Kisington Town

XXI: RED REX AND KING VICTOR

Hardly had Harold finished speaking these last words in the tragic story of the Bear's Daughter, when there arose from the market-place such a hubbub and commotion that the Red King's comments on the tale were quite lost. Voices were shouting and cheering; trumpets were blowing and drums beating; over the clang of weapons and neighing of horses one caught the tramp, tramp of marching feet.

Red Rex sprang to his feet, drawing his sword and growing very red in the face. Once again he was the fierce and terrible War-Lord. But Harold did not notice. He was too much excited at the tumult going on outside. He ran hastily to the window and looked out. The square was full of soldiers and banners and gayly decked horses. Men-at-arms crowded the side streets, pouring continuously into the square. The ruined porch of the library was crowded. A guard stood at the portal.

In the center of the square, bestriding a white horse, sat a stately figure, dressed all in white armor. His snowy head was uncovered and he spoke to the cheering people smilingly.

A great shout arose as he finished his speech. "Long live our good King Victor!"

Harold joined in the shout. "Hurrah! Hurrah!"

And Robert and Richard, scrambling up beside him, echoed the cheer, – "Hurrah! Hurrah! Long live King Victor!"

"Our good King has come to Kisington at last!" cried Harold, turning back into the library.

He had quite forgotten his warlike guest and why King Victor had come to Kisington. Indeed, for the moment every one seemed to have forgotten Red Rex. The Librarian, the Lord Mayor, and the other Leading Citizens had disappeared, and the library seemed quite empty. But in one corner of the alcove where the last story had been read, Red Rex was standing at bay. He had drawn up before him a heavy table, behind which he stood, sword in hand, one foot advanced, his red beard bristling.

"Yes, I am trapped!" snarled Red Rex. "You have caught me, boy. But you shall pay for this!"

Harold and the Red King stood staring at one another. The tramp, tramp of feet sounded on the staircase, coming nearer. Along the hall came the tread. The door of the hall opened, and a martial group crossed the threshold. Foremost came their King, King Victor himself, the splendid, white-haired peace hero. The three boys dropped each on one knee before him.

For a moment the King stood gazing about him mildly, without speaking. He was tall and stately, but his eyes were kind, even merry, and with all his dignity there was nothing to strike fear even into the heart of a child. Presently his eyes caught the figure of the trapped War-Lord, barricaded and at bay in the corner.

He stepped forward with a friendly air and held out his hand. "Welcome, Cousin!" he said in a hearty voice.

Red Rex glared at him, fairly bristling with rage. "Do not mock me!" he blustered. "I know well enough that I have been trapped and that the word of the Lord Mayor of this town, given to me, will not count now. But you shall not take me alive. I will slay the first who lays hand on me!" He waved his sword furiously. Harold had never seen him look so terrible.

"Nay, nay!" cried King Victor mildly. "You mistake, indeed, Cousin!"

But the enraged Red King would not listen, and went on with his wild accusations.

"I have been trapped by children!" he raged. "Delayed by tales! Deceived by promises! I trusted all these and disbanded my army, fool that I was! But take me if you can!" Again he flourished his sword and ground his teeth.

King Victor stood looking at the War-Lord without speaking. At last he raised his hand with a grand gesture and said with emphasis and sincerity, "You are making a great mistake, Cousin! You are not trapped. The promise of the Lord Mayor is sacred. In my land a word is as good as a treaty. You are quite free to go, if you list. But, indeed, we hope you will deign to stay, as our honored guest. It is the first time you have graced our Kingdom with your presence, Cousin. We long to be friends with you; to see lasting peace between our neighboring lands."

"You come with an army," retorted Red Rex sullenly. "You came in response to summons. You came to combat me."

"That is true," assented King Victor. "When we heard that Kisington was besieged, we gathered together our peaceful army and hastened hither in the interests of peace. But we arrive to find, instead of a bloody siege, a peaceful King enjoying this library. We hasten to add our own welcome to that of Kisington's Leading Citizens. We invite you to remain, Cousin, and enjoy not only these but other treasures of our Kingdom which it may be to your advantage to know better."

"If my army had not disbanded," blustered the War-Lord, "you would not be speaking to me so debonairly."

"Maybe not, maybe not!" agreed King Victor.

"Yet, our volunteer police force embraces every citizen of our Kingdom. We should have surrounded you without trouble or bloodshed, Cousin. We could have persuaded your army by sheer force of numbers and opinion, without doubt. But let us not think of that. Let us rather consider the pleasanter things which surround us. Shall we not be friends, Cousin? We know your Kingdom well. We have read and studied about it thoroughly in our books. We have, indeed, traveled all over it in peaceful disguise. Come, you ought to become as well acquainted with ours; then I am sure we should never misunderstand one another again. Say, Cousin Rex, shall it be?"

He advanced a step nearer the other, holding out his hand and smiling genially. His sincerity was plain.

The War-Lord dropped his sword. "I believe you!" he cried, stepping forward and grasping the proffered hand. "Cousin, Neighbor, let there be peace between our whole kingdoms; even as we promised between myself and Kisington."

"So be it!"

The two monarchs embraced in kingly fashion, and sat down in a retired alcove for a pleasant chat.

It was not long before Harold was summoned to the pair. King Victor received him kindly, and Red Rex grinned. "We have heard the tale of your service to the State and to our Royal Friend, Harold," said King Victor graciously. "We would fain give you a suitable reward, my brave Bookworm. What shall it be? Tell me your wish."

Harold flushed and stammered. "I do not wish a reward for the little I did, Sire," he said. "I had no thought of that. Indeed, it was a pleasure to read for His Majesty."

"Yea, so we believe!" smiled the King. "Yet some reward we owe for your true office. What shall it be?"

Harold hesitated, thinking. "Truly, for myself I ask nothing," he said. "Yet, perhaps, Sire, you would help my mother, my dear mother, so that she need not work so hard while I am learning to be a scholar."

"It shall be so!" cried the King. "She shall have a little maid to help her; money to pay the rent, buy food and clothes and modest pleasures. These shall she have. But for yourself, Harold? We must show you some special favor, for our own comfort."

"Well," said Harold, "one thing I scarcely dare to ask. But I should like more time to read in the library while His Majesty is here. Maybe I could serve him better if I had not to go to school these days. May the school children have a vacation of a week, Sire?"

"A fortnight!" cried King Victor, beaming. "It is the very pith of our talk, my boy. For a week the King our Cousin is fain to tarry in Kisington, and he asks no better than yourself to be his guide, philosopher, and friend. Then for a week he will be my guest, traveling with me over the Kingdom, visiting certain places whereabout you have made him curious by your stories. He asks that you may go as his page. Both these things are possible if we grant the school a fortnight's recess. It shall be done. But still, this is little reward for your wise doings, my boy. Ask something more."

"Then, Sire, I beg this," said Harold, with shining eyes. "Let Robert and Richard go with me as assistant pages. That will be a merry vacation for us all; no better boon could I ask!"

The King laughed merrily. "A boy's wish!" he said, "but it shall be granted. Now, come hither, Harold." With these words King Victor threw over the boy's shoulders a heavy gold chain with a cross hanging from it. "'Blessed are the peacemakers,'" quoted King Victor. "Wear this, Harold, a token from your grateful country. And with it goes the gift of a hundred books, which you shall choose for yourself, to be the beginning of a library of your own, – Book Wizard, as they call you!"

The bells of Kisington began to peal gayly and continuously, a triple rejoicing. The beloved King being in town was sufficient reason for festival. Therefore, -Ding dong! Peace was declared forever between the two neighboring nations. Therefore, Ding dong! Ding dong! A holiday for the school children of Kisington, Harold's friends. Therefore, -Ding dong! Ding dong! Ding dong!

Harold went home to his mother with the glad news. And proud enough she was of her lad when she heard why all the bells were ringing, and saw his golden cross.

XXII: THE BOOKS CONQUER

Thus began the wonderful fortnight of vacation that Harold and Robert and Richard never forgot in all their lives.

For a happy week the War-Lord tarried in Kisington. He spent much of his time studying at the library, reading many books, but especially such tales as Harold thought the little Princess Hope would enjoy. Many of these he heard Harold read aloud; sometimes in the cozy alcoves of the library, where they could disturb no one; sometimes in the sumptuous apartments of the palace which King Victor had put at the disposal of Red Rex; oftenest and best of all in the little thatched cottage of Harold's mother, where the Red King came to feel perfectly at home. For one of the first things Harold did in his vacation time was to invite the War-Lord to dinner.

"We shall have for dessert one of my mother's famous apple pies," promised Harold with a twinkle. The Red King blushed; but he accepted the invitation in a truly kingly spirit.

There was now plenty to eat and drink in Harold's home, and a nice little maid to help his mother and make the days pleasanter. It was a very merry party that gathered around the table in the kitchen that night. Richard and Robert were there; for the Red King had taken a fancy to them, and they all talked together like old friends. The Red King had many thrilling adventures to tell them of his roving life. And Red Rex was learning many new and novel things of them all the while. For this was the first time he had ever eaten in a thatched cottage, or in the company of simple strangers.

When the great pie was brought in, all steaming and spicy, Harold and the War-Lord exchanged a peculiar glance.

"Your Majesty has tasted my pie before," said Harold's mother innocently. "I sent a piece with Harold's luncheon one day, and he tells me you approved of it. That is why we have it to-day for dessert."

"Ah! I approve of it, indeed! I shall never forget your pie, dear little Mother!" cried the Red King with a laugh. "It is worth adventuring much to obtain even a bite of pies like yours."

"They taste best of all at midnight," said Harold mischievously.

"That I cannot believe," said Red Rex, frowning at him. "I never ate pie so delicious before this day!"

"Do you think one piece of pie hot is worth five pies cold, Your Majesty?" asked Harold.

"Yes, indeed!" cried the Red King, turning still redder. "Especially if eaten in such pleasant company."

"So thought not the wicked old woman who stole my pies," said Harold's mother. "I wonder if she will ever dare to claim that beautiful shawl which she left behind her?"

"I dare say not," frowned the Red King. "And inasmuch as the Lord Mayor declares that she must have been a native of my Kingdom, intruding within your walls, I hereby make over to you that shawl which she has forfeited by her wicked deed. Wear it henceforth without a qualm, Mother."

She wore it to church the very next Sunday, and all the ladies envied her this last piece of good luck which seemed to follow the coming of the Red King.

Red Rex was eager to visit every corner of Kisington about which he had heard in the Chronicles. Since this was vacation time, Harold and Robert and Richard were overjoyed to be his guides. They visited the Old Curiosity Shop where the Lion Passant had lived dumbly for years before the coming of the Patent Medicine Man. The store was still kept by a wheezy old fellow with a cough; though he was not the same who had spilled the Elixir over the Lion Passant. Of him the War-Lord bought so many curiosities that he and his little old wife became quite rich, and never had to worry about the future any more.

They visited the ruined old castle, a little way out of Kisington on the road to Hushby, where Arthur had found the magic glass, made by his uncle the Amateur Magician. It was now all in ruins, inhabited only by bats and owls and rats. But the Red King prowled about the crumbling chambers with the greatest delight, and took home a paper of pebbles as a souvenir for the little Princess Hope, who made "collections."

They visited the famous bakehouse of the Rafe-Margot Company, where a kind of pastry called "Kingspies" was still made after the old recipe, which had first been used in the oven of the premises. For this was the site of the little red house that had stood on the acre of land under the red-apple tree. All these had disappeared; and the Kingspies, which the Red King tasted eagerly, were not as good as the home-made variety of which Harold's mother had inherited the secret. For there is something magic about the pies that a mother makes in her own kitchen which no factory can imitate.

At this factory Red Rex left a large sum of money to pay for Kingspies which should be given to any hungry man who asked; particularly if he asked at midnight, – which seemed, indeed, a strange condition! But Harold understood why the Red King did this thing. And Harold never told any one, – not even Robert and Richard.

One day they all went to visit what had been Gerda's Wonder-Garden, by the sea. It was now called the Aquarium, and was a public park, free to all the people of Kisington. It was quite as wonderful as ever, for it was full of all the strange and beautiful creatures of the sea, and Red Rex marveled greatly to see them there.

In charge of the Aquarium was the Lady Anyse, who was a descendant of Cedric and Gerda. She came to greet them when she heard of their arrival, and as soon as their eyes met she and the Red King gazed at each other long and earnestly. She was tall and stately, and very beautiful. She had red hair like the King's, and bright blue eyes; and she was afraid of nothing. She and Red Rex stared at each other long and earnestly, without speaking.

At last Red Rex said: -

"In sooth, I believe you are, indeed, of my kin! Something tells me so. I am sure that Gerda, your great-great-grandmother came from my Kingdom, and was sister of my great-great-grandfather."

"I think so too," said the Lady Anyse.

"Cousin," declared Red Rex, "you have been too long away from the land of your fathers. Will you go back with me, to my little daughter? She has no mother, and she needs one badly; some one from a peaceful Kingdom. I think she needs you. I am going, moreover, to make for her a splendid Aquarium, like this of Kisington. This also will need your care."

"I think so too," said the Lady Anyse.

"Then you will come back with me?" begged Red Rex, more eagerly than he had ever begged for anything in his life. "It will make a new bond between our Kingdoms, so that we shall never be at war again."

"I think so too!" said the Lady Anyse, who was a woman of few words.

So that matter was happily settled, to the Red King's great content. And a happy thing, indeed, it proved for the little Princess Hope and for the two Kingdoms.

When the second week began, Red Rex left Kisington to visit King Victor at the Capital City. Harold and Robert and Richard accompanied him as pages, each wearing a beautiful suit of velvet and gold, and each riding on a fine little white pony, the gift of Red Rex.

What a glorious trip that was! For first they made a detour to the Town of Hushby. There still stood the inn where Arthur had met pretty Margot who afterwards became his Countess, and where he had his first adventure with the wicked Oscar. From there the party went up into the mountains where the Dragon used to live. Harold and the other two boys scrambled about among the rocks, and after a while they found the very place which had been the Dragon's den. It was a cave fifty feet long and twelve feet high, very black and gloomy. And in it were a great many skulls and bones of persons whom the Dragon had killed and eaten in those dreadful years, long, long ago. But now it was empty and forgotten.

From Hushby they rode to the Capital City, which was all decked with banners and flowers to receive Red Rex, the ex-War-Lord. Then began a season of royal merrymaking to celebrate the peace between the two Kingdoms. There were banquets and dancing and games and pageants, processions and concerts and fireworks, all of which the Red King and his three pages enjoyed hugely. King Victor was very kind to them, and made them happy in every way he could devise.

He invited them to the Royal Museum, where they were privileged to view some of the most precious treasures of the Kingdom. They saw in a glass case on a velvet mat the tiny stuffed Dragon himself; he who had once been the Terror of Hushby. They saw, too, the now un-magical glass with which Arthur had vanquished his enemy. It looked like any other mere reading-glass with an ivory handle, and it was hard to believe what wonders it had done. In this same collection was the first pie-plate brought by Rafe's messenger to the King, after that clever cook became pie-maker-in-ordinary to the throne.

Here, too, was the glove of that royal giantess, the Princess Agnes, who had refused to marry Arthur because he was too little. It was as broad as a palm-leaf fan, and much thicker. Close by the monster glove lay a tiny white moccasin, which had once been worn by Ursula, the bear's daughter, and which had been brought back from the far land of that sad story by one of the sea-rovers of Kisington, who had first told the tale.

Here also was one of the partly-grated nuts with which Meg had flavored the first King's Pie; and a precious pearl from Gerda's Wonder-Garden, the gift of the grateful Mermaid. There, worn to rags, by the passage of many years, was the original lion-doll made by Claribel, from the model of the Lion Passant. And this the Red King liked best of all. But there were many interesting things in the Museum of King Victor which recalled to Red Rex the stories that Harold had read to him.

One day King Victor and a merry party rode to the town of Derrydown in the north. Here was the great lion-doll factory, started by Claribel and the Lion Passant, which had made their fortune and that of Derrydown. The party stopped at the old Red Lion Inn where the sign still swung over the door as in the days when the Lion Passant had first been struck by its resemblance to his family crest. And because it was his family crest also, Red Rex made the landlord a handsome present. In these days the Red King was generosity itself.

Hard by the Inn was the very same tiny hut in which Claribel had lived; and over the fireplace still showed dimly the carved coat of arms and the motto, Noblesse oblige.

When Red Rex saw this, he stood and stared at it a long time, saying nothing. "I used to think that meant 'A King can do no wrong,'" said he at last in a low voice to King Victor. "Now I believe it means, 'A King must do no wrong.'"

"So I too believe," agreed King Victor. "But I would make the motto say still more. Every one can be noble, and a noble must do no wrong."

"It shall be the motto of my people!" declared Red Rex. And so it became.

But there were other tales of this neighborhood which Red Rex remembered. "May we not go hunting in the Ancient Wood, of which I have heard?" asked Red Rex while they tarried in Derrydown. "I understand that it is not far, and that there is great game to be had in those still coverts."

"Nay; in these days we do not hunt in my Kingdom," replied King Victor. "Since hearing the tale of the Bear's Daughter it has been no pleasure for any of us to kill or hurt any dumb creature."

"Ah!" cried Red Rex. "I had forgot that story! Hans wounded a poor friendly bear who had done him no harm. That was cowardly, indeed! True, Cousin. Neither do I wish to hunt any more. It was that tale which you punctuated by your noisy arrival in Kisington, do you remember? I picked out that story for myself; and it has done a service to the wild creatures of my Kingdom, who will henceforth be safe from me and mine. But, indeed, though we do not hunt, I would fain see this Ancient Wood, where the Old Gnome lived in his hollow tree."

"We will go this very day," answered King Victor. And go they did. Sure enough, in a clearing they found the house which David had built for his little wife, snug and clean and empty. Close by in the thick woods the three boys discovered a giant tree-stump, papered with moss and hung with cobweb hammocks, which they felt sure had been the house of the Hermit Gnome in the days before he became a Fairy.