times when I have wondered whether it wouldn't have been better for
me to have been something else. But I have chosen my profession, and
I suppose I must be faithful to it. We will start immediately on our
search; but first I must put the cave in order, for the old man will
be sure to come up while I am gone."
So saying, the Pupil opened an old parchment book at a marked page,
and laid it on a flat stone, which served as a table, and then placed
a skull and a couple of bones in a proper position near by.
The two now started off, the Pupil first putting a line and hook in
his pocket, and pulling out a fishing-rod from under some bushes.
"What do you want with that?" asked the Stranger, "we are not going
to fish!"
"Why not?" said the Pupil; "if we come to a good place, we might
catch something that would be a real curiosity."
Before long they came to a mountain brook, and here the Pupil
insisted on trying his luck. The Stranger was a little tired and
hungry, and so was quite willing to sit down for a time and eat
something from his bag. The Pupil ran off to find some bait, and he
staid away so long that the Stranger had quite finished his meal
before he returned. He came back at last, however, in a state of
great excitement.
"Come with me! come with me!" he cried. "I have found something that
is truly astonishing! Come quickly!"
The Stranger arose and hurried after the Pupil, whose long legs
carried him rapidly over the mountain-side. Reaching a large hole at
the bottom of a precipitous rock, the Pupil stopped, and exclaiming:
"Come in here and I will show you something that will amaze you!" he
immediately entered the hole.
The Stranger, who was very anxious to see what curiosity he had
found, followed him some distance along a narrow and winding
under-ground passage. The two suddenly emerged into a high and
spacious cavern, which was lighted by openings in the roof; on the
floor, in various places, were strongly fastened boxes, and packages
of many sorts, bales and bundles of silks and rich cloths, with
handsome caskets, and many other articles of value.
"What kind of a place is this?" exclaimed the Stranger, in great
surprise.
"Don't you know?" cried the Pupil, his eyes fairly sparkling with
delight. "It is a robber's den! Isn't it a great thing to find a
place like this?"
"A robber's den!" exclaimed the Stranger in alarm; "let us get out of
it as quickly as we can, or the robbers will return, and we shall be
cut to pieces."
"I don't believe they are coming back very soon," said the Pupil,
"and we ought to stop and take a look at some of these things."
"Fly, you foolish youth!" cried the Stranger; "you do not know what
danger you are in." And, so saying, he turned to hasten away from the
place.
But he was too late. At that moment the robber captain and his band
entered the cave. When these men perceived the Stranger and the
Hermit's Pupil, they drew their swords and were about to rush upon
them, when the Pupil sprang forward and, throwing up his long arms,
exclaimed:
"Stop! it is a mistake!"
At these words, the robber captain lowered his sword, and motioned to
his men to halt. "A mistake!" he said; "what do you mean by that?"
"I mean," said the Pupil, "that I was out looking for curiosities,
and wandered into this place by accident. We haven't taken a thing.
You may count your goods, and you will find nothing missing. We have
not even opened a box, although I very much wanted to see what was in
some of them."
"Are his statements correct?" said the Captain, turning to the
Stranger.
"Entirely so," was the answer.
"You have truthful features, and an honest expression," said the
Captain, "and I do not believe you would be so dishonorable as to
creep in here during our absence and steal our possessions. Your
lives shall be spared, but you will be obliged to remain with us; for
we cannot allow any one who knows our secret to leave us. You shall
be treated well, and shall accompany us in our expeditions; and if
your conduct merits it, you shall in time be made full members."
Bitterly the Stranger now regretted his unfortunate position. He
strode up and down one side of the cave, vowing inwardly that never
again would he allow himself to be led by a Hermit's Pupil. That
individual, however, was in a state of high delight. He ran about
from box to bale, looking at the rare treasures which some of the
robbers showed him.
The two captives were fed and lodged very well; and the next day the
Captain called them and the band together, and addressed them.
"We are now twenty-nine in number," he said; "twenty-seven full
members, and two on probation. To-night we are about to undertake a
very important expedition, in which we shall all join. We shall
fasten up the door of the cave, and at the proper time I shall tell
you to what place we are going."
An hour or two before midnight the band set out, accompanied by the
Stranger and the Hermit's Pupil; and when they had gone some miles
the Captain halted them to inform them of the object of the
expedition. "We are going," he said, "to rob the Queen's museum. It
is the most important business we have ever undertaken."
At these words the Stranger stepped forward and made a protest. "I
left the city yesterday," he said, "commissioned by the Queen to
obtain one or more objects of interest for her museum; and to return
now to rob an institution which I have promised to enrich will be
simply impossible."
"You are right," said the Captain, after a moment's reflection, "such
an action would be highly dishonorable on your part. If you will give
me your word of honor that you will remain by this stone until our
return, the expedition will proceed without you."
The Stranger gave his word, and having been left sitting upon the
stone, soon dropped asleep, and so remained until he was awakened by
the return of the band, a little before daylight. They came slowly
toiling along, each man carrying an enormous bundle upon his back.
Near the end of the line was the Hermit's Pupil, bearing a load as
heavy as any of the others. The Stranger offered to relieve him for a
time of his burden, but the Pupil would not allow it.
"I don't wish these men to think I can't do as much as they can," he
said. "You ought to have been along. We had a fine time! We swept
that museum clean, I tell you! We didn't leave a thing on a shelf or
in a case."
"What sort of things are they," asked the Stranger.
"I don't know," replied the Pupil, "we didn't have any light for fear
people would notice it, but the moon shone in bright enough for us to
see all the shelves and the cases; and our orders were not to try and
examine any thing, but to take all that was there. The cases had
great cloth covers on them, and we spread these on the floor and made
bundles of the curiosities. We are going to examine them carefully as
soon as we get to the den."
It was broad daylight when the robbers reached their cave. The
bundles were laid in a great circle on the floor, and, at a given
signal, they were opened. For a moment each robber gazed blankly at
the contents of his bundle, and then they all began to fumble and
search among the piles of articles upon the cloths; but after a few
minutes, they arose, looking blanker and more disappointed than
before.
"So far as I can see," said the Captain, "there is nothing in the
whole collection that I care for. I do not like a thing here!"
"Nor I!" "Nor I!" "Nor I!" cried each one of his band.
"I suppose," said the Captain, after musing for a moment, "that as
these things are of no use to us, we are bound in honor to take them
back."
"Hold!" said the Stranger, stepping forward; "do not be in too great
a hurry to do that." He then told the Captain of the state of affairs
in the city, and explained in full the nature of the expedition he
had undertaken for the Queen. "I think it would be better," he said,
"if these things were not taken back for the present. If you have a
safe place where you can put them, I will in due time tell the Queen
where they are, and if she chooses she can send for them."
"Good!" said the Captain, "it is but right that she should bear part
of the labor of transportation. There is a disused cave, a mile or so
away, and we will tie up these bundles and carry them there; and then
we shall leave the matter to you. We take no further interest in it.
And if you have given your parole to the Queen to return in a week,"
the Captain further continued, "of course you'll have to keep it. Did
you give your parole also?" he asked, turning to the Pupil.
"Oh, no!" cried that youth; "there was no time fixed for my return.
And I am sure that I like a robber's life much better than that of a
hermit. There is ever so much more spice and dash in it."
"The Stranger was then told that if he would promise not to betray
the robbers he might depart. He gave the promise; but added sadly
that he had lost so much time that he was afraid he would not now be
able to attain the object of his search and return within the week.
"If that is the case," said the Captain, "we will gladly assist you."
"Comrades!" he cried, addressing his band, "after stowing this
useless booty in the disused cave, and taking some rest and
refreshment, we will set out again, and the object of our expedition
shall be to obtain something for the Queen's museum which will
interest every one."
Shortly after midnight the robbers set out, accompanied by the
Stranger and the Pupil. When they had walked about an hour, the
Captain, as was his custom, brought them to a halt that he might tell
them where they were going. "I have concluded," said he, "that no
place is so likely to contain what we are looking for as the castle
of the great magician, Alfrarmedj. We will, therefore, proceed
thither, and sack the castle."
"Will there not be great danger in attacking the castle of a
magician?" asked the Stranger in somewhat anxious tones.
"Of course there will be," said the Captain, "but we are not such
cowards as to hesitate on account of danger. Forward, my men!" And on
they all marched.
When they reached the magician's castle, the order was given to scale
the outer wall. This the robbers did with great agility, and the
Hermit's Pupil was among the first to surmount it. But the Stranger
was not used to climbing, and he had to be assisted over the wall.
Inside the great court-yard they perceived numbers of Weirds--strange
shadowy creatures who gathered silently around them; but not in the
least appalled, the robbers formed into a body, and marched into the
castle, the door of which stood open. They now entered a great hall,
having at one end a doorway before which hung a curtain. Following
their Captain, the robbers approached this curtain, and pushing it
aside, entered the room beyond. There, behind a large table, sat the
great magician, Alfrarmedj, busy over his mystic studies, which he
generally pursued in the dead hours of the night. Drawing their
swords, the robbers rushed upon him.
"Surrender!" cried the Captain, "and deliver to us the treasures of
your castle."
The old magician raised his head from his book, and, pushing up his
spectacles from his forehead, looked at them mildly, and said:
"Freeze!"
Instantly, they all froze as hard as ice, each man remaining in the
position in which he was when the magical word was uttered. With
uplifted swords and glaring eyes they stood, rigid and stiff, before
the magician. After calmly surveying the group, the old man said:
"I see among you one who has an intelligent brow and truthful
expression. His head may thaw sufficiently for him to tell me what
means this untimely intrusion upon my studies."
The Stranger now felt his head begin to thaw, and in a few moments he
was able to speak. He then told the magician about the Queen's
museum, and how it had happened that he had come there with the
robbers.
"Your motive is a good one," said the magician, "though your actions
are somewhat erratic; and I do not mind helping you to find what you
wish. In what class of objects do the people of the city take the
most interest?"
"Truly I do not know," said the Stranger.
"This is indeed surprising!" exclaimed Alfrarmedj. "How can you
expect to obtain that which will interest every one, when you do not
know what it is in which every one takes an interest? Go, find out
this, and then return to me, and I will see what can be done."
The magician then summoned his Weirds and ordered them to carry the
frozen visitors outside the castle walls. Each one of the rigid
figures was taken up by two Weirds, who carried him out and stood him
up in the road outside the castle. When all had been properly set up,
with the captain at their head, the gates were shut, and the magician
still sitting at his table, uttered the word, "Thaw!"
Instantly, the whole band thawed and marched away. At daybreak they
halted, and considered how they should find out what all the people
in the city took an interest in.
"One thing is certain," cried the Hermit's Pupil, "whatever it is, it
isn't the same thing."
"Your remark is not well put together," said the Stranger, "but I see
the force of it. It is true that different people like different
things. But how shall we find out what the different people like?"
"By asking them," said the Pupil.
"Good!" cried the Captain, who preferred action to words. "This night
we will ask them." He then drew upon the sand a plan of the
city,--(with which he was quite familiar, having carefully robbed it
for many years,)--and divided it into twenty-eight sections, each one
of which was assigned to a man. "I omit you," the Captain said to the
Stranger, "because I find that you are not expert at climbing." He
then announced that at night the band would visit the city, and that
each man should enter the houses in his district, and ask the people
what it was in which they took the greatest interest.
They then proceeded to the cave for rest and refreshment; and a
little before midnight they entered the city, and each member of the
band, including the Hermit's Pupil, proceeded to attend to the
business assigned to him. It was ordered that no one should disturb
the Queen, for they knew that what she took most interest in was the
museum. During the night nearly every person in the town was aroused
by a black-bearded robber, who had climbed into one of the windows of
the house, and who, instead of demanding money and jewels, simply
asked what it was in which that person took the greatest interest.
Upon receiving an answer, the robber repeated it until he had learned
it by heart, and then went to the next house. As so many of the
citizens were confined in prisons, which the robbers easily entered,
they transacted the business in much less time than they would
otherwise have required.
The Hermit's Pupil was very active, climbing into and out of houses
with great agility. He obtained his answers quite as easily as did
the others, but whenever he left a house there was a shade of
disappointment upon his features. Among the last places that he
visited was a room in which two boys were sleeping. He awoke them and
asked the usual question. While they were trembling in their bed, not
knowing what to answer, the Pupil drew his sword and exclaimed:
"Come, now, no prevarication; you know it's fishing-tackle. Speak
out!" Each of the boys then promptly declared it was fishing-tackle,
and the pupil left, greatly gratified. "I was very much afraid," he
said to himself, "that not a person in my district would say
fishing-tackle; and I am glad to think that there were two boys who
had sense enough to like something that is really interesting."
It was nearly daylight when the work was finished; and then the band
gathered together in an appointed place on the outside of the city,
where the Stranger awaited them. Each of the men had an excellent
memory, which was necessary in their profession, and they repeated to
the Stranger all the objects and subjects that had been mentioned to
them, and he wrote them down upon tablets.
The next night, accompanied by the band, he proceeded to the castle
of the magician, the great gate of which was silently opened for them
by the Weirds. When they were ushered into the magician's room,
Alfrarmedj took the tablets from the Stranger and examined them
carefully.
"All these things should make a very complete collection," he said,
"and I think I have specimens of the various objects in my
interminable vaults." He then called his Weirds and, giving one of
them the tablets, told him to go with his companions into the vaults
and gather enough of the things therein mentioned to fill a large
museum. In half an hour the Weirds returned and announced that the
articles were ready in the great court-yard.
"Go, then," said the magician, "and assist these men to carry them to
the Queen's museum."
The Stranger then heartily thanked Alfrarmedj for the assistance he
had given; and the band, accompanied by a number of Weirds, proceeded
to carry the objects of interest to the Queen's museum. It was a
strange procession. Half a dozen Weirds carried a stuffed mammoth,
followed by others bearing the skeleton of a whale, while the robbers
and the rest of their queer helpers were loaded with every thing
relating to history, science, and art which ought to be in a really
good museum. When the whole collection had been put in place upon the
floors, the shelves, and in the cases, it was nearly morning. The
robbers, with the Hermit's Pupil, retired to the cave; the Weirds
disappeared; while the Stranger betook himself to the Queen's palace,
where, as soon as the proper hour arrived, he requested an audience.
When he saw the Queen, he perceived that she was very pale and that
her cheeks bore traces of recent tears. "You are back in good time,"
she said to him, "but it makes very little difference whether you
have succeeded in your mission or not. There is no longer any museum.
There has been a great robbery, and the thieves have carried off the
whole of the vast and valuable collection which I have been so long
in making."
"I know of that affair," said the Stranger, "and I have already
placed in your museum-building the collection which I have obtained.
If your Majesty pleases, I shall be glad to have you look at it. It
may, in some degree, compensate for that which has been stolen."
"Compensate!" cried the Queen. "Nothing can compensate for it; I do
not even wish to see what you have brought."
"Be that as your Majesty pleases," said the Stranger; "but I will be
so bold as to say that I have great hopes that the collection which I
have obtained will interest the people. Will your Majesty graciously
allow them to see it?"
"I have no objection to that," said the Queen; "and indeed I shall be
very glad if they can be made to be interested in the museum. I will
give orders that the prisons be opened, so that everybody can go to
see what you have brought; and those who shall be interested in it
may return to their homes. I did not release my obstinate subjects
when the museum was robbed, because their fault then was just as
great as it was before; and it would not be right that they should
profit by my loss."
The Queen's proclamation was made, and for several days the museum
was crowded with people moving from morning till night through the
vast collection of stuffed animals, birds, and fishes; rare and
brilliant insects; mineral and vegetable curiosities; beautiful works
of art; and all the strange, valuable, and instructive objects which
had been brought from the interminable vaults of the magician
Alfrarmedj. The Queen's officers, who had been sent to observe
whether or not the people were interested, were in no doubt upon this
point. Every eye sparkled with delight, for every one found something
which was the very thing he wished to see; and in the throng was the
Hermit's Pupil, standing in rapt ecstasy before a large case
containing all sorts of fishing-tackle, from the smallest hooks for
little minnows to the great irons and spears used in capturing
whales.
No one went back to prison, and the city was full of re-united
households and happy homes. On the morning of the fourth day, a grand
procession of citizens came to the palace to express to the Queen
their delight and appreciation of her museum. The great happiness of
her subjects could but please the Queen. She called the Stranger to
her, and said to him:
"Tell me how you came to know what it was that would interest my
people."
"I asked them," said the Stranger. "That is to say, I arranged that
they should be asked."
"That was well done," said the Queen; "but it is a great pity that my
long labors in their behalf should have been lost. For many years I
have been a collector of button-holes; and there was nothing valuable
or rare in the line of my studies of which I had not an original
specimen or a facsimile. My agents brought me from foreign lands,
even from the most distant islands of the sea, button-holes of every
kind; in silk, in wool, in cloth of gold, in every imaginable
material, and of those which could not be obtained careful copies
were made. There was not a duplicate specimen in the whole
collection; only one of each kind; nothing repeated. Never before was
there such a museum. With all my power I strove to educate my people
up to an appreciation of button-holes; but, with the exception of a
few tailors and seamstresses, nobody took the slightest interest in
what I had provided for their benefit. I am glad that my people are
happy, but I cannot restrain a sigh for the failure of my efforts."
"The longer your Majesty lives," said the Stranger, "the better you
will understand that we cannot make other people like a thing simply
because we like it ourselves."
"Stranger," said the Queen, gazing upon him with admiration, "are you
a king in disguise?"
"I am," he replied.
"I thought I perceived it," said the Queen, "and I wish to add that I
believe you are far better able to govern this kingdom than I am. If
you choose I will resign it to you."
"Not so, your majesty," said the other; "I would not deprive you of
your royal position, but I should be happy to share it with you."
"That will answer very well," said the Queen. And turning to an
attendant, she gave orders that preparations should be made for their
marriage on the following day.
After the royal wedding, which was celebrated with great pomp and
grandeur, the Queen paid a visit to the museum, and, much to her
surprise, was greatly delighted and interested. The King then
informed her that he happened to know where the robbers had stored
her collection, which they could not sell or make use of, and if she
wished, he would regain the collection and erect a building for its
reception.
"We will not do that at present," said the Queen. "When I shall have
thoroughly examined and studied all these objects, most of which are
entirely new to me, we will decide about the button-holes."
The Hermit's Pupil did not return to his cave. He was greatly
delighted with the spice and dash of a robber's life, so different
from that of a hermit; and he determined, if possible, to change his
business and enter the band. He had a conversation with the Captain
on the subject, and that individual encouraged him in his purpose.
"I am tired," the Captain said, "of a robber's life. I have stolen so
much, that I cannot use what I have. I take no further interest in
accumulating spoils. The quiet of a hermit's life attracts me; and,
if you like we will change places. I will become the pupil of your
old master, and you shall be the captain of my band."
The change was made. The Captain retired to the cave of the Hermit's
Pupil, while the latter, with the hearty consent of all the men, took
command of the band of robbers.
When the King heard of this change, he was not at all pleased, and he
sent for the ex-pupil.
"I am willing to reward you," he said, "for assisting me in my recent
undertaking; but I cannot allow you to lead a band of robbers in my
dominions."
A dark shade of disappointment passed over the ex-pupil's features,
and his face lengthened visibly.
"It is too bad," he said, "to be thus cut short at the very outset of
a brilliant career. I'll tell you what I'll do," he added suddenly,
his face brightening, "if you'll let me keep on in my new profession,
I'll promise to do nothing but rob robbers."
"Very well," said the King, "if you will confine yourself to that,
you may retain your position."