Prince Ricardo of Pantouflia

e

lay the City of Manoa, filling with its golden battlements and temples a hollow of the mountains. He

owered pyramids, on which the people did service to their gods. From ev

of feathers. Among them ran about priests with hideous masks, crying them on to besiege and break down the royal palace. From the battlements of the pala

ood a figure horrible to see: a man clothed in serpent skins, whose face was the grinning face of a skull; but the skull was shining black and red in patches, and a long white bear

he slowly descended. But at last the eyes within the skull looked up and saw him, and the

let their weapons fall; and the man of the skull tore it from h

he Cord of the Venerable Knots! Thou hast come, but behold the shado

ich, naturally, was growing short

ru, which of course Prigio knew very well; and he a

with presence of mind, "as i

d priest, "even as the oracle declared. Glo

help my peopl

lull the Earthquaker with a new song. Lo, now the shadow shrinks to the foot of the huaca, and the maid is not offered! For the lot fell on the daughter of thy servant the Inca, and he refus

eline. I killed the birds,"

word!" said th

r arms against the Inca

o the foot of the stone, the sun will shine straight down into the hollow hill of

you slay them, when

camac, would have rev

me to the Inca; this day you shall not perish. Is it not predicted

, for the shadow short

he Inca," ans

round was strewn with bodies of the slain, and through them Prigio rode slowly into the courtyard, where the Inca was sitting in the dust, weeping and throwing ashes on

take courage; your sorrows are ended. If I do not

Inca, and wept for joy. "Yet thou mu

g no word, waved his hand. In a moment the square was em

he Inca; "I shall bring you back the daughter

the king raised him, and bade him prepare s

day," he said; "be you

had his home. Already the ground was beginning to tremble; the Earthquaker was stirring in his sleep, for the ma

utes more, and the sun would look straight down the crater of the hollow hill, and

the Flying Horse, and drew him swiftly down and down to the shadowy halls. There knelt and wept the nurse

d to Jaqueline, and embraced her in his arms; and, oh! how glad she w

have come; I knew you

dy of the Earthquaker, and a thrill went through him, and shook the world, so that, far away, the bells rang in Pantouflia. A moment more, and he would waken in his strength; and once awake, he

ith the mighty mass

words of power, the magic spell th

d, and down it shot full on the body of the Earthquaker; and where that had

dead Earthquaker, crushed flat as a sheet of paper, and the sun of midsummer-day sh

drew a lo

th only strength to draw back one step from the a

d spring; and soon King Prigio was himself again, and ready for anything. But afterwards he

, the people, seeing that the shadow of the sacred column had crept to its foot, and yet Manoa stood firm again, and t

e maidens, and how often Jaqueli

the king, throwing her arms round

f Pantouflia, not once or twic

ight with the Yellow Dwarf, and the fight with the Giant, fo

nd all the maidens kissed each othe

ings. You ladies will excuse me, I am sure, if I remove first from the dungeon her whom we

ther young ladies, who were still rather nervous, the king flew off to

pent drums, for they had no bells, on the tops of the temples. They went quite mad with delight: enemies kissed in the streets; and all the parents, without exception, allowed all the young people who

y of which they had never heard before, as they lived very much withdrawn in an unknown region of the world. Then he pointed out, in the most considerate manner, that their religion was not all he could wish, otherwise they wo

ats with emotion. It was arranged that the Inca, with his other daughters, should visit Pantouflia immediately, both because he could not bear to leave Jaqueline, and also because there were a few points on which he felt that he still needed informatio

ey were sent into the hollow hill. These young men had never cared for any one else. Everybody wore bridal favours, all the unengaged young ladies acted as bridesmaids, and such a throwing

rying and laughing with pleasure when she heard that the wish o

never was really anxious in the least, for I knew

hedral of Pantouflia. The marriage presents came in afterwards, of course, and among them, what do you thi

al pair, and begs to lay at their feet the Seven-league Boots (they not fitting me) and the Sword

very fa

G.,

woman sends her

ow after all, and Prince Ricardo always admitted tha

s; and his little son, Prince Prigio (named after his august grand

ey possessed the magical Water o Life from the Fountain of Lions, I do not belie

h kings shou

fice of the

tno

now from the Psychical Societ

the works

and his picture is drawn, in

aca, sac