"Dear me!" said Red Rex, when Harold had finished this story. "I never
saw one of those lion-dolls which your tale mentions. I would that I had
one to present to my little girl."
"Have you a little girl?" exclaimed Harold in surprise. "Why, I had no
idea that you were the father of little children."
"Well, why not?" asked the Red King crossly. "I have a dear little girl
of seven, and her name is Hope."
"Oh, if you have a dear little girl of your own, how can you make war on
a city where other dear little girls live?" cried Harold. "I cannot
understand!"
"No, you cannot understand, because you are only a child yourself," said
the Red King. "When you are grown up you will feel differently."
"Your Majesty, I do not think so," declared Harold, shaking his head
decidedly. "When I have learned all the books in our library, and seen
all the countries there are to see, and done all the interesting things
there are to do, there may be time to think about war. But these other
matters will keep me busy all my life, I should think."
"Rubbish!--Can one purchase a lion-doll in your city?" asked Red Rex,
changing the subject uneasily.
"Yes," said Harold. "Every child in the city owns a lion-doll. Your
Majesty ought to visit the great factory at Derrydown, near where
Claribel lived,--where the dolls are still made. It is close by the
Ancient Wood, where there was such good hunting, and where David had his
adventure with the Old Gnome, you know."
"No, I do not know the Old Gnome," retorted the Red King peevishly. "How
do you expect me to know all the legends of your precious country? We
know nothing about this Kingdom in my own warlike land."
"Then why should you want to fight us?" asked Harold. "If you had taken
the trouble to know us better, you could then judge whether we deserve
to be fought. But I think you would like our people if you knew them."
Again Red Rex changed the subject. "What of the hunting in this Ancient
Wood?" he asked. "When I have taken your city, and after it the rest of
your Kingdom, I will go there to hunt."
"There was good hunting," said Harold, "once upon a time. In those days
one had to beware the wicked Gnomes of the Great Fear. That was why the
Old One fled."
"What about this 'Old One,' and this 'Great Fear'?" asked the Red King.
"I suppose that is another story which you want to read to me."
"Nay; I do not care to read the tale unless Your Majesty wishes it,"
said Harold with dignity. "But if Your Majesty desires a lion-doll for
your little Princess, I can get one for you and return with it and the
story at the same time. There is a dear little girl in the story. I
think your daughter must be very like her."
The Red King gnawed his red mustache and frowned forbiddingly at Harold.
At last he slapped his knee and gave a grunt of assent. "Well," said he,
"fetch me the doll and the book. I may as well give my soldiers another
day's holiday. But in sooth, this has gone on too long! To-morrow's tale
must positively be the last. I hope there will be much fighting in it.
Your tales are something too peaceful for my taste. Look, now! Your city
must be destroyed in short order, because I have set my heart on it."
"Will Your Majesty promise me one other thing, beside the truce, till my
return?" begged Harold, looking up in his face with a winning smile.
Red Rex frowned and tried to look very wicked and cruel.
"Well, what is it now?" he growled.
"Promise me, Your Majesty, for the sake of your little dear daughter,
whose name is Hope, that when you fight again you will spare that part
of the city where the schoolhouse stands. Robert and Richard and all my
friends are there."
"What part of the city is that?" asked Red Rex sullenly.
"It is the west part," answered Harold, pointing in the opposite
direction from that in which he had declared the Wonder-Garden to have
been.
"Very well; I promise," said the Red King. "_Noblesse oblige_."
Harold had no difficulty in getting a lion-doll for the Red King.
Indeed, when they knew for what purpose it was intended, and what Harold
had gained by his clever winning of the promise from Red Rex, every
child in town wanted to send his or her lion-doll to the little
princess, whose name was Hope.
They came to Harold's home from all parts of the city, bringing their
dolls, until the High Street was crowded. But the Librarian and the Lord
Mayor were unwilling to accept any of these, for none of them was quite
fresh and new. Most of them had an arm or a leg dislocated, or bald
spots on their yellow fur; which proved how fond the children were of
these noble pets, how much they hugged and fondled and frayed them.
The Lord Mayor himself went to the largest shop in Kisington and in the
name of the children of Kisington purchased a royal lion-doll, nearly as
big as a real baby lion, with a patent voice inside which made it cry
"_Gr-r! Gr-r!_" when you twisted its luxuriant tail. And this was to be
the toy of the little Princess Hope.
With this wonderful toy under one arm and a basket under the other,
which contained among other things a green-and-gold volume from the
library, Harold kissed his mother and went once more to the camp of Red
Rex. He found the monarch there alone, save for his bodyguard. His
soldiers had gone to enjoy themselves in the neighboring woods, glad
indeed of their continued holiday.
When Red Rex saw the great lion-doll he clapped his hands on his knees
and roared with laughter. And it was the first time Harold had heard the
War-Lord laugh,--a terrible sound! But when Harold showed how to make
the lion itself roar, by screwing its tail, the Red King fell over on
his back and nearly died of laughing.
"Oh! Oh!" he cried, wiping the tears from his bronze cheeks. "How the
little Princess will squeal when I twist that lion's tail! How she will
laugh when she hears the creature roar!" And he went off in another fit.
Harold stood by grinning and saying nothing.
The Red King took out a huge purse from his girdle. "And now, what shall
I pay you for this wonderful toy?" he asked. "I suppose it is worth many
golden crowns?"
"It is worth your promise to the children of Kisington, Your Majesty,"
said Harold. "It is a gift from them to your little Princess whose name
is Hope. The children hope you will remember your promise to them."
"I am a King. I do not forget," said Red Rex haughtily.
"Nevertheless, Kings do forget sometimes," murmured Harold. "But this
lion will remind you of your kingly crest, and of the Lion Passant whose
motto you know so well."
"True," said Red Rex, and he looked at the lion-doll earnestly.
"And now, shall I read to Your Majesty the story of which we spoke?"
asked Harold, opening his basket and taking out the
green-and-gold-volume.
"Begin," commanded the Red King, settling himself cozily on his back,
with his head lying on the soft fur of the new lion-doll. "But unless
there is a deal of fighting in it I shall go to sleep. I am very weary."
Thereupon Harold began to read in his best manner the gentle tale of
_The Hermit Gnome_.