At last Prince Ulric was happy. The days passed freighted with golden
hours. He roamed with Christabel among the Rose Islands, and showed her
the wonders thereof. Every day they inspected the progress made in the
building of the ship which was to carry Prince Winfred to their shores.
At length the vessel was finished, and she sailed away, the two
companions watching her from the beach until her rosy flag and
glittering figure-head were but specks in the distance. Then the Prince
handed Christabel into a boat that spread its silken sails to the
breeze, and they sailed along the coast.
[Illustration]
"Art thou quite happy now, my gracious lord?" asked Christabel.
"Ay, in good sooth, sweet lady. Have I not found solace in thy
companionship? Do I not at length possess the white rose of friendship?"
"My dear Prince, I am indeed thy true, though humble, friend for ever."
"For ever!" sighed Ulric. "Ah, Christabel, I was so sad before thou
camest. Thou hast saved me. I lived in doubt of honest friendship until
now."
Ulric gazed into her face. She took up her lute and sang to him, a song
of youth and springtime.
Some days afterwards the ship which bore Prince Winfred anchored off the
Rose Islands, and for the first time the two Princes met. Winfred, as
became a son of the sea, was clothed in a garb of emerald tone,
embroidered with shells. His cap was woven of strange sea-flowers. Great
was the rejoicing in the Rose Islands over the advent of Prince Winfred.
And as time went by great was the happiness of Ulric, for now he had
another friend, a youth like unto himself.
Months passed, scarcely making a ripple on the sea of Time. The three
companions basked in an eternal sunshine. Sometimes they sailed over the
blue water, sometimes they sat among the flowers, while Winfred told
them tales of his life and home--of strange caverns along the coast, of
yellow sand-dunes covered with sea-flowers, of moorlands where purple
heather bloomed, of long days passed in fishing, of stress and storms,
of a sea that was often stern and angry, with crested waves beating
shoreward. Ulric would gaze at his guest in wonder, but Christabel's
eyes swam in a mist of tears, and when Winfred's hand touched hers she
would tremble. He gazed into her eyes, and understood their meaning. As
time went by Winfred grew silent, but each day he looked oftener at
Christabel.
The roses withered, and bloomed again. Morning followed evening, hour
succeeded hour. One day, as Prince Ulric wandered in the forest, he came
suddenly upon his two friends. They did not see him, and he was
spell-bound by the picture that met his gaze. Christabel was standing
under a rose-bush, her hair falling from beneath a crown of flowers, and
at her feet knelt Winfred, with upturned wondrous eyes. They remained
long thus, in a blaze of sunlight from no earthly sun.
Ulric stole away, hurt to death. "Alas! I have been deceived," he
moaned. "This is friendship, but I have never known it. They have found
it; but not I--not I!"
Prince Winfred sailed away to his own land, with the Lady Christabel and
many of the noblest members of the King's Court. Ulric would not
accompany them. He preferred to be alone now that his companions had
failed to teach him the secret of that friendship, the existence of
which he had discovered in the forest. Furthermore, neither Winfred nor
Christabel were solicitous for Ulric to journey with them to the Sea
Islands. They had latterly grown strangely oblivious of their host's
presence. The young Prince, however, only blamed himself. He felt that
his was not a nature to inspire friendship, but he longed for the great
gift more and more, until his life became almost unbearable. Seeking for
the white rose among the people of his father's realm, he saw that they
were only kind to him either through fear of his power or from motives
of self-interest.
One day, as he rode through the kingdom attended by his pages, he came
upon a garden where a young girl was gathering fruit. Ulric, thinking
she had not observed his approach, dismounted hastily, and throwing his
dark cloak around him, entered the garden. The maiden was well pleased
to see the youth, in whom she recognised her future King. She had used
all her feminine arts to entertain her guest, when suddenly the Prince's
cloak slipped from his shoulders, and he stood before her in all the
radiance of his princely garments.
For a moment the maiden feigned surprise, and her companion observed a
new expression upon her face. He had almost guessed her thoughts before
she threw herself upon her knees, and said, "Most gracious lord, prithee
give me some jewels like unto these which adorn thy doublet."
Ulric cast down his cap in sorrow, for he remembered that it had
remained undisguised upon his head all through the interview. From the
first the maiden must have guessed his high degree. It was revealed by
the royal badge of the pink rose, which glittered among its jewelled
ornaments.
"She only was good to me because I could be of use to her," mused the
Prince, as he rode homewards. "She flattered me and smiled upon me
because I am supposed to be one of the lucky ones of the earth. Had I
been a poor man's son it had been different."
The thought was an inspiration to him. Why should he not search for the
deathless rose, disguised, that none might seek his friendship falsely?
The idea haunted him. At length he discussed it with the King, who,
seeing that the Prince was nearly desperate with grief, consented to his
plan. Ulric dressed himself as a minstrel, and having received his
father's blessing, left the palace and rode through the territory of
the Rose Islands, opening his purse to the poor, and comforting the
sorrowful with the strains of his lyre. As long as his supply of gold
lasted he was well received; when it was gone his troubles commenced. He
was hungry, and none would give him to eat or to drink. Moreover, he had
crossed the sea, and had left the Islands of Summer behind him. The
kingdom in which he was now travelling was a land of mist and storm. He
rode bravely on, nevertheless. Often, when he asked for help at the
cottagers' doors, they laughed at him, and the children beat him with
sticks. Winter was severe in the land of mist and storm, and the Prince
turned his horse's head southwards. After some days the character of the
scenery changed. The climate became warm and sunny. One morning he led
his steed through the mazes of a great forest. It was springtime; the
birds were singing, the valleys were blue with wild hyacinths, and here
and there Ulric came upon clusters of late primroses. Looking up, he
could scarcely see the sky, so thick was the tracery of foliage between
him and the heavens. They had no spring in the Rose Islands, no faint
greens, no tender buds, but always the full glory of summer, with its
vivid colouring and its drowsy breath. He was so enchanted with the
beauty of this forest, the like of which he had never seen before, that
for awhile he had actually forgotten his quest, when suddenly, right in
front of him, he saw a beautiful youth. Small and delicately made, his
dress was entirely fashioned of pink rose-leaves, and he had golden
wings. The Prince stood amazed, the apparition was so sudden, there had
not been a sound; he rubbed his eyes, but the stranger did not vanish,
he was a reality.
"What dost thou here, son of a King?" asked the youth.
Ulric was still more surprised at being recognised under a disguise that
had served him well so far; he could not speak for astonishment.
"Thou seekest the 'deathless rose of friendship,' is it not so?" asked
the unknown.
"Ay, good sir. Perhaps thou canst aid me in my search?"
"Fair Prince, I can indeed advise thee how to proceed. First of all, hie
thee out of this forest with all speed."
"Why, good sir, methinks it is a lovely place. The air is softer here
than any I have known before, the birds sing sweeter songs, the flowers
breathe a rarer perfume; for the first time in my life I feel happy;
everything is fresh and young, and full of hope."
"Ay, royal minstrel, many love my land. Beware, nevertheless, of
journeying through it. It is enchanted; and if thou wouldst indeed
follow thy quest, hie thee from the shelter of its trees and from the
scent of its flowers; but ere thou goest, I will tell thee what the word
_friendship_ means. Friends should be as bells upon a hyacinth, fed with
the same rain, nourished by the same dew, warmed by the same sun, rocked
by the same wind; equal, placid, and calm in their lives; above all,
they should possess the virtue of unselfishness. Self-interest is the
death of friendship."
"Good sir, I have ever felt thus; and being of this mind, I threw off my
habit of a Prince and started in search of the great gift; but I have
ridden now for a whole year, and I find it not, neither have I met in
all my travels any who possess this 'deathless rose.'"
"Thou wast but a youth when thou didst leave thy father's palace; now
thou art a man, and the King mourns thee as dead."
When Ulric heard this he was greatly grieved, and at once resolved to
return to the Rose Islands.
"Tell me, before we part, good my lord, hast any proof that this 'rose
of friendship' exists?"
Then Ulric told him the story of Winfred and Christabel, and described
the scene which he had witnessed in the forest. The youth broke into
peals of laughter, and the hues of his flower-dress became so vivid that
the Prince's eyes were dazzled. Presently the stranger, assuming a
serious manner, said,--
"I will tell thee where the Fairy Friendship dwells. She is my twin
sister. Thou shalt make one last attempt to find her. She holds her
Court in the clouds of the setting sun. Ere nightfall, go to the
seashore, stretch forth thy hands to the garments of departing day, and
say, 'Good Fairy Friendship, bring me unto thy chambers of light. If
thou canst say this with no thought of self, no longing for a friend
because of the pleasure that friendship bestows, but with the same
feeling that the hyacinth bells have for each other, then a ladder will
be let down from the regions of the sunset, and Friendship will give
thee her deathless rose, which is so rare, so scarce a blossom, so
seldom possessed by man or woman, so precious beyond all things, that
once attained, it will be the most priceless flower in thy kingly
crown."
"I thank thee, from my heart," said Ulric.
"If thou wouldst succeed, leave this land of mine; it will not bring
thee unto the courts of friendship. Give up thy quest, and I will show
thee something that is far sweeter than friendship, and far easier to
win."
"Nay, fair youth, I will endeavour once more to find what I have so long
sought in vain; but, before I bid thy beautiful country farewell, wilt
thou tell me why the roses upon thy dress so far surpass those that
bloom in my father's kingdom?"
"Good Ulric, hast never heard of Love? Love, who comes to mortals
without their knowledge, ay, without their asking; Love, whose voice is
sweeter than the nightingale's; Love, who was born of God in the Garden
of Eden, and was clothed with the deathless roses that bloomed there?"
He did not wait for Ulric's answer, but vanished; and his laughter
echoed through the forest like a peal of silver bells.