companions. It contained a dais-bed, covered with grass matting, animmense grass-stuffed pillow, and mats on the floor besides.
He had not been long in this tent ere an unarmed amazon entered, bearinga huge leafen basket, laden with the most delicious fruit, the perfumeof which filled the whole room. She also brought and placed near it ahuge pitcher of water.
This was all very gratifying, and Harry began to wonder where thisstrange king learned all his civility and hospitality, and he reallyfelt a little sorry now that he had taken the liberty of smacking hismajesty on the fingers when he was attempting to cut off a button.
"How, on the other hand," he asked himself, "have this curious peopleescaped the raids and ravages of the plundering slaver Arabs?"
Perhaps the Arabs had not yet found them out, or, having found them out,deemed it impossible to attack them, so well protected were they bywater.
Nothing was done to-day by Harry except to wander about all over thislovely island.
Indeed, the adjective "lovely" but poorly expresses the wealth andbeauty of flower and foliage that met his gaze at every turn.
It seemed a veritable garden of Eden. It must have been miles inextent, yet the king assured him he might wander everywhere, and hewould find neither wild beast nor loathsome dangerous reptile.
His majesty went to his tent and did not appear again that day, nor washe visible until late into the next.
Harry was walking about making friends with the cocks and hens, thegoats and the pigs, and with several charmingly plumaged birds of theguinea-hen species, when he was summoned into the king's presence.
The dusky monarch was seated in the middle of his tent on a mat. Soblack was he, and so dark was the hut, that, coming right in from theglare of the noonday sun, it was some time before Harry could see him oranything else. He heard the king's hearty laugh, however, and wenttowards it.
He was beckoned to a mat on the floor, and fruit was handed to him.
Then the royal host began to show all the inquisitiveness of a child,and evinced so much curiosity that Harry could not answer his questionsfast enough. But he delighted him greatly by saying that at home he toolived on an island.
The king was exceedingly tickled, though, when told through Raggy thatwe were subjects to a queen.
He laughed so immoderately that he was obliged to lie back and roll onhis mat, and for quite three minutes could say nothing but "Lobo! Lobo!Lobo!"
In the midst of all this pleasant discourse two amazons entered, andhelped the king to rise.
He said something which Raggy translated, "Come on for true."
They went on "for true," and soon found themselves in a grove and undera canopy of grass-cloth. On the green-sward they all squatted down to abanquet, the like of which Harry had not seen for many days.
It was not served on china, you may be sure, and there were no forks,only knives. The plates were of yellow-brown clay, and as soft as abrick. In the centre was a huge dish of curried rice; before each ofhis guests was placed a curried fowl. Then there were floury andwell-cooked yams, sweet potatoes and plantains, and a large chattee ofwater.
Raggy ate up his fowl every bit, so did Somali Jack. Harry failed onhis last drumstick, and the king laughed again, and cried, "Lobo!Lobo!"
Then there was more wandering about the island, and another banquet orfried fish and fruit on their return.
All the time Harry and Jack stuck to their rifles. One never knows whatsavages may turn out to be, and had anything occurred they weredetermined to sell their lives as dearly as possible.
Next day, and next, and next, were simply repetitions of the first, withthis difference--that the king took his guests round his islands in hisbarge, rowed now by five dark-skinned boatmen on each side, and thiswill give you some idea of the size of it.
Every evening after supper, sitting out under the stars, the king beingonly dimly visible as a kind of shape, Harry had to tell stories of allthe kings and potentates and countries in the world.
He got a little tired at last, and found it better and easier to inventtales of imagination, based upon the stories he had read, such as thenovels of Cooper and Walter Scott, than to stick to plain geography andpure history. This pleased this strange king even better, and he wasconstantly saying, "Lobo!" during Harry's recitals.
I dare say, however, that Raggy, through whom, as a medium, the storieshad to pass, embellished them somewhat on his own account.
Among the gifts from Somali Jack's packet that Harry presented to hismajesty was a shirt and a pair of pyjamas. These he wore until theywere black, albeit Harry had several times suggested that they should bewashed.
A whole month flew by. Very quickly indeed the days went too, for theair made Harry lazy, and he felt as if he had eaten the lotus leaf. Heroused himself at last, and, fearful that he might be outstaying hiswelcome, he told the king he must go.
"Go! did you not come here to stay and talk to me for ever and ever?Go! No, no! Lobo! Lobo!"
It began gradually to dawn upon Harry that he really and virtually was aprisoner in these friendly islands. He certainly could not leave themwithout his majesty's permission. To steal a boat and try to escape wasout of the question, the amazons with the rolling eyes would effectuallyprevent this.
So he stayed on quietly another month. Then, firm in the belief that aconstant drop will wear away a stone, he began persistently to tease theking into letting him go on his journey.
The king would promise one day, and retract the next.
Three months passed away, then four. Harry was getting desperate. Atthe risk of giving mortal offence he refused to tell any more stories.And his majesty got so sad and morose that he felt grieved to see him.
"I will let you go," he said at length, "if you will promise to returnand bring me more gifts."
Harry gladly promised that he would do everything in his power to comeback that way.
The king had most minutely examined the rifles, but hitherto not a shothad been fired. Ammunition was far too valuable.
But one day Harry determined to give the king a treat. He took hisrifle, and pointing to a great vulture that was slowly floating aroundthe village, fired, and to his own surprise brought it down.
But the consternation among the natives was intense. It was a strange,superstitious dread, and if they could have turned pale with fear I feelsure they would have done so. Harry had made thunder and lightning,smoke and flame, and killed an evil bird. No wonder the king capsizedon his back on the mat, and said "Lobo!" more than a dozen times!
But Harry explained everything to him, and his majesty was satisfied.
The day before Harry's departure from the Lake of the Hundred Isles wasdevoted to feasting and dancing. The king even proposed killing one ortwo of his subjects in honour of the occasion.
Harry would not hear of this.
"Well," the king said, "he would put them up at a distance, and hisguest should bring them down, with his rifle."
"No, no, no," laughed Harry; "kill hens and we can eat them, but nothuman beings."
It was such a drowsy island this that Harry never thought of turning outof bed till about eight o'clock.
When he got up next day, and went forth to breathe the balmy morningair, the sight that was presented to him made him open his eyes widewith astonishment. It was like a scene of enchantment.
The king's hut, and every other hut, and even the palisade around thiscamp, was completely covered with flowers of the most gorgeous hues andsweetest perfume, while all the ground was deeply bedded with greenleaves and boughs. Even the shields and spears of the amazons weredecorated with flowers, and they wore garlands around their necks andheads. Near the king's tent sat a few musicians, beating low ontom-toms, and singing a dreamy kind of a chant.
It was late before the king put in an appearance; he did so at last,however, and very pleased he seemed when he gazed about him. Then hiseye sought Harry's; he was anxious to know if he was also pleased with-
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THE FEAST OF FLOWERS.
Harry hastened to assure him that he was more than pleased, he wasdelighted.
Would the queen of his country be pleased if she were here? That washis next question, and he laughed as he put it till his sides shookagain. The answer was, "Undoubtedly."
I do not intend to give a complete description of all the performancesof the day--they were far too numerous. Suffice it to say that therewas a grand procession of warriors, headed by the flower-bedeckedamazons; after the soldiers came the king's butchers or executioners;and next a crew of naked natives, bearing a pig, a goat, and severalcocks and hens for the slaughter. The goat looked rather astonished andkicked a little at times; the cocks looked boldly unconcerned; but thepig was a lusty one, he was not content with kicking and biting, but hescreamed so loudly that the sound, or bleating one might call it, of thechanters
Harry Milvaine; Or, The Wanderings of a Wayward Boy Page 34
