at home, as some people may be.'
'Good heavens, madam!' says he, 'do you know me?'
'I know a number of funny things,' says the lady. 'I have been
at some people's christenings, and turned away from other
folks' doors. I have seen some people spoilt by good fortune,
and others, as I hope, improved by hardship. I advise you to
stay at the town where the coach stops for the night. Stay
there and study, and remember your old friend to whom you were
kind.'
'And who is my old friend?' asked Giglio.
'When you want anything,' says the lady, 'look in this bag,
which I leave to you as a present, and be grateful to--'
'To whom, madam?' says he.
'To the Fairy Blackstick,' says the lady, flying out of the
window. And then Giglio asked the conductor if he knew where
the lady was?
'What lady?' says the man; 'there has been no lady in this
coach, except the old woman, who got out at the last stage.'
And Giglio thought he had been dreaming. But there was the bag
which Blackstick had given him lying on his lap; and when he
came to the town he took it in his hand and went into the inn.
They gave him a very bad bedroom, and Giglio, when he woke in
the morning, fancying himself in the Royal Palace at home,
called, 'John, Charles, Thomas! My chocolate--my
dressing-gown--my slippers'; but nobody came. There was no
bell, so he went and bawled out for water on the top of the
stairs.
The landlady came up.
'What are you a hollering and a bellaring for here, young man?'
says she.
'There's no warm water--no servants; my boots are not even
cleaned.'
'He, he! Clean 'em yourself,' says the landlady. 'You young
students give yourselves pretty airs. I never heard such
impudence.'
'I'll quit the house this instant,' says Giglio.
'The sooner the better, young man. Pay your bill and be off.
All my rooms is wanted for gentlefolks, and not for such as
you.'
'You may well keep the Bear Inn,' said Giglio. 'You should have
yourself painted as the sign.'
The landlady of the Bear went away GROWLING. And Giglio
returned to his room, where the first thing he saw was the
fairy bag lying on the table, which seemed to give a little hop
as he came in. 'I hope it has some breakfast in it,' says
Giglio, 'for I have only a very little money left.' But on
opening the bag, what do you think was there? A blackingbrush
and a pot of Warren's jet, and on the pot was written
Poor young men their boots must black:
Use me and cork me and put me back.
So Giglio laughed and blacked his boots, and put back the brush
and the bottle into the bag.
When he had done dressing himself, the bag gave another little
hop, and he went to it and took out--
1. A tablecloth and a napkin.
2. A sugar-basin full of the best loaf-sugar.
4, 6, 8, 10. Two forks, two teaspoons, two knives, and a pair
of sugar-tongs, and a butter-knife all marked G.
11, 12, 13. A teacup, saucer, and slop-basin.
14. A jug full of delicious cream.
15. A canister with black tea and green.
16. A large tea-urn and boiling water.
17. A saucepan, containing three eggs nicely done.
18. A quarter of a pound of best Epping butter.
19. A brown loaf.
And if he hadn't enough now for a good breakfast, I should like
to know who ever had one?
Giglio, having had his breakfast, popped all the things back
into the bag, and went out looking for lodgings. I forgot to
say that this celebrated university town was called Bosforo.
He took a modest lodging opposite the Schools, paid his bill at
the inn, and went to his apartment with his trunk, carpet-bag,
and not forgetting, we may be sure, his OTHER bag.
When he opened his trunk, which the day before he had filled
with his best clothes, he found it contained only books. And
in the first of them which he opened there was written--
Clothes for the back, books for the head:
Read and remember them when they are read.
And in his bag, when Giglio looked in it, he found a student's
cap and gown, a writing-book full of paper, an inkstand, pens,
and a Johnson's dictionary, which was very useful to him, as
his spelling had been sadly neglected.
So he sat down and worked away, very, very hard for a whole
year, during which 'Mr. Giles' was quite an example to all the
students in the University of Bosforo. He never got into any
riots or disturbances. The Professors all spoke well of him,
and the students liked him too; so that, when at examination,
he took all the prizes, viz.--
{The Spelling Prize {The French Prize
{The Writing Prize {The Arithmetic Prize
{The History Prize {The Latin Prize
{The Catechism Prize {The Good Conduct Prize,
all his fellow-students said, 'Hurrah! Hurray for Giles! Giles
is the boy--the student's joy! Hurray for Giles!' And he
brought quite a quantity of medals, crowns, books, and tokens
of distinction home to his lodgings.
One day after the Examinations, as he was diverting himself at
a coffee-house with two friends--(Did I tell you that in his
bag, every Saturday night, he found just enough to pay his
bills, with a guinea over, for pocketmoney? Didn't I tell you?
Well, he did, as sure as twice twenty makes forty-five)--he
chanced to look in the Bosforo Chronicle, and read off, quite
easily (for he could spell, read, and write the longest words
now), the following:--
'ROMANTIC CIRCUMSTANCE.--One of the most extraordinary
adventures that we have ever heard has set the neighbouring
country of Crim Tartary in a state of great excitement.
'It will be remembered that when the present revered sovereign
of Crim Tartary, His Majesty King PADELLA, took possession of
the throne, after having vanquished, in the terrific battle of
Blunderbusco, the late King CAVOLFIORE, that Prince's only
child, the Princess Rosalba, was not found in the royal palace,
of which King Padella took possession, and, it was said, had
strayed into the forest (being abandoned by all her attendants)
where she had been eaten up by those ferocious lions, the last
pair of which were captured some time since, and brought to the
Tower, after killing several hundred persons.
'His Majesty King Padella, who has the kindest heart in the
world, was grieved at the accident which had occurred to the
harmless little Princess, for whom His Majesty's known
benevolence would certainly have provided a fitting
establishment. But her death seemed to be certain. The
mangled remains of a cloak, and a little shoe, were found in
the forest, during a hunting-party, in which the intrepid
sovereign of Crim Tartary slew two of the lions' cubs with his
own spear. And these interesting relics of an innocent little
&
nbsp; creature were carried home and kept by their finder, the Baron
Spinachi, formerly an officer in Cavolfiore's household. The
Baron was disgraced in consequence of his known legitimist
opinions, and has lived for some time in the humble capacity of
a wood-cutter, in a forest on the outskirts of the Kingdom of
Crim Tartary.
'Last Tuesday week Baron Spinachi and a number of gentlemen,
attached to the former dynasty, appeared in arms, crying, "God
save Rosalba, the first Queen of Crim Tartary!" and surrounding
a lady whom report describes as "BEAUTIFUL EXCEEDINGLY." Her
history MAY be authentic, is certainly most romantic.
'The personage calling herself Rosalba states that she was
brought out of the forest, fifteen years since, by a lady in a
car drawn by dragons (this account is certainly IMPROBABLE),
that she was left in the Palace Garden of Blombodinga, where
Her Royal Highness the Princess Angelica, now married to His
Royal Highness Bulbo, Crown Prince of Crim Tartary, found the
child, and, with THAT ELEGANT BENEVOLENCE which has always
distinguished the heiress of the throne of Paflagonia, gave the
little outcast a SHELTER AND A HOME! Her parentage not being
known, and her garb very humble, the foundling was educated in
the Palace in a menial capacity, under the name of BETSINDA.
'She did not give satisfaction, and was dismissed, carrying
with her, certainly, part of a mantle and a shoe, which she had
on when first found. According to her statement she quitted
Blombodinga about a year ago, since which time she has been
with the Spinachi family. On the very same morning the Prince
Giglio, nephew to the King of Paflagonia, a young Prince whose
character for TALENT and ORDER were, to say truth, none of the
HIGHEST, also quitted Blombodinga, and has not been since heard
of!'
'What an extraordinary story!' said Smith and Jones, two young
students, Giglio's especial friends.
'Ha! what is this? ' Giglio went on, reading--
'SECOND EDITION, EXPRESS.--We hear that the troop under Baron
Spinachi has been surrounded, and utterly routed, by General
Count Hogginarmo, and the soidisant Princess is sent a prisoner
to the capital.
'UNIVERSITY NEWS.--Yesterday, at the Schools, the distinguished
young student, Mr. Giles, read a Latin oration, and was
complimented by the Chancellor of Bosforo, Dr. Prugnaro, with
the highest University honour--the wooden spoon.'
'Never mind that stuff,' says GILES, greatly disturbed. 'Come
home with me, my friends. Gallant Smith! intrepid Jones!
friends of my studies--partakers of my academic toils--I have
that to tell which shall astonish your honest minds.'
'Go it, old boy!' cries the impetuous Smith.
'Talk away, my buck!' says Jones, a lively fellow.
With an air of indescribable dignity, Giglio checked their
natural, but no more seemly, familiarity. 'Jones, Smith, my
good friends,' said the PRINCE, 'disguise is henceforth
useless; I am no more the humble student Giles, I am the
descendant of a royal line.'
'Atavis edite regibus, I know, old co--' cried Jones. He was
going to say old cock, but a flash from THE ROYAL EYE again
awed him.
'Friends,' continued the Prince, 'I am that Giglio, I am, in
fact, Paflagonia. Rise, Smith, and kneel not in the public
street. Jones, thou true heart! My faithless uncle, when I
was a baby, filched from me that brave crown my father left me,
bred me, all young and careless of my rights, like unto hapless
Hamlet, Prince of Denmark; and had I any thoughts about my
wrongs, soothed me with promises of near redress. I should
espouse his daughter, young Angelica; we two indeed should
reign in Paflagonia. His words were false--false as Angelica's
heart!--false as Angelica's hair, colour, front teeth! She
looked with her skew eyes upon young Bulbo, Crim Tartary's
stupid heir, and she preferred him.' Twas then I turned my
eyes upon Betsinda--Rosalba, as she now is. And I saw in her
the blushing sum of all perfection; the pink of maiden modesty;
the nymph that my fond heart had ever woo'd in dreams,' etc.
etc.
(I don't give this speech, which was very fine, but very long;
and though Smith and Jones knew nothing about the
circumstances, my dear reader does, so I go on.)
The Prince and his young friends hastened home to his
apartment, highly excited by the intelligence, as no doubt by
the ROYAL NARRATOR'S admirable manner of recounting it, and
they ran up to his room where he had worked so hard at his
books.
On his writing-table was his bag, grown so long that the Prince
could not help remarking it. He went to it, opened it, and
what do you think he found in it?
A splendid long, gold-handled, red-velvet-scabbarded,
cut-and-thrust sword, and on the sheath was embroidered
'ROSALBA FOR EVER!'
He drew out the sword, which flashed and illuminated the whole
room, and called out 'Rosalba for ever!' Smith and Jones
following him, but quite respectfully this time, and taking the
time from His Royal Highness.
And now his trunk opened with a sudden pony, and out there came
three ostrich feathers in a gold crown, surrounding a beautiful
shining steel helmet, a cuirass, a pair of spurs, finally a
complete suit of armour.
The books on Giglio's shelves were all gone. Where there had
been some great dictionaries, Giglio's friends found two pairs
of jack-boots labelled, 'Lieutenant Smith,' '--Jones, Esq.,'
which fitted them to a nicety. Besides, there were helmets,
back and breast plates, swords, etc., just like in Mr. G. P. R.
James's novels; and that evening three cavaliers might have
been seen issuing from the gates of Bosforo, in whom the
porters, proctors, etc., never thought of recognising the young
Prince and his friends.
They got horses at a livery stable-keeper's, and never drew
bridle until they reached the last town on the frontier before
you come to Crim Tartary. Here, as their animals were tired,
and the cavaliers hungry, they stopped and refreshed at an
hostel. I could make a chapter of this if I were like some
writers, but I like to cram my measure tight down, you see, and
give you a great deal for your money, and, in a word, they had
some bread and cheese and ale upstairs on the balcony of the
inn. As they were drinking, drums and trumpets sounded nearer
and nearer, the marketplace was filled with soldiers, and His
Royal Highness looking forth, recognised the Paflagonian
banners, and the Paflagonian national air which the bands were
playing.
The troops all made for the tavern at once, and as they came up
Giglio exclaimed, on beholding their leader, 'Whom do I see?
Yes! No! It is, it is! Phoo! No, it can't be! Yes! It is
my friend, my gallant faithful veteran, Captain Hedzoff! Ho!
Hedzoff! Knowes
t thou not thy Prince, thy Giglio? Good
Corporal, methinks we once were friends. Ha, Sergeant, an' my
memory serves me right, we have had many a bout at
singlestick.'
'I' faith, we have, a many, good my Lord,' says the Sergeant.
'Tell me, what means this mighty armament,' continued His Royal
Highness from the balcony, 'and whither march my Paflagonians?'
Hedzoff's head fell. 'My Lord,' he said, 'we march as the
allies of great Padella, Crim Tartary's monarch.'
'Crim Tartary's usurper, gallant Hedzoff! Crim Tartary's grim
tyrant, honest Hedzoff!' said the Prince, on the balcony, quite
sarcastically.
'A soldier, Prince, must needs obey his orders: mine are to
help His Majesty Padella. And also (though alack that I should
say it!) to seize wherever I should light upon him.'
'First catch your hare! ha, Hedzoff!' exclaimed His Royal
Highness.
'--On the body of GIGLIO, whilome Prince of Paflagonia' Hedzoff
went on, with indescribable emotion. 'My Prince, give up your
sword without ado. Look! we are thirty thousand men to one!'
'Give up my sword! Giglio give up his sword!' cried the Prince;
and stepping well forward on to the balcony, the royal youth,
WITHOUT PREPARATION, delivered a speech so magnificent, that no
report can do justice to it. It was all in blank verse (in
which, from this time, he invariably spoke, as more becoming
his majestic station). It lasted for three days and three
nights, during which not a single person who heard him was
tired, or remarked the difference between daylight and dark.
The soldiers only cheering tremendously, when occasionally,
once in nine hours, the Prince paused to suck an orange, which
Jones took out of the bag. He explained, in terms which we say
we shall not attempt to convey, the whole history of the
previous transaction, and his determination not only not to
give up his sword, but to assume his rightful crown; and at the
end of this extraordinary, this truly GIGANTIC effort, Captain
Hedzoff flung up his helmet, and cried, 'Hurray! Hurray! Long
live King Giglio!'
Such were the consequences of having employed his time well at
College!
When the excitement had ceased, beer was ordered out for the
army, and their Sovereign himself did not disdain a little! And
now it was with some alarm that Captain Hedzoff told him his
division was only the advanced guard of the Paflagonian
contingent, hastening to King Padella's aid; the main force
being a day's march in the rear under His Royal Highness Prince
Bulbo.
'We will wait here, good friend, to beat the Prince,' His
Majesty said, 'and THEN will make his royal father wince.'
XV. WE RETURN TO ROSALBA
King Padella made very similar proposals to Rosalba to those
which she had received from the various princes who, as we have
seen, had fallen in love with her. His Majesty was a widower,
and offered to marry his fair captive that instant, but she
declined his invitation in her usual polite gentle manner,
stating that Prince Giglio was her love, and that any other
union was out of the question. Having tried tears and
supplications in vain, this violent-tempered monarch menaced
her with threats and tortures; but she declared she would
rather suffer all these than accept the hand of her father's
murderer, who left her finally, uttering the most awful
imprecations, and bidding her prepare for death on the
following morning.
All night long the King spent in advising how he should get rid
of this obdurate young creature. Cutting off her head was much
too easy a death for her; hanging was so common in His
Majesty's dominions that it no longer afforded him any sport;
finally, he bethought himself of a pair of fierce lions which
had lately been sent to him as presents, and he determined,
with these ferocious brutes, to hunt poor Rosalba down.
Adjoining his castle was an amphitheatre where the Prince
indulged in bull-baiting, rat-hunting, and other ferocious
sports. The two lions were kept in a cage under this place;
their roaring might be heard over the whole city, the
inhabitants of which, I am sorry to say, thronged in numbers to
see a poor young lady gobbled up by two wild beasts.
The King took his place in the royal box, having the officers