At this, the King said, 'Serve him right, the rebellious
ruffian! And now, as those lions won't eat that young woman--'
'Let her off!--let her off!' cried the crowd.
'NO! ' roared the King. 'Let the beef-eaters go down and chop
her into small pieces. If the lions defend her, let the
archers shoot them to death. That hussy shall die in
tortures!'
'A-a-ah!' cried the crowd. 'Shame! shame!'
'Who dares cry out shame?' cried the
furiouspotentate (so
little can tyrants command their passions). 'Fling any
scoundrel who says a word down among the lions!'
I
warrant you there was a dead silence then, which was broken
by a Pang arang pang pangkarangpang, and a Knight and a Herald
rode in at the further end of the
circus: the Knight, in full
armour, with his vizor up, and
bearing a letter on the point of
his lance.
'Ha!' exclaimed the King, 'by my fey, 'tis Elephant and Castle,
pursuivant of my brother of Paflagonia; and the Knight, an' my
memory serves me, is the
gallant Captain Hedzoff! What news
from Paflagonia,
gallant Hedzoff? Elephant and Castle, beshrew
me, thy
trumpeting must have made thee thirsty. What will my
trusty
herald like to drink?'
'Bespeaking first safe conduct from your Lordship,' said
Captain Hedzoff, 'before we take a drink of anything, permit us
to deliver our King's message.'
'My Lordship, ha!' said Crim Tartary, frowning
terrifically.
'That title soundeth strange in the anointed ears of a crowned
King. Straightway speak out your message, Knight and Herald!'
Reining up his
charger in a most
elegant manner close under the
King's
balcony, Hedzoff turned to the Herald, and bade him
begin.
Elephant and Castle, dropping his
trumpet over his shoulder,
took a large sheet of paper out of his hat, and began to
read:--
'O Yes! O Yes! O Yes! Know all men by these presents, that we,
Giglio, King of Paflagonia, Grand Duke of Cappadocia, Sovereign
Prince of Turkey and the Sausage Islands, having assumed our
rightful
throne and title, long time falsely borne by our
usurping Uncle, styling himself King of Paflagonia--'
'Ha!' growled Padella.
'Hereby
summon the false
traitor, Padella,
calling himself King
of Crim Tartary--'
The King's curses were
dreadful. 'Go on, Elephant and Castle!'
said the intrepid Hedzoff.
'--To
release from
cowardlyimprisonment his liege lady and
rightful Sovereign, ROSALBA, Queen of Crim Tartary, and restore
her to her royal
throne: in default of which, I, Giglio,
proclaim the said Padella sneak,
traitor, humbug, usurper, and
coward. I
challenge him to meet me, with fists or with
pistols, with battle-axe or sword, with blunderbuss or
singlestick, alone or at the head of his army, on foot or on
horseback; and will prove my words upon his
wicked ugly body!'
'God save the King!' said Captain Hedzoff, executing a
demivolte, two semilunes, and three caracols.
'Is that all?' said Padella, with the
terrific calm of
concentrated fury.
'That, sir, is all my royal master's message. Here is His
Majesty's letter in autograph, and here is his glove, and if
any gentleman of Crim Tartary chooses to find fault with His
Majesty's expressions, I, Tuffskin Hedzoff, Captain of the
Guard, am very much at his service,' and he waved his lance,
and looked at the
assembly all round.
'And what says my good brother of Paflagonia, my dear son's
father-in-law, to this rubbish?' asked the King.
'The King's uncle hath been deprived of the crown he unjustly
wore,' said Hedzoff
gravely. 'He and his axminister, Glumboso,
are now in prison
waiting the
sentence of my royal master.
After the battle of Bombardaro--'
'Of what?' asked the surprised Padella.
'Of Bombardaro, where my liege, his present Majesty, would have
performed prodigies of velour, but that the whole of his
uncle's army came over to our side, with the
exception of
Prince Bulbo.'
'Ah! my boy, my boy, my Bulbo was no
traitor!' cried Padella.
'Prince Bulbo, far from coming over to us, ran away, sir; but I
caught him. The Prince is a prisoner in our army, and the most
terrifictortures await him if a hair of the Princess Rosalba's
head is injured.'
'Do they?' exclaimed the
furious Padella, who was now perfectly
LIVID with rage.' Do they indeed? So much the worse for Bulbo.
I've twenty sons as lovely each as Bulbo. Not one but is as
fit to reign as Bulbo. Whip, whack, flog,
starve, rack,
punish,
torture Bulbo--break all his bones--roast him or flay
him alive--pull all his pretty teeth out one by one! But
justly dear as Bulbo is to me,--joy of my eyes, fond treasure
of my soul!--Ha, ha, ha, ha!
revenge is dearer still. Ho!
tortures, rack-men, executioners--light up the fires and make
the pincers hot! get lots of boiling lead!--Bring out ROSALBA!'
XVI. HOW HEDZOFF RODE BACK AGAIN TO KING GIGLIO
Captain Hedzoff rode away when King Padella uttered this cruel
command, having done his duty in delivering the message with
which his royal master had entrusted him. Of course he was
very sorry for Rosalba, but what could he do?
So he returned to King Giglio's camp, and found the young
monarch in a disturbed state of mind, smoking cigars in the
royal tent. His Majesty's
agitation was not appeased by the
news that was brought by his
ambassador. 'The
brutal ruthless
ruffian royal wretch!' Giglio exclaimed. 'As England's poesy
has well remarked, "The man that lays his hand upon a woman,
save in the way of kindness, is a villain." Ha, Hedzoff!'
'That he is, your Majesty,' said the attendant.
'And didst thou see her flung into the oil? and didn't the
soothing oil--the emollient oil, refuse to boil, good
Hedzoff--and to spoil the fairest lady ever eyes did look on?'
'Faith, good my liege, I had no heart to look and see a
beauteous lady boiling down; I took your royal message to
Padella, and bore his back to you. I told him you would hold
Prince Bulbo answerable. He only said that he had twenty sons
as good as Bulbo, and
forthwith he bade the ruthless
executioners proceed.'
'O cruel father--O
unhappy son!' cried the King. 'Go, some of
you, and bring Prince Bulbo hither.'
Bulbo was brought in chains, looking very uncomfortable.
Though a prisoner, he had been tolerably happy, perhaps because
his mind was at rest, and all the fighting was over, and he was
playing at marbles with his guards when the King sent for him.
'Oh, my poor Bulbo,' said His Majesty, with looks of infinite
compassion, 'hast thou heard the news?' (for you see Giglio
wanted to break the thing
gently to the Prince), 'thy
brutalfather has condemned Rosalba--p-p-p-ut her to death,
P-p-p-
prince Bulbo! '
'What, killed Betsinda! Boo-hoo-hoo,' cried out Bulbo.
'Betsinda! pretty Betsinda! dear Betsinda! She was the dearest
little girl in the world. I love her better twenty thousand
times even than Angelica,' and he went on expressing his grief
in so
hearty and un
affected a manner that the King was quite
touched by it, and said, shaking Bulbo's hand, that he wished
he had known Bulbo sooner.
Bulbo, quite
unconsciously, and meaning for the best, offered
to come and sit with His Majesty, and smoke a cigar with him,
and
console him. The ROYAL KINDNESS supplied Bulbo with a
cigar; he had not had one, he said, since he was taken
prisoner.
And now think what must have been the feelings of the most
MERCIFUL OF MONARCHS, when he informed his prisoner that, in
consequence of King Padella's cruel and DASTARDLY BEHAVIOUR to
Rosalba, Prince Bulbo must
instantly be executed! The noble
Giglio could not
restrain his tears, nor could the Grenadiers,
nor the officers, nor could Bulbo himself, when the matter was
explained to him, and he was brought to understand that His
Majesty's promise, of course, was ABOVE EVERY THING, and Bulbo
must
submit. So poor Bulbo was led out, Hedzoff
trying to
console him, by pointing out that if he had won the battle of
Bombardaro, he might have hanged Prince Giglio. 'Yes! But that
is no comfort to me now!' said poor Bulbo; nor indeed was it,
poor fellow!
He was told the business would be done the next morning at
eight, and was taken back to his
dungeon, where every attention
was paid to him. The gaoler's wife sent him tea, and the
turnkey's daughter begged him to write his name in her album,
where a many gentlemen had written it on like occasions!
'Bother your album!' says Bulbo. The Undertaker came and
measured him for the handsomest
coffin which money could buy
--even this didn't
console Bulbo. The Cook brought him dishes
which he once used to like; but he wouldn't touch them: he sat
down and began
writing an adieu to Angelica, as the clock kept
always ticking, and the hands
drawing nearer to next morning.
The Barber came in at night, and offered to shave him for the
next day. Prince Bulbo kicked him away, and went on
writing a
few words to Princess Angelica, as the clock kept always
ticking, and the hands hopping nearer and nearer to next
morning. He got up on the top of a hatbox, on the top of a
chair, on the top of his bed, on the top of his table, and
looked out to see whether he might escape as the clock kept
always ticking and the hands
drawing nearer, and nearer, and
nearer.
But looking out of the window was one thing, and jumping
another: and the town clock struck seven. So he got into bed
for a little sleep, but the gaoler came and woke him, and said,
'Git up, your Royal Ighness, if you please, it's TEN MINUTES TO
EIGHT!'
So poor Bulbo got up: he had gone to bed in his clothes (the
lazy boy), and he shook himself, and said he didn't mind about
dressing, or having any breakfast, thank you; and he saw the
soldiers who had come for him. 'Lead on!' he said; and they
led the way, deeply
affected; and they came into the courtyard,
and out into the square, and there was King Giglio come to take
leave of him, and His Majesty most kindly shook hands with him,
and the 'Take off that marched on:--when hark!
Haw--wurraw--wurraw--aworr!
A roar of wild beasts was heard. And who should come riding
into the town, frightening away the boys, and even the beadle
and
policeman, but ROSALBA!
The fact is, that when Captain Hedzoff entered into the court
of Snapdragon Castle, and was discoursing with King Padella,
the lions made a dash at the open gate, gobbled up the six
beef-eaters in a jiffy, and away they went with Rosalba on the
back of one of them, and they carried her, turn and turn about,
till they came to the city where Prince Giglio's army was
encamped.
When the KING heard of the QUEEN'S
arrival, you may think how
he rushed out of his breakfast-room to hand Her Majesty off her
lion! The lions were grown as fat as pigs now, having had
Hogginarmo and all those beefeaters, and were so tame, anybody
might pat them.
While Giglio knelt (most gracefully) and helped the Princess,
Bulbo, for his part, rushed up and kissed the lion. He flung
his arms round the forest
monarch; he hugged him, and laughed
and cried for joy. 'Oh, you
darling old beast, oh, how glad I
am to see you, and the dear, dear Bets--that is, Rosalba.'
'What, is it you? poor Bulbo!' said the Queen.' Oh, how glad I