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Then he showed the Prince two proclamations, which had been posted all about the town.
Here is the first:
Whereas,
Our eldest son, Prince Prigio, hath of late been guilty of several crimes and misdemeanours.
First: By abandoning the post of danger against the Firedrake, whereby our beloved sons, Prince Alphonso and Prince Enrico, have perished, and been overdone by thai monster.
Secondly: By attending an unseemly revel in the town of Gluckstein, where he brawled in the streets.
Thirdly: By trying to seduce away the hearts of our loyal subjects in that city, and to blow up a party against our crown and our peace.
This is to give warning,
That whoever consorts with, comforts, aids or abets the said Prince Prigio, is thereby a partner in his treason; and That a reward of FIVE THOUSAND PURSES will be given to whosoever brings the said prince, alive, to our Castle of Falkenstein.
And here is the second proclamation;
Whereas,
Our dominions have lately been devastated by a Firedrake (the Salamander Furiosus of Buffon);
This is to advise all,
That whosoever brings the homs and tail of the said Firedrake to our Castle of Falkenstein, shall receive FIVE THOUSAND PURSES, the position of Crown Prince, with the usual perquisites, and the hand of the King's niece, the Lady Molinda.
"H'm," said the Prince, "I did not think His Majesty wrote so weU," and he would have liked to say: "Don't you think we might join the ladies?"
"But. sir," said the ambassador, "the streets are lined with soldiers; and I know not how you have escaped them.
Here. under my roof, you are safe for the moment; but a prolonged stay-excuse my inhospitality-could not but strain the harmonious relations which prevail between the Government of Pantouflia and that which I have the honour to represent."
"We don't want to fight; and no more, I think, do you," said the Prince, smiling.
"Then how does Your Royal Highness mean to treat the proclamations?"
"Why, by wi
"May I remind Your Royal Highness that Falkenstein is three hundred miles away? Moreover, my head butler, Benson, disappeared from the house before di
"That is nothing." said the Prince, "but, my dear Lord Kelso, may I not have the pleasure of presenting Lady Rosalind with a little gift, the forfeit of a game which 1 lost to her last night, merely the head and tail of a Firedrake which I stalked this morning?"
The ambassador was so very astonished that he ran straight upstairs, forgetting his ma
Lady Rosalind came sweeping down, with a smile on her kind face. She guessed what it was, though the Prince had said nothing about it at di
"Lead the way, Your Royal Highness!" cried the ambassador, and tfie Prince, offering Lady Rosalind his arm, went out into the halt, where he saw neither his carpet nor the horns and tail of the Firedrake!
He turned quite pale, and said: "Will you kindly ask me servants where the little Persian prayer-rug and the parcel which I brought with me have been placed?"
Lord Ketso rang the bell, and in came all the servants, with William, the under-butler, at their head.
"William," said his lordship, "where have you put His Royal Highness's parcel and his carpet?"
"Please, your lordship," said William, "we think Benson have took them away with him."
"And where is Benson?" *'We don't know, your lordship. We think he have been come for!"
"Come for-by whom?"
William stammered, and seemed at a loss for a reply.
"Quick! Answer! What do you know about it?"
William said at last, rather as if he were making a speech:
"Your Royaliness, and my lords and ladies, it was like this.
His Royaliness corned in with a rug over his arm and summat under it. And he lays it down on that there seat, and Thomas shows him into the droring room. Then Benson says: 'Di
But before the words was out of his mouth, off he flies like a shot through the open door, and His Royaliness's parcel with him. I run to the door, and there he was flying right hover the town, in a northerly direction. And mat's all I know; for I would not tell a lie, not if it was never so. And me, and Thomas-as didn't see it-and cook, we thinks as how Benson was come for. And cook says as she don't wonder at it, neither; for a grumblinger, more illconditioneder-"
"Thank you, William," said Lord Kelso, "that will do; you can go, for the present."
Chapter XIII
Surprises The Prince said nothing, the ambassador said nothing. Lady Rosalind said never a word till they were in the drawing room. It was a lovely warm evening, and the French windows were wide open on the balcony, which looked over the town and away north to the hills. Below them flowed by the clear, green water of the Gluckthal. And still nobody said a wordAt last the Prince spoke: "This is a very strange story.
Lord Kelso!"
"Very, sir!" said the ambassador.
"But true," added the Prince, "at least, there is no reason in the nature of things why it shouldn't be true."
"I can hardly believe, sir, that the conduct of Benson, whom I always found a most respectable man, deserved-'* "That he should be 'come for,' " said the Prince. "Oh no; it was a mere accident, and might have happened to any of us who chanced to sit down on my carpet."
And then the Prince told them, shortly, all about it: how the carpet was one of a number of fairy properties which had been given him at his christening; and how, probably, the carpet had carried the butler where he had said he wanted to go-namely, to the King's Court at Falkenstem.
"It would not matter so much," added the Prince, "only I had relied on making my peace with His Majesty, my father, by aid of those homs and that tail. He was set on getting them; and if die Lady Rosalind had not expressed a wish for them, they would today have been in his possession."
"Oh, sir, you honour us too highly," murmured Lady Rosalind; and the Prince blushed and said: "Not at all!
Impossible!"
Then, of course, die ambassador became quite certain that his daughter was admired by the Crown Prince, who was on bad terms with the King of the country; and a more uncomfortable position for an ambassador-however, they are used to them.
"What on earth am I to do with the young man?" he thought. "He can't stay here forever; and without his carpet he can't get away, for the soldiers have orders to seize him as soon as he appears in the street. And in the meantime Benson wit! be pretending that he killed the Firedrake-for he must have got to Falkenslein by now-and they will be for marrying him to the King's niece, and making my butler crown prince to the kingdom of Pantouflia! It is dreadful!"
Now all this 'time the Prince was on the balcony telling Lady Rosalind all about how he got the Firedrake done for, in the most modest way; for, as he said: "/ didn't kill him: and it is really the Remora, poor fellow, who should marry Molly; but he's dead."
At this very moment there was a whizz in the air; something shot past them, and, through the open window, the King, the Queen, Benson. and the mortal remains of the Firedrake were shot into the ambassador's drawing roonr!
Chapter XIV
The King Explains The first who recovered his voice and presence of mind was Benson.
"Did your lordship ring for coffee?" he asked quietly; and when he was told "Yes," he bowed and withdrew, with majestic composure.
When he had gone, the Prince threw himself at the King's feet, crying: "Pardon, pardon, my hege!"
"Don't speak to me. sir!" answered the King very angrily; and the poor Prince threw himself at the feet of the Queen.
But she took no notice of him whatever, no more than if he had been a fairy; and the Prince heard her murmur, as she pinched her royal arms: "I shall waken presently; this is nothing out of the way for a dream. Dr. Rumpfino ascribes it to imperfect nutrition."
All this time the Lady Rosalind, as pale as a marble statue, was leaning against me side of the open window. The Prince thought he could do nothing wiser than go and comfort her, so he induced her to sit down on a chair on the balcony-for he felt that he was not wanted in the drawing room; and soon they were talking happily about the stars, which had begun to appear in the summer night.
Meanwhile the ambassador had induced the King to take a scat; but there was no use in talking to the Queen.
"It would be a miracle," she said to herself, "and miracles do not happen; therefore this has not happened. Presently, I shall wake up in my own bed at Falkenstein."
Now, Benson, William, and Thomas brought in the coffee, but the Queen took no notice. When they went away the rest of the company slipped off quietly, and the King was left alone with the ambassador; for the Queen could hardly be said to count.
"You want to know all about it, I suppose?" said His Majesty in a sulky voice. "Well, you have a right to it, and 1 shall tell you. We were just sitting down to di