ hear, I determined to come andwitness a righteous act performed by my old friend, King Fridolin.
"It is now some years ago since I avenged him upon his abominable wife,whom I always detested, and who fortunately gave me power over her bydriving over my best viper in my own country. My vengeance, however,was not satisfied by her death. Although I had no power over her elderdaughters, I was enabled to endow the last child with certain defectsand deformities which it is pleasant to me to find have been ratherincreased than lessened by time. But if this girl gets a good andloving husband, these things will cease to trouble her, and I shall berobbed of one half my revenge. The low-born person she has chosen forher husband would be beneath my notice but that she has fixed heraffections upon him. That is enough for me. He must die; and, whenFridolin considers that this fellow has insulted his elder andbeautiful daughters, I cannot doubt that he will be of my opinion, anddirect that the sentence be carried out without further delay."
She ceased; and a dead silence prevailed for a few seconds.
Then Fridolin turned sharply to Pompous. "Lord chamberlain, what had Ibetter do?"
"What your majesty deems best under the circumstances," responded thehigh functionary thus addressed.
"Pompous, you are a fool," retorted the king, angrily.
"If your majesty please to say so," replied the courtier, with a lowbow, and once more the sovereign had to think for himself. "There ismuch force, madam, in what you advance upon this subject," he remarkedto the fairy.
"If there had not been I should not have taken the trouble to advanceit," answered she. "Do not make fool of yourself by pretending to doubtas to what you ought to do. Have the young man shot directly, unlessyou prefer that I should let my adders loose upon him."
Scarcely were these words out of her mouth, when a clear, flute-likevoice was heard ringing through the assembly. "Who talks of lettingloose adders in _my_ country?"
The people looked up and beheld a little man in a dark green coat,velveteen waistcoat, and white corduroys, coming out of the forest witha hunting-whip in his hand, which he leisurely flicked about as hewalked towards the royal party.
But this strange figure was not alone. There trooped after him, threeand three at a time, a whole regiment of little men, all dressed ingreen, and apparently belonging to the first comer. They had alsowhips, but kept them quiet, whilst they gradually increased in number,until there were really more than you could have easily counted.
"I say!" repeated the little man in the same voice. "Who talks ofletting loose adders in _my_ country?"
"_Your_ country?" asked Fridolin indignantly. "It is _mine_!"--but hewas checked by the fairy, who put him aside at once, telling him thathis claim was not disputed, but had nothing to do with the question.
"_Your_ country?" she asked of the little man. "I like that! why youknow quite well it is _mine_, and has been for ages."
"I beg your pardon," said the other.
"I beg _yours_," retorted the fairy. "What do you mean by your mannikinimpudence? It is my country, and I mean to have the prince killed, andsettle once for all with this last child of your doll-faced cousin."
"Not so fast, madam," replied the little man, calmly. "It has neverbeen disputed that my kingdom--that is, the forest territory--includesall the land within the limits of the forest, and the forest is held byour greatest fairy lawyers, beyond all doubt, to mean all the land uponand within which trees grow which are not separated from the bulk ofthe forest by any fence. Cast your eyes behind you and you will seethat within the last few years, whilst you have been breeding adders,and I have been hunting and travelling, King Fridolin has plantedlargely, and those chestnut plantations, stretching from the forest onthe extreme right, quite across to the fringe of forest on the left,have enclosed every yard of ground on which we are standing to-day, andhave rendered it beyond all doubt, part and parcel of the forestterritory, and consequently my country."
The fairy Nuisancenika looked right and left, and her countenance fellconsiderably.
"Upon my word," she said, reluctantly, "I believe you are right. I hadoverlooked those plantations. I don't know that I have any right tointerfere--I have given my advice--perhaps I had better go--" and shetook her whip up as if to lash her polecats forward.
"Stop!" cried the little man in a clear, strong voice. "There are twowords to that bargain: those who enter the forest territory cannot quitit without my permission!" So saying, he made a sign to his mannikins,who immediately formed a ring, several deep, around the fairy and thewhole royal party. Then the little man made a courteous bow toFridolin, and proceeded as follows:
"Do not think for a moment, King Fridolin," he said, "that anyusurpation of your rights is intended by my claim, undoubted as it is,to sovereignty over this forest country. It is yours as kingdoms arereckoned among mortals, and mine is a species of power which will neverclash with your authority. But you have several things to learn to-daywhich it would have been well for you if you had learned before. I amCanetto, king like yourself, and cousin to your late lamented wife.Your conduct to her would be perfectly inexcusable if it had not beenthat your mind was poisoned and you were utterly deceived by thisvilest of wicked fairies, Nuisancenika."
"'Tis false, villain!" shrieked this person, on finding herself alludedto in this uncomplimentary manner.
"Hag!" replied Canetto, with a glance of wrath at her, "I should besorry to be obliged to proceed at once to extremities, but another suchinterruption will expose you to the violent probability of beingwhipped to death with your own adders immediately."
The fairy made a gesture of impotent wrath, and gnashed her teethsavagely while the mannikin thus continued:
"The letters, king, which you believed to have been written by QueenRosetta, were all forged by this wretch, and written upon paper whichshe had stolen from my poor cousin. She it was, moreover, who poisonedthe queen by viper-broth, and caused Belinda to be deformed andafflicted as you see her. Fortunately, she was powerless to deprave hermind, or debase her intellect, and you are happy in the possession ofsuch a daughter. But this wrinkled old sinner was not content with thismischief. She it is who has been endeavouring to sow dissension in yourfamily, first, by putting it into the heads of both your elderdaughters to try and take away their sister's promised husband, andnext, by hardening your heart and preventing your showing mercy whenall your children would desire you to do so. But for this she has areason beyond her hatred of Rosetta, which has lasted even after herdeath. Did you hear her mention the word 'prince' just now in speakingof Zac? Well, Zac _is_ a prince!"
Here all three of the princesses started, and the two elder screamedaloud.
"Yes!" continued Canetto, "that which I tell you is quite true,surprising though it be. Zac's father is a powerful monarch, the kingof the country of the Red Camellias, which lies beyond my forest.Having a spite a
gainst the king, this vile sorceress stole the boy atan early age, and left him at a spot where he was found and taken homeby Farmer Dickson, who will verify all that I say. By my magic art Iknew this, but as I could do little or nothing beyond my forest, Ithought it best to keep quiet. Now, however, you know the secret ofZac's gentle manners and general good behaviour, which, whenever youobserve in a boy, you may be perfectly sure that he is either the sonof a king, or of somebody else. The continuous and cruel hatred ofNuisancenika has carried her to such a pitch, that she has come hereto-day to gratify her vengeance, and feast her murderous old eyes uponthe death of this poor boy, and the sufferings of your youngestdaughter. Her first punishment, therefore, shall be to witnesssomething precisely the reverse."
Then turning to Zac he touched his fetters with the hunting-whip whichhe held in his hand, when they immediately fell off. He next raised thewhip and laid the lash lightly across Belinda's shoulders, at the sametime pronouncing the words--"Marlika, Marlika, humphty cambia," whichall the world knows to be Mannikin expressions of vast power. In thisinstance their effect was both instantaneous and marvellous. Belinda'shump fell off, formed itself into a round ball like a cannon ball;bounded up, hit the wicked Fairy a tremendous blow in the chest whichknocked her backwards for a moment, and then utterly disappeared. Butthis was not nearly all. Every defect in the young princess's form andfeatures vanished as if by magic, and she stood before the king, tall,upright, straight as an arrow, and blushing in all the pride ofconscious beauty. At this moment, I am glad to say that Amabilia andConcaterina, instead of showing any jealous feeling at a change whichreally made their younger sister more charming than themselves, gavevent to loud exclamations of joy, and rushed to congratulate andembrace her. The latter ceremony had already been performed by Zac, andall the royal family began to shed tears of happiness together.
But Fridolin had buried his face in his hands, and when he lifted uphis head, the marks of deep sorrow were set upon his features. "Oh, myRosetta!" he cried, in bitter anguish. "My lost and loved Rosetta! myonly love! my noble queen!" and as he spoke he swung his right armviolently round in the extremity of his grief, catching Lord Pompousfull upon the nose with his fist, and causing it to bleed profusely.
"Do not grieve so much," observed Canetto with a smile; "look behindyou and see what is to be seen."
The king turned and perceived a lady of great beauty and stately mienslowly advancing from the shepherd's cottage.
"'Tis she! 'Tis she!" he shrieked at the top of his voice, hit LordPompous a tremendous blow on the third button of his waistcoat, whichdoubled him up in no time, and with another cry of "Rosetta!" rushedinto the arms of his long lost wife.
"You see," said Canetto, still smiling, "Adder-broth is not so deadlybut what the forest has an antidote. Although I could not disclose ituntil now, and even pretended to Belinda that her mother had diedduring my absence, it was not so. By my magic art I contrived that youshould bury a waxen figure instead of your queen, whom I safelyconveyed to the forest. Had I not seen that you really repented of yoursins against her, and was I not captivated by Belinda's goodness, Ireally think I should never have let you have her again. But, since shewishes to return to you and to her children, I have agreed that itshall be so. Take care you treat her well and tenderly for the future.
"The royal family were now full of joy, and even Amabilia andConcaterina came in for their share of good luck, for the King of theMannikins chucked each of them pleasantly under the chin, told themthat he knew they were good girls at heart, and promised that bothshould have royal husbands before they were twenty. Then he turned tothe fairy Nuisancenika with a dark frown upon his countenance.
"Miserable reprobate!" he exclaimed, apparently taking particulardelight in finding new epithets applicable to the old woman. "It onlyremains now to deal with you. During an existence now prolonged to anextent greater than that which any person kindly disposed towardsmankind could have wished, you have done an infinite quantity ofmischief. You have had considerable power, which you have consistentlyemployed as badly as possible. You are a pitiless, revengeful,remorseless, black-hearted old hag. And now at last you are completelyin my power. Nothing can save you."
"Oh, mercy, mercy, dear, good King Canetto!" piteously whined thefairy, as she crouched down in her car.
"Such mercy as you showed Rosetta and Belinda, and such as you wishedto show Zac. Such, I say, and no more, shall be your own portion. Andnow for the first scene of the last act. Kill the polecats!"
He turned to his mannikins as he said this, and in another moment everypolecat was knocked on the head.
"Now for the adders," said Canetto; and the little men cut them topieces with their whips in less time than you would have thoughtpossible.
Then the king turned to Nuisancenika and spoke again.
"I might have you dealt with in the same way," he said; "and if I didso, there is no one present who would not warmly approve and say,'served her right.' But a true mannikin is never bloodthirsty, and Iwill not adjudge to you that fate which you so richly deserve. Still,since your power has been always exercised for ill, it must remain toyou no longer. I sentence you to be immediately and henceforth confinedin a cave at the extreme eastern corner of the world, never to emergethence until the hour comes when women leave off caring for dress, menlabour no more for power, and donkeys abandon braying."
Scarcely had Canetto finished speaking, when the unfortunate being,upon whom he had pronounced this appalling sentence, uttered onefrantic yell, and then disappeared in a whirlwind, which carried herright away over the forest. Nobody ever saw or heard of her again to myknowledge, but there is very little doubt that the sentence of the Kingof the Mannikins was duly carried out. The wise men, who have studiedthese things carefully, say that there is very clear and certain proofof this. In the spring-time of the year, especially about March, acold, bitter, spiteful wind blows from the east, seizes delicatethroats and tender noses, keeps people indoors when they much desireair and exercise; and if they attempt to get either, afflicts them withheavy colds, and what modern doctors call "bronchial affections,"meaning much the same thing as that which our poor benighted fathersand mothers used to call "sore throats." Well, do you think this eastwind is a common, ordinary, respectable wind? Not at all. It is nothingmore nor less (say these wise ones) than the wicked old FairyNuisancenika, who, heartily tired of her imprisonment in the cavern,fumes and rages madly about, and sometimes gets near enough to themouth of the cave to spit and blow out some of her venom into theworld. Then comes disease to man and beast, and whenever I think of itI regret that Canetto did not serve the wretched old hag as he did herpolecats and adders, and direct his mannikins to cut her in pieces withtheir hunting-whips. Just fancy if he had! Perhaps we should have hadno more of those cruel east winds. But it was fated otherwise, and thisis the result.
At all events, the bad fairy was comfortably got rid of so far as theroyal family of King Fridolin were concerned, and there is very littlemore to be said about the rest that followed. Of course everything nowwent rightly. Messages were sent to Zac's real father--the story ofCanetto having been entirely confirmed by Farmer Dickson--and theresult was in every respect satisfactory. The king of the country ofthe Red Camellias was delighted to recover his long lost son, andshowed his sense of what was right and proper under the circumstancesby dying shortly after the wedding of Zac and Belinda had been dulycelebrated. The young prince consequently conveyed his lovely andloving bride to his own country, where they reigned for many years ingreat happiness and prosperity.
Amabilia and Concaterina, having a mother's influence to guide them,improved daily in every respect, and had no difficulty whatever insecuring royal husbands within the time prophesied by Canetto, whosecourts they adorned by their beauty and whose homes they made happy bytheir domestic virtues.
As for King Fridolin, he passed the evening of his days more happilythan any other part of his life. Conscious of his former folly, helearned to appreciate his re
stored queen as she deserved, and theirrenewed affection for each other was romantic in its strength andfervour. Canetto paid them occasional visits, and was always receivedby them with that respect and regard which his conduct had so wellearned. Everything flourished thenceforward in Fridolin's kingdom. EvenLord Pompous hailed the change with delight, since his sovereign,occupied constantly in the enjoyment of his newly recovered happiness,omitted the practical jokes upon his lord chamberlain with which he hadfrequently been wont to solace his idle hours. And during the longyears that followed before Fridolin's reign and life ended, the kingconstantly called to mind the thrilling scenes of interest which I haverecounted, and invariably spoke with the greatest thankfulness of thehappy thought which came into his head upon that memorable day when hefirst projected the pig-race.
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