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CHAPTER TWENTY-FOURTH The Enchanted Mirrors Presently
Prince Marvel and his party arrived
and paused before the doors of the castle, where the Red Rogue stood
bowing to
them with mock politeness and with an evil grin showing on his red face. "I come to demand the
release
of the Lady Seseley and her companions!" Prince Marvel announced, in a
bold voice. "And I also intend to
call you to account for the murder of Baron Merd." "You must be at the wrong
castle," answered the Red One, "for I have murdered no baron, nor
have I any Lady Seseley as prisoner." "Are you not the Red
Rogue of
Dawna?" demanded the prince. "Men call me by that
name," acknowledged the other. "Then you are deceiving
me," said the prince. "No, indeed!" answered
the
Red Rogue, mockingly. "I wouldn't
deceive any one for the world. But, if you
don't believe me, you are welcome to search my castle." "That I shall do,"
returned the prince, sternly, "whether I have your permission or
not," and he began to dismount. But
Nerle restrained him, saying: "Master, I beg you will
allow
me to search the castle. For this Red
Rogue
is playing some trick upon us, I am sure, and if anything happened to
you there
would be no one to protect the little High Ki and our other friends." "But suppose something
should
happen to you?" inquired the prince, anxiously. "In that case," said
Nerle, "you can avenge me." The advice was so
reasonable, under
the circumstances, that the prince decided to act upon it. "Very well," said he,
"go and search the castle, and I will remain with our friends. But if anything happens to you, I shall call
the Red Rogue to account." So Nerle entered the
castle, passing
by the huge form of its owner, who only nodded to the boy and grinned
with
delight. The esquire found himself
in the
great hall and began to look around him, but without seeing any one. Then he advanced a few steps and, to his
surprise, discovered a large mirror, in which were reflected the faces
and
forms of three girls, as well as his own. "Why, here they are!" he
attempted to say; but he could not hear his own voice.
He glanced down at himself but could see
nothing at all — for his body had become invisible.
His reflection was still in the glass, and he
knew that his body existed the same as before; but although he yet saw
plainly
the hall and all that it contained, he could see neither himself nor
any other
person of flesh. After waiting a
considerable time
for his esquire to reappear Prince Marvel became impatient. "What have you done with
Nerle?" he asked of the Red Rogue. "Nothing," was the
reply. "I have been here, plainly
within your sight, every moment." "Let me go and find him!"
exclaimed King Terribus, and rushed into the castle before the prince
could
reply. But Terribus also encountered the
enchanted mirror, and the prince waited in vain for his return. Then Wul-Takim
volunteered to go in
search of the others, and drew his big, sharp sword before entering the
hall. But an hour passed by and he did
not return. The Red Rogue was
overjoyed at the
success of his stratagem, and could scarce refrain from laughing
outright at
the prince's anxiety. Marvel was really
perplexed. He knew some treachery was
afoot, but could
not imagine what it was. And when the
pretty High Ki declared their intention of entering the castle, he used
every
endeavor to dissuade them. But the twin
girls would not be denied, so great was their curiosity.
So the prince said: "Well, we will all go
together,
so that the Ki and I may be able to protect you." The Red Rogue gladly
granted them
admittance, and they passed him and entered the great hall. The place appeared to
them to be
completely empty, so they walked along and came opposite the mirror. Here all stopped at once, and the twin High
Ki uttered exclamations of surprise, and the twin Ki shouted, "Great
Kika-koo!" For there in the glass
were the
reflections of the three girls and Nerle and King Terribus and
Wul-Takim. And there were also the
reflections of the
twin High Ki and the twin Ki. Only Prince Marvel's reflection was
missing, and
this was because of his fairy origin. For
the glass could reflect and hold only the forms of mortals. But the prince saw the
reflections
of all the others, and then made the discovery that the forms of the Ki
and the
High Ki had become invisible. No one
except himself appeared to be standing in the great hall of the Red
Rogue's
castle! Yet grouped within the glass
were the likenesses of all his friends, as well as those of Lady
Seseley and her
companions; and all were staring back at him earnestly, as if imploring
him to
save them. The mystery was now
explained, and
Prince Marvel rushed from the hall to find the treacherous Red Rogue. But that clever trickster had hidden himself
in an upper room, and for the present was safely concealed. For a time Prince Marvel
could not
think what to do. Such magic was all
unknown to him, and how to free the imprisoned forms of his friends was
a real
problem. He walked around the castle,
but no one was in sight, the Rogue having given orders to all his
people to
keep away. Only the tethered horses did
he see, and these raised their heads and whinnied as if in sympathy
with his
perplexity. Then he went back into
the hall and
searched all the rooms of the castle without finding a single person. On his return he stopped in front of the
mirror and sorrowfully regarded the faces of his friends, who again
seemed to
plead for relief. And while he looked a
sudden fit of
anger came over him at being outwitted by this Red Rogue of Dawna. Scarcely knowing what he did, he seized his
sword by the blade and struck the mirror a powerful blow with the heavy
hilt. It shattered into a thousand
fragments, which fell clattering upon the stone floor in every
direction. And at once the charm was
broken; each of his
friends now became visible. They appeared
running toward him from all parts of the castle, where they had been
wandering
in their invisible forms. They called out joyful
greetings to
one another, and then all of them surrounded the prince and thanked him
earnestly for releasing them. The little Lady Seseley
and her
friends, Berna and Helda, were a bit shy in the presence of so many
strangers;
but they alone knew the prince's secret, and that he was a fairy
transformed
for a year; so they regarded him as an old and intimate acquaintance,
and after
being introduced by him to the others of his party they became more at
ease. The sweet little High Ki
maids at
once attracted Seseley, and she loved them almost at first sight. But it was Nerle who became the little lady's
staunchest friend; for there was something rather mystical and
unnatural to him
about the High Ki, who seemed almost like fairies, while in Seseley he
recognized a hearty, substantial girl of his own rank in life. While they stood talking
and
congratulating one another outside of the castle, the Red Rogue of
Dawna appeared
among them. He had heard the noise of
the smashing of his great mirror, and had come running downstairs from
his
hiding-place to find his cunning had all been for naught and his
captives were
free. A furious anger then took
possession
of the Rogue, and forgetting his personal weakness he caught up a huge
battle-ax and rushed out to hurl himself upon Prince Marvel, intending
to do
him serious injury. But the prince was not
taken
unawares. He saw the Red Rogue coming and
met him with drawn sword, striking quickly at the arm that wielded the
big
ax. The stroke was as sure as it was
quick, and piercing the arm of the giant caused him to drop the ax with
a howl
of pain. Then Prince Marvel seized
the Red
Rogue by the ear — which he was just tall enough to reach — and dragged
him up
the steps and into the castle, the big fellow crying for mercy at every
step
and trembling like a leaf through cowardice. But down the hall Marvel
marched
him, seeking some room where the Rogue might be safely locked in. The great curtain that covered the second
enchanted mirror now caught Prince Marvel's eye, and, still holding his
prisoner by the ear, he reached out his left hand and pulled aside the
drapery. The Red Rogue looked to
see what his
captor was doing, and beheld his own reflection in the magic mirror. Instantly he gave a wild cry and disappeared,
his body becoming absolutely invisible, while his coarse red
countenance stared
back from the mirror. And then Prince Marvel
gave a sigh
of relief and dropped the curtain over the surface of the mirror. For he realized that the Red Rogue of Dawna
had at last met with just punishment and was safely imprisoned for all
time. |