24. The Enchanted Mirrors
Presently Prince Marvel and his party arrived and paused before thedoors of the castle, where the Red Rogue stood bowing to them with mockpoliteness and with an evil grin showing on his red face.
"I come to demand the release of the Lady Seseley and her companions!"Prince Marvel announced, in a bold voice. "And I also intend to callyou to account for the murder of Baron Merd."
"You must be at the wrong castle," answered the Red One, "for I havemurdered no baron, nor have I any Lady Seseley as prisoner."
"Are you not the Red Rogue of Dawna?" demanded the prince.
"Men call me by that name," acknowledged the other.
"Then you are deceiving me," said the prince.
"No, indeed!" answered the Red Rogue, mockingly. "I wouldn't deceiveany one for the world. But, if you don't believe me, you are welcometo search my castle."
"That I shall do," returned the prince, sternly, "whether I have yourpermission or not," and he began to dismount. But Nerle restrainedhim, saying:
"Master, I beg you will allow me to search the castle. For this RedRogue is playing some trick upon us, I am sure, and if anythinghappened to you there would be no one to protect the little High Ki andour other friends."
"But suppose something should happen to you?" inquired the prince,anxiously.
"In that case," said Nerle, "you can avenge me."
The advice was so reasonable, under the circumstances, that the princedecided to act upon it.
"Very well," said he, "go and search the castle, and I will remain withour friends. But if anything happens to you, I shall call the RedRogue to account."
So Nerle entered the castle, passing by the huge form of its owner, whoonly nodded to the boy and grinned with delight.
The esquire found himself in the great hall and began to look aroundhim, but without seeing any one. Then he advanced a few steps and, tohis surprise, discovered a large mirror, in which were reflected thefaces and forms of three girls, as well as his own.
"Why, here they are!" he attempted to say; but he could not hear hisown voice. He glanced down at himself but could see nothing atall--for his body had become invisible. His reflection was still inthe glass, and he knew that his body existed the same as before; butalthough he yet saw plainly the hall and all that it contained, hecould see neither himself nor any other person of flesh.
After waiting a considerable time for his esquire to reappear PrinceMarvel became impatient.
"What have you done with Nerle?" he asked of the Red Rogue.
"Nothing," was the reply. "I have been here, plainly within yoursight, every moment."
"Let me go and find him!" exclaimed King Terribus, and rushed into thecastle before the prince could reply. But Terribus also encounteredthe enchanted mirror, and the prince waited in vain for his return.
Then Wul-Takim volunteered to go in search of the others, and drew hisbig, sharp sword before entering the hall. But an hour passed by andhe did not return.
The Red Rogue was overjoyed at the success of his stratagem, and couldscarce refrain from laughing outright at the prince's anxiety.
Marvel was really perplexed. He knew some treachery was afoot, butcould not imagine what it was. And when the pretty High Ki declaredtheir intention of entering the castle, he used every endeavor todissuade them. But the twin girls would not be denied, so great wastheir curiosity. So the prince said:
"Well, we will all go together, so that the Ki and I may be able toprotect you."
The Red Rogue gladly granted them admittance, and they passed him andentered the great hall.
The place appeared to them to be completely empty, so they walked alongand came opposite the mirror. Here all stopped at once, and the twinHigh Ki uttered exclamations of surprise, and the twin Ki shouted,"Great Kika-koo!"
For there in the glass were the reflections of the three girls andNerle and King Terribus and Wul-Takim. And there were also thereflections of the twin High Ki and the twin Ki. Only Prince Marvel'sreflection was missing, and this was because of his fairy origin. Forthe glass could reflect and hold only the forms of mortals.
But the prince saw the reflections of all the others, and then made thediscovery that the forms of the Ki and the High Ki had becomeinvisible. No one except himself appeared to be standing in the greathall of the Red Rogue's castle! Yet grouped within the glass were thelikenesses of all his friends, as well as those of Lady Seseley and hercompanions; and all were staring back at him earnestly, as if imploringhim to save them.
The mystery was now explained, and Prince Marvel rushed from the hallto find the treacherous Red Rogue. But that clever trickster hadhidden himself in an upper room, and for the present was safelyconcealed.
For a time Prince Marvel could not think what to do. Such magic wasall unknown to him, and how to free the imprisoned forms of his friendswas a real problem. He walked around the castle, but no one was insight, the Rogue having given orders to all his people to keep away.Only the tethered horses did he see, and these raised their heads andwhinnied as if in sympathy with his perplexity.
Then he went back into the hall and searched all the rooms of thecastle without finding a single person. On his return he stopped infront of the mirror and sorrowfully regarded the faces of his friends,who again seemed to plead for relief.
And while he looked a sudden fit of anger came over him at beingoutwitted by this Red Rogue of Dawna. Scarcely knowing what he did, heseized his sword by the blade and struck the mirror a powerful blowwith the heavy hilt. It shattered into a thousand fragments, whichfell clattering upon the stone floor in every direction. And at oncethe charm was broken; each of his friends now became visible. Theyappeared running toward him from all parts of the castle, where theyhad been wandering in their invisible forms.
They called out joyful greetings to one another, and then all of themsurrounded the prince and thanked him earnestly for releasing them.
The little Lady Seseley and her friends, Berna and Helda, were a bitshy in the presence of so many strangers; but they alone knew theprince's secret, and that he was a fairy transformed for a year; sothey regarded him as an old and intimate acquaintance, and after beingintroduced by him to the others of his party they became more at ease.
The sweet little High Ki maids at once attracted Seseley, and she lovedthem almost at first sight. But it was Nerle who became the littlelady's staunchest friend; for there was something rather mystical andunnatural to him about the High Ki, who seemed almost like fairies,while in Seseley he recognized a hearty, substantial girl of his ownrank in life.
While they stood talking and congratulating one another outside of thecastle, the Red Rogue of Dawna appeared among them. He had heard thenoise of the smashing of his great mirror, and had come runningdownstairs from his hiding-place to find his cunning had all been fornaught and his captives were free.
A furious anger then took possession of the Rogue, and forgetting hispersonal weakness he caught up a huge battle-ax and rushed out to hurlhimself upon Prince Marvel, intending to do him serious injury.
But the prince was not taken unawares. He saw the Red Rogue coming andmet him with drawn sword, striking quickly at the arm that wielded thebig ax. The stroke was as sure as it was quick, and piercing the armof the giant caused him to drop the ax with a howl of pain.
Then Prince Marvel seized the Red Rogue by the ear--which he was justtall enough to reach--and dragged him up the steps and into the castle,the big fellow crying for mercy at every step and trembling like a leafthrough cowardice.
But down the hall Marvel marched him, seeking some room where the Roguemight be safely locked in. The great curtain that covered the secondenchanted mirror now caught Prince Marvel's eye, and, still holding hisprisoner by the ear, he reached out his left hand and pulled aside thedrapery.
The Red Rogue looked to see what his captor was doing, and beheld hisown reflection in the magic mirror. Instantly he gave a wild cry anddi
sappeared, his body becoming absolutely invisible, while his coarsered countenance stared back from the mirror.
And then Prince Marvel gave a sigh of relief and dropped the curtainover the surface of the mirror. For he realized that the Red Rogue ofDawna had at last met with just punishment and was safely imprisonedfor all time.
25. The Adventurers Separate
When Prince Marvel and his friends had ridden away from the castle thesavage followers of the Red One came creeping up to listen for theirmaster's voice. But silence reigned in every part of the castle, andafter stealing fearfully through the rooms without seeing any one thefellows became filled with terror and fled from the place, never toreturn.
And afterward the neighbors whispered that the castle was haunted bythe spirit of the terrible Red Rogue, and travelers dared not stop inthe neighborhood, but passed by quickly and with averted faces.
The prince and his party rode gaily along toward the Kingdom of Heg,for Nerle had invited them all to visit his father's castle. They werevery happy over their escape, and only the little Lady Seseley becamesad at times, when she thought of her father's sad fate.
The Baron Neggar, who was Nerle's father, was not only a wealthynobleman, but exceedingly kind and courteous; so that every member ofPrince Marvel's party was welcomed to the big castle in a veryhospitable manner.
Nerle was eagerly embraced by both his father and mother, who wereoverjoyed to see him return safe and sound after his wanderings andadventures.
"And have you been cured of your longing for something that you can nothave?" asked the baron, anxiously.
"Not quite," said Nerle, laughing; "but I am more reconciled to my lot.For I find wherever I go people are longing for just the things theycan not get, and probably would not want if they had them. So, as itseems to be the fate of most mortals to live unsatisfied, I shall tryhereafter to be more contented."
These words delighted the good baron, and he gave a rich andmagnificent feast in honor of his son's return.
The High Ki of Twi, after passing several pleasant days at Nerle'shome, now decided that they had seen enough of the world and would beglad to return to their own kingdom, where all was peaceful anduneventful, and rule it to the end of their days. So the baronfurnished them an escort of twenty men-at-arms, and these conducted theHigh Ki and the aged Ki safely back to the hole in the hedge.
And after they had entered the Land of Twi, the first act of the HighKi was to order the hedge repaired and the hole blocked up; and I havenever heard that any one, from that time forth, ever succeeded ingaining admittance to the hidden kingdom. So its subsequent history isunknown.
King Terribus also bade the prince an affectionate farewell and rodeback to his own kingdom; and burly Wul-Takim accompanied him as far asthe cave, where the fifty-eight reformed thieves awaited him.
Nerle's mother gladly adopted the Lady Seseley and her two companions,and thereafter they made their home at the baron's castle. And yearsafterward, when they had grown to be women, Seseley was married toNerle and became the lady of the castle herself.
Prince Marvel enjoyed the feasting and dancing at the castle very much,but after the party began to break up, and the High Ki and the Ki hadleft him, as well as King Terribus and honest Wul-Takim, the youngknight grew thoughtful and sometimes uneasy, and his happy laugh wasless frequently heard. Nerle often regarded his young master with afeeling of awe, for there occasionally came a look into Marvel's eyesthat reminded him more of the immortals than of any human being. Butthe prince treated him with rare kindness and always pressed Nerle'shand affectionately when he bade him good night, for he had grown fondof his esquire. Also they had long conversations together, duringwhich Nerle gleaned a great deal of knowledge and received some advicethat was of much use to him in his later life.
One day Prince Marvel sought out Lady Seseley and said:
"Will you ride with me to the Forest of Lurla?"
"Willingly," she answered; and calling Berna and Helda to attend them,they mounted their horses and rode swiftly away, for it was a longdistance to Lurla.
By noon the party entered the forest, and although the path theytraversed was unknown to the girls, who had usually entered the forestfrom its other side, near to where the Baron Merd's castle had stood,the prince seemed to have no difficulty in finding his way.
He guided them carefully along the paths, his handsome war-chargerstepping with much grace and dignity, until at length they came to aclearing.
Here the prince paused abruptly, and Seseley looked around her and atonce recognized the place.
"Why," she exclaimed, in surprise, "it is the Fairy Bower!"
And then she turned to Prince Marvel and asked in a soft voice:
"Is the year ended, Prince?"
His smile was a bit sad as he answered, slowly:
"The year will be ended in five minutes!"
26. The End of the Year
The girls sat upon the green moss and waited. Prince Marvel stoodsilent beside his horse. The silver armor was as bright as the day hedonned it, nor was there a dent in his untarnished shield. The swordthat had done such good service he held lightly in his hand, and thehorse now and then neighed softly and turned to look at him withaffectionate eyes.
Seseley began to tremble with excitement, and Berna and Helda stared atthe prince with big round eyes.
But, after all, they saw nothing so remarkable as they expected. Forpresently--and it all happened in a flash--Prince Marvel was gone fromtheir midst, and a handsome, slender-limbed deer darted from the bowerand was quickly lost in the thick forest. On the ground lay a sheet ofbark and a twig from a tree, and beside them was Lady Seseley's whitevelvet cloak.
Then the three girls each drew a long breath and looked into oneanother's eyes, and, while thus engaged, a peal of silvery laughtersounded in their ears and made them spring quickly to their feet.
Before them stood a tiny and very beautiful fairy, clothed in floatinggossamer robes of rose and pearl color, and with eyes sparkling liketwin stars.
"Prince Marvel!" exclaimed the three, together.
"No, indeed!" cried the fairy, with a pretty little pout. "I am no onebut myself; and, really, I believe I shall now be content to exist fora few hundred years in my natural form. I have quite enjoyed my yearas a mortal; but after all there are, I find, some advantages in beinga fairy. Good by, my dears!"
And with another ripple of laughter the pretty creature vanished, andthe girls were left alone.
27. A Hundred Years Afterward
About a hundred years after Prince Marvel enjoyed his strangeadventures in the Enchanted Island of Yew an odd thing happened.
A hidden mirror in a crumbling old castle of Dawna broke loose from itsfastenings and fell crashing on the stone pavement of the desertedhall. And from amid the ruins rose the gigantic form of a man. Hishair and beard were a fiery red, and he gazed at the desolation aroundhim in absolute amazement.
It was the Red Rogue of Dawna, set free from his imprisonment.
He wandered out and found strange scenes confronting him, for duringthe hundred years a great change had taken place in the EnchantedIsland. Great cities had been built and great kingdoms established.Civilization had won the people, and they no longer robbed or fought orindulged in magical arts, but were busily employed and leadingrespectable lives.
When the Red Rogue tried to tell folks who he was, they but laughed athim, thinking the fellow crazy. He tried to get together a band ofthieves, as Wul-Takim had done in the old days, but none would join him.
And so, forced to be honest against his will, the Rogue was driven toearn a living by digging in the garden of a wealthy noble, of whom hehad never before heard.
But often he would pause in his labors and lean on his spade, whilethoughts of the old days of wild adventure passed through his mind inrapid succession; and then the big man would shake his red head with apuzzled air and mutter:
"I wonder who that Prince Marvel could
have been! And I wonder whatever became of him!"
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