27. A Hundred Years Afterward

About a hundred years after Prince Marvel enjoyed his strange

adventures in the Enchanted Island of Yew an odd thing happened.

A hidden mirror in a crumbling old castle of Dawna broke loose from its

fastenings and fell crashing on the stone pavement of the deserted

hall. And from amid the ruins rose the gigantic form of a man. His

hair and beard were a fiery red, and he gazed at the desolation around

him 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 during

the hundred years a great change had taken place in the Enchanted

Island. Great cities had been built and great kingdoms established.

Civilization had won the people, and they no longer robbed or fought or

indulged in magical arts, but were busily employed and leading

respectable lives.

When the Red Rogue tried to tell folks who he was, they but laughed at

him, thinking the fellow crazy. He tried to get together a band of

thieves, 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 to

earn a living by digging in the garden of a wealthy noble, of whom he

had never before heard.

But often he would pause in his labors and lean on his spade, while

thoughts of the old days of wild adventure passed through his mind in

rapid succession; and then the big man would shake his red head with a

puzzled air and mutter:

"I wonder who that Prince Marvel could have been! And I wonder what

ever became of him!"

The Enchanted Island of Yew Whereon Prince Marvel Encountered the High Ki of Twi and Other Surprising People · 第 31 / 32 题