King Rinkitink was so much pleased with the Island of Pingaree that he
continued his stay day after day and week after week, eating good
dinners, talking with King Kitticut and sleeping. Once in a while he
would read from his scroll. "For," said he, "whenever I return home, my
subjects will be anxious to know if I have learned 'How to be Good,' and
I must not disappoint them."
The twenty rowers lived on the small end of the island, with the pearl
fishers, and seemed not to care whether they ever returned to the
Kingdom of Rinkitink or not. Bilbil the goat wandered over the grassy
slopes, or among the trees, and passed his days exactly as he pleased.
His master seldom cared to ride him. Bilbil was a rare curiosity to the
islanders, but since there was little pleasure in talking with the goat
they kept away from him. This pleased the creature, who seemed well
satisfied to be left to his own devices.
Once Prince Inga, wishing to be courteous, walked up to the goat and
said: "Good morning, Bilbil."
"It isn't a good morning," answered Bilbil grumpily. "It is cloudy and
damp, and looks like rain."
"I hope you are contented in our kingdom," continued the boy, politely
ignoring the other's harsh words.
"I'm not," said Bilbil. "I'm never contented; so it doesn't matter to me
whether I'm in your kingdom or in some other kingdom. Go away--will
you?"
"Certainly," answered the Prince, and after this rebuff he did not again
try to make friends with Bilbil.
Now that the King, his father, was so much occupied with his royal
guest, Inga was often left to amuse himself, for a boy could not be
allowed to take part in the conversation of two great monarchs. He
devoted himself to his studies, therefore, and day after day he climbed
into the branches of his favorite tree and sat for hours in his
"tree-top rest," reading his father's precious manuscripts and thinking
upon what he read.
You must not think that Inga was a mollycoddle or a prig, because he was
so solemn and studious. Being a King's son and heir to a throne, he
could not play with the other boys of Pingaree, and he lived so much in
the society of the King and Queen, and was so surrounded by the pomp and
dignity of a court, that he missed all the jolly times that boys usually
have. I have no doubt that had he been able to live as other boys do, he
would have been much like other boys; as it was, he was subdued by his
surroundings, and more grave and thoughtful than one of his years should
be.
Inga was in his tree one morning when, without warning, a great fog
enveloped the Island of Pingaree. The boy could scarcely see the tree
next to that in which he sat, but the leaves above him prevented the
dampness from wetting him, so he curled himself up in his seat and fell
fast asleep.
[Illustration]
All that forenoon the fog continued. King Kitticut, who sat in his
palace talking with his merry visitor, ordered the candles lighted, that
they might be able to see one another. The good Queen, Inga's mother,
found it was too dark to work at her embroidery, so she called her
maidens together and told them wonderful stories of bygone days, in
order to pass away the dreary hours.
But soon after noon the weather changed. The dense fog rolled away like
a heavy cloud and suddenly the sun shot his bright rays over the island.
"Very good!" exclaimed King Kitticut. "We shall have a pleasant
afternoon, I am sure," and he blew out the candles.
Then he stood a moment motionless, as if turned to stone, for a terrible
cry from without the palace reached his ears--a cry so full of fear and
horror that the King's heart almost stopped beating. Immediately there
was a scurrying of feet as every one in the palace, filled with dismay,
rushed outside to see what had happened. Even fat little Rinkitink
sprang from his chair and followed his host and the others through the
arched vestibule.
After many years the worst fears of King Kitticut were realized.
[Illustration]
Landing upon the beach, which was but a few steps from the palace
itself, were hundreds of boats, every one filled with a throng of fierce
warriors. They sprang upon the land with wild shouts of defiance and
rushed to the King's palace, waving aloft their swords and spears and
battle-axes.
King Kitticut, so completely surprised that he was bewildered, gazed at
the approaching host with terror and grief.
"They are the men of Regos and Coregos!" he groaned. "We are, indeed,
lost!"
Then he bethought himself, for the first time, of his wonderful pearls.
Turning quickly, he ran back into the palace and hastened to the hall
where the treasures were hidden. But the leader of the warriors had seen
the King enter the palace and bounded after him, thinking he meant to
escape. Just as the King had stooped to press the secret spring in the
tiles, the warrior seized him from the rear and threw him backward upon
the floor, at the same time shouting to his men to fetch ropes and bind
the prisoner. This they did very quickly and King Kitticut soon found
himself helplessly bound and in the power of his enemies. In this sad
condition he was lifted by the warriors and carried outside, when the
good King looked upon a sorry sight.
The Queen and her maidens, the officers and servants of the royal
household and all who had inhabited this end of the Island of Pingaree
had been seized by the invaders and bound with ropes. At once they began
carrying their victims to the boats, tossing them in as unceremoniously
as if they had been bales of merchandise.
The King looked around for his son Inga, but failed to find the boy
among the prisoners. Nor was the fat King, Rinkitink, to be seen
anywhere about.
The warriors were swarming over the palace like bees in a hive, seeking
anyone who might be in hiding, and after the search had been prolonged
for some time the leader asked impatiently: "Do you find anyone else?"
"No," his men told him. "We have captured them all."
"Then," commanded the leader, "remove everything of value from the
palace and tear down its walls and towers, so that not one stone remains
upon another!"
While the warriors were busy with this task we will return to the boy
Prince, who, when the fog lifted and the sun came out, wakened from his
sleep and began to climb down from his perch in the tree. But the
terrifying cries of the people, mingled with the shouts of the rude
warriors, caused him to pause and listen eagerly.
[Illustration]
Then he climbed rapidly up the tree, far above his platform, to the
topmost swaying branches. This tree, which Inga called his own, was
somewhat taller than the other trees that surrounded it, and when he had
reached the top he pressed aside the leaves and saw a great fleet of
boats upon the shore--strange boats, with banners that he had never seen
before. Turning to look upon his father's palace, he found it surrounded
by a horde of enemies. Then Inga knew the truth: that the island had
been invaded by the barbaric warriors from the north. He grew so faint
from the terror of it all that he might have fallen had he not wound his
arms around a limb and clung fast until the dizzy feeling passed away.
Then with his sash he bound himself to the limb and again ventured to
look out through the leaves.
The warriors were now engaged in carrying King Kitticut and Queen Garee
and all their other captives down to the boats, where they were thrown
in and chained one to another. It was a dreadful sight for the Prince to
witness, but he sat very still, concealed from the sight of anyone below
by the bower of leafy branches around him. Inga knew very well that he
could do nothing to help his beloved parents, and that if he came down
he would only be forced to share their cruel fate.
Now a procession of the Northmen passed between the boats and the
palace, bearing the rich furniture, splendid draperies and rare
ornaments of which the royal palace had been robbed, together with such
food and other plunder as they could lay their hands upon. After this,
the men of Regos and Coregos threw ropes around the marble domes and
towers and hundreds of warriors tugged at these ropes until the domes
and towers toppled and fell in ruins upon the ground. Then the walls
themselves were torn down, till little remained of the beautiful palace
but a vast heap of white marble blocks tumbled and scattered upon the
ground.
Prince Inga wept bitter tears of grief as he watched the ruin of his
home; yet he was powerless to avert the destruction. When the palace had
been demolished, some of the warriors entered their boats and rowed
along the coast of the island, while the others marched in a great body
down the length of the island itself. They were so numerous that they
formed a line stretching from shore to shore and they destroyed every
house they came to and took every inhabitant prisoner.
The pearl fishers who lived at the lower end of the island tried to
escape in their boats, but they were soon overtaken and made prisoners,
like the others. Nor was there any attempt to resist the foe, for the
sharp spears and pikes and swords of the invaders terrified the hearts
of the defenseless people of Pingaree, whose sole weapons were their
oyster rakes.
When night fell the whole of the Island of Pingaree had been conquered
by the men of the North, and all its people were slaves of the
conquerors. Next morning the men of Regos and Coregos, being capable of
no further mischief, departed from the scene of their triumph, carrying
their prisoners with them and taking also every boat to be found upon
the island. Many of the boats they had filled with rich plunder, with
pearls and silks and velvets, with silver and gold ornaments and all the
treasure that had made Pingaree famed as one of the richest kingdoms in
the world. And the hundreds of slaves they had captured would be set to
work in the mines of Regos and the grain fields of Coregos.
So complete was the victory of the Northmen that it is no wonder the
warriors sang songs of triumph as they hastened back to their homes.
Great rewards were awaiting them when they showed the haughty King of
Regos and the terrible Queen of Coregos the results of their ocean raid
and conquest.
[Illustration]
The Deserted Island
[Illustration]