The Prince and the Pauper Mark Twain (readict books .TXT) đ
- Author: Mark Twain
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âO good sir, peradventure you mean the ragged regal vagrant that tarried here the night. If such as you take an interest in such as he, know, then, that I have sent him of an errand. He will be back anon.â
âHow soon? How soon? Come, waste not the timeâ âcannot I overtake him? How soon will he be back?â
âThou needâst not stir; he will return quickly.â
âSo be it, then. I will try to wait. But stop!â âyou sent him of an errand?â âyou! Verily this is a lieâ âhe would not go. He would pull thy old beard, anâ thou didst offer him such an insolence. Thou hast lied, friend; thou hast surely lied! He would not go for thee, nor for any man.â
âFor any manâ âno; haply not. But I am not a man.â
âWhat! Now oâ Godâs name what art thou, then?â
âIt is a secretâ âmark thou reveal it not. I am an archangel!â
There was a tremendous ejaculation from Miles Hendonâ ânot altogether unprofaneâ âfollowed byâ â
âThis doth well and truly account for his complaisance! Right well I knew he would budge nor hand nor foot in the menial service of any mortal; but, lord, even a king must obey when an archangel gives the word oâ command! Let meâ âsh! What noise was that?â
All this while the little king had been yonder, alternately quaking with terror and trembling with hope; and all the while, too, he had thrown all the strength he could into his anguished moanings, constantly expecting them to reach Hendonâs ear, but always realizing, with bitterness, that they failed, or at least made no impression. So this last remark of his servant came as comes a reviving breath from fresh fields to the dying; and he exerted himself once more, and with all his energy, just as the hermit was sayingâ â
âNoise? I heard only the wind.â
âMayhap it was. Yes, doubtless that was it. I have been hearing it faintly all theâ âthere it is again! It is not the wind! What an odd sound! Come, we will hunt it out!â
Now the kingâs joy was nearly insupportable. His tired lungs did their utmostâ âand hopefully, tooâ âbut the sealed jaws and the muffling sheepskin sadly crippled the effort. Then the poor fellowâs heart sank, to hear the hermit sayâ â
âAh, it came from withoutâ âI think from the copse yonder. Come, I will lead the way.â
The king heard the two pass out, talking; heard their footsteps die quickly awayâ âthen he was alone with a boding, brooding, awful silence.
It seemed an age till he heard the steps and voices approaching againâ âand this time he heard an added soundâ âthe trampling of hoofs, apparently. Then he heard Hendon sayâ â
âI will not wait longer. I cannot wait longer. He has lost his way in this thick wood. Which direction took he? Quickâ âpoint it out to me.â
âHeâ âbut wait; I will go with thee.â
âGoodâ âgood! Why, truly thou art better than thy looks. Marry I do not think thereâs not another archangel with so right a heart as thine. Wilt ride? Wilt take the wee donkey thatâs for my boy, or wilt thou fork thy holy legs over this ill-conditioned slave of a mule that I have provided for myself?â âand had been cheated in too, had he cost but the indifferent sum of a monthâs usury on a brass farthing let to a tinker out of work.â
âNoâ âride thy mule, and lead thine ass; I am surer on mine own feet, and will walk.â
âThen prithee mind the little beast for me while I take my life in my hands and make what success I may toward mounting the big one.â
Then followed a confusion of kicks, cuffs, tramplings and plungings, accompanied by a thunderous intermingling of volleyed curses, and finally a bitter apostrophe to the mule, which must have broken its spirit, for hostilities seemed to cease from that moment.
With unutterable misery the fettered little king heard the voices and footsteps fade away and die out. All hope forsook him, now, for the moment, and a dull despair settled down upon his heart. âMy only friend is deceived and got rid of,â he said; âthe hermit will return andâ ââ He finished with a gasp; and at once fell to struggling so frantically with his bonds again, that he shook off the smothering sheepskin.
And now he heard the door open! The sound chilled him to the marrowâ âalready he seemed to feel the knife at his throat. Horror made him close his eyes; horror made him open them againâ âand before him stood John Canty and Hugo!
He would have said âThank God!â if his jaws had been free.
A moment or two later his limbs were at liberty, and his captors, each gripping him by an arm, were hurrying him with all speed through the forest.
XXII A Victim of TreacheryOnce more âKing Foo-foo the Firstâ was roving with the tramps and outlaws, a butt for their coarse jests and dull-witted railleries, and sometimes the victim of small spitefulness at the hands of Canty and Hugo when the Rufflerâs back was turned. None but Canty and Hugo really disliked him. Some of the others liked him, and all admired his pluck and spirit. During two or three days, Hugo, in whose ward and charge the king was, did what he covertly could to make the boy uncomfortable; and at night, during the customary orgies, he amused the company by putting small indignities upon himâ âalways as if by accident. Twice he stepped upon the kingâs toesâ âaccidentallyâ âand the king, as became his royalty, was contemptuously unconscious of it and indifferent to it; but the third time Hugo entertained himself in that way,
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