KING BUD OF NOLAND.
The five high counselors of the kingdom of Noland were both eager and
anxious upon this important morning. Long before sunrise Tollydob, the
lord high general, had assembled his army at the east gate of the city;
and the soldiers stood in two long lines beside the entrance, looking
very impressive in their uniforms. And all the people, noting this
unusual display, gathered around at the gate to see what was going to
happen.
Of course no one knew what was going to happen; not even the chief
counselor nor his brother counselors. They could only obey the law and
abide by the results.
Finally the sun arose and the east gate of the city was thrown open.
There were a few people waiting outside, and they promptly entered.
“One, two, three, four, five, six!” counted the chief counselor, in a
loud voice.
The people were much surprised at hearing this, and began to question
one another with perplexed looks. Even the soldiers were mystified.
[Illustration: “A RAGGED, LIMPING PEDDLER ENTERED THE GATE.”]
“Seven, eight, nine!” continued the chief counselor, still counting
those who came in.
A breathless hush fell upon the assemblage.
Something very important and mysterious was going on; that was evident.
But what?
They could only wait and find out.
“Ten, eleven!” counted Tullydub, and then heaved a deep sigh. For a
famous nobleman had just entered the gate, and the chief counselor could
not help wishing he had been number forty-seven.
So the counting went on, and the people became more and more interested
and excited.
When the number had reached thirty-one a strange thing happened. A loud
“boom!” sounded through the stillness, and then another, and another.
Some one was tolling the great bell in the palace bell-tower, and people
began saying to one another in awed whispers that the old king must be
dead.
The five high counselors, filled with furious anger but absolutely
helpless, as they could not leave the gate, lifted up their five chubby
fists and shook them violently in the direction of the bell-tower.
Poor Jikki, finding himself left alone in the palace, could no longer
resist the temptation to toll the bell; and it continued to peal out its
dull, solemn tones while the chief counselor stood by the gate and
shouted:
“Thirty-two, thirty-three, thirty-four!”
Only the mystery of this action could have kept the people quiet when
they learned from the bell that their old king was dead.
But now they began to guess that the scene at the east gate promised
more of interest than anything they might learn at the palace; so they
stood very quiet, and Jikki’s disobedience of orders did no great harm
to the plans of the five high counselors.
When Tullydub had counted up to forty the excitement redoubled, for
every one could see big drops of perspiration standing upon the chief
counselor’s brow, and all the other high counselors, who stood just
behind him, were trembling violently with nervousness.
A ragged, limping peddler entered the gate.
“Forty-five!” shouted Tullydub.
Then came Aunt Rivette, dragging at the bridle of the donkey.
“Forty-six!” screamed Tullydub.
And now Bud rode through the gate, perched among the bundles on the
donkey’s back and looking composedly upon the throng of anxious faces
that greeted him.
[Illustration: “‘FORTY-SEVEN!’ CRIED THE CHIEF COUNSELOR. ‘LONG LIVE THE
NEW KING OF NOLAND!’”]
“_Forty-seven!_” cried the chief counselor; and then in his loudest
voice he continued:
“Long live the new King of Noland!”
All the high counselors prostrated themselves in the dusty road before
the donkey. The old woman was thrust back in the crowd by a soldier,
where she stood staring in amazement, and Margaret, clothed in her
beautiful cloak, stepped to the donkey’s side and looked first at her
brother and then at the group of periwigged men, who bobbed their heads
in the dust before him and shouted:
“Long live the king!”
Then, while the crowd still wondered, the lord high counselor arose and
took from a soldier a golden crown set with brilliants, a jeweled
scepter, and a robe of ermine. Advancing to Bud, he placed the crown
upon the boy’s head and the scepter in his hand, while over his
shoulders he threw the ermine robe.
The crown fell over Bud’s ears, but he pushed it back upon his head, so
it would stay there; and as the kingly robe spread over all the bundles
on the donkey’s back and quite covered them, the boy really presented a
very imposing appearance.
The people quickly rose to the spirit of the occasion. What mattered it
if the old king was dead, now that a new king was already before them?
They broke into a sudden cheer, and, joyously waving their hats and
bonnets above their heads, joined eagerly in the cry:
“Long live the King of Noland!”
Aunt Rivette was fairly stupefied. Such a thing was too wonderful to be
believed. A man in the crowd snatched the bonnet from the old woman’s
head, and said to her brusquely:
“Why don’t you greet the new king? Are you a traitor to your country?”
So she also waved her bonnet and screamed: “Long live the king!” But she
hardly knew what she was doing or why she did it.
Meantime the high counselors had risen from their knees and now stood
around the donkey.
“May it please your Serene Majesty to condescend to tell us who this
young lady is?” asked Tullydub, bowing respectfully.
“That’s my sister Fluff,” said Bud, who was enjoying his new position
very much. All the counselors, at this, bowed low to Margaret.
[Illustration: “SO SHE ALSO WAVED HER BONNET AND SCREAMED: ‘LONG LIVE
THE KING!’”]
“A horse for the Princess Fluff!” cried the lord high general; and the
next moment she was mounted upon a handsome white palfrey, where, with
her fluffy golden hair and smiling face and the magnificent cloak
flowing from her shoulders, she looked every inch a princess. The people
cheered her, too; for it was long since any girl or woman had occupied
the palace of the King of Noland, and she was so pretty and sweet that
every one loved her immediately.
[Illustration: “‘MAY IT PLEASE YOUR SERENE MAJESTY TO TELL US WHO THIS
YOUNG LADY IS?’ ASKED TULLYDUB, RESPECTFULLY.”]
And now the king’s chariot drove up, with its six prancing steeds, and
Bud was lifted from the back of the donkey and placed in the high seat
of the chariot.
Again the people shouted joyful greetings; the band struck up a gay
march tune, and then the royal procession started for the palace.
First came Tollydob and the officers; then the king’s chariot,
surrounded by soldiers; then the four high counselors upon black horses,
riding two on each side of Princess Fluff; and, finally, the band of
musicians and the remainder of the royal army.
It was an imposing sight, and the people followed after with cheers and
rejoicings, while the lord high purse-bearer tossed silver coins from
his pouch for any one to catch who could.
A message had been sent to warn Jikki that the new king was coming, so
he stopped tolling the death knell, and instead rang out a glorious
chime of welcome.
As for old Rivette finding herself and the donkey alike deserted, she
once more seized the bridle and led the patient beast to her humble
dwelling; and it was just as she reached her door that King Bud of
Noland, amid the cheers and shouts of thousands, entered for the first
time the royal palace of Nole.
[Illustration: “‘I WANT SOME NEW CLOTHES, AND SO DOES MY SISTER,’ BUD
ANNOUNCED, AS BOLDLY AS POSSIBLE.”]