The Olive Fairy Book Part 6

'Bog,' he cried, to the little man on the crow, who had ridden to meet him. 'Hasten to the palace and inform the Princess Abeille that Youri de Blanchelande, for seven years a captive in the kingdom of the Undines, has now returned to the castle of Clarides.'

The first person whom Youri met as he came out of the mountain was the tailor who had made all his clothes from the time that he came to live at the castle. Of this old friend, who was nearly beside himself with joy at the sight of the little master, lost for so many years, the count begged for news of his foster-mother and Abeille.

'Alas! my lord, where can you have been that you do not know that the Princess Abeille was carried off by the gnomes on the very day that you disappeared yourself? At least, so we guess. Ah! that day has left many a mark on our d.u.c.h.ess! Yet she is not without a gleam of hope that her daughter is living yet, for every night the poor mother is visited by a dream which tells her all that the princess is doing.'

The good man went on to tell of all the changes that seven years had brought about in the village, but Youri heard nothing that he said, for his mind was busy with thoughts of Abeille.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 'STAY HERE AND YOU SHALL BE KING']

At length he roused himself, and ashamed of his delay, he hastened to the chamber of the d.u.c.h.ess, who held him in her arms as if she would never let him go. By-and-by, however, when she became calmer, he began to question her about Abeille, and how best to deliver her from the power of the gnomes. The d.u.c.h.ess then told him that she had sent out men in all directions to look for the children directly they were found to be missing, and that one of them had noticed a troop of little men far away on the mountains, evidently carrying a litter. He was hastening after them, when, at his feet, he beheld a tiny satin slipper, which he stooped to pick up. But as he did so a dozen of the gnomes had swarmed upon him like flies, and beat him about the head till he dropped the slipper, which they took away with them, leaving the poor man dizzy with pain. When he recovered his senses the group on the mountain had disappeared.

That night, when everyone was asleep, Youri and his old servant Francoeur, stole softly down into the armoury, and dressed themselves in light suits of chain armour, with helmets and short swords, all complete. Then they mounted two horses that Francoeur had tied up in the forest, and set forth for the kingdom of the gnomes. At the end of an hour's hard riding, they came to the cavern which Francoeur had heard from childhood led into the centre of the earth. Here they dismounted, and entered cautiously, expecting to find darkness as thick as what they had left outside. But they had only gone a few steps when they were nearly blinded by a sudden blaze of light, which seemed to proceed from a sort of portcullis door, which barred the way in front of them.

'Who are you?' asked a voice. And the count answered:

'Youri de Blanchelande, who has come to rescue Abeille des Clarides.'

And at these words the gate slowly swung open, and closed behind the two strangers.

Youri listened to the clang with a spasm of fear in his heart; then the desperate position he was in gave him courage. There was no retreat for him now, and in front was drawn up a large force of gnomes, whose arrows were falling like hail about him. He raised his s.h.i.+eld to ward them off, and as he did so his eyes fell on a little man standing on a rock above the rest, with a crown on his head and a royal mantle on his shoulders. In an instant Youri had flung away his s.h.i.+eld and sprung forward, regardless of the arrows that still fell about him.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 'IS THIS THE MAN THAT YOU WISH TO MARRY?']

'Oh, is it you, is it _really_ you, my deliverer? And is it your subjects who hold as a captive Abeille whom I love?'

'I am King Loc,' was the answer. And the figure with the long beard bent his eyes kindly on the eager youth. 'If Abeille has lived with us all these years, for many of them she was quite happy. But the gnomes, of whom you think so little, are a just people, and they will not keep her against her will. Beg the princess to be good enough to come hither,' he added, turning to Rug.

Amidst a dead silence Abeille entered the vast s.p.a.ce and looked around her. At first she saw nothing but a vast host of gnomes perched on the walls and crowding on the floor of the big hall. Then her eyes met those of Youri, and with a cry that came from her heart she darted towards him, and threw herself on his breast.

'Abeille,' said the king, when he had watched her for a moment, with a look of pain on his face, 'is this the man that you wish to marry?'

'Yes, Little King Loc, this is he and n.o.body else! And see how I can laugh now, and how happy I am!' And with that she began to cry.

'Hush, Abeille! there must be no tears to-day,' said Youri, gently stroking her hair. 'Come, dry your eyes, and thank King Loc, who rescued me from the cage in the realm of the Undines.'

As Youri spoke Abeille lifted her head, and a great light came into her face. At last she understood.

'You did that for me?' she whispered. 'Ah, Little King Loc----!'

So, loaded with presents, and followed by regrets, Abeille went home.

In a few days the marriage took place; but however happy she was, and however busy she might be, never a month pa.s.sed by without a visit from Abeille to her friends in the kingdom of the gnomes.

(Adapted and shortened from the story of _Abeille_, by M. Anatole France.)

'_A LONG-BOW STORY_'

One day a bunniah,[1] or banker, was walking along a country road when he overtook a farmer going in the same direction. Now the bunniah was very grasping, like most of his cla.s.s, and was lamenting that he had had no chance of making any money that day; but at the sight of the man in front he brightened up wonderfully.

'That is a piece of luck,' he said to himself. 'Let me see if this farmer is not good for something'; and he hastened his steps.

After they had bid one another good day very politely, the bunniah said to the farmer:

'I was just thinking how dull I felt, when I beheld you, but since we are going the same way, I shall find the road quite short in such agreeable company.'

'With all my heart,' replied the farmer; 'but what shall we talk about? A city man like you will not care to hear about cattle and crops.'

'Oh,' said the bunniah, 'I'll tell you what we will do. We will each tell the other the wildest tale we can imagine, and he who first throws doubt on the other's story shall pay him a hundred rupees.'

To this the farmer agreed, and begged the bunniah to begin, as he was the bigger man of the two; and privately he made up his mind that, however improbable it might be, nothing should induce him to hint that he did not believe in the bunniah's tale. Thus politely pressed the great man started:

'I was going along this road one day, when I met a merchant travelling with a great train of camels laden with merchandise----'

'Very likely,' murmured the farmer; 'I've seen that kind of thing myself.'

'No less than one hundred and one camels,' continued the bunniah, 'all tied together by their nose strings--nose to tail--and stretching along the road for almost half a mile----'

'Well?' said the farmer.

'Well, a kite swooped down on the foremost camel and bore him off, struggling, into the air, and by reason of them all being tied together the other hundred camels had to follow----'

'Amazing, the strength of that kite!' said the farmer.

'But--well--yes, doubtless; yes--well--one hundred and one camels--and what did he do with them?'

'You doubt it?' demanded the bunniah.

'Not a bit!' said the farmer heartily.

'Well,' continued the bunniah, 'it happened that the princess of a neighbouring kingdom was sitting in her private garden, having her hair combed by her maid, and she was looking upward, with her head thrown back, whilst the maid tugged away at the comb, when that wretched kite, with its prey, went soaring overhead; and, as luck would have it, the camels gave an extra kick just then, the kite lost his hold, and the whole hundred and one camels dropped right into the princess's left eye!'

'Poor thing!' said the farmer; 'it's so painful having anything in one's eye.'

'Well,' said the bunniah, who was now warming to his task, 'the princess shook her head, and sprang up, clapping her hand on her eye.

"Oh dear!" she cried, "I've got something in my eye, and how it _does_ smart!"'

'It always does,' observed the farmer, 'perfectly true. Well, what did the poor thing do?'

'At the sound of her cries, the maid came running to her a.s.sistance.

"Let me look," said she; and with that she gave the princess's eyelid a twitch, and out came a camel, which the maid put in her pocket--'

('Ah!' grunted the farmer)--'and then she just twisted up the corner of her headcloth and fished a hundred more of them out of the princess's eye, and popped them all into her pocket with the other.'