"Silence! McDougal, drag the first man that shouts to the serpent-house in the zoological gardens, and lock him up with the rattlesnakes!"

After that the courtiers were very quiet.

"Prince," said the king, as Prigio bowed before the throne, "you are restored to your position, because I cannot break my promise. But your base and malevolent nature is even more conspicuously manifest in your selfish success than in your previous dastardly contempt of duty. Why, confound you!" cried the king, dropping the high style in which he had been speaking, and becoming the _father_, not the monarch,--"why, if you _could_ kill the Firedrake, did you let your poor little brothers go and be b--b--b--broiled? Eh! what do you say, you sneak? 'You didn't believe there _were_ any Firedrakes?' That just comes of your eternal conceit and arrogance! If you were clever enough to kill the creature--and I admit that--you were clever enough to know that what everybody said must be true. 'You have not generally found it so?' Well, you _have_ this time, and let it be a lesson to you; not that there is much comfort in that, for it is not likely you will ever have such another chance"--exactly the idea that had occurred to Benson.

Here the king wept, among the tears of the lord chief justice, the poet laureate (who had been awfully frightened when he heard of the rattlesnakes), the maids of honour, the chaplain royal, and everyone but Colonel McDougal, a Scottish soldier of fortune, who maintained a military reserve.

When his majesty had recovered, he said to Prigio (who had not been crying, he was too much absorbed):

"A king's word is his bond. Bring me a pen, somebody, and my cheque-book."

The royal cheque-book, bound in red morocco, was brought in by eight pages, with ink and a pen. His majesty then filled up and signed the following satisfactory doc.u.ment--(Ah! my children, how I wish Mr.

Arrowsmith would do as much for _me_!):

[Ill.u.s.tration: The King's Cheque]

"There!" said his majesty, crossing his cheque and throwing sand over it, for blotting-paper had not yet been invented; "there, take _that_, and be off with you!"

Prince Prigio was respectfully but rapidly obeying his royal command, for he thought he had better cash the royal cheque as soon as possible, when his majesty yelled:

"Hi! here! come back! I forgot something; you've got to marry Molinda!"

[Ill.u.s.tration: Chapter Sixteen]

CHAPTER XVI.--_A Melancholy Chapter_

THE prince had gone some way, when the king called after him. How he wished he had the seven-league boots on, or that he had the cap of darkness in his pocket! If he had been so lucky, he would now have got back to Gluckstein, and crossed the border with Lady Rosalind. A million of money may not seem much, but a pair of young people who really love each other could live happily on less than the cheque he had in his pocket. However, the king shouted very loud, as he always did when he meant to be obeyed, and the prince sauntered slowly back again.

"Prigio!" said his majesty, "where were you off to? Don't you remember that this is your wedding-day? My proclamation offered, not only the money (which you have), but the hand of the Lady Molinda, which the Court chaplain will presently make your own. I congratulate you, sir; Molinda is a dear girl."

"I have the highest affection and esteem for my cousin, sir," said the prince, "but:--"

"I'll never marry him!" cried poor Molinda, kneeling at the throne, where her streaming eyes and hair made a pretty and touching picture.

"Never! I despise him!"

[Ill.u.s.tration: Page 84]

"I was about to say, sir," the prince went on, "that I cannot possibly have the pleasure of wedding my cousin."

"The family gibbet, I presume, is in good working order?" asked the king of the family executioner, a tall gaunt man in black and scarlet, who was only employed in the case of members of the blood royal.

"Never better, sire," said the man, bowing with more courtliness than his profession indicated.

"Very well," said the king; "Prince Prigio, you have your choice.

_There_ is the gallows, _here_ is Lady Molinda. My duty is painful, but clear. A king's word cannot be broken. Molly, or the gibbet!"

The prince bowed respectfully to Lady Molinda:

"Madam, my cousin," said he, "your clemency will excuse my answer, and you will not misinterpret the apparent discourtesy of my conduct. I am compelled, most unwillingly, to slight your charms, and to select the Extreme Rigour of the Law. Executioner, lead on! Do your duty; for me, _Prigio est pret_;"--for this was his motto, and meant that he was ready.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Page 85]

Poor Lady Molinda could not but be hurt by the prince's preference for death over marriage to her, little as she liked him.

"Is life, then, so worthless? and is Molinda so terrible a person that you prefer _those_ arms," and she pointed to the gibbet, "to _these?_"--here she held out her own, which were very white, round and pretty; for Molinda was a good-hearted girl, she could not bear to see Prigio put to death; and then, perhaps, she reflected that there are worse positions than the queenship of Pantouflia. For Alphonso was gone--crying would not bring him back.

"Ah, Madam!" said the prince, "you are forgiving--"

"For _you_ are brave!" said Molinda, feeling: quite a respect for him.

"But neither your heart nor mine is ours to give. Since mine was another's, I understand too well the feeling of _yours!_ Do not let us buy life at the price of happiness and honour."

Then, turning to the king the prince said:

"Sir, is there no way but by death or marriage? You say you cannot keep half only of your promise; and that, if I accept the reward, I must also unite myself with my unwilling cousin. Cannot the whole proclamation be annulled, and will you consider the bargain void if I tear up this flimsy scroll?"

And here the prince fluttered the cheque for 1,000,000 in the air.

For a moment the king was tempted; but then he said to himself:

"Never mind, it's only an extra penny on the income-tax." Then, "Keep your dross," he shouted, meaning the million; "but let _me_ keep my promise. To chapel at once, or--" and he pointed to the executioner.

"The word of a king of Pantouflia is sacred."

"And so is that of a crown prince," answered Prigio; "and _mine_ is pledged to a lady."

"She shall be a mourning bride," cried the king savagely, "unless"--here he paused for a moment--"unless you bring me back Alphohso and Enrico, safe and well!"

The prince thought for the s.p.a.ce of a flash of lightning.

"I accept the alternative," he said, "if your majesty will grant me my conditions."

"Name them!" said the king.

"Let me be transported to Gluckstein, left there unguarded, and if, in three days, I do not return with my brothers safe and well, your majesty shall be spared a cruel duty. Prigio of Pantouflia will perish by his own hand."

The king, whose mind did not work very quickly, took some minutes to think over it. Then he saw that by granting the prince's conditions, he would either recover his dear sons, or, at least, get rid of Prigio, without the unpleasantness of having him executed. For, though some kings have put their eldest sons to death, and most have wished to do so, they have never been better loved by the people for their Roman virtue.

"Honour bright?" said the king at last.

"Honour bright!" answered the prince, and for the first time in many months, the royal father and son shook hands.

"For you, madam," said Prigio in a stately way to Lady Molinda, "in less than a week I trust we shall be taking our vows at the same altar, and that the close of the ceremony which finds us cousins will leave us brother and sister."

Poor Molinda merely stared; for she could not imagine what he meant. In a moment he was gone; and having taken, by the king's permission, the flying carpet, he was back at the amba.s.sador's house in Gluckstein.