"That is a fine story!" cried Harold, clapping his hands after the Red
King had finished telling the tale of the Little Bear. "I wish I could
remember all the tales that I read, and tell them as well as you do,
Your Majesty!"
Red Rex looked pleased. "It is a tale that, when I am not at war, I tell
often to my little daughter," he said. "She likes all kinds of stories,
but especially those of countries different from our own."
"Then she ought to hear the Tales of Kisington!" cried Harold.
"So I think," mused Red Rex. "I would that you could read them to her,
even as you have read them to me, Harold."
"Perhaps some day that may be," answered Harold. "But meantime Your
Majesty may hear our tales and tell them to your little Princess when
you return. She will like your way of telling them better than reading
from a book, I know."
"Yes, I must read those tales again, at your library," said the Red
King. "I must study them well, so that I can tell them without losing
the point of each, as I am prone to do. My little Hope will be glad.
Heretofore, I have never had time enough to read her as much as she
craved."
"The library will welcome you," said Harold. "I can answer for that. It
would rather have you inside its doors reading than outside battering
down the statues and the glass! Will Your Majesty come with me now and
visit the Town of Kisington under the flag of truce?"
"That will I," answered Red Rex.
Forth then went Harold and the Red King to the gates of Kisington. Side
by side they went, with the flag of truce between them, borne by a big
man-at-arms. After them followed a guard of the Red King's men; but
these remained behind when the great gate swung open to admit Harold and
his royal guest.
There were no soldiers to be seen anywhere in the streets of Kisington.
It seemed a town wholly at peace. The Lord Mayor and the Librarian were
waiting to receive them, and crowds of people thronged the street to
catch a glimpse of the War-Lord, who for nearly a week had been
besieging their city without firing a shot since that first day. Harold
recognized among the crowd the faces of many of his school-mates, and
presently, when he found the opportunity he beckoned to his chums,
Robert and Richard, who were in the front ranks.
"Keep close to me," Harold whispered to them. "By and by I dare say you
will have a chance to speak with Red Rex himself."
Robert and Richard needed no second hint to keep close at Harold's
heels. Proudly they stepped along, one on either side of their friend,
behind the Red King and the Lord Mayor who followed the Librarian and
the bearer of the flag of truce. To the marketplace they went, the other
school children trotting along in the rear of the little procession, and
gazing with almost as much pride and awe at their lucky comrades as at
the dreaded enemy, Red Rex. Indeed, the whole Town of Kisington seemed
moving in the wake of these six most important personages.
What conversation took place between Red Rex and the Lord Mayor was
never recorded. But it seemed to grow gradually pleasanter and
pleasanter. By the time they had reached the steps of the library, their
faces were wreathed in smiles and they beamed at each other like old
friends.
At the door of the library the Librarian turned and, with a wave of his
hand, said to Red Rex,--"Welcome, Your Majesty, to the treasure-house of
Kisington."
"Glad am I to enter these doors," replied the Red King courteously. "For
here, I believe, live the wonderful books which during these past days
have been giving me much pleasure." He laid his hand on the shoulder of
Harold and smiled. One would hardly have recognized the face of the grim
War-Lord who had begun the siege so savagely. "I would fain see those
friendly books in their own home," he went on.
"That you shall do, Your Majesty," said the Librarian; "for Kisington is
so proud of her treasures that she is ever glad to welcome a stranger to
the enjoyment of them. Is it not fortunate, Your Majesty, that the
library is still standing to entertain you? Recently it was in great
danger of being destroyed, as you may have heard." (The Librarian was an
exceedingly polite gentlemen.)
At these words the Red King turned redder and bowed gravely. "The Books
themselves rose up for the protection of books," he said. "They have
proved in this case to be the best weapons of defense. I am beginning to
think that they are better than any soldiers."
By this time they had entered the main hall, where a delegation of
Leading Citizens awaited them,--in holiday robes and with expectant
faces. They greeted Red Rex with profound bows, which he acknowledged
graciously.
The Librarian then turned to the rows of patient, peaceful books which
lined the walls, ready to be made useful. "Yes, Your Majesty. These are
our bulwarks and batteries and bayonets," he said simply.
The air of the room was still and quiet, full of peace and kindliness.
Beautiful pictures looked down from the walls. Noble statues stood in
the niches. Soft lights came in at the windows and fell on the tables
and desks, and on rows upon rows of fair volumes, well-dusted and
cheerful. The shattered windows had been screened; the broken marbles
removed; so that there was nothing to reproach Red Rex or to speak of
discord.
The War-Lord looked up and down and around and along, and spoke no word.
All the books seemed listening, waiting for him to speak. They were
indeed like soldiers, shoulder to shoulder, standing at "attention."
"It is a noble army!" exclaimed Red Rex at last, and his voice was low
and gentle. "It is the best kind of army for the world, I see, as I have
never seen before. I would it were mine!"
"It is yours, Your Majesty," said the Librarian. "You have but to make
free use of it. These soldiers are free-lances, at the service not of
one master, but of any one who employs them intelligently. Read them,
Your Majesty, and so make them yours, if you will." The Librarian spread
out his hands in a generous gesture.
"By my Hope, you are hospitable and magnanimous!" cried Red Rex. "I am
tempted to take you at your word. Come, let there be no more war between
us. Let us make no brief truce, but agree, instead, upon a true, lasting
peace. Already I have promised this Harold of yours to spare the city,
east, west, and north,--which is the whole of it. But come; promise me
now to spare me the scorn and hatred which you owe for my
unfriendliness. Let us spare each other and be friends. For I would know
more of your books and of your people."
"Good, Your Majesty!" cried the Lord Mayor, stepping forward. "By all
means let there be peace. We have no wish for anything else. Our hastily
gathered soldiers are eager to return again to private life. Send away
your army, and let peace be proclaimed with no more formality than our
true words given each to other in this library, with the witness of the
books."
"Done!" shouted Red Rex. "Here is my hand on it!" And he shook hands
first with the Lord Mayor, then with the Librarian, then with the other
Leading Citizens. Harold and his chums were standing modestly a little
way apart. He called the boy to his side and laid an arm affectionately
about his shoulder. "Here is your true peacemaker," said Red Rex. "If
Harold had not been so good a reader, I should never have been here in
peace with you at this moment. To Harold and his books I owe the vision
of what a library really is."
"Your Majesty," said Harold promptly, "will you also shake hands with
Richard and Robert? It will make them very proud."
"That will I!" cried Red Rex. And he not only shook hands, but clapped
the boys on the shoulder, calling each by name; which was a thing for
them to remember all their lives.
"Now!" announced the Red King, taking a large seal ring from his finger
and handing it to his soldier who bore the flag of truce. "Take this
ring, and go back to my army; bid the generals lead their men home, and
busy themselves in some useful work until my return. For as for me, I
shall remain for a space in this peaceful city, in this peaceful
Kingdom, to learn something further of its ways and wonders, which
interest me hugely."
The soldier saluted and retired. And shortly after was heard beyond the
walls the _tramp, tramp_ of a retreating army. The Red King was alone in
Kisington, among the books.
Little cared he for what went on outside. He was carried away by the
fascination of a world new to him. The Librarian led him from room to
room, from stack to stack, from shelf to shelf of tempting books. The
Red King was fairly bewildered by the opportunities offered. He wanted
to read all the volumes at once.
"I never dreamed there were so many books in the world!" he cried. "How
can a man live long enough to read them all, if he does nothing else all
his days?"
"Do you wonder we have no time for war, Your Majesty?" asked the
Librarian.
"No more war for me!" declared Red Rex. They had reached a division of
the books labeled in huge letters OUTLAND TALES. The Red King laid his
hand upon a volume bound in green-and-silver, like ice. "This has a
tempting look," said Red Rex. "Are these also Chronicles of Kisington?"
"Yes, in a sense," answered the Librarian. "The deeds here recorded
happened not in our Kingdom; yet, being tales gathered by our forbears
in their travels around the world, to and from Kisington, they had a
part in our history. They helped our fathers the better to understand
and sympathize with the stranger, and so made for the peace which they
loved."
"This is a story for me," declared Red Rex, who had been peeping into
the ice-bound volume. "I would fain hear another tale interpreted by my
little friend. Harold, will you read me this story, as you have read so
many ere now? I long to hear your pleasant voice again."
"I will read whatever Your Majesty wishes," replied Harold. "Shall we go
into this alcove where we shall be quite undisturbed and undisturbing?"
"By all means," said Red Rex. And here, in a cozy comer under one of the
great windows, with Richard and Robert on either side of him, Harold
read to the delighted King the Icelandic tale of _The Bear's Daughter_.