WILLIAM BOWEN
 
 c 
 
 / <.
 
 OF CALIF. LIBRARY. LOS ANGELES 
 
 SOLARIO THE TAILOR 
 
 Mortimer the Executioner
 
 "Then I will begin," said Solario, the Tailor, "the story of-
 
 SOLARIO THE TAILOR 
 
 HIS TALES OF THE MAGIC DOUBLET 
 
 BY 
 
 WILLIAM BOWEN 
 
 THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 
 1922 
 
 All rights reserved
 
 PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 
 
 COPYRIGHT, 1922, 
 BY THE MACMILLAN COMPANY. 
 
 Set up and electrotyped. Published September, 1922.
 
 CONTENTS 
 THE FIRST NIGHT 
 
 STORY OF THE OLD MAN IN THE SPANGLED COAT 
 
 FACE 
 
 The doublet with the missing button The dark mansion in the walled 
 park The tailor meets the tall black man and his fair daughter 
 The Black Prince tells his story Eight tailors who could not 
 seio on a single button The tailor is visited by a hideous old 
 woman The jolly mule driver and his sing-song Adventures 
 in search of Alb the Unicorn Solaria encounters Alb the Uni- 
 corn The button is sewed on with the unicorn's hair The 
 Prince receives the tailor's terms The magic doublet is suddenly 
 produced i 
 
 THE SECOND NIGHT 
 
 ALB THE UNICORN 
 
 Alb the Fortunate and the Princess Hyla A tattered old beggar comes 
 to the goldsmith's shop The old man proposes a strange bargain 
 The three black hairs in the yellovj head Alb wins the promise 
 of the Princess's hand A trifling incident disturbs Alb's mother 
 Unreasonable conduct of the goldsmith's widow The merry- 
 makers are suddenly sobered by the goldsmith's son The Prin- 
 cess behaves in an amusing fashion The Princess finds her 
 husband bewitched Alb and the Princess visit the One-Armed 
 Sorcerer The Old Man of Ice, The Laughing Nymph, and 
 the Great Horned Owl The burning glass, the brass pin, and the 
 loop of thread He hears thunder in a clear sky He goes 
 down into the cave in Thunder Mountain He pursues the 
 Man of Ice with the burning glass He commences to make his 
 
 2125753
 
 vi CONTENTS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 escape from the cave He sails across the Great Sea He finds a 
 child in a pool of the rock The Laughing Nymph in the Three- 
 Spire Rock He remembers the brass pin in time The second 
 black hair is gone The Great Horned Owl stands ready for the 
 loop of thread The wrong hand and a desperate fall Alb sees 
 in the river the reflection of a unicorn 31 
 
 THE THIRD NIGHT 
 
 THE SON OF THE TAILOR OF OOGH 
 
 The Prince receives the magic doublet The Prince and his daughter 
 set forth for Oogh A strange encounter at the wayside well 
 The three blind ballad singers The blind ballad singer displays 
 the Shears of Sharpness The strange conduct of the people of 
 Oogh The mansion in the ruined park The solitary figure be- 
 hind the spider's <web The Prince watches the people's behavior 
 toward the boy The man with the ball in the underground alley 
 The Prince sets out for his encounter with Babadag the Tailor 
 Babadag the Tailor, Goolk the Spider, and the eight tailors 
 The three blind ballad singers once more The magic doublet 
 protects the Prince against the Knitters of Eyebrows and against 
 Goolk the Spider The Prince's daughter has beguiled the Shears 
 of Sharpness from the ballad singers A light flickers in the dark 
 shop The Prince's daughter is gone, and the Prince makes a dash 
 for liberty Babadag the Tailor is conquered by his little son 
 The governor, being released, beholds the Prince's daughter The 
 shearing of the Eyebrow The skin of the Prince is black The 
 doom of the city of Oogh The tailor's son follows him into the 
 burning city The boy is found on the sill of his ruined home, 
 alive The eight tailors stand before them in a row They meet 
 the three blind ballad singers for the last time 73 
 
 THE FOURTH NIGHT 
 
 THE RAGPICKER AND THE PRINCESS 
 
 The Princess hears a voice from the waves beneath her window The 
 Princess sees the shadow of an old woman A midnight visit from 
 a one-armed old man Alb, seeking the Princess, sits down by the 
 seashore An interview with a talking seal A sea journey on the 
 back of a seal The village of storks The feeding of the storks
 
 CONTENTS vii 
 
 The Ragpicker frightens the men a<way with her bag He fol- 
 lows the Ragpicker down into the dark She stirs a steaming mix- 
 ture with her long, hooked forefinger The shadows of the chil- 
 dren He loses his way in the dark He hears the voice of the seal 
 again He peeps into the sorcerer's 'works/top He lies in wait 
 with a bow and arrow The Ragpicker releases the shadows in 
 the street A singular commotion on the housetops The Princess 
 is herself again, but The King beholds his child and is grieved 
 The seal introduces his liniment, guaranteed to cure in all cases 126 
 
 THE FIFTH NIGHT 
 
 THE CITY OF DEAD LEAVES 
 
 The misfortunes of Tush the Apothecary They find themselves on an 
 unknown shore The startling effect of making a ring of grass 
 They start upon a journey through the air The orange tree 
 and the panther They come upon the King's brother in rags A 
 dwarf clad in motley stands up to speak Buffo the Fool leads 
 them to the palace They find the King in a terrible state The 
 Perfection Cream is rubbed into the itching palm Tush the 
 Apothecary takes the people in hand Paravaine has made her 
 choice He finds himself rubbing his palms together He cannot 
 find the ingredients for making the salve Tush and his sister 
 are seized by the angry crowd The genie in the whirlwind The 
 pulling off of the genie's ring 169 
 
 THE SIXTH NIGHT 
 
 THE ENCHANTED HIGHWAYMAN 
 
 A voice from nowhere bids the Prince stop The Prince listens to a 
 curious discourse The Prince, alone in the forest, hears the bark 
 of a dog The prisoner inside the wasp's nest The dog leaps 
 upon him to devour him The Prince, sitting on the ground, looks 
 up at a genie The One-Armed Sorcerer appears from within the 
 wasp's nest The Highwayman and nine of his daughters appear 
 in proper person He sees the Highwayman's tenth daughter 
 The genie breathes fire upon the witch's hut The One-Armed 
 Sorcerer performs upon a button The genie flies away with the 
 witch The Prince leads his beloved home The magic doublet is 
 presented at the wedding 206
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 1. "Then I will begin," said Solario the Tailor, "the 
 
 story of " Frontispiece 
 
 FACING PAGE 
 
 2. Solario was sitting on his worktable busily plying the needle . 4 
 
 3. The Unicorn stamped and gave a piercing neigh .... 20 
 
 4. "There is something here," said the old beggar, "which I wish 
 
 to buy" 36 
 
 5. Mortimer the Executioner was being measured by Solario for 
 
 a suit 74 
 
 6. "You are welcome, master peddler," said Babadag ... 98 
 
 7. "Beauty in tatters!" said Babadag the Tailor no 
 
 8. The shadow of a Ragpicker oozed in through the door . . . 134 
 
 9. The one-armed sorcerer plucked a feather from the stork . 156 
 
 10. The genie flew away with Tush and his sister 178 
 
 11. The genie swung him back and forth and tossed him out to sea 204 
 
 12. "I held my trusty blade on high and took from him his money" 212
 
 TO BE READ FIRST 
 
 IN the book called "The Enchanted Forest" it is re- 
 lated But I hope that you have read that book, or 
 at least that you sincerely intend to do so as soon as 
 you have time, but no matter; it is all about a Forest King- 
 dom, and a Great Forest that was enchanted by a witch, an 
 irritable sort of person who Not that she was to be 
 blamed altogether, in my judgment, for she had been pro- 
 voked to it by a page boy belonging to the King of the 
 Forest, and I arn personally not surprised that this young
 
 xii SOLARIO THE TAILOR 
 
 rogue was in consequence spirited away in the middle of the 
 night, no one knew whither. 
 
 Another boy (quite a different sort) named Bilbo, son 
 of one Bodad a woodchopper, managed to disenchant the 
 forest and destroy the witch, and for this he was given, when 
 he was old enough, the hand of the King's daughter, the 
 Princess Dorobel ; and in course of time there came to them 
 a little son, by name Bojohn. 
 
 This Bojohn, with his friend Bodkin, a fisherman's boy, 
 afterward discovered the lost page boy in a chamber 
 beneath a forest pool, where the witch had placed him for 
 his punishment; and in this chamber, with the page boy, 
 was a company of enchanted men, also placed there by the 
 witch, at various times, each for some offense against her, 
 and each sitting there upright in a kind of cupboard in 
 the wall, unable to speak or move. These men, and the 
 page boy too, Prince Bojohn and his friend Bodkin set free, 
 by means of a magical silver lamp. 
 
 In the audience room of the King's dwelling, a noble 
 castle in the midst of the forest, the entire court assembled 
 to welcome the rescued men on the night of their arrival; 
 and the King, after making a speech (which no power on 
 earth could have prevented his doing) , created the rescued 
 men, without bothering to ask whether they wanted it or 
 no, an order of knighthood, to be known as the Order of 
 the Silver Lamp. This done, he addressed the new knights, 
 but here I may as well turn back to the book itself, 
 which thus relates what then occurred : 
 
 "We are all anxious," said the King, "to hear your
 
 TO BE READ FIRST xiii 
 
 stories; they are, I am sure, of the greatest interest. You, 
 sir," he said, addressing the oldest of the Knights of the 
 Silver Lamp, who wore a faded spangled coat, of a period 
 no one present could remember, "I beseech you to recount 
 to us the story of your life, and in particular the adventure 
 which brought you to so strange a pass." 
 
 "Willingly, sire," said the ancient man, so readily that 
 it was apparent he had been waiting for this opportunity; 
 and thereupon, with a considerable rustling and a good 
 deal of whispering and nodding of heads, the assemblage 
 composed itself to hear the story of the Old Man in the 
 Spangled Coat.
 
 Bojohn and Bodkin 
 
 The Teller of Tales 
 SOLARIO THE TAILOR 
 
 His Audience 
 
 PRINCE BOJOHN, a boy, the King's grandson 
 
 BODKIN, a fisherman's boy, his friend 
 
 THE PRINCESS DOROBEL, Bojohn's mother 
 
 PRINCE BILBO, her husband, Bojohn's father 
 
 THE KING and QUEEN of the Great Forest, Bojohn's grandfather 
 
 and grandmother, and the Princess Dorobel's parents 
 MORTIMER the EXECUTIONER 
 THE ENCOURAGER of the INTERRUPTER
 
 THE FIRST NIGHT 
 
 STORY OF THE OLD MAN IN THE 
 SPANGLED COAT 
 
 YOU must know (began the old man) that I am a 
 tailor, by name Solario. In the reign of the good 
 King Fortmain the Ninth 
 
 "Ah!" interrupted the King. "That was my great- 
 grandfather. Bless my soul, master tailor, you must have 
 been imprisoned under the forest pool nearly a hundred 
 years ago. Hum! I dare say you know what you're 
 talking about, but "
 
 2 SOLARIO THE TAILOR 
 
 "My dear/' said the Queen, "I'm quite sure that the 
 ninth Fortmain was your great-great-grandfather, and not 
 your great-grandfather, though of course I may be mis- 
 taken; but it seems to me that it was the tenth Fortmain 
 who was your great-grandfather, because the ninth had an 
 oldest son who married into the Stiffish family, if I recollect 
 the name correctly, or perhaps it was Standish, and at any 
 rate he died without any children while his father was alive, 
 and the younger son came into the " 
 
 "Never mind, never mind," said the King. "You mustn't 
 interrupt. Let the man go on with his story" 
 
 You must know (began the old man again) that in the 
 reign of the good King Fortmain the Ninth, I practised 
 my art as a tailor in the city of Vernicroft, a thriving and 
 busy city, located in a corner of the Great Forest remote 
 from 
 
 "Fernicroftl" said the King. "I don't understand it. 
 There's no such busy city now. There's nothing but a 
 little ruined hamlet away over at the other side of the " 
 
 "Well," said the Queen, "perhaps at that time " 
 
 "Don't interrupt," said the King. "Let the man go on." 
 
 You must know (began the old man again) that I had 
 risen to a considerable eminence in my profession. I do 
 not pretend to say that I was the very best tailor in the 
 kingdom, for I am far too modest to speak of my own 
 merit; but the er the spangled coat in which you now 
 see me was a creation of my own brain, and at the time 
 it was thought to be er however, it speaks for itself.
 
 HIS TALES OF THE MAGIC DOUBLET 3 
 
 "I think it's a perfect sight," whispered Bojohn to 
 Bodkin. 
 
 It is true I was growing old, but I was very well satisfied; 
 there was no one dependent on me, my clients were numer- 
 ous and rich, and I enjoyed the respect due an artist and 
 man of substance. I had saved a good deal of money, for 
 I had never squandered any in foolish gifts, nor wasted any 
 in ridiculous pleasures, nor but I do not wish to boast. 
 
 "That's a wonderful thing to brag about" whispered 
 Bodkin to Bojohn. 
 
 One morning, a balmy morning in spring, I was sitting 
 cross-legged on my worktable at the rear of my shop, busily 
 plying the needle, when a stranger, richly dressed, entered 
 my open door from the street, and approached me, bowing 
 courteously. He was a handsome man, wearing a short 
 beard; and I remarked with surprise, by contrast with his 
 beard, that he was utterly without eyebrows. 
 
 "Sir," said he, "have I the pleasure of addressing the 
 renowned Solario, whose genius has caused our city to be 
 envied wherever art is prized?" 
 
 I confessed that I was the person. 
 
 "My master," he went on, "is a nobleman, to whose 
 ears the rumor of your skill and taste has penetrated, al- 
 though he lives in retirement and hears not much of the 
 outer world. I trust that you are at liberty to undertake 
 a piece of work for him?" 
 
 I assured him that I was. 
 
 "My master," he proceeded, "is, I must warn you, un-
 
 4 SOLARIO THE TAILOR 
 
 able to satisfy himself, in the matter now in hand, with less 
 than absolute perfection. Already he has been disap- 
 pointed in some eight other tailors, and he has learned of 
 your superlative excellence with much hope; and in order 
 that he may assure himself how well his report of you is 
 justified, he has commanded me to entrust to you a small 
 commission; to wit, to sew on this button." 
 
 I was greatly mortified at this lame conclusion of so 
 promising a speech ; I suspected that the stranger was mak- 
 ing game of me; but his manner was so respectful that I 
 held my peace, and watched him without a word while he 
 took from under his short blue velvet cloak a package, and 
 depositing it before me on my table proceeded to undo it. 
 
 "This old fellow talks like he was writing a composi- 
 tion," whispered Bodkin to Bojohn. 
 
 "Oh, he's a Conceited pumpkin," whispered Bojohn. 
 "He loves to hear himself talk, and I bet you he's thinking 
 we're thinking we never heard such fine language in our 
 lives. That's him, all over." 
 
 The Doublet with the Missing Button 
 
 The package contained a doublet, of a material I had 
 never seen before, very thin and glossy, of a texture like 
 that of wasp's nest but very tough. The doublet contained 
 ten buttonholes, but only nine buttons; one button, and 
 one only, was missing. 
 
 "I have here," said my visitor coolly, "the missing 
 button; and my master will be obliged if you will sew 
 it on."
 
 Solario was sitting on his worktable busily plying the needle
 
 HIS TALES OF THE MAGIC DOUBLET 5 
 
 He produced the button, a large ivory one, which, with 
 the garment, he held up before me in his left hand. 
 
 "Please to hold out your left hand," said he. 
 
 I did so, and with his own left hand he placed the gar- 
 ment and the button in mine. 
 
 "This doublet," said he, "must not pass from one to 
 another but by the left hand. Please to remember that. 
 And now, adieu. I will return to-morrow. Meantime " 
 
 He laid on my table a small purse, and bowing with 
 sober courtesy he left the shop. 
 
 I turned up the purse, and a number of gold coins fell 
 out, enough to pay for sewing on five hundred buttons. 
 "Ah !" thought I. "At this rate I can well afford to gratify 
 my new client's whimsies." 
 
 The next day the courteous stranger returned for the 
 doublet. I delivered it with my left hand into his own 
 left hand, the button being attached firmly in place. He 
 thanked me, and departed; but on the morning after, he 
 reappeared, to my surprise, and as he came in he smiled 
 at me and shook his head at me waggishly. 
 
 "Fie ! master Solario !" said he. "How could you have 
 treated me so? And a mere button, too! Really, my good 
 Solario!" 
 
 He produced the doublet, and showed me that it lacked 
 a button in the same place as before. He held up in one 
 hand the ivory button and in the other a length of thread. 
 I was perplexed. The thread had not been cut, of that 
 I was sure. It was the identical thread, and of the 
 identical length.
 
 6 SOLARIO THE TAILOR 
 
 "You will not blame my master," said the stranger, "if 
 he finds himself a little aggrieved. He had scarcely put 
 on the doublet yesterday when the button came off in his 
 hand. I was commanded to leave it with you once more, 
 together with this trifling honorarium." 
 
 So saying, he dropped a little purse on my table as be- 
 fore, and after putting the garment and its button into 
 my left hand with his own left hand, bowed himself out. 
 I turned up the purse in haste, and poured out a number 
 of gold coins, as before, but this time twice as many. I 
 put away the gold into my coffer, and sewed on the button 
 once more, with special care. 
 
 I whipped the thread around itself under the button, 
 sewed it through the goods, doubled it back through the 
 button, wound it and knotted it and doubled it back, and 
 altogether made such a job of it (however painful to me 
 as an artist) as was perfect for security. 
 
 "/ don't see," interrupted the King, "what all this busi- 
 ness about a button has goJ to do with " 
 
 "// your majesty will pardon me" said the old tailor, "I 
 have not yet reached the end of my story" 
 
 "I'm well aware of it" said the King. "But still I don't 
 see" 
 
 "My dear!" said the Queen, sweetly, and the old man 
 went on with his story. 
 
 Next morning the stranger returned for the doublet. I 
 delivered it into his left hand with my left, and he turned 
 to go. At the door he looked back at me smiling, and 
 was about to bow himself out when he paused to try the
 
 HIS TALES OF THE MAGIC DOUBLET 7 
 
 button with his fingers. A slight frown came over his 
 face; he pulled the button gently, and behold, there before 
 my eyes, I assure you I saw it with these very eyes, 
 the button came off into his hand! 
 
 He sighed, looked at me gravely, and held out the but- 
 ton in one hand and the doublet in the other. 
 
 "Alas, good master Solario!" said he. "You have not 
 treated me very well. The hopes I entertained for your 
 profit are at an end. It remains only for me to apologize 
 for my intrusion, and for you to return to me the money 
 which I left with you." 
 
 This was too much. The idea of returning money which 
 had once been locked safely in my coffer was more than 
 I could bear. I sprang down from my table. "One mo- 
 ment!" I cried. "I beg of you! That I should not be 
 able to sew on a miserable button it is too ridiculous I 
 Let me see your master myself, and prove to him what I 
 can do ! Take me to him at once ! Let him assign me 
 any task whatever, and I swear to you " 
 
 "You wish to see my master?" said the stranger. 
 
 "At once!" I cried. "Do not carry back to him a re- 
 port of me so unjust! I must see him myself!" 
 
 "Be careful what you say," said the stranger. "You 
 may be sorry." 
 
 "Impossible!" said I. "Take me to him at once!" 
 
 The stranger looked at me thoughtfully. "If I take 
 you," said he, "swear that you will never blame me for 
 what may happen." 
 
 "I swear it!" I cried.
 
 8 SOLARIO THE TAILOR 
 
 "You will remember that I warned you?" 
 
 "On my own head be it ! Let us go at once !" 
 
 "Very well, then. The decision is yours, not mine; re- 
 member that. I will return for you to-night, and you will 
 then, if you are still of the same mind, be ready to accom- 
 pany me to my master." 
 
 He tucked the doublet with its button under his cloak, 
 and in another moment he was gone. 
 
 That night, after dark, as I was putting up my shutters, 
 a splendid coach and pair, driven by a black man in a rich 
 but somber livery, stopped at my door, and the smiling 
 stranger descended. I ran into the shop and put on my 
 best attire. Some time before, I had designed and ex- 
 ecuted the coat in which you now see me ; it had been much 
 admired; I put it on, and hastened out to the stranger, 
 who bowed me politely into the carriage. 
 
 During our journey, my companion exerted himself to 
 be agreeable; and I, on my part, fairly unloosed the rein 
 of conversation, an art in which, I confess, I had always 
 taken the greatest pleasure. On this occasion I surpassed 
 myself; I drew upon the mysteries of our noble craft for 
 his entertainment; I was by turns humorous and grave; 
 I was at my best; it would not be too much to say that 
 I sparkled; and in short, when the carriage stopped, I 
 realized that I had taken no note of our route. 
 
 We drew up in a street which was unfamiliar to me. 
 As we alighted, I observed before me a high wall, ex- 
 tending in either direction as far as I could see; and im- 
 mediately at hand a little door in the wall, toward which
 
 HIS TALES OF THE MAGIC DOUBLET 9 
 
 my companion led me. He pulled a bell-rope, and we were 
 at once admitted by a second black man, in the livery I 
 had already seen. I was aware, in spite of the darkness, 
 that we were in a garden, or rather park, of immense 
 dimensions. 
 
 The Dark Mansion in the Walled Park 
 
 I could see the dark outline of what appeared to be a 
 great mansion. There were no lights anywhere. The air 
 was heavy with the perfume of flowers, a cloying perfume, 
 oppressively sweet. We came, after a considerable walk, 
 to the house. At my companion's knock, a door was 
 opened by a servant, black like the other two. 
 
 We entered a narrow hall, and at the end of this hall 
 we reached a door, which was opened by a fourth man- 
 servant, black like the others; and after ascending a flight 
 of stairs, and traversing several spacious apartments, we 
 came to a pause in a small but elegant room, where my 
 companion left me. 
 
 In a moment he returned, and beckoned me to come 
 with him. He opened a door, gently pushed me through, 
 closed the door behind me, and left me, as he advanced, 
 blinking under the light of a hundred candles in a room 
 more superb than any I had ever seen. The colored tiles 
 of the floor, the thick rugs, the curious vases, the pictured 
 tapestries on the walls, I took them all in at a glance; 
 and I was aware at the same time of an aroma like that 
 of the flowers in the garden, but very faint.
 
 io SOLARIO THE TAILOR 
 
 The Tailor Meets the Tall Black Man and His Fair 
 
 Daughter 
 
 At one end of the apartment was a table, loaded with 
 fruit and flowers and wine. At the other end, on a divan, 
 sat a tall and majestic man, dressed in the most exquisite 
 taste. His skin was ebony black. He wore drooping black 
 mustaches, and his hair was long and black; but I ob- 
 served that he was, like the Courteous Stranger, totally 
 without eyebrows. 
 
 At his feet, on a cushion, sat a lady, young and beauti- 
 ful, a lady divinely beautiful, more beautiful than any I 
 had ever seen or dreamed of. Her complexion! it was 
 all cream and roses. Her eyes ! they were blue of the blue- 
 ness of violets, and they were merry and soft together. 
 Her hair! I swear I can see her at this moment. Her 
 hair was of the But I must not allow myself to think 
 of her. The black man and the wonderful lady rose, 
 and my companion presented me. 
 
 "You are welcome, Solario," said the tall black man, 
 smiling graciously. "You have wished to see me, as I 
 hear, and to give me proof of your skill. But we can con- 
 verse better while we refresh ourselves. You observe that' 
 the table is set for four. My daughter has, as you see, 
 already counted upon your company. I hope you will con- 
 sent to accept our poor hospitality." 
 
 We seated ourselves at the table. My host clapped his 
 hands four times, and four serving men entered, bearing 
 the first course. They were black, like the four I had al-
 
 HIS TALES OF THE MAGIC DOUBLET n 
 
 ready seen. They were without eyebrows, and I seemed 
 to remember the same defect in the other four. Eight 
 men servants, all black, and all without eyebrows! I was 
 puzzled; and when I looked from the fair face of the lady 
 opposite me to the black face of her father, I was com- 
 pletely mystified. As for my stranger, he scarcely took 
 his eyes from the damsel; and from the manner in which 
 she now and then returned his gaze, I could see that they 
 were on a footing of tenderness. 
 
 When we were at the end of our repast, and were 
 trifling with our grapes and wine, my black host addressed 
 himself directly to me. I was in a mellow mood; I felt 
 that I could scarcely have denied him anything; and as for 
 his daughter, if she had bade me run for her sake to the 
 ends of the Well, the wine was excellent; I sniffed 
 in it the same aroma I had noticed twice before; and I 
 was in consequence of it in that state of peace which in 
 other circumstances would have preceded slumber. My 
 host leaned toward me in the friendliest attitude. 
 
 The Black Prince Tells His Story 
 
 "My dear Solario," said he, "you are asking yourself, 
 all this while, who I am. I am a Prince, heir to the throne 
 of the distant kingdom of Wen. My skin was formerly 
 white, like my daughter's. It was changed, as you see it) 
 now, by the power of an enemy, and I am awaiting here, 
 in exile, with my daughter and my friend, the release which 
 day and night I dream of. If you are not too weary, I
 
 12 SOLARIO THE TAILOR 
 
 will relate to you the adventure which brought me here 
 and changed my skin." 
 
 "With all my heart," said I; whereupon, without further 
 preamble, he commenced 
 
 THE STORY OF THE BLACK PRINCE 
 
 "Know, most excellent Solario," he began, "that my 
 father the King of Wen called me to him one day, and 
 sitting down with me addressed me as follows. 'My son,' 
 said he" 
 
 "Is it a long story?" asked the King, yawning behind his 
 hand. 
 
 "It is very interesting" said the old tailor. 
 
 "Not what I asked," said the King. "Is it long?" 
 
 "Well, well " said the old man. 
 
 "Then we will hear it another time" said the King. 
 "Pray let us hear what happened to you." 
 
 The old man bowed, quite crestfallen, and proceeded 
 with his story. 
 
 "Oh, shucks" said Bojohn to Bodkin. 
 
 When the Black Prince had concluded his own tale, he 
 paused, and then said to me: 
 
 "Now, Solario, as to those circumstances of my misfor- 
 tune which precede the tale I have just told you, I will, 
 if you consent, call on my good friend here, who was per- 
 sonally concerned in them, to relate them to you." 
 
 Whereupon he nodded to my companion, who at once 
 commenced
 
 HIS TALES OF THE MAGIC DOUBLET 13 
 
 THE STORY OF THE COURTEOUS STRANGER 
 
 "You must know," he began, "that soon after my arrival 
 at the city of " 
 
 "What has this got to do with your being enchanted by 
 the witch?" said the King. 
 
 "Well," said Solaria, "its bearing on what afterward 
 happened to me is perhaps a little indirect, but I assure 
 your majesty that " 
 
 "No, no," said the King. "I never sit up late, and it's 
 getting on toward my bedtime." 
 
 The old man sighed. 
 
 When the Courteous Stranger had finished his story, the 
 Black Prince gazed at me for a moment. 
 
 "Solario," said he, "I will tell you the conclusion of the 
 whole matter in a word. To him who shall deliver me from 
 this spell, I will give five hundred thousand pieces of gold, 
 of the money of your country. And, Solario," he said, bend- 
 ing toward me and pointing at me with his finger, "I be- 
 lieve you are the man." 
 
 Visions of Solario the tailor as the richest man in Verni- 
 croft flashed before my eyes, and left me dizzy. 
 
 "It is a matter of sewing on a button," said the Prince. 
 "I am allowed nine tailors for the trial, on the principle 
 that nine tailors are the equivalent of one ahem ! I beg 
 your pardon. Eight tailors have already essayed it, and, 
 failed. You are the ninth." 
 
 "And what has become of the other eight?" I asked, 
 with some misgiving.
 
 i 4 SOLARIO THE TAILOR 
 
 The Black Prince smiled. "You have already seen 
 them," said he. 
 
 "I?" I exclaimed in amazement. 
 
 Eight Tailors Who Could not Sew on a Single Button 
 
 "Four of them served our table here to-night, and the 
 other four you have met between your shop and this room." 
 
 "The eight black servants?" I cried. 
 
 "Precisely," said the Prince. "I must tell you, that he 
 who fails comes himself under the spell, his skin changes 
 to black, and he remains here with me in my retirement. 
 If you deliver me, you deliver also these other eight. If 
 you fail, you condemn yourself and all of us to everlasting 
 misery. You are our final hope. What do you say?" 
 
 I was becoming almost lightheaded with the prospect 
 of my reward. Perhaps the wine had something to do 
 with it; perhaps it was the Prince's daughter, who smiled 
 upon me bewitchingly. 
 
 "You have already seen my doublet," said the Prince. 
 "So long as it remained intact, no harm could touch me. 
 But my enemy, as I have related to you, succeeded in de- 
 taching from it a single button, and taking away the thread. 
 Instantly all its virtue was gone; I was helpless. To this 
 mischance I owe all my misery; my happiness hangs on 
 a button. Take the doublet, Solario, and find the thread 
 which will withstand sorcery. Three months are allowed 
 you. Here are the doublet and the button; guard them 
 as you would your life; and may you return to receive my 
 thanks and the fortune which awaits you."
 
 HIS TALES OF THE MAGIC DOUBLET 15 
 
 With his left hand he placed the doublet and the button 
 in my left hand. The perfume of the wine seemed to 
 grow heavier; I was very drowsy; I tried to speak; I could 
 not arouse myself; I was conscious of the eager smile of 
 the Prince's daughter, and I knew no more. 
 
 When I came to myself, I was in my bed behind the 
 shop, and it was morning. My first thought was that I 
 had had an unusual dream, but there on the pillow be- 
 side me lay the identical doublet and button, and I found 
 myself wearing the spangled coat of the evening before. 
 I jumped up and prepared my breakfast, but I could not 
 eat. A desperate case I had gotten myself into, indeed! 
 Where on earth should I obtain a thread which would 
 withstand sorcery? And if I should fail ! I pushed 
 aside my food and buried my face in my hands. 
 
 I heard the bell over my shop door tinkle, as if some 
 customer were coming in. I paid no attention. Why 
 had I allowed this hopeless enterprise to be thrust upon 
 me? I was lost. 
 
 The Tailor Is Visited by a Hideous Old Woman 
 
 I heard a cackle of unpleasant laughter. I looked up 
 quickly and saw, sitting at the opposite side of my table, 
 a little old woman, extremely hideous of face, hook-nosed, 
 toothless, and wrinkled, munching her gums and watching 
 me with little, malicious eyes. 
 
 The ancient hag did not leave me long in doubt about 
 her business.
 
 1 6 SOLARIO THE TAILOR 
 
 "Master tailor," said she, "the fortune is yours if you 
 will have it." 
 
 Her voice was like nothing so much as the crackling of 
 dry wood in a brisk fire. 
 
 "Never mind what I know nor how I know it," she went 
 on, answering my thought before I spoke. "What would 
 you give to know where and how to obtain the thread 
 which will hold the button?" 
 
 "Anything!" I cried. "That is, almost anything." 
 
 "Would you marry?" 
 
 I thought of the adorable young lady whom I had seen 
 the night before. 
 
 "Willingly!" I said. "That is, yes, I think" 
 
 "Then I will tell you the condition on which you may 
 have the thread. You must marry me." 
 
 I looked at the frightful old creature; then I laughed 
 and laughed; I could not help it. She arose in a great fury, 
 grasped the crooked stick which she bore with her, and 
 hobbled toward the door. 
 
 "You shall never find it!" she said. "No, never! You 
 shall be a black and penniless outcast! You shall wish 
 you had never been born! You are lost, lost, lost!" 
 
 That terrible prospect sobered me. If this woman could 
 by any chance save me from such a fate, what price would 
 be too great?" 
 
 "Come back," I said, "I will think it over." 
 
 "Speak!" said she. "Will you, or will you not?" 
 
 I looked at her. She was very old. She could not live 
 long, at best. She might not live until the wedding day.
 
 HIS TALES OF THE MAGIC DOUBLET 17 
 
 And if she should, a man of my wealth and power could 
 afterward find the means of mitigating the horrors of 
 such a marriage. 
 
 "How do I know you can perform your promise?" I 
 asked. 
 
 "You need not perform yours until I have performed 
 mine. Come, master tailor, will you or will you not?" 
 
 "I will," said I. "On the day when I receive my for- 
 tune from the Prince, I will marry you. Merciful powers 1" 
 
 "Good," said she. "Now listen to me. The thread 
 which will hold the button is the single black hair in the 
 tail of the white unicorn, Alb, who feeds in the half-moon 
 pasture of Korbi, by the river Tarn. Listen carefully while 
 I tell you what you must do." 
 
 She then gave me the most minute directions; and when 
 she had finished, she arose and hobbled to the door. 
 
 "Stop !" I said. "Tell me who you are, and where you 
 live, and when I shall see you again." 
 
 She answered never a word; she was gone. 
 
 The Jolly Mule Driver and His Sing-Song 
 
 I wrote down all I could remember of her instructions, 
 and went out into the street to cool my burning head. As 
 I stood before the door, I heard a jingling of little bells, 
 and a voice singing and shouting, and saw, coming toward 
 me down the street, a train of five or six mules, driven 
 by a short fellow in a leather jerkin, on foot, who was 
 singing raucously and shouting lustily to his animals. His,
 
 1 8 SOLARIO THE TAILOR 
 
 face was gay and humorous, and he cracked his whip 
 merrily. 
 
 "Good mules for hire I" he sang. "Good mules for 
 hire ! We'll bring you to your heart's desire ! We laugh 
 at rain and snow and mire ! We never lag and never tire ! 
 We thread our way through ice and fire ! Good mules for 
 hire ! Good mules for hire !" 
 
 "Thread!" What did he mean by that word? I stared 
 at him, and as he was passing me he looked at me long 
 and hard, and gave me a slow wink. 
 
 A little while later, as I was ironing a piece of goods 
 within doors, the mule driver himself appeared in the shop. 
 
 "At your service, master Solario!" he cried, gayly. "For 
 a long journey or a short one! If you're thinking of 
 going a journey, I'm your man ! Come, master Solario, 
 the sun is shining, lock up the shop !" 
 
 It seemed a curious piece of good fortune that this fel- 
 low should have appeared almost on the heels of the old 
 woman herself, and the long and short of it was that I 
 hired him for my journey, at so much per week. He agreed 
 to provide the necessary outfit, and we would depart that 
 night. 
 
 My preparations were soon made. The notes I had 
 made of the old woman's directions I sewed inside my vest. 
 I placed in my strong box the doublet and the button, and 
 bestowed the box where it could not be found during my 
 absence. At midnight, my driver appeared. It was a 
 starry night. I locked the shop, and we mounted our 
 mules. Preceded by four other animals, packed with our
 
 HIS TALES OF THE MAGIC DOUBLET 19 
 
 outfit, we quietly moved down the street, past the last 
 houses, and into the forest. My search for the white 
 unicorn had begun. 
 
 Adventures in Search of Alb the Unicorn 
 
 From that night until we came in sight of the river Tarn, 
 far beyond the confines of the Forest Kingdom, the ad- 
 ventures we encountered were numerous and fearful. We 
 spent weeks on this perilous journey. In the second week 
 we came to a dark castle on the side of a mountain. We 
 crossed the drawbridge, which strangely happened to be 
 down, though it was late at night, and blew the horn which 
 hung by the gate. But perhaps it will be unnecessary to 
 detail these adventures? 
 
 "Totally unnecessary," said the King. "I can scarcely 
 restrain my impatience to know how the story ends." 
 
 There are several, however, of extraordinary interest, 
 which you might perhaps be pleased to hear: the adventure 
 of the Roving Griffin, the adventure of the Blind Giant, 
 the adventure of Montesango's Cave 
 
 "Yes, yes" said Bo John and Bodkin, in a loud whisper. 
 
 "No" said the King. "I must beg you to reserve these 
 pleasures for another occasion. I can't sit up all night" 
 
 We reached at last, on a sunshiny morning, the top of 
 a little hill, from which we looked down on a narrow and 
 shallow river, curved at this point outward in a crescent, 
 and beyond it we saw a meadow of some two miles in depth, 
 bounded at the rear by a high cliff, curved also outward'
 
 20 SOLARIO THE TAILOR 
 
 like a crescent, and reaching the river at the right hand 
 and the left of the meadow. The meadow thus enclosed 
 resembled in shape a half-moon. 
 
 "Ah!" I cried. "The river Tarn and the half-moon 
 pasture of Korbi !" 
 
 I left my mule driver, and descended alone to the river. 
 I found a ford, and though the water reached my shoulders, 
 I had no difficulty in wading to the other side. I came 
 there upon the pasture I had seen from the hill. It was 
 green with tall grass, and sprinkled with flowers. I looked 
 about fearfully, but the unicorn was not in sight. Creep- 
 ing cautiously, I made toward the high cliff at the fur- 
 ther side of the meadow. Just before I reached it, I 
 stopped to consult my notes: 
 
 "A circle of white stones on the side of the cliff, higher 
 than a man's reach. In the center of the circle, a blood- 
 red flower growing on a long stem." 
 
 Solario Encounters Alb the Unicorn 
 
 I walked along at the foot of the cliff, and after some ten 
 minutes descried above me the circle of white stones. The 
 wall was perfectly upright, but its surface was rugged 
 enough to give promise of a foothold. I turned my head, 
 and at that instant saw, a short distance away, farther 
 down the line of the cliff, standing knee-deep in the grass 
 and flowers, a small horse, pure white, with a pure white 
 mane and tail, and a sharp-pointed horn in the middle 
 of his forehead.
 
 The unicorn stamped and gave a piercing neigh
 
 HIS TALES OF THE MAGIC DOUBLET 21 
 
 As he saw me, he stamped his hoof and threw his head 
 high. I started for the cliff; he made for the same point, 
 as if to intercept me. I knew that against that sharp horn 
 I should be helpless; it was now a matter of life and 
 death. I ran with all my might; the unicorn came on at 
 a gallop; we approached the foot of the cliff together; 
 his head was down, and I could already in imagination feel 
 his horn in my side; I doubled my exertions; I reached the 
 cliff, and leaped up on the rocks just out of his reach, 
 as he swept by me; I was safe. 
 
 I clung to my perch panting, and then painfully climbed 
 to the circle of white stones. There, in its center, was the 
 blood-red flower. The unicorn was standing below, watch- 
 ing me. When he saw me bend toward the flower, he 
 stamped, shook his mane, and gave a long piercing neigh, 
 as a horse will when he is in pain. I plucked the flower 
 at the root. The unicorn's excitement was extraordinary. 
 He pranced and bounded, shrieking in a manner almt 
 human. I shivered at the thought of going down to him, 
 but it had to be done. I descended carefully, holding the 
 flower out in the unicorn's view. His shrieks subsided 
 into a moaning cry. He shook his head up and down, as 
 if under some strong command. I reached the ground. 
 
 I paused there for a moment, for I confess I was 
 desperately afraid. Little by little I advanced to him, 
 holding out the flower. He pranced and whined. I came 
 within arm's length of his head, and held the flower be- 
 fore his mouth. With a quiver which shook his whole 
 body, he seized it in his teeth. I quickly ran to his tail,
 
 22 SOLARIO THE TAILOR 
 
 and searched there for the single black hair, keeping well 
 away from his heels. Covered by the brush of white hair 
 I found it. I seized it and gave it a mighty jerk. Out 
 it came into my hand. 
 
 The unicorn trembled and tottered; and there in his 
 place before my eyes stood a handsome young man, clad 
 in a suit of soft and exquisite white leather. He fell on 
 his knees before me and kissed my hand. 
 
 "Thanks, brave deliverer!" he cried. "The enchant- 
 ment is broken! I am myself again! How glorious to 
 be free I" 
 
 I raised him from the ground, and led him to a con- 
 venient place, where we sat down and conversed. I placed 
 the precious black hair securely in the lining of my vest. 
 If I on my part was overjoyed, the young man was pos- 
 itively beside himself. He laughed and cried by turns. 
 I was of course intensely curious as to the circumstances 
 of his enchantment. He willingly consented to relate them 
 to me, and as soon as he had composed himself a little he 
 began 
 
 THE STORY OF THE WHITE UNICORN 
 
 "I was born," said the young man, "in the Island King- 
 dom, far out in the Great Sea, the only son of a rich " 
 
 "Never mind, never mind," interrupted the King; "not 
 now, some other time. It's my bedtime. Get on with your 
 own story. We've no time now to listen to " 
 
 "My dear," said the Queen, sweetly, "perhaps if 
 
 you'd"
 
 HIS TALES OF THE MAGIC DOUBLET 23 
 
 "Some other time," said the King. "Not now, not now." 
 
 "Oh, botheration," said Bojohn to Bodkin. "He won't 
 let us hear anything" 
 
 "I think it's too bad," said Bodkin to Bojohn. 
 
 The old man in the spangled coat sighed profoundly. 
 
 When the young man had finished his tale, the day was 
 far advanced. I wished to take him back with me to 
 Vernicroft, but he was anxious to return to the Island King- 
 dom without losing a moment; we crossed the river together, 
 and parted. I have never seen him since. 
 
 We made good speed homeward; all our difficulties 
 seemed to have vanished. At first, I was saddened by 
 the thought of my approaching marriage to the hideous and 
 hateful old hag; but a new thought began to take posses- 
 sion of me, and grew stronger as we rode along from day 
 to day, and my heart soon became lighter. Master as I 
 was of such a key to power as lay secure within my vest, 
 I could marry whom I chose. Why should I marry the 
 ugliest creature I had ever seen, when the most beautiful 
 might be mine for the asking? The more I thought of 
 it, the more indignant I became at the manner in which 
 my easy good nature had been imposed on at every hand; 
 I had been grossly overreached; the bargain was beyond 
 measure unconscionable; the exquisite face of the Prince's 
 daughter haunted me day and night And in short, 
 when we arrived at Vernicroft, my mind was made up; 
 I would not marry the old woman, and I would exact from 
 the Prince a reward far more suitable than the one he had 
 promised.
 
 24 SOLARIO THE TAILOR 
 
 It was just on the stroke of midnight when we reached 
 my shop. I left my driver on the sill, and procuring the 
 necessary gold within, paid him off and dismissed him. He 
 was a merry fellow, and had served me well, though I 
 must say that I had never learned to like his way of cook- 
 ing beans. He bade me a gay farewell, and as I turned 
 back into the shop I looked over my shoulder, expecting 
 to see him with his mules on his way down the street. To 
 my astonishment, there was positively nothing in sight; 
 the street was empty; in that moment the driver and his 
 animals had vanished. 
 
 I entered the shop. The journey had cost me all the 
 savings of my lifetime. But what did it matter? I was 
 about to become rich beyond all my dreams. I lit my 
 lamp and looked about me. There, beside my tailor's 
 bench, sat the old woman herself. Her hands rested on 
 the head of her crooked stick, and her toothless jaws were 
 working. 
 
 "Well," she said, "you have it?" 
 
 "Yes," said I, "I have it." 
 
 "Good," said she. "The Prince's friend has been here 
 many times. He will come to-morrow. I will return to 
 claim you afterward. Good." 
 
 She rose, leaned on her stick, and nodding her head 
 and grinning to herself hobbled out of the shop. My reso- 
 lution to save myself from this outrageous creature be- 
 came absolutely fixed.
 
 HIS TALES OF THE MAGIC DOUBLET 25 
 
 The Button Is Sewed on with the Unicorn's Hair 
 
 I drew out the black hair of the unicorn's tail, and gave 
 myself up to the pleasant task of sewing on the button. 
 It was soon done, and it was well done. Nothing could 
 be more secure. I placed the doublet under my pillow 
 and went to bed. 
 
 In the morning I arose with a light heart. In order 
 that the doublet might be near me, I put it on; and during 
 the day three accidents proved its quality. First, a hot iron 
 with which I was pressing my spangled coat slipped from 
 my right hand and came down squarely on my left, and 
 I felt no pain whatever. Next, a needle pricked my finger, 
 and I was aware of no inconvenience. And last, as I was 
 standing in the doorway, some wicked boys, with whom 
 I was never a favorite, hurled a stone at me, striking me 
 violently on the temple; but its effect was no more than that 
 of a soft cushion. Undoubtedly the unicorn's hair was 
 the authentic thread. 
 
 At nightfall, after I had put up my shutters, I stored 
 the doublet secretly away, and was making ready to go 
 to bed, when a knock sounded at the door, and I admitted 
 the Prince's friend, smiling and gracious as before. He 
 looked inquiringly at me. I bowed and smiled. 
 
 "Yes," I said, "the work is done." 
 
 "The thread?" he cried. 
 
 "I have it, never fear! The work is done." 
 
 He was in a state of great excitement.
 
 26 SOLARIO THE TAILOR 
 
 "Come !" he cried. "The carriage is at the door. Bring 
 it with you. Hurry!" 
 
 In a moment I was in his carriage, with a bundle under 
 my arm. We stopped at the same place as before, and 
 reached by the same route the room where I had first 
 seen the Prince and his daughter. They arose in agitation 
 as I came in, and at a joyful signal from my companion 
 came forward and grasped my hands. Truly the lady was 
 more beautiful than I had dreamed. 
 
 "You have succeeded?" said the Prince. 
 
 "I have!" said I. "Your deliverance is assured!" And 
 I described the accidents from which the doublet had pro- 
 tected me that day. 
 
 "Let us sit down," said the Prince; and when we were 
 all seated, with fruit and wine before us, he begged me to 
 tell my story. 
 
 I told as much as I thought fit, omitting any mention of 
 the old woman. The Prince desired to see the doublet. 
 With my left hand I placed in his left the package I had 
 brought with me. He opened it and held up the con- 
 tents. Alas, it was not the doublet at all, but some in- 
 different garment intended for another client! 
 
 He looked at me in amazement. I was covered with 
 confusion, and begged him to overlook my carelessness. 
 He listened coldly. 
 
 "You will bring the doublet here to-morrow," he said 
 sternly. 
 
 "That is understood," I said. "Meanwhile," I went
 
 HIS TALES OF THE MAGIC DOUBLET 27 
 
 on, fortifying myself with another glass of the perfumed 
 wine, "we may as well discuss the question of my reward." 
 
 "That," said the Prince, "is already settled." 
 
 "The case is altered," I said. "If I had known what 
 lay before me, I could have made more fitting terms; but 
 I was in the dark; the dangers and exertions of my ex- 
 istence since then have changed the case completely. I 
 am sure that you do not wish to deal with me unjustly. 
 Think what my service means to you! In your place, 
 I should think nothing too precious for my deliverer." 
 
 A dark frown came over the Prince's face. 
 
 "What is it you demand?" said he. 
 
 The Prince Receives the Tailor's Terms 
 
 "I demand nothing," said I. "But if you wish to have 
 the doublet and be restored to yourself, your country, and 
 your people, I shall ask only three things : one million pieces 
 of gold, this house, and your daughter's hand in marriage." 
 
 All three jumped to their feet. I sat calmly. At a look 
 from the Prince, his daughter and the Courteous Stranger 
 sat down again. They were both very pale. 
 
 "These are your terms?" said the Prince. "You are 
 resolved on this?" 
 
 "Inflexibly," I said. 
 
 "Then we must consider," said he. "When you bring 
 the doublet to-morrow you shall have my answer. For 
 the present, let us dismiss the subject." 
 
 His command of himself was superb. He began to talk
 
 28 SOLARIO THE TAILOR 
 
 lightly on indifferent subjects, and as he talked his voice 
 became gradually more distant, and I grew drowsy; I 
 knew I was falling asleep. I remember nothing more until 
 I awoke the next morning in my own bed. 
 
 To my surprise, the old woman did not appear at all 
 on that day. On the whole, the time passed pleasantly. 
 I had no doubt the Prince would accept my terms. I 
 reveled in the 'happiness which was so soon to be mine. 
 
 At night, dressed in my spangled coat, and with a bundle 
 under my arm, I sat in the shop waiting for my stranger. 
 I was too wise to take with me the true doublet, and you 
 may be sure the bundle contained a substitute. It would 
 be time enough to deliver the magic garment at the wed- 
 ding. It reposed meanwhile under lock and kejy, con- 
 cealed beyond the possibility of discovery. 
 
 It was late when the stranger appeared. He conducted 
 me to the Prince and his daughter in chilly silence. The 
 Prince was standing, and his daughter sat on the divan, 
 her chin in her hand. 
 
 "You have brought the doublet?" said the Prince. 
 
 "First," I said, "do you accept the terms?" 
 
 "I must see the doublet," he said. 
 
 With my left hand I placed the bundle in his left hand. 
 He opened it. When he saw its contents, he turned on me 
 with a face like a thunder cloud. 
 
 "What!" said I. "Another accident? Well, it's of no 
 consequence. The doublet is safe, perfectly safe. It will 
 be placed in your hands at the wedding. Do you con- 
 sent?"
 
 HIS TALES OF THE MAGIC DOUBLET 29 
 
 The Magic Doublet Is Suddenly Produced 
 
 He clapped his hands. A door opened behind the 
 divan, and I could scarcely believe my eyes in hobbled, 
 with her crooked stick, the old woman whom I had pledged 
 myself to marry. I was speechless with astonishment. 
 The Prince clapped his hands again. From other doors 
 entered the eight black tailors whom I had seen before. 
 The ancient hag approached the Prince, and drew forth 
 from her dress the doublet which I had left securely locked 
 and hidden at home ! I saw it closely; it could be no other. 
 With her left hand she laid it in the left hand of the 
 Prince. 
 
 In an instant he had put it on. When he had buttoned 
 the last button, a startling change came over him and the 
 eight black tailors. All their faces grew a mottled blue, 
 then red, and then the natural color of healthy white skin. 
 
 At the same time the room began to contract. The ceil- 
 ing came slowly down and stopped just above my head. 
 The walls came slowly together, and as they reached the 
 Prince, his daughter, the Courteous Stranger, and the eight 
 tailors, gave way to them, so that all these persons passed 
 from view on the outer side, and I was left alone with 
 the hideous old woman, with the walls coming in upon 
 us by degrees until I thought we should be crushed. 
 
 I became dizzy; I sank in terror upon the chair which 
 stood beside me. The walls came on from all four sides 
 until the place wherein I sat was no bigger than a cup- 
 board, and there they stopped. I breathed a sigh of relief,
 
 30 SOLARIO THE TAILOR 
 
 and attempted to rise. To my horror, I could not move. 
 
 The old woman pointed a skinny finger at me and gave a 
 loud and angry laugh which sent a chill up and down my 
 spine. She moved her finger about in strange figures. She 
 mumbled to herself a torrent of meaningless words; and 
 passing through the door which remained before me in 
 one wall of my cabinet, she left me, and closed the door 
 behind her. The closet began to rock; it seemed to rise, 
 and in a moment I knew that it was flying with me through 
 space. . . . 
 
 Thus, your majesty (said the old man in the spangled 
 coat), I came to be imprisoned in my cell beneath the For- 
 est Pool. There I sat, unable to move or speak, for nearly 
 a hundred years, until the happy day when I was delivered 
 by the excellent Prince, your grandson; and for the refuge 
 which has been accorded me in your majesty's castle I now 
 tender to your majesty my grateful thanks, and 
 
 "Eh? What? Did you say something?" exclaimed the 
 King, waking up from a sound slumber, and rubbing his 
 eyes. "Oh, yes. I see. Very interesting. Very interest- 
 ing. Something about a button, wasn't it? Bless my soul, 
 I'd no idea it was so late. It's long past my bedtime. 
 Pm always late for breakfast when I stay up past my 
 Mortimer, will you see to it that the castle windows are 
 locked for the night? My dear, I think we will have bacon 
 and eggs in the morning; and if it's at all possible, I'd 
 like to have a piece of toast that isn't burnt. The audience 
 
 is now over."
 
 THE SECOND NIGHT 
 
 ALB THE UNICORN 
 
 ^lOLARIO the Tailor was sitting at the open window 
 i j of his room in the northeast tower of the castle, look- 
 ing out at the stars which glittered in a clear sky 
 over the Great Forest. He sighed, and rising wearily lit 
 the candles on his table; and at that moment there came a 
 knock on his door, and Bo John and Bodkin entered, rather 
 timidly. 
 
 "If you please, sir " said Bojohn. 
 "Pray be seated," said Solario, and they all sat down. 
 "It's a warm evening," said he. 
 
 "We thought" said Bojohn, "that you might perhaps 
 be willing to tell us one of the stories that you " 
 
 31
 
 32 SOLARIO THE TAILOR 
 
 "It's very warm this evening, indeed," said Solario. 
 "Quite oppressive." 
 
 "If it wouldn't be too much trouble," said Bodkin, "we'd 
 like you to tell us about " 
 
 "/ don't know when I've felt the heat so much," said the 
 old tailor. "But then it's the idleness. If there were only 
 something to do, there wouldn't be so much time to think 
 about the weather." 
 
 "Last night, sir," said Bojohn, "you were obliged to 
 leave out some parts of your story, and we thought " 
 
 "If I only had a few good ells of cloth on my table, and 
 a man like well, say like Mortimer the Executioner, to 
 ^exercise my art on, I'd be the happiest man alive; but as 
 it is, sitting here with nothing to do " 
 
 "There was one tale you mentioned," said Bojohn, "about 
 
 "It's a very fine thing to be a Knight of the Silver Lamp," 
 said Solario, "but there doesn't seem to be much connected 
 with it in the nature of work. If I could only be employed 
 in making a suit of clothes for Mortimer the Executioner! 
 There's a subject! The biggest man I've ever seen in my 
 life, and the hardest to fit! That would be an undertaking 
 worthy of my genius. Dear, dear!" 
 
 "I'll speak to grandfather about it," said Bojohn. "I'm 
 sure he'll let you make a suit for Mortimer. But what we 
 would like to know is " 
 
 "We 1 d like to hear one of the stone's," began Bodkin 
 again, "that the King made you leave out last night 
 when "
 
 HIS TALES OF THE MAGIC DOUBLET 33 
 
 "It made no difference to me, I assure you," said Solario, 
 stiffly. "None whatever." 
 
 "But if you would only tell us " said Bodkin. 
 
 "I do not wish to annoy any one with my dull tales" 
 said Solario. "Far from it; far from it indeed, I assure 
 you." 
 
 "But there was one" said Bojohn, "about a griffin; 
 what kind of a griffin did you say it was?" 
 
 "I believe, if I remember correctly, it was a Roving 
 Griffin; but his majesty your grandfather " 
 
 "Oh, never mind grandfather" said Bojohn. "Tell us 
 about the " 
 
 "I'd rather hear the one about the giant" said Bodkin. 
 
 "You probably have reference to the Blind Giant," said 
 Solario. "But" 
 
 "Then there was one," said Bojohn, "about some cave 
 or other." 
 
 "The Cave of Montesango," said Solario. "I remember 
 it only too well. But I could n't tell you that; it would be 
 too terrible. You wouldn't be able to sleep in your beds 
 to-night" 
 
 "Then tell us that one!" cried the two boys, together. 
 
 "No," said Solario. "The King would never approve 
 
 if i-" 
 
 "Grandfather isn't here now," said Bojohn. "Please " 
 "Perhaps," said Solario, "I might tell you the story con- 
 cerning the But I fear it would bore you" 
 "No! no!" cried the boys.
 
 34 SOLARIO THE TAILOR 
 
 "Then I might perhaps tell you the story of Alb the 
 Unicorn, only " 
 
 "Yes! yes! Tell us about the unicorn!" 
 
 "You are sure it will not weary you?" 
 
 "Not a bit!" said Bojohn. 
 
 "Would you mind, sir" said Bodkin, "leaving out the big 
 words?" 
 
 "I shall willingly endeavor to gratify your reasonable 
 predilection for lucidity" said Solario. 
 
 "Sir?" said Bodkin. 
 
 "Never mind" said Bojohn. "Let him go on." 
 
 "Ahem!" said the old man, clearing his throat. "I will 
 give you as much of it as I can remember, as it was told me 
 by the young man in the white leather suit while we were 
 sitting in the half-moon pasture of Korbi by the river Tarn, 
 after I had delivered him from his enchantment. You are 
 sure it will not weary you?" 
 
 "Go on! Go on!" 
 
 "Then I will begin" said Solario, settling himself back at 
 his ease, and folding his hands across his stomach, 
 
 "THE STORY OF ALB THE UNICORN." 
 
 You must know (said the young man to me) that I am 
 called Alb the Fortunate. I was born in the Island King- 
 dom, far out in the Great Sea, the only son of a rich gold- 
 smith. I lived with my parents, by whom I was tenderly 
 loved, in the principal city of that kingdom, in which city, 
 on a height overlooking the island, stood the castle of the 
 King.
 
 HIS TALES OF THE MAGIC DOUBLET 35 
 
 Alb the Fortunate and the Princess Hyla 
 
 My father, whose skill in his art had caused him to be 
 valued highly by the King, was a familiar figure at the castle, 
 and I had there, in company with my mother, become ac- 
 quainted with the young Princess Hyla, the King's only 
 child, a beautiful and amiable girl some two years younger 
 than myself. We were even permitted to play together in 
 the gardens of the castle, for the King was in no wise proud, 
 but on the contrary made a point of treating his subjects with 
 a friendliness which endeared him to them all. I need 
 hardly tell you that from the earliest moment I knew that I 
 loved the little Princess. 
 
 I grew thus in time to be twelve years old. Although my 
 parents had done for me all that love could devise and 
 money could effect, I had caused them much uneasiness. My 
 disposition was unnaturally gloomy; I scarcely ever smiled; 
 my mind was filled with terrors, I knew not why; I would sit 
 for hours in moody silence; the games of other boys did not 
 amuse me ; and I would find myself at times weeping bitterly, 
 for no reason whatever. 
 
 All that my parents could do to divert me availed nothing; 
 I continued to be a misery to myself and to them. They 
 feared for my health; their wealth no longer gave them any 
 pleasure; and an atmosphere of gloom settled down upon 
 their house. Sometimes my mother would look mourn- 
 fully into my eyes while she smoothed back the yellow hair 
 from my forehead; and I knew that she would willingly 
 have given all that she had to make me happy.
 
 36 SOLARIO THE TAILOR 
 
 On my twelfth birthday it chanced that I was in my 
 father's shop, alone. My mother had gone into the back 
 room, and my father was absent, for the day, at the residence 
 of a distant client. I had been trying all that morning to find 
 some occupation to amuse me, but without success; I had 
 finally given myself up to a restless and discontented idle- 
 ness; and at the moment I was examining in my hand, with- 
 out much interest, a long chain, of extremely fine gold and 
 delicate workmanship, which I had picked up from one of 
 the cabinets in the shop. I was in the act of placing it back 
 in its case, wondering what I should do next, when a strange 
 figure entered the door from the street, and approached me. 
 
 A Tattered Old Beggar Comes to the Goldsmith's Shop 
 
 It was an old man, evidently a beggar, a huge man, fat 
 and heavy, his face covered by a gray beard which hung to 
 his waist, and his eyes, which were very bright, almost 
 hidden by shaggy eyebrows, the longest eyebrows I had 
 ever seen on any human being. A ragged tunic of brown, 
 belted around the middle, hung scantily to his knees ; a bat- 
 tered felt hat flapped over his forehead; and in his hand he 
 carried, for a staff, what seemed to be a yardstick, such as 
 tailors use. From his belt hung a pair of large shears, also 
 of the sort used by tailors. A queer tailor ! thought I. 
 
 "Good morning, master Melancholy," said he, "have you 
 a mind for trade this morning?" 
 
 The idea of this poor creature's pretending to be a cus- 
 tomer at such a shop as ours was too absurd. I could not 
 restrain a little toss of the head.
 
 "There is something here," said the old beggar, "which I wish to buy"
 
 HIS TALES OF THE MAGIC DOUBLET 37 
 
 "So?" said the old man. "Is that what you think? 
 Nevertheless, there is something here which I wish to buy." 
 He looked around the shop. "I wish to buy a chain, a gold 
 one ; and I see none that pleases me so much as the one you 
 are holding behind your back. Will you sell it?" 
 
 I was astonished that he should have discovered the chain, 
 which I could have sworn was hidden from his eyes. I drew 
 it forth and held it up. 
 
 "Be so good as to let me see it," said the old man; and 
 at the same time he took it from me, before I could snatch 
 it away. 
 
 "What may the price be, my young merchant?" said he. 
 
 I was trembling with anxiety, but I thought it best to end 
 the whole matter by naming the price, which I found on the 
 card which remained in the cabinet. 
 
 While I hesitated, the horrid creature gazed at me with 
 his glittering eyes through his tangled eyebrows, and ran his 
 fingers down his beard like a comb. 
 
 "The price," I said, "is four thousand gold florins. Now 
 please give me back the chain." 
 
 "The price is high," said the old man, "but I will take it." 
 
 "Then give me the money," said I. 
 
 "Money?" said he, with an air of great surprise. 
 "Money? But I have no money." 
 
 "Then how are you going to buy the chain?" said I. 
 "Give it back to me." 
 
 "I will buy it, nevertheless," said he. "I will give you 
 what is better than money." 
 
 "What is that?" said I, suspiciously.
 
 38 SOLARIO THE TAILOR 
 
 "I will give you," said he, "whatever you would like best 
 in the world." 
 
 "Then give me back the chain." 
 
 "Think !" said he. "What would you like best in all the 
 world, for your very self?" 
 
 "Nothing," I said, ready to cry. "I want the chain back. 
 If you don't give it to me," I said, angrily, "I will call my 
 mother." 
 
 "With all the pleasure in the world," said the impudent 
 old rascal. 
 
 I was now ready to cry in good earnest. 
 
 The Old Man Proposes a Strange Bargain 
 
 "But I advise you to listen to me, my young friend," went 
 on the dreadful creature. "You may make a wish, if you 
 will; and if you don't, I will. If I keep the chain, you shall 
 make the wish; if you keep the chain, I will make it; but I 
 warn you, if I make the wish, I shall wish you harm ! such 
 harm that you would rather be dead than alive! Come 
 now, will you sell me the chain for a wish?" 
 
 "I can't," I said, "I can't." And I began to cry. 
 
 "Then you would like to be crippled all your life? To 
 find vipers in your bed every night? To see the Princess run 
 away from the sight of you? To suffer a sharp pain in your 
 ears, to have all your drink turn to " 
 
 "No, no !" I cried. "Please don't, please don't !" 
 
 "Then you had better sell me the chain. What would you 
 like best in the world?"
 
 HIS TALES OF THE MAGIC DOUBLET 39 
 
 "Oh, I want to be happy! I want to be happy! I'm so 
 miserable !" 
 
 "You really wish to be happy?" 
 
 "Oh, yes! If I could only be happy, always happy!" 
 
 "Think well. I can grant you that wish, if you really 
 wish it." 
 
 "I wish I could be happy, always happy!" 
 
 "The wish is granted. You shall be happy; after this day 
 you shall be nothing but happy, always. It is done. The 
 chain is mine." 
 
 "Oh, please! If you will only wait one moment! Just 
 one! I must call my mother 1" 
 
 I ran to the door of the back room, and called my 
 mother. She came at once, alarmed by my outcry. To- 
 gether we turned back into the shop, toward the spot where 
 I had left the old man. He was gone. 
 
 I dragged my mother to the shop door, and we looked up 
 and down the street. There was no sign of him. I ran from 
 one corner to the other. He was nowhere in sight. I 
 returned to my mother and threw myself on her breast and 
 wept. 
 
 "The chain I" I sobbed. "It is gone !" 
 
 While she tried to comfort me I told her the story. She 
 wrung her hands. "What will your father say?" 
 
 That evening, when my father heard what had hap- 
 pened, he was very angry. He was a kind man, but he 
 scolded me so severely that I crept up to bed weeping, with- 
 out any supper. I had never been so miserable, I cried my- 
 self to sleep.
 
 40 SOLARIO THE TAILOR 
 
 When I awoke in the morning, sunshine was streaming 
 in through the window. I sprang out of bed. A fat spar- 
 row was hopping on the window sill, and when he saw 
 me he cocked his head at me in the jolliest manner pos- 
 sible. I whistled to him, and laughed after him as he flew 
 away. 
 
 While I was dressing, and humming a tune the while, I 
 suddenly remembered that I had gone to bed in tears for the 
 loss of my father's golden chain; but I laughed as I thought 
 of it, for the loss seemed pitifully small, and my father's 
 anger over it was quite ridiculous. I went on with my tune, 
 and stood before the mirror with a hairbrush in my hand. 
 I began to brush my hair; and I cannot deny that as I looked 
 at its yellow and somewhat curly abundance I thought of 
 the Princess with complacency. 
 
 Now it happened that the most serious work of my life, 
 on which I had then been engaged for more than six months, 
 had been the training of my hair to lie in a flat sweep back- 
 ward from my forehead. I had devoted much patient labor 
 to this work; it required that I should wear on my head all 
 day a tight skullcap, and I even suffered to the extent of 
 wearing it in bed at night, when I could do so without my 
 mother's knowledge. I now shook my hair from my fore- 
 head with a quick backward toss of the head, in a manner 
 which always made my father look at me in alarm, and 
 proceeded to brush it straight back with vigorous strokes 
 of the brush.
 
 HIS TALES OF THE MAGIC DOUBLET 41 
 
 The Three Black Hairs in the Yellow Head 
 
 I was in the act of applying a small quantity of dry soap, 
 when I looked at my yellow head in the mirror a trifle more 
 attentively. My gaze became fixed; and as I held my head 
 close to the glass I was astonished to see there, among the 
 yellow strands, three coarse black hairs, very distinct, one 
 in the middle and one on either side. 
 
 They did not suit me very well, and I accordingly, with 
 some trouble, plucked each of them out by the root. 
 
 Before leaving the room, I gave a final glance of satis- 
 faction at myself in the mirror, and a final touch of the brush 
 to my hair. I stopped suddenly, fixed with astonishment; 
 the three long, coarse black hairs, which I had but a few 
 moments before plucked away, lay there as before, one in 
 the middle of my head and one on either side. 
 
 I could not understand it in the least, but after all, what 
 did it matter? I could not allow myself to be bothered by 
 such a trifle. I ran downstairs singing merrily. 
 
 At breakfast, I found myself prattling of a thousand 
 things, and I was surprised to remark the confusion with 
 which my parents received my sallies. In the midst of my 
 talk, my mother whispered with sudden excitement into my 
 father's ear; I did not hear what she said, but I saw his 
 eyebrows rise and heard him blow out his lips in a long- 
 drawn "O-oh!" as if a light had dawned on him. And 
 after that they responded gayly to my chatter, and we had 
 altogether the merriest meal we had ever had in our lives. 
 
 After breakfast I accompanied my father to the castle,
 
 42 SOLARIO THE TAILOR 
 
 where I sought out the Princess Hyla, and found her weep- 
 ing beside one of the fountains in the garden, because her 
 ball had fallen into the water which filled the wide marble 
 basin. I laughed at her, for she did seem comical enough. 
 She stamped her foot angrily at me, but this only made me 
 laugh the more. I jumped into the pool and brought back 
 the ball. She looked at me as if in bewilderment, and cried, 
 "What are you laughing at? Are you crazy?" Far from be- 
 ing offended, I laughed more merrily than before. 
 
 The King was much pleased with my little service to the 
 Princess, and after our departure my father assured me 
 that I had advanced markedly in the King's regard. Every- 
 thing, in short, was going well. 
 
 From that day, my unfailing spirits rejoiced my parents 
 more and more as time went by; their house rang with my 
 merriment; my mother became more youthful in appear- 
 ance; and as I grew older I became known throughout our 
 city for the brightness of my face and the liveliness of my 
 talk, and I was everywhere in demand. It is true that the 
 three long black hairs continued in their places on my head, 
 and my mother looked at them at times, as it seemed to me, 
 with uneasiness; but I laughed at her; and although I some- 
 times plucked these hairs from my head, I did so only for 
 the amusement of seeing them reappear in their places as 
 before. 
 
 Alb Wins the Promise of the Princess's Hand 
 
 When I was sixteen years of age, a circumstance befell 
 which I was able to turn to good account. The Princess
 
 HIS TALES OF THE MAGIC DOUBLET 43 
 
 Hyla one night unaccountably disappeared. The King was 
 strangely disturbed by this incident, and though I could not 
 quite understand the reason for so much perturbation, I re- 
 solved to rescue the Princess and restore her to her father's 
 arms, if I could. This I was able to do, in the course of a 
 very singular adventure, and in reward the King promised 
 me her hand in marriage. I will now relate to you, if you 
 wish it, the adventure by which I rescued the Princess from 
 the strange fate which involved her; it is the adventure, as 
 I may call it, of 
 
 THE RAGPICKER AND THE PRINCESS 
 
 It happened (said Alb the Fortunate) that the King, with 
 his daughter, sojourned for a time at his castle of Venta- 
 mere, beside the Great Sea ; and my father and myself, being 
 lodged in the town hard by, 
 
 "On second thoughts" said Solario, interrupting himself, 
 "I will not relate this tale just now. It is too long. It will 
 be better to go on with " 
 
 "But we'd like to hear it now," said Bojohn. 
 
 "No" said Solario, firmly, "it will be much better to tell 
 it some other time." 
 
 Thus (said Alb, when he had finished the story of his 
 adventure), I restored the Princess, with the assistance of 
 the One-Armed Sorcerer whom I have mentioned, and in 
 gratitude the King took the One-Armed Sorcerer to dwell 
 with him in his castle in our own city, and promised to me 
 the hand of the Princess in marriage when I should come of 
 age. Truly things were going well with me.
 
 44 SOLARIO THE TAILOR 
 
 A Trifling Incident Disturbs Alb's Mother 
 Some two years later, when I was just past my eighteenth 
 birthday, an incident occurred in our household which 
 caused my mother much disturbance. My father died. He 
 had left the house on horseback in the morning, for a 
 journey to the country on a matter pertaining to his business. 
 In the evening, after the shop was closed, a loud knock 
 brought my mother and myself to the door in haste. A 
 crowd was gathered at the entrance, and on a litter carried 
 by two men lay my father's body; and in this manner he was 
 borne into the shop. His horse had thrown him and his 
 neck was broken. 
 
 My mother threw herself upon him and wailed. She tried 
 to arouse him ; she talked to him as if he were alive ; she even 
 went so far as to try to call him back to life. I was at first 
 greatly astonished at her behavior, and then it struck me as 
 being excessively ridiculous. To think of trying to call 
 back the dead to life ! It was highly amusing. I felt a tide 
 of merriment rising within me. I laughed. 
 
 I have never seen on any human being's face the look 
 of horror which my mother turned on me when she heard 
 my laugh. She crouched away from me in fear. Her sob- 
 bing ceased, and her eyes remained fixed on me; they grew 
 wider and wider; I began to wonder how long they could 
 stare so without winking. I glanced at the others in the 
 room, and was surprised to see that no one else even so much 
 as smiled. It was useless to remain longer in a company so 
 dead to the brighter things of life. I controlled my good
 
 HIS TALES OF THE MAGIC DOUBLET 45 
 
 humor and composed my features, and patted my mother 
 affectionately on the shoulder; but she recoiled from my 
 touch; and without appearing to take her inconsiderate be- 
 havior in ill part in the least, I left the room. 
 
 Unreasonable Conduct of the Goldsmith's Widow 
 
 It astonished me afterward to observe that my mother 
 met my customary gayety with coldness, for she had always 
 seemed to take great pleasure in it. She grew very gloomy 
 indeed. I could not discover any reason for it, but I did 
 what I could to cheer her by my own liveliness. For some 
 reason or other, my father's death appeared to have a de- 
 pressing effect on her. I made my jokes and sang my songs 
 as usual, but she reached such a state in a few months that 
 she would scarcely speak to me, but on the contrary spent 
 most of her time in her room, alone. 
 
 I noticed, in the course of time, a slight change in the 
 manner of my customers and friends. The former trans- 
 acted their business briefly, without an unnecessary word; 
 and the latter appeared to avoid me, as if they scarcely 
 wished to know me any longer. It was very amusing. 
 
 In less than a year after my father's death, my mother 
 died. It was thought by some that my father's death had 
 something to do with her decline, but how that could be I 
 never could understand. 
 
 The Merrymakers Are Suddenly Sobered 
 
 The night of the day on which she died was the night 
 fixed for a feast at the house of one of my friends. After
 
 46 SOLARIO THE TAILOR 
 
 looking for a moment into the room where she lay, I dressed 
 myself carefully for the occasion, and found myself thrilled 
 with pleasant anticipation. 
 
 A large and merry company met at table at my friend's 
 house; I talked in my best manner; and whatever coldness I 
 might have observed before was dispelled in the general 
 gayety. Toward the close of the banquet, I chanced to 
 remark across the table that my mother had that day died. 
 The effect of this remark was astonishing. As it passed 
 from one to another, silence fell upon the company. 
 
 I wondered if I had made some blunder. I endeavored 
 in vain to relieve the awkwardness of the moment by chang- 
 ing the subject and commencing a story with which I had 
 never failed to provoke a laugh; but in this case it provoked 
 not so much as a smile; I was absolutely perplexed. The 
 party soon broke up in what appeared to be confusion, 
 and I went home to enjoy in my own room the recollection 
 of those lugubrious faces. 
 
 When I was twenty-one, I was married to the Princess, 
 and thenceforth the castle was my home. I sold the business 
 which my father had left me, and settled down to a life 
 of unbounded bliss with my dear Hyla, whom as a wife I 
 found even more adorable than I had dreamed. 
 
 I became the life of the castle. The faces of my new 
 acquaintances always brightened in my company; I was the 
 only one in that glittering society who never knew a dull 
 or uneasy moment; my presence was like a ray of sunshine 
 in the court. 
 
 I noticed after a while that the Princess, my wife, began
 
 HIS TALES OF THE MAGIC DOUBLET 47 
 
 to respond to my constant gayety more carelessly; at times 
 she would sit and look at me vvonderingly, I knew not why. 
 
 One day she asked me to accompany her on a little excur- 
 sion in the city. She did not tell me where she meant to go, 
 but I asked nothing; it was enough to be with her. I could 
 not conceal my surprise, however, when she stopped our car- 
 riage at the entrance to the city's poorest quarter; but I 
 had no doubt she had planned some pleasant diversion, and 
 I followed her, talking in my liveliest manner all the while. 
 She herself was quite silent. 
 
 She led me from one hovel to another, for more than an 
 hour. In one we saw a sick child lying on a pallet of straw 
 on a dirt floor, and around him his mother and sisters and 
 brothers, all weeping absurdly; I rallied the mother on it in 
 the pleasantest way possible, but she did not take it in very 
 good part. In another we found an old man, blind and 
 alone, without food and without wife or child, talking to 
 himself in a gibberish which was truly laughable; I tried, 
 for sport, to talk to him in the same sort of gibberish, but 
 though it was excellent sport, I saw that for some reason or 
 other it did not amuse my wife, so I led her away. In 
 another place we saw a man who was evidently overcome by 
 wine, and who appeared to be in terror of certain vipers 
 and spiders which, as I ascertained, existed nowhere but in 
 his own imagination. This man was the prize of the whole 
 collection; I amused myself with him for a long time; and 
 I was altogether so greatly diverted that the Princess had 
 some difficulty in dragging me away. 
 
 On the way home, I commented on what we had seen with
 
 48 SOLARIO THE TAILOR 
 
 a drollery which I had thought sufficient to draw a smile 
 from a stone; but the Princess was unmoved; she sat in 
 stony silence, and when we reached the castle she went at 
 once to her room, and I saw her no more that day. 
 
 Not long afterward, a beautiful boy was born to us; and 
 in course of time he grew to be the finest child of his age 
 in the Island Kingdom ; there were many who said so, even 
 to his mother. 
 
 He was two years of age, when on a certain day in sum- 
 mer his mother sent him into the gardens with a nurse, while 
 she remained with me in conversation in her room. Some 
 half hour later, I was telling her an amusing story, which 
 I had recently heard, when the door burst open, and a man- 
 servant rushed into the room carrying our boy, dripping 
 wet, in his arms, and laid him in his mother's lap. The 
 child was dead. The nurse had left him beside the same 
 fountain pool from which years before I had rescued his 
 mother's ball, and in her absence he had fallen into the 
 water. The Princess turned pale and screamed; she clasped 
 the child to her breast and rocked him back and forth ; she 
 spoke to him as if he were still alive, and even tried to call 
 him back to life. 
 
 I smiled at her delusion. I put my hand on her shoulder 
 and shook her gently. She looked up at me with streaming 
 eyes, and saw the bright and smiling look on my own face. 
 
 "Come, my dear," I said kindly, laughing quietly as I 
 spoke, "there is no use talking to him like that, you know. 
 You must be reasonable. The dear little fellow is dead, that 
 is all. Surely there is nothing in that to disturb you ? Look
 
 HIS TALES OF THE MAGIC DOUBLET 49 
 
 at me. I'm not disturbed. I can't understand what you 
 find in this to bother you. Come, let the good man take him 
 away to another room, and I will go on with the story I was 
 telling when we were interrupted." 
 
 She rose slowly, never taking her eyes from me, and 
 hugging the child closer backed away from me, and sud- 
 denly turned and fled from the room. I smiled to myself at 
 the whimsical nature of women. 
 
 It was a long time before she would speak to me; and 
 although I did not permit this to ruffle me, I waited with 
 some impatience for her explanation. I was of course 
 reluctant to blame her too much without giving her an op- 
 portunity of explaining her conduct. I was accordingly 
 pleased when she took me aside one day and asked to speak 
 with me in private. She sat down before me in her room 
 and looked me steadily in the eyes. 
 
 The Princess Finds Her Husband Bewitched 
 
 "Alb," said she, "this can go on no longer. You are be- 
 witched." 
 
 I smiled indulgently. "I am not aware of it," I said. 
 
 "Tell me," she said, earnestly, "what are those three 
 black hairs in your head?" 
 
 "Oh, those ! They are nothing. I found them there 
 after the old beggar had pretended to grant me a wish, 
 long ago." 
 
 "What old beggar? Now I am learning something! 
 Tell me about the old beggar and the wish !"
 
 50 SOLARIO THE TAILOR 
 
 "What does it matter? He was a ragged old fellow, 
 with shaggy eyebrows, carrying a yardstick and tailor's 
 shears, and I sold him a fine gold chain for a wish, and 
 right angry my father was, too. But I was only twelve 
 years old, you know." 
 
 "Why have you never told me this before? What was 
 the wish?" 
 
 "The wish? Oh, I wished I wished I might be per- 
 fectly happy, always; always happy; a pretty good wish, 
 I think." 
 
 "A terrible wish ! A frightful wish ! Tell me tell me 
 have you ever wept since you were twelve years old?" 
 
 "Of course not. How absurd. There has never been 
 anything for me to weep about." 
 
 "That's it! That's it! That's the curse! You can't 
 weep ! You 've got to be cured of happiness ! Cured of 
 happiness!" 
 
 This idea was so preposterous that I laughed loud and 
 long; but while I was still laughing she took me by the 
 hand and led me into a distant part of the castle, where I 
 had never been before, until we came to the foot of a 
 narrow, winding stair in a tall tower. 
 
 We climbed the stairs, and stopped at last, panting, on 
 a little landing before a door. The Princess knocked, and 
 without waiting for an answer opened the door and drew 
 me in after her. We were in a small, circular room, evi- 
 dently at the very top of the tower, from the windows 
 of which I could see far across the city and beyond the 
 distant mountains to the Great Sea.
 
 HIS TALES OF THE MAGIC DOUBLET 51 
 
 Alb and the Princess Visit the One-Armed Sorcerer 
 
 In the center of this room was a spinning wheel, and 
 before this spinning wheel was the One-Armed Sorcerer 
 whom I had met in the adventure which had gained me 
 the Princess for my wife ; a spare old man, with bright blue 
 eyes in a rosy face and long white hair and beard, and 
 clothed in a blue gown spangled with silver stars. He 
 rose, smiling at us kindly, and motioning us with his only 
 hand (his left) to sit down; and when we were seated, 
 the Princess told him the story of the old vagabond who 
 had granted me a wish. 
 
 He nodded understandingly, and the Princess said: "We 
 have come to you for help. Will you help him get rid 
 of his curse?" 
 
 I laughed merrily. "I'm pretty well satisfied as I am," I 
 said. "I don't wish to be cured of anything." 
 
 "And yet," said the One-Armed Sorcerer, "you ought to 
 want to be cured. Your trouble is, that you can't weep. 
 Let me tell you something. When people can weep, it 's 
 because there 's some good in them. When they can't 
 weep, it's because all the good in them is frozen up hard. 
 Nobody can weep all the time, any more than anybody can 
 be happy all the time, unless it 's a bewitched creature like 
 yourself. I 'm not sure which would be worse, to weep 
 all the time or to be happy all the time ; but one thing I 'm 
 sure of, and that is that it 's best for us all to have a little 
 weeping and a little happiness, sometimes the one and 
 sometimes the other, woven together in all shades of light
 
 52 SOLARIO THE TAILOR 
 
 and dark; and if you want to come out in a beautiful pat- 
 tern at last, there 's no other way to do it. Laugh and 
 weep ; weep and laugh ; that 's the whole story, and a fine 
 story it is too, and well worth having a part in." 
 
 "Oh!" cried the Princess, who was now weeping softly, 
 "will you help him to have a part in it like the rest of us?" 
 
 "I 'm very comfortable as I am," said I, smiling. 
 
 "Do you know," said the Princess, "how to cure him?" 
 
 "I can tell him how to cure himself," said the sorcerer. 
 
 "Then please tell us at once !" said the Princess. 
 
 "There is danger in it," said the sorcerer. 
 
 "Danger doesn't bother me," said I, beginning to take 
 an interest. 
 
 "Good," said the sorcerer. "Then I will tell you. Have 
 you ever heard of the half-moon pasture of Korbi, by the 
 river Tarn?" 
 
 Neither of us had ever heard of it. 
 
 "It lies far beyond the Great Sea. Would you like 
 to make a journey there?" 
 
 "That would be jolly!" I cried. 
 
 "The half-moon pasture of Korbi is the end of your 
 journey, where you will get rid of the third black hair, 
 and be cured." 
 
 "What?" I cried in astonishment. 
 
 "Yes, the third of the three black hairs in your head." 
 
 I had forgotten all about them. Certainly this was a 
 knowing old sorcerer.
 
 HIS TALES OF THE MAGIC DOUBLET 53 
 
 The Old Man of Ice, the Laughing Nymph, and the 
 Great Horned Owl 
 
 "I will tell you," he went on, "what those three black 
 hairs are. The one on the left side of your head is the 
 Old Man of Ice, who lives in the Great Cave near the top 
 of Thunder Mountain, in this very island. The one on the 
 right side of your head is the Laughing Nymph who lives 
 in the Three-Spire Rock on the farther shore of the Great 
 Sea. The one in the middle of your head is the Great 
 Horned Owl, whose feathers are scales so hard that no 
 spear can pierce them, and who lives at the top of the cliff 
 at the far side of the half-moon pasture of Korbi. You 
 must not touch the Old Man of Ice. You must not laugh 
 with the Laughing Nymph. And you must not speak when 
 you see the Great Horned Owl." 
 
 "I don't like this very much," said the Princess. 
 
 "Nonsense, my dear," said I. "It sounds very exciting." 
 
 "Do you know what a burning glass is?" went on the 
 sorcerer. 
 
 "Yes," said I. 
 
 He went to a chest beside the wall, and took from it a 
 small, round, thick piece of glass, and placed it in my left 
 hand. 
 
 "There is only one thing that can destroy the Old Man 
 of Ice, and that is a hot beam from the sun. Before you 
 go into his cave, hold this burning glass with your left 
 hand up to the sun. The rays it catches will remain in 
 it for seven minutes, and no longer; and if you can then
 
 54 SOLARIO THE TAILOR 
 
 within those seven minutes, holding the glass in your left 
 hand, fix those rays on the Old Man of Ice, he will be 
 destroyed, and you will get rid of the black hair on the 
 left side of your head." 
 
 He went to his chest again, and returning put into my 
 left hand a sharp brass pin, some three inches in length. 
 
 "With this pin," he said, "you must make the Laugh- 
 ing Nymph weep. You must plunge it, with your left 
 hand, deep into her left arm, and while she is weeping 
 you must flee away; and thus you will get rid of the black 
 hair on the right side of your head. But if you laugh 
 with her, or remain until she stops weeping, you will never 
 return." 
 
 He took from his spinning wheel a thread some yard 
 and a half long, and holding it in his teeth made fast a 
 large loop at one end. He then placed the thread in my 
 left hand. 
 
 "This loop," he said, "you must throw over the head 
 of the Great Horned Owl with your left hand. When 
 you have done so, he will follow you; you must lead him 
 into the river Tarn, and hold him there until he drowns; 
 and thus you will get rid of the black hair in the middle 
 of your head, and be cured forever. But the owl, though 
 he is blind by day, has very sharp ears. You must not 
 let him hear your voice." 
 
 The Burning Glass, the Brass Pin, and the Loop of Thread 
 
 He then gave me the most minute directions how to 
 reach the Great Cave, the Three-Spire Rock, and the half-
 
 HIS TALES OF THE MAGIC DOUBLET 55 
 
 moon pasture of Korbi ; and I thereupon placed in my pocket 
 the burning glass, the pin, and the thread, and drew the 
 Princess after me to the door and down to my room, where 
 I immediately began my preparations for departure. 
 
 That night I left. The Princess wept on my shoulder, 
 but I laughed gayly, and ridiculed her fears. 
 
 "Don't you feel sorry," she said, "to leave me?" 
 
 "Come, dearest," I said, "you mustn't begrudge me a 
 little adventure. Don't be selfish." 
 
 She straightened herself up. "Yes," she said, "I think 
 you had better go." 
 
 I did not understand this sudden change, but I kissed 
 her and said: 
 
 "Did you pack my white leather suit?" 
 
 "Yes, it is in the saddlebag, and extra shoes. Be sure 
 to change if you get your feet wet." 
 
 I kissed my hand to her from the saddle and gave my 
 horse the rein. I was off upon my adventure. 
 
 At the end of two days I came to the village which 
 lies at the foot of Thunder Mountain. It was a bright 
 day, and the sun was hot. As I trotted briskly through 
 the village street, a child of three or four years ran from 
 the door of a house directly to the front of my horse and 
 under its feet; and in an instant the horse had knocked 
 him down and trampled over his body. I looked round, 
 and heard the child cry out in pain; but I was intent on 
 what lay before me, and too happy in my new career to 
 be bothered with trifles, and I sped on rapidly, and was 
 soon well up the mountainside.
 
 56 SOLARIO THE TAILOR 
 
 I came to a place among the rocks and bushes where 
 there was no longer any trail, and there I tied my horse 
 and left him. I kept in view, as I climbed higher and 
 higher, a great, gray rock, shaped like a dome and as big 
 as a house, which projected from the very top of the 
 mountain. Under this rock, as I knew, lay the cave of the 
 Man of Ice. 
 
 The higher I climbed, the steeper grew the ascent; trees 
 became fewer and at length there were none; I looked 
 abroad and saw, beyond the intervening mountains, the 
 Great Sea afar off, wrinkling in the sunshine. I came at last 
 to a point so high that I was quite dizzy when I looked down. 
 Around me were only bowlders; there were not even any 
 bushes, nor birds nor squirrels; nothing but rocks and sun- 
 shine. 
 
 He Hears Thunder In a Clear Sky 
 
 I stopped suddenly and listened. A distant rumble of 
 thunder came from the top of the mountain. I was, as 
 I may say, thunderstruck; for there was not a cloud in the 
 sky. As I mounted higher, the rolling of thunder be- 
 came louder and louder; and when I reached, as I did 
 at last after hours of toil, the dome-shaped rock at the 
 top, thunder crashed all about me with a deafening roar, 
 although the sky remained as clear as before. 
 
 I halted at the foot of the great rock, and commenced 
 the task of finding the entrance to the cave. The surface 
 of the rock seemed quite unbroken; but I found at length, 
 near the ground, a single crack, about an inch in width.
 
 HIS TALES OF THE MAGIC DOUBLET 57 
 
 I inserted my fingers, but I could not budge it; and re- 
 membering the directions given me by the sorcerer, I cried 
 out, "In the name of the sun ! I command you, open !" 
 
 The rock beneath the crack began to move, and be- 
 fore my astonished eyes it fell slowly inward, leaving a 
 gaping hole, just wide enough to admit my body. 
 
 I did not delay. I took the burning glass from my pocket 
 and held it up in my left hand to the sun, and when I 
 thought it well filled with the sun's rays I crawled in 
 through the hole. When I was inside, the opening closed 
 behind me, and I was in utter darkness. It was very cold, 
 and the noise of thunder was louder than before. I 
 was surprised to see at a little distance a single spot of 
 light, which flickered here and there as I crept on; but I 
 soon observed that it came from the burning glass which 
 I was still holding in my left hand. 
 
 He Goes Down into the Cave in Thunder Mountain 
 
 I was aware that I was going downward. The farther 
 I went, the louder became the thunder. I must have de- 
 scended thus for a minute or two, when a gust of cold 
 air swept my face, and, finding the floor level, I stood 
 up. The sound of thunder was now deafening, beyond 
 anything I had yet heard. 
 
 As I stood there, a great mass of what appeared to 
 be ice, larger than my body, rolled past me and disap- 
 peared in the darkness. I jumped aside, and walked on. 
 In another moment a mass of ice like the first fell at 
 my side and rolled away; a rush of the bitterest cold air
 
 58 SOLARIO THE TAILOR 
 
 accompanied it; and as it struck the ground a crash of thun- 
 der shook the place, and its sound, as it rolled away into 
 the dark, was the sound of thunder rumbling afar off among 
 the mountains. 
 
 I now understood the origin of the thunder I had heard 
 in the clear sunlight outside. I pointed my burning glass 
 upward, and I was able to make out dimly, in the ceiling, 
 great numbers of these bodies of ice, hanging there like 
 stalactites, but rounded at the bottom and very slender 
 at the top, so that they appeared to hang by little more 
 than a thread. As I stumbled on, one after another of 
 these fell to the ground with a crash and rolled away 
 with a decreasing rumble. There was no telling when one 
 of them might fall on me, and I could only trust to luck. 
 There was nothing to do but to get forward as quickly 
 as possible; time was flying, and even if I should escape 
 these thunder stones, I had only three or four minutes of 
 my seven left. I darted blindly on, and the ice came crash- 
 ing about me faster and faster, until I thought my head 
 would split with the noise. Once or twice I was nearly 
 struck. How I escaped I do not know, for it became 
 certain that the thunder stones were dropping closer and 
 closer around me, as if they were trying to halt me. And 
 all the time the cold was becoming so bitter that my feet 
 and legs were already numb. 
 
 I suddenly found myself walking on a slippery film of 
 ice, and at that moment I knew that I had cleared the 
 chamber of thunder, and had left that danger behind me; 
 the noise abated to a distant rumbling.
 
 HIS TALES OF THE MAGIC DOUBLET 59 
 
 The ice on which I walked was very thin, and at every 
 step it crackled under me; and I could just make out the 
 sound of the rushing beneath it of a torrent of water. I 
 stepped lightly and quickly, seeing nothing but the black- 
 ness of night before me. I ran. The ice swayed and 
 crackled and ripped; and just as it gave way under me 
 and my foot plunged in the freezing water, I found my- 
 self again on the solid floor of the cavern, and ran with 
 all my might. I could see nothing of walls or ceiling. I 
 was lost in the dark. 
 
 In another moment I was aware of a kind of vague pale- 
 ness afar off before me, and I ran in that direction. As I 
 did so, the paleness, whatever it was, moved swiftly to 
 the right, and I changed my course accordingly. It then 
 moved to the left, and as fast as I changed my course 
 it moved also; evidently it was trying to avoid me. I 
 gained on it, and it seemed then to try to pass me on one 
 side and get in my rear; but I was too quick for it, and 
 came up with it before it had quite passed me. I came 
 within ten feet of it, and saw what it was. 
 
 He Pursues the Man of Ice with the Burning Glass 
 
 It was the Man of Ice. He was running about like a 
 cornered rat: a perfectly formed old man, his face and 
 head hairless, and his whole body of solid ice. He ran 
 jerkily; I could hear his joints crackle as he ran; and he 
 was almost transparent, and of a pale, greenish bright- 
 ness. His fingers were stiff and pointed, like icicles; and 
 his eyes were like little white marbles.
 
 60 SOLARIO THE TAILOR 
 
 When he found that he could not pass me, he ran back 
 into the cave; but we were evidently near its rear wall, 
 and in a moment he was darting back and forth against 
 this wall, for all the world like a cornered rat. I kept after 
 him, and flashing the burning glass constantly in his di- 
 rection forced him at last into a corner. He turned upon 
 me there, and stretched out his long stiff fingers and made 
 as if to spring upon me. I knew that if he should touch 
 me I should be lost; it must be now or never; I turned the 
 burning glass full upon him, and before he could spring its 
 little spot of light flickered upon the center of his breast. 
 
 The change which came over him nearly caused me to 
 drop the glass. The top of his head melted away before 
 my eyes and dripped down over his ears; his eyes, his 
 nose, his cheeks, his chin, turned one after another to 
 water and flowed down over his shoulders, and as I moved 
 the beam of sunlight lower and lower he slowly melted 
 away from shoulder to foot, and was no more than a wet 
 spot on the floor. 
 
 He Commences to Make His Escape from the Cave 
 
 I turned swiftly to make my way out of the cave. As 
 1 did so the light from my burning glass went out, and 
 the cave was suddenly flooded with pure sunlight, from 
 what source I could not make out. I was in a vast, vaulted 
 chamber, which I did not remain to examine. I sped to a 
 wide opening which I saw before me, and passing through 
 it came to the side of a little brook bordered with golden- 
 yellow flowers. I waded across the brook; its water was
 
 HIS TALES OF THE MAGIC DOUBLET 61 
 
 as warm as milk. On the other side I entered the thunder 
 chamber, now well lit with sunshine, and there I paused 
 in amazement. It was in perfect silence. The air was 
 mild and balmy. In place of the terrible stones of ice, 
 thick green vines clung to the ceiling. I gave a shout of 
 joy, and ran to a little opening which I saw on the farther 
 side. Through this I crawled, and on my hands and knees 
 ascended the passage down which I had first come, and 
 arrived at the entrance to the cave, now closed. "Open 1" 
 I shouted. u ln the name of the sun, I command you, 
 open!" The rock fell outward, and I crawled through 
 into the light of day. 
 
 I had gone quite a mile down the mountainside before 
 I realized that there was no sound of thunder; I looked 
 up at the top of the mountain and paused to listen; all 
 was silent, sunny, and peaceful. I had accomplished my 
 first adventure with complete success. 
 
 When I reached the village at the foot of the mountain, 
 my first thought was of the child whom my horse had in- 
 jured earlier in the day. I dismounted, and after a few 
 moments' inquiry found where he lived. I was admitted 
 to the house by his mother, who led me to an inner room, 
 where I beheld on a chair by a window an unusually charm- 
 ing little fellow, with his left arm in a splint. I sat down 
 before him and took him on my lap and held him care- 
 fully in my arms. He took to me at once; and I was 
 pleased to feel, as his warm little body pressed close to 
 me, a decided warmth creep slowly and gently into my 
 own heart. I forced the mother, who was poor, to accept
 
 62 SOLARIO THE TAILOR 
 
 from me the only amends I could make : a purse of gold 
 from my belt, bestowed with a warm shake of the hand. 
 As I said good-by, I glanced at the mirror which hung 
 upon the wall. I went up to it, and looked more intently. 
 The black hair which had been on the left side of my 
 head was gone. 
 
 I pressed on the same night, and arrived in due time 
 at the town of Ventamere, on the shore of the Great Sea. 
 I bought a boat, not too large to be handled by a single 
 man, and rigged with a single sail of a charming orange 
 color, somewhat patched with blue. 
 
 Like all the islanders, I knew well how to manage a 
 boat, and I could see that my little bark was entirely sea- 
 worthy. I provisioned her for a long voyage, being mind- 
 ful, of course, of the return. With a light and favorable 
 wind above and an ebbing tide, I set sail. 
 
 He Sails Across the Great Sea 
 
 As I cleared the bay and encountered the long, smooth 
 roll of the Great Sea, I thought, sitting with my hand on 
 the tiller, of the dear Princess whom I had left behind 
 me. I remembered that I had charged her with selfish- 
 ness, and I began to doubt whether I had been altogether 
 just. For the first time within my memory, I felt a little 
 uneasy on the subject of my own conduct. However, this 
 shadow lasted only a moment. I sang as I sailed. 
 
 The weather was superb, and the sea, under moderate 
 winds, never rose above a long and quiet swell. During 
 the entire voyage there was nothing more exciting than
 
 HIS TALES OF THE MAGIC DOUBLET 63 
 
 an occasional gull on easy wing circling about the peak of 
 my mast, and the flying fish now and then skimming low 
 across the surface of the sea. 
 
 As I neared the far shore of the Great Sea, the green 
 of the water became a deep indigo, and I could not but 
 rejoice in the lovely effect amidst that expanse of rich color 
 of the orange of my sail. I had held the course pre- 
 scribed by the sorcerer, and I knew that I should pick 
 up the Three-Spire Rock on sighting land. 
 
 It came to pass as I expected. My faithful boat slipped, 
 early of a luminous evening, into the placid waters of a 
 little bay. On either hand a promontory of noble height 
 jutted out into the sea, and from the shallow water near 
 the shore, against the inmost curve of the beach, rose in 
 three pinnacles a great, black rock, washed by a gentle 
 and surfless tide, and towering above as tall as the masts 
 of a ship : the Three-Spire Rock, beyond a doubt. 
 
 I ran my boat almost up to the beach, the tide being 
 at flood, and anchored there. I put on my fine white 
 leather suit, as being suitable for the visit I had now to 
 make, and waded ashore with a line which for further 
 security I made fast to a log partly imbedded in the sand. 
 I then climbed upon the shoreward side of the Three- 
 Spire Rock, and began my search for the Laughing Nymph. 
 
 I examined every inch of that side of the rock as far 
 as I could climb, without finding any sign of an opening. 
 I made my way slowly around the rock to the seaward 
 side, examining it carefully as I went, still without suc- 
 cess. I reached the outer side of the rock in despair.
 
 64 SOLARIO THE TAILOR 
 
 The light of day was fast waning, and I would soon be 
 forced to give up my search for the night. The water, 
 which swelled and receded noiselessly about the rock, be- 
 came black and unfriendly. It was very lonesome. Not 
 a gull nor curlew nor sandpiper could be seen anywhere. 
 The place was too silent altogether. I pressed along the 
 seaward face of the rock. 
 
 Before me, at a little distance, the tide had filled to 
 the brim a sort of bowl in the rock, open toward the bay, 
 in which the water stood some five or six feet deep. I 
 came to this bowl and paused to select the best way for 
 clambering round it. I looked down into the still water 
 which filled it, and saw there a sight which almost made 
 my heart stop beating. 
 
 He Finds a Child in a Pool of the Rock 
 
 Floating there was the body of a drowned child. I gave 
 a cry of pity and stooped down to look at him. It was 
 a naked boy of some two years, exceedingly beautiful. I 
 stooped lower and gazed into his upturned face. It was 
 the face of my own child. 
 
 It .could not be ; I had myself seen him, with my own 
 eyes, far from here, in his mother's arms, many months 
 ago, and yet, the longer I gazed upon him, the more 
 certainly I knew that it was my own child. I could not 
 be deceived. I leaned down closer and put my arms un- 
 der him and drew him up and folded him to my breast. 
 He was cold and wet, but beautiful beyond anything I had 
 ever dreamed of him. I stood up, and held his cheek
 
 HIS TALES OF THE MAGIC DOUBLET 65 
 
 against my own. It seemed to me I had never known 
 until this moment how dear he had been to me. I leaned, 
 almost fainting, against the face of the rock, and rested 
 his fair round body in my arm for a moment against a 
 smooth shelf in the wall. His little shoulder lightly touched 
 the rock; and where it touched, a slight depression seemed 
 to appear, as if the rock had been a cushion. As I looked, 
 the depression grew deeper and wider; it deepened and 
 widened until it became a hollow vault, in which I could 
 see nothing but darkness. 
 
 Holding the fair boy close to my breast, I stepped into 
 the dark vault, and walked carefully forward toward the 
 interior of the rock. In a moment the passage made a 
 turn to the right, and I found myself in a brightly lighted 
 room with a peaked ceiling, very lofty, whose floor and 
 walls were all of mother-of-pearl. In sconces on the walls 
 were hundreds of burning candles, and divans and chairs 
 covered with the richest silks were ranged beneath them. 
 A door in the opposite wall stood open, and I entered 
 through this another room of the same kind, with peaked 
 ceiling, candles, mother-of-pearl, and all. As I stood in 
 this room I heard the tinkling of a musical instrument and 
 the singing of a voice. A door stood open opposite me 
 as before, and through this I entered a third room, pre- 
 cisely like the others, and stopped in amazement. There, 
 on a divan against the wall, under a blaze of candles, sat 
 my wife.
 
 66 SOLARIO THE TAILOR 
 
 The Laughing Nymph In the Three-Spired Rock 
 
 She was singing gayly and accompanying her song upon 
 a lute. When she saw me she laughed merrily and bade 
 me sit down beside her. I remained standing where I was, 
 doubting whether I had lost my senses, and hugging the 
 beautiful child to my breast. There was no mistake. It 
 was my wife indeed. I forgot for the moment the strange- 
 ness of the encounter, and went to her and held out the 
 child. 
 
 "See!" I cried. "Have done with laughing! Your 
 child! He is drowned! I have brought him to you! 
 See!" 
 
 She looked at me with such merriment in her face as 
 I had never seen there before. She laughed again and 
 again. I thought she would never have done laughing. 
 I was petrified with horror. 
 
 "Stop !" I cried. "I must make you understand me ! It 
 is your child! Do you understand? Can you look at him 
 and laugh? For shame, for shame!" 
 
 She calmed her laughter somewhat. 
 
 "Why, what is there in that," she said, "to make me 
 weep? If you only knew how ridiculous you look! Oh, 
 dear !" And she went off into a peal of laughter gayer 
 than before. 
 
 "Take him!" I said. "Look down at that little face, 
 and smile again if you dare!" And I laid him in her lap. 
 
 She took him up carelessly and placed him out of her 
 way on the divan.
 
 HIS TALES OF THE MAGIC DOUBLET 67 
 
 "Really," she said, "you mustn't expect to disturb me 
 with these things. I was singing a lovely new song when 
 you came in. Listen!" And she took the lute in her 
 hands and began to sing a stave of her song. 
 
 I felt a wave of anger rise within me. I rushed upon 
 her blindly and tore the lute from her hands and dashed 
 it on the floor. I seized her shoulders and shook her 
 violently; and the more violently I shook her the more 
 she laughed. I bethought me of the pin which lay in 
 my pocket, and at the same time there flashed into my mind 
 what the sorcerer had said about the Laughing Nymph; 
 I had quite forgotten them both. I snatched the pin 
 forth from my pocket with my left hand, and closing my 
 eyes plunged it deep into the left arm of the Laughing 
 Nymph. 
 
 She did not scream with pain, but her laughter instantly 
 ceased. She looked at me with surprise, as if she were 
 now seeing me for the first time. An expression of 
 reproachful sorrow came over her face; tears started 
 into her eyes and rolled down her cheeks; and sud- 
 denly she buried her face in her hands and wept bitterly. 
 She arose, and threw herself on her knees beside the child 
 and called to him wildly, sobbing as if her heart would 
 break. 
 
 I looked on for a moment with my brain in a whirl. A 
 strong impulse of love and pity moved me to put my arm 
 around her and comfort her; but I restrained myself, and 
 in that moment I saw what it all meant; I left the Laughing 
 Nymph still weeping beside the child, and fled.
 
 68 SOLARIO THE TAILOR 
 
 The Second Black Hair Is Gone 
 
 Outside, on the beach, under the stars, I collected my 
 disordered wits. I went to the little cabin in my boat, and 
 gazed at myself in the mirror which hung upon its wall. 
 My eyes were unnaturally large and hollow; my cheeks 
 were pale; and the black hair which had been on the right 
 side of my head was gone. 
 
 I gathered together such provisions as I could carry, 
 and seeing that the boat was well secured, I departed 
 upon my third and last adventure. 
 
 Many days I traveled. The sorcerer had given me my 
 course with much particularity, and there was no question 
 of losing my way. My thoughts were sad company, and 
 yet I felt a kind of elation. I began to look back on my- 
 self with horror, and to remember the sweetness of my 
 Princess with admiration and love. 
 
 One morning I ascended a long wooded hill and stood 
 upon its top. Below me, at no great distance, lay a river, 
 curved at this point outward like a crescent. On its far- 
 ther side stretched a field some two miles deep, grown high 
 with grass and flowers, and bounded at its rear by a high 
 cliff whose walls at either end met the river, enclosing the 
 field so that its shape, between them and the river, was 
 roughly that of a half-moon. It was, without a doubt, 
 the pasture of Korbi, beside the river Tarn. The time for 
 my last adventure had arrived. 
 
 I descended rapidly to the river, first leaving my pack 
 in a safe place, and waded across the stream; it came to
 
 HIS TALES OF THE MAGIC DOUBLET 69 
 
 my shoulders, but I had no difficulty in reaching the other 
 side. I pressed forward through the tall grass to the 
 foot of the cliff. I walked along its base until I found 
 above me on its face, somewhat higher than my reach, a 
 circle of white stones; and by this I knew that it was at 
 this point that I must climb. 
 
 The ascent was excessively difficult. I mounted, with 
 great pain, to a point so high that I no longer dared 
 look below; I fixed my eyes on each crevice and cranny 
 as they appeared above me, and tried to think of nothing 
 but my next step upward. I was nearing the top. I looked 
 up, and saw directly overhead a great bowlder which pro- 
 jected from the face of the cliff, evidently at its very sum- 
 mit. This was the bowlder of which the sorcerer had spoken 
 as the abode of the Great Horned Owl. A dozen more 
 painful steps brought me to the under side of the bowlder. 
 I clung to the cliff with both hands, and without a sound 
 crept along its face until I was out from under the bowlder 
 on its left side, and then climbed noiselessly upward until 
 I stood beside the bowlder so as to look across its top. 
 There I saw, at my right, the object of my search. 
 
 The Great Horned Owl Stands Ready for the Loop of 
 
 Thread 
 
 The Great Horned Owl was standing motionless, his 
 wide eyes staring across the valley of the Tarn. I was 
 thankful that in that bright light of the sun he was blind. 
 He did not turn his head in my direction, and he was 
 evidently unaware of my presence. His feathers, as I
 
 70 SOLARIO THE TAILOR 
 
 could see, were flakes or scales of some shining metal. 
 He looked harmless enough, and I felt myself full of con- 
 fidence. 
 
 The hand which was nearest him was my right. Hold- 
 ing on to the cliff with my left, I took from my pocket, 
 with my right, the thread which the sorcerer had given me, 
 and cleared the loop so that I could drop it over the crea- 
 ture's head without tangling. I leaned across the bowlder 
 toward him, keeping very quiet, and brought my right 
 hand with the loop so close to him that I could have touched 
 him. With that hand I held the loop above his head and 
 began to lower it. It came down closer and closer; it 
 reached the top of his head; I held my breath; my eyes 
 were fixed on his; I lowered the loop another inch or two, 
 until it came to his curved beak, without touching him; 
 and I was about to drop it over his neck, when suddenly 
 he flapped his wings and fluttered his feathers all together; 
 and all the little metal plates on his body striking one an- 
 other gave off a rattling discharge of sharp reports, so 
 violent that I thought the cliff was being blown to pieces. 
 I jumped with fright, and scarcely refrained from uttering 
 a cry; but I held my tongue, and dropped the loop around 
 his neck. 
 
 Instantly the metal feathers were still and the noise 
 ceased, and the owl turned his head slowly toward me 
 and stared straight into my face; and as he gazed at me, 
 all at once it came to me that I had dropped the noose 
 with my right hand instead of my left. I was aghast at 
 my mistake. I tugged at the thread frantically, but the
 
 HIS TALES OF THE MAGIC DOUBLET 71 
 
 owl did not budge. I began to grow dizzy. My arm 
 tingled and grew numb. Everything turned black before 
 my eyes. I could not remember where I was. I swayed 
 and lost my balance; I felt myself falling; I clutched wildly 
 for support, but touched nothing; I felt myself falling 
 through space, falling, falling, as a person falls in a dream, 
 for hours as it seemed, sick and dizzy.. Only once did I 
 touch anything, and then I felt in my knee a sharp pain, 
 and was conscious that I was bleeding from a cut; and then 
 I knew no more. 
 
 When I came to myself, I was standing at the foot 
 of the cliff, where I had commenced my ascent. I looked 
 upward, and wondered that I was alive after such a fall. 
 As my eye traveled downward and rested on the circle 
 of white stones above me I noticed in their center a little 
 splotch of blood, evidently from my knee where it had 
 been cut in my fall ; and as I continued to look, the splotch 
 grew into a blood-red flower, waving on a long stem. I 
 felt a strange desire to take the flower in my teeth and 
 tear it. 
 
 Alb Sees in the River the Reflection of a Unicorn 
 
 I wondered whether anything had happened to the hair 
 in the middle of my head. I went to the river, and looked 
 down at myself in a clear pool near the bank. I was sur- 
 prised to see there the reflection of a small white horse's 
 head. I turned round, to see the animal which must have 
 been looking over my shoulder. No animal was there. I 
 could not understand it. I looked again at the surface of the
 
 72 SOLARIO THE TAILOR 
 
 water; the same head met my gaze; a small white horse's 
 head, and in the center of it a sharp, white horn. I looked 
 behind me again, and again into the river. I stood in 
 the water, and saw there the full image of the little white 
 horse. It was myself. 
 
 Thus (said the young man, sitting in the half-moon 
 pasture of Korbi, by the river Tarn), you know my story. 
 I have kept count of the days since my enchantment, and 
 they now amount to two years; the age of my little soft 
 when he was drowned. You have taken from me the third 
 black hair, and I shall now fly back to my beloved Princess, 
 cured of the curse of perpetual happiness, to spend with 
 her the remainder of my days in blessed light and shadow, 
 peace and storm, laughter and tears. 
 
 "1 wonder" said Bojohn thoughtfully, after a moment's 
 silence, "who the old man was who gave him the curse in 
 the first place" 
 
 "Did Alb tell you" said Bodkin, "who the old man 
 was?" 
 
 "No," said Solario; "I don't believe he ever knew. But I 
 happen to know, myself, because it was revealed to me in 
 the course of the story which was told me by " 
 
 "Tell us! Tell us!" cried the two boys. 
 
 "No," said Solario, "it is much too late, and I must 
 now, if you will permit me, bid you good night"
 
 THE THIRD NIGHT 
 
 THE SON OF THE TAILOR OF OOGH 
 
 r j iHE King was engaged with the Master of the 
 i Wardrobe in a game of chess in the throne room, 
 and the Princess Dorobel (the King's daughter) 
 and her husband Prince Bilbo were looking on. 
 
 In the next room the Queen was at dominoes with the 
 Second Lady in Waiting, and Prince Bojohn (her grand- 
 son) and his friend Bodkin came and stood behind their 
 chairs. 
 
 "Grandmother" said Bojohn, "wouldn't you like to 
 hear a story?" 
 
 "Not now, my dear," said the Queen, and she put down 
 a double five, smiling at the Lady in Waiting. 
 
 "Come along, then" said Bojohn to Bodkin. They went 
 into the throne room, and stood behind the King's chair. 
 
 73
 
 74 SOLARIO THE TAILOR 
 
 "Grandfather" said Bojohn, "would n't you like to hear 
 a story?" 
 
 "You made a fatal mistake in moving your knight" said 
 The King. "I will now move my bishop and put you in 
 check. So!" 
 
 "Grandfather!" said Bojohn. "Would n't you like 
 to" 
 
 "Take your time, take your time" said the King. "If 
 you move out of check, I 'II have you in three moves. See 
 if I don't!" 
 
 "Grandfather!" said Bojohn. 
 
 "Ah!" said the King. "That's different. Hum. Ha. 
 I didn't think you'd do that. Plague take it, now I've got 
 to think up something else." 
 
 The Princess Dorobel placed her arm around the shoulder 
 of Bojohn her son. She was radiant in a white evening 
 gown, and she wore pearls in her hair. 
 
 "Never mind, my dear" said she, "I'd like to hear a 
 story." 
 
 "And father too!" said Bojohn. "Come along, both 
 of you!" 
 
 The Princess Dorobel put her arm in her husband's, and 
 hurried him away after the two boys, who were already 
 going out at the door. 
 
 They followed the boys through dark halls and up a 
 staircase into the northeast tower, and stopped, all four, 
 before the door of Solario's room. Prince Bojohn knocked, 
 and a voice from within bade them enter. 
 
 Mortimer the Executioner, seven feet tall and vast as a
 
 Mortimer the Executioner was being measured by Solario for a suit
 
 HIS TALES OF THE MAGIC DOUBLET 75 
 
 hogshead around the middle, was standing in his shirt 
 sleeves beside the table, and before him stood Solaria on a 
 chair, measuring him with a tape. On the table lay a pile of 
 cloth, with shears, chalk, needles, thread, and wax. 
 
 Solaria jumped down from his chair and bowed. He was 
 plainly in high good humor. 
 
 "Be seated, be seated, I pray you," he cried, bringing up 
 chairs in a hurry. "This is a great honor; a very great 
 honor indeed. You see me in the midst of my Pray 
 be seated. Will you excuse me while I note down the shoul- 
 der measurement?" He bent over the table, and jotted 
 down some figures in a book. "Mortimer," said he, "you 
 may go now. We will continue our labors in the morning" 
 
 Mortimer, in confusion, hastily put on his coat, which 
 caused a couple of white mice to jump from his pockets and 
 run up his sleeves. 
 
 "Don't go," said the Princess Dorobel. "We are about 
 to ask our good friend Solaria for a story, and I am sure 
 you would like to hear it." 
 
 "Yes," said Prince Bilbo, "we have come to hear another 
 story, if you will be good enough to " 
 
 "The story of Montesango's Cave!" cried both boys, 
 together. 
 
 "Or the Roving Griffin!" cried Bo John. 
 
 "Or the Blind Giant!" cried Bodkin. 
 
 "If you will pardon me" said Solaria, "I think that it 
 would please Prince Bilbo and the Princess better, perhaps, 
 to hear the story told me by the Black Prince on the mem- 
 orable night when "
 
 76 SOLARIO THE TAILOR 
 
 "Don't forget'' said Bodkin, "we want to hear about 
 the old man with the shaggy eyebrows, who got the golden 
 chain away from the goldsmith's son." 
 
 "I will tell you," said Solario, "about the old man and 
 about the Black Prince at the same time." 
 
 "We know nothing," said Prince Bilbo, "about any old 
 man with shaggy eyebrows." 
 
 "I'll tell you, father!" said Bojohn; and he told what he 
 knew. "Now then!" he said to Solario. "Please go on!" 
 
 Solario the tailor seated himself cross-legged on his table, 
 and the others drew up their chairs before him in a row. 
 
 "Has the old man with the shaggy eyebrows" said Prince 
 Bilbo, "something to do with the Black Prince?" 
 
 "Precisely, sir," said Solario. "If you are ready, I will 
 relate to you the story which the Black Prince told me on 
 the memorable night when However. Are you ready?" 
 
 "Dear me!" said the Princess Dorobel. "This is very 
 cozy, indeed." 
 
 "Go on!" cried Bojohn; and Solario, picking up his 
 shears and gazing at them thoughtfully for a moment, be- 
 gan, in the following words, 
 
 THE STORY OF THE BLACK PRINCE 
 
 You must know, most excellent Solario (said the Black 
 Prince) that my father, the King of Wen, called me to 
 him one morning, and taking me into his private cabinet, 
 spoke to me as follows. 
 
 "My son," said he, "you are aware what anxiety I have 
 suffered, throughout my reign, regarding my city of Oogh,
 
 HIS TALES OF THE MAGIC DOUBLET 77 
 
 by reason of its remoteness from my castle. I have, as 
 you know, been unable to visit it since my early youth. 
 It is now some four years since I sent to that city, to gov- 
 ern it in my stead, our friend Urban, so well-beloved among 
 us for his unfailing courtesy." 
 
 "Oh!" said Bo John. "That must be the Courteous 
 Stranger." Solaria said, "Precisely" 
 
 "For many months," continued my father, the King of 
 Wen, "I have had no word from him, and I fear that some 
 misfortune has befallen him. I design therefore, my son, 
 to send you to the city of Oogh, to find out what is wrong, 
 and if necessary to lend him aid. It will be best for you 
 to enter the city without making yourself known. Your 
 mission may be dangerous, and I accordingly wish you to 
 wear this doublet, which will protect you against all harm 
 so long as it remains intact. I know of no power which 
 can remove it from your person, or detach from it even a 
 single button; but I warn you to be careful, for any in- 
 jury to it will deprive it of all virtue, and the consequences 
 to you in that case might be serious. Take the doublet 
 from me with your left hand, and I will tell you how I 
 came into possession of it." 
 
 Thereupon my father with his left hand placed the 
 doublet in my left hand, and commenced 
 
 THE STORY OF THE MAGIC DOUBLET 
 
 "When I was a young man," said my father, 
 "Please excuse me, Sotario," said Prince Bilbo; "don't
 
 78 SOLARIO THE TAILOR 
 
 you think it might be better to go on with the main story, 
 without stopping to " 
 
 "Really, I think it would," said the Princess DorobeL 
 
 "Oh, mother!" said Bojohn. 
 
 "If it is your pleasure," said Solaria, "I will omit the 
 story of the magic doublet for the present" 
 
 "I really think it would be better" said the Princess 
 DorobeL 
 
 "Oh, shucks" said Bojohn to Bodkin, in a whisper. 
 
 "This is the doublet," said my father when he had fin- 
 ished his story, "which, as I have told you, was made by 
 the One-Armed Sorcerer with his left hand. Prepare now 
 for your journey, my son, and good fortune attend you." 
 
 All that day I spent in preparation, and early on the next 
 morning I set forth for the city of Oogh. My daughter, 
 the Princess Amadore, implored me to take her with me. 
 She was ever of an ardent and adventurous spirit, and she 
 would not listen to my objections on the score of danger- 
 She usually had her way with me, and I knew from the 
 first that there was no use in resisting her entreaties; and 
 the upshot of it was that I yielded, though much against my 
 judgment. 
 
 The Prince and His Daughter Set Forth for Oogh 
 In due time we made our way to the city of Fadz on the 
 seacoast, where we took ship for Oogh; and for some two 
 weeks we sailed the Great Sea with favorable winds. At 
 the end of that time we were blown out of our course by 
 storms, and took shelter in the Island Kingdom, at a port
 
 HIS TALES OF THE MAGIC DOUBLET 79 
 
 called Ventamere, whence we visited the kingdom's capital 
 city, and arrived there in time to witness, as the King's 
 guests, the marriage of his daughter the Princess Hyla to 
 one Alb, a goldsmith's son, a youth of exceedingly cheer- 
 ful and engaging manners. This ceremony over, we re- 
 turned to Ventamere, and there took ship once more for 
 Oogh. 
 
 No further accident delayed us, and after a week we 
 sighted that part of the mainland which my father had 
 described to me. At my direction we were put ashore, my 
 daughter and myself, at a point where, as I knew, I should 
 find the road to Oogh. 
 
 Leaving orders for the ship to ride at a safe distance 
 from shore against our return, we turned our faces in- 
 land; but before going further, I darkened my face, neck, 
 and hands with walnut juice, and dressed myself in patched 
 and threadbare clothing. I put on my magic doublet, but 
 concealed it beneath a rude blue smock. I tried to per- 
 suade my daughter to darken her face also, but she posi- 
 tively refused to ruin her complexion, as she expressed it, 
 and I now regretted bitterly that I had brought her with 
 me. I was able to persuade her, however, to put on a 
 coarse and tattered gown, but she did it very unwillingly. 
 I had provided myself with some trinkets of silver, odds 
 and ends of lace and silk, and children^ toys, and these 
 I now slung on my back in a pack. Thus, in the character 
 of a peddler and his daughter, we set forth upon the road 
 to Oogh.
 
 8o SOLARIO THE TAILOR 
 
 A Strange Encounter at a Wayside Well 
 
 Late in the afternoon we saw before us the roofs of 
 the city, and at the end of the road a gate in the city wall. 
 At the same time we perceived, in a clump of trees, a way- 
 side well, and we were hastening toward it, being tired 
 and thirsty, when we heard a voice in that direction, which 
 was exclaiming angrily: 
 
 "There! Take that! I hate you, I hate you! Oh, if 
 I could never see you again I" 
 
 Hearing no reply to this outburst, and wondering who 
 it was that could take such language in silence, we hurried 
 forward, and saw, standing beside the well, under the trees, 
 a boy and no one else; a boy of some twelve years of age, 
 dressed in a gorgeous robe of pale yellow silk; a singularly 
 beautiful boy, with great dark eyes and curly dark hair, 
 but a face extremely pallid and stained with tears; a face, 
 in fact, the saddest I had ever seen in a child. He was 
 picking up from the wet ground beside the well handfuls 
 of mud, and spattering his silk robe with it; and as we 
 arrived he tore from his head a cap of spotless white 
 velvet and stamped it into the mud, crying out, "I won't 
 wear you any more, I won't! I hate you!" And then he 
 burst into tears and flung himself full length on his face 
 in the mud, beating the ground with his hands and mutter- 
 ing brokenly to himself. 
 
 We paused in astonishment, but my daughter, recover- 
 ing herself quickly, ran to him and put her hand on his 
 shoulder. He sat up, startled. He rose to his feet timidly,
 
 HIS TALES OF THE MAGIC DOUBLET 81 
 
 and gazed at us with big round eyes, trying to choke 
 back his sobs. He was mud from head to foot, and his 
 gorgeous robe was ruined. 
 
 My daughter coaxed him to tell her what was the matter, 
 but he made no answer; instead, he pulled off the ruined 
 robe and flung it in the mud, and standing in his shirt and 
 breeches stamped upon it and burst into tears again, and 
 cried, "I won't wear it! I want to be poor! I want to be 
 like the others ! Oh, the wicked Eyebrow ! Why can't 
 he be good like the others? Oh, if I could only cut off 
 the Eyebrow and make him poor and good like the others !" 
 
 My daughter took his hand and begged him to tell her 
 his trouble, but all he would say was, "He 's wicked, and 
 I want him to be good like the others ! And to-night he 's 
 going to give the Blind Bowler to Goolk the Spider, and 
 I can't stop him, I can't stop him!" And he broke into a 
 fresh storm of sobbing. 
 
 My daughter shook her head at me pityingly. 
 
 "We are very sorry, my lad," said I, "and I ask you 
 to trust us. We are going into the city, and perhaps when 
 you know us better you will tell us all about it. We should 
 like to help you. Will you come with us?" 
 
 "What can a peddler do against the Eyebrow?" said 
 the boy, but he dried his tears, and allowed my daughter to 
 lead him forth by the hand into the road. 
 
 We could make nothing of the boy's wild talk, but we 
 went onward without questioning him further, and drew 
 near to the city in silence. Beside the city gate, under the 
 wall, a crowd of idle people were gathered, and from the
 
 82 SOLARIO THE TAILOR 
 
 center of the group we could hear voices singing together 
 hoarsely. In a few minutes we were in the midst of the 
 crowd, and saw what it was the idlers were looking at. 
 
 The Three Blind Ballad Singers 
 
 Three blind men were singing a comic ballad in loud 
 voices, and prancing up and down in time, with such antics 
 that the crowd roared with delight. Each of the three 
 held in his hand a sheaf of papers, ballads, undoubtedly, 
 intended for sale to the onlookers. Suddenly they stopped, 
 each with a hand at his ear, and looked up at the sky as if 
 listening. 
 
 "Is there a stranger here?" cried one of them. 
 
 "A peddler and a maid!" shouted one of the crowd. 
 "All tattered and torn!" 
 
 "With eyebrows?" cried the ballad singer. 
 
 "Yes! yes!" said several of the crowd together. 
 
 I did not like this sort of attention very well, and I 
 was about to draw my daughter away, when the ballad 
 singers faced with one accord in my direction and began 
 to cry, "Buy our ballads! Ho, master Eyebrows! Buy 
 our ballads! Welcome to Oogh, master Eyebrows!" 
 
 The faces and heads of these three fellows were cov- 
 ered with black hair; but I now noticed that not one of them 
 had the vestige of an eyebrow; and I observed further 
 that there was not an eyebrow amongst all the crowd, with 
 the exception only of the boy at my side; and as to him, 
 the people, when they saw him, suddenly fell silent, and 
 backed away from him with something like fear in their
 
 HIS TALES OF THE MAGIC DOUBLET 83 
 
 eyes. The boy observed it, as I could see, and looked as 
 if he were going to cry again. 
 
 "What do we say, brothers," shouted one of the ballad 
 singers, "what do we say to the damsel in the tattered 
 gown? Shall one of us marry the tattered damsel? Oh, 
 yes, oh, yes ! Tra la, tra la, " 
 
 He paused, as if waiting for a laugh; but the crowd 
 did not laugh any more, and my daughter was herself in 
 fact the only one who seemed to be amused. As for my- 
 self, I was beginning to be angry. 
 
 "We '11 marry the Lady Tatters !" cried the blind man. 
 "O-o-oh !" And he burst into a loud song, in which the 
 other two joined, all three prancing up and down mean- 
 while in a ridiculous dance. So far as I can recollect it, 
 their song went something like this: 
 
 "O Lady Tatters! O Lady Tatters! 
 We scorn the fellow who basely flatters, 
 But we can't help saying that nobody matters 
 
 But you, fair lady, but you, but you! 
 
 Tra la, tra la, tra la, tra la, 
 We know that it's generally customary 
 In cases like these to be shy and wary, 
 For often enough in matrimony 
 There's plenty of gall mixed in with the honey, 
 
 How true that is! how true! how true! 
 
 Tra la, tra la, tra la, tra la, 
 But under existing circumstances 
 Every fellow must take some chances, 
 Refusing to bother concerning expenses 
 And other deplorable consequences, 
 Cheerfully scorning each friendly warning,
 
 84 SOLARIO THE TAILOR 
 
 How few regard it! how few! how few 1 
 
 Tra la, tra la, tra la, tra la, 
 
 O Lady Tatters! O Lady Tatters! 
 We've duly considered these difficult matters, 
 And now, without any reservation, 
 We're ready to enter the marriage relation! 
 You've only to view our reliable faces 
 And gaze on our truly superlative graces, 
 To note that the suitors by whom you're attended 
 Come really remarkably well recommended, 
 
 But it's all in the point of view! How true! 
 It's all in the point of view ! 
 
 Tra la, tra la, tra la, tra la, " 
 
 "Silence, rogues!" I cried, out of all patience at their 
 impudence, but my daughter burst out laughing. It was 
 ever her way to be amused rather than annoyed. 
 
 "Master Eyebrows!" shouted the first ballad singer. 
 "Choose one of us for the tattered damsel ! What will 
 you take for her? Speak." 
 
 "You shall have the Shears I" shouted the second ballad 
 singer. 
 
 "The Shears of Sharpness!" shouted the third. 
 
 "See, Eyebrows!" cried the first. "The Shears of Sharp- 
 ness!" 
 
 The Blind Ballad Singer Displays the Shears of Sharpness 
 
 He drew from under his gown a pair of tailor's shears, 
 and as he did so the crowd fell back as if in alarm. He 
 stepped toward the city wall, and placed his hand on a 
 flat iron bar, some two or three inches in width, supporting
 
 HIS TALES OF THE MAGIC DOUBLET 85 
 
 an awning over a booth; and applying his shears to it, 
 he cut it through and through as if it had been paper. I 
 gasped in amazement; never had I seen a pair of shears 
 like those. 
 
 "The Shears for the lady!" cried the blind man. "Come, 
 Eyebrows, choose !" 
 
 "Impudent rascal," said I, "the lady is my daughter, 
 and I foresee that a good scourging is awaiting you. Come, 
 Amadore !" 
 
 "But buy our ballads!" cried the second ballad singer. 
 "Buy our ballads!" cried the others, and each of the three 
 thrust toward me one of his papers. 
 
 I took them, and paying over a few coppers, moved on 
 toward the city gate. "Father!" said Amadore in my 
 ear. "The boy is gone!" 
 
 It was true. The boy had slipped away, and was gone. 
 The idlers began to laugh again, and I drew my daughter 
 after me into the city. 
 
 In a moment we were standing in a street of shops, 
 and my daughter, laughing again, begged me to read my 
 ballads. I glanced at the sheets, still angry, and was 
 about to toss them away, when I observed that they were 
 blank, or nearly so, and I looked at them more closely. 
 
 On the first were written these words, and nothing more : 
 "Hurry. Hurry." 
 
 On the second I found these words only: "The Cobweb 
 Room in the Governor's Palace." 
 
 On the third were these words only: "The Eyebrows of 
 Babadag the Tailor."
 
 86 SOLARIO THE TAILOR 
 
 I stared at my daughter in perplexity; but she urged 
 that these could be no other than messages on behalf of 
 our friend Urban, and that we must find him without a 
 moment's delay. We walked on briskly, intending to in- 
 quire our way to the governor's palace. 
 
 The Strange Conduct of the People of Oogh 
 
 As we went on, we became aware of a general and op- 
 pressive stillness. A few people were in the street, and 
 some could be seen inside the shops; but they conversed in 
 low tones, and they seemed to be idle, indifferent, and 
 listless. Here and there a shopkeeper sat in a chair before 
 his shop, gazing blankly at the opposite wall. 
 
 Of the first of these shopkeepers I inquired the direction 
 of the governor's palace. The man started from his rev- 
 erie, as if frightened, rose from his chair, stared at me 
 curiously, and without a word went into his shop and closed 
 the door. "Did you see?" said my daughter. "He had 
 no eyebrows." 
 
 At the next corner we came to an open market of stalls, 
 and there I repeated my inquiry. Instead of the usual 
 bustle and clamor of a market, there was the same silence, 
 though the place was thronged with people. I nudged 
 my daughter in surprise, for among all these people there 
 was not an eyebrow. The venders were making no effort, 
 apparently, to sell their wares, and the customers were 
 buying with an air of indifference, as if the business bored 
 them. I began to feel depressed, and even my daughter 
 was sober.
 
 HIS TALES OF THE MAGIC DOUBLET 87 
 
 The market man of whom I asked my direction looked 
 anxiously about him before answering, and then whispered 
 hurriedly, "I've nothing to do with it. Nothing. How do 
 you come to be wearing eyebrows here?" 
 
 Without answering him, I applied at two or three other 
 stalls, but the only result was a shaking of heads and a 
 curious, wide gaze, as of mild alarm. There was nothing 
 to do but to search out unaided the most pretentious house 
 in the city; for such a house, undoubtedly, would be the 
 governor's residence. 
 
 We walked the streets for more than an hour ; and every- 
 where was the same silence, the same listlessness, the same 
 apathy. "I don't believe," said my daughter, "that these 
 people have any wills of their own at all." 
 
 "Certainly," said I, "they have no eyebrows of their 
 own, at least. Except for the boy who ran away from us, 
 I haven't seen an eyebrow in the city. It seems strange." 
 
 The Mansion in the Ruined Park 
 
 We ascended a hill, and came to a park gate, at a point 
 from which we could see the entire city below us. Through 
 the gate, across the park, we saw a residence more impos- 
 ing than any we had yet seen. The gate hung wide open 
 on broken hinges, and the park within was in a state of 
 ruin. 
 
 "This must be it," said my daughter. 
 
 "It seems unlikely," said I, "but we will soon know." 
 
 We made our way across the park, through tall weeds 
 and tangled brambles, and stood before a splendid but
 
 88 SOLARIO THE TAILOR 
 
 gloomy mansion. The door was swinging open, and we 
 entered. 
 
 All was silent within. A sense of calamity seemed to 
 pervade the place; plainly it was deserted. We walked 
 on through spacious apartments, and everywhere was 
 furniture of the richest description, but covered with dust 
 and hung with cobwebs. We stopped finally, far within, 
 before a door which appeared to lead outside. 
 
 "It is no use," said I. "Our friend is gone, if he was 
 ever here, and we must seek him elsewhere." 
 
 "No, no," said my daughter. "We must find the Cob- 
 web Room." 
 
 She led the way out into an open court green with moss 
 and weeds, in the center of which was a fountain with a dry 
 and littered basin beneath it. I stopped suddenly, and 
 listened. "Hark!" said I. From a distance came, or 
 seemed to come, the voices of the three blind ballad singers, 
 shouting out some ribald ballad. My daughter smiled, and 
 I called out, "Urban 1" The singing ceased, and there was 
 no response to my cry. "Come," said my daughter, and 
 led me around the dry fountain to an alley of cypress trees 
 which opened toward a section of the mansion beyond the 
 court. 
 
 An open door at the end of this alley admitted us to a 
 circular chamber, very lofty, evidently an audience room, 
 deserted like the rest, on one side of which, on a dais, stood 
 a marble seat with arms, covered with cobwebs. 
 
 "Ah! Look!" said my daughter, and pointed to an 
 open doorway on the opposite side of the room.
 
 HIS TALES OF THE MAGIC DOUBLET 89 
 
 The Solitary Figure Behind the Spider's Web 
 
 The doorway was barred from top to bottom and from 
 side to side with a single monstrous spider's web. We stood 
 before it and looked through. Seated beside a table in a 
 little room with a high window barred likewise with a cob- 
 web was the figure of our friend, the governor of Oogh. 
 
 His head was resting mournfully on his hand, and he 
 was staring vacantly at the floor. His hair was long and 
 powdered with dust; his beard had grown to a great length; 
 but he had no eyebrows. His hands and clothing were 
 white with dust, and there was around his neck, in striking 
 contrast, a gold chain, of very fine gold and delicate work- 
 manship. 
 
 "Urban!" I cried. "We are here!" 
 
 He did not move. I called his name again, but he seemed 
 not to hear. He did not move nor speak. I pushed briskly 
 against the cobweb, but it held like wire; I could not break 
 through, though I dashed against it with all my strength. 
 I tried to cut it with a sharp knife which I wore under my 
 smock, but it was no use; the cobweb held, and the blade 
 was broken. 
 
 We remained for a moment, peering in at our friend, 
 uncertain what to do. Who could have been the author of 
 this witchery? I remembered the name which had occurred 
 on one of the ballad singers' sheets. I gave a last look at 
 the silent and motionless figure within, and led my daughter 
 back to the court of the dry fountain. There she sat down 
 on the rim of the empty basin, and looked up at the sky
 
 90 SOLARIO THE TAILOR 
 
 as if listening. A faint sound, as of singing at a distance, 
 seemed to float down to us. 
 
 "Just as I thought," said my daughter. "It will be best 
 for me to remain here. I think some information will 
 come to me here, if I wait. Do you go down into the city, 
 father, and seek what you may find there. I will wait 
 here until you return. Don't be uneasy, father; I shall 
 not be lonesome." And she laughed, as if at some joke. 
 
 I did not understand her purpose, and I refused to 
 leave her; but she insisted, and I gave in at last. She always 
 had her way. 
 
 I left her, and set forth ulone to obtain such information 
 as I could. I was passing out through the ruinous gateway 
 into the street, when I heard, or fancied I heard, from the 
 direction of the house, the voices of the three blind ballad 
 singers, in one of their songs; but when I stopped to listen 
 I could hear them no longer, and I concluded that I had 
 been mistaken. 
 
 I reached the market place, and stood for a moment 
 behind an awning, debating whether I might put a question 
 regarding Babadag the Tailor. I was still uncertain what 
 to do, when a slight commotion among the people attracted 
 my notice. I looked out from my concealment, and saw, 
 approaching from the next corner, the boy whom I had 
 found beside the wayside well. 
 
 The Prince Watches the People's Behavior Toward the Boy 
 
 His face was dark with a sort of settled gloom. He 
 walked slowly, and as he came on the people made way for
 
 HIS TALES OF THE MAGIC DOUBLET 91 
 
 him and stood whispering in groups and glancing at him 
 furtively over their shoulders. He paused at one of the 
 stalls and picking up some dates looked at the vender, 
 timidly and appealingly, as if about to speak; but the vender 
 sidled away from him toward the nearest group, and the 
 boy put down the fruit, sighed, and went on. 
 
 He passed the place of my concealment, and by this time 
 tears were beginning to trickle down his cheeks. But he 
 held his head proudly, and looking neither to right nor to 
 left passed out of sight around the next corner. 
 
 I followed him, hoping for some light upon the general 
 mystery. I followed him across the city, through many 
 streets, wondering why it was that a boy so gentle and so 
 beautiful should seem to inspire everywhere a kind of mild 
 and listless aversion. At one place a child ran up to him 
 and tugged at his garments, and the boy's face lighted up 
 with pleasure; but the child's mother pulled her infant away 
 in a hurry, and the boy went on, more sadly than before. 
 
 He came to a street in which, for the space of a single 
 block, the shops and houses were evidently deserted; and in 
 the middle of this block, before a shop with broken windows, 
 deserted apparently like the rest, the boy stopped, and push- 
 ing open the front door, went in. 
 
 I came up quickly, and peeping in at the same door saw a 
 vacant room within, in which remnants of old merchandise 
 were lying about in disorder, and dirt and refuse lay every- 
 where on the floor. I went in quietly and crossed the room 
 to a door at the rear, and opening it on a crack saw the 
 boy stooping down in a paved yard. I heard the boy speak,
 
 92 SOLARIO THE TAILOR 
 
 without hearing what he said, and saw him descend by some 
 means into the ground and disappear. 
 
 I ran to the spot and knelt down beside an iron grating, 
 some three feet square, which I found there in the pavement. 
 I heard from below a rumble, succeeded by a clatter, and 
 then there was silence. Laying down my pack on the 
 ground I pulled at the grating, and found that it rose on 
 hinges, like a trapdoor. I opened it, and saw beneath it a 
 ladder. I stepped on the top rung, and went down. 
 
 The Man with the Ball in the Underground Alley 
 
 At the bottom I found myself at one end of a dimly 
 lighted room, very long and very narrow, like an enclosed 
 alley; and near by was the boy, and beside him a grown man, 
 both intent on something at the other end of the room. The 
 man was swinging in his right hand a large wooden ball, 
 and as I watched him he cried out, laughing cheerily: 
 
 "Never mind, Figli ! This time I'll make a strike 1 Only 
 forty-seven more to make ! Now watch I" 
 
 He hurled the ball from him along the floor, and it 
 rolled swiftly to the far end of the room, where it crashed 
 in among ten large wooden bottles, standing upright on the 
 floor. He was playing tenpins. 
 
 "Oh !" cried the boy called Figli. "Only seven I" 
 
 "Never mind, never mind," said the Bowler, cheerfully, 
 and ran up the alley and set up the pins, and then ran back 
 with the ball, in great haste. As he came back, he appeared 
 to look directly at me, but gave no sign of having seen me. I
 
 HIS TALES OF THE MAGIC DOUBLET 93 
 
 scanned his face closely. He was blind. His hair and beard 
 were black, and he had no eyebrows. 
 
 The boy flung out his hands as if in despair, and cried: 
 
 "It's no use ! You can't do it ! Forty-seven strikes to 
 make by midnight ! Oh, he'll give you to Goolk the Spider ! 
 What shall I do? What shall I do?" 
 
 "Perhaps I can help you," said I, coming forward. 
 
 The boy sprang up, and the Blind Bowler wheeled round 
 toward me. 
 
 "Oh ! it's you," said the boy named Figli. "What can a 
 peddler do against the Eyebrow?" 
 
 "Who is it?" said the Blind Bowler. 
 
 "It's a stranger with eyebrows," said Figli, "who was 
 kind to me to-day." 
 
 The Blind Bowler sent a ball spinning up the alley, and 
 all the ten pins fell down with a clatter. 
 
 "A strike!" cried Figli, joyfully. 
 
 "We'll do it yet!" said the Bowler. "Only forty-six 
 more ! Never give up ! Keep everlastingly at it, that's my 
 motto!" And he ran after the ball, set up the pins, and 
 ran back, ready to throw again. 
 
 "If he has eyebrows," said he, panting and wiping his 
 forehead, "he must have a will of his own; and it must be a 
 good will, or else he wouldn't have been kind to you." 
 
 He rolled the ball again, knocking down only six. 
 
 "Better luck next time !" he cried, and darted up the alley. 
 "Never say die, and keep everlastingly at it, that's the 
 motto I"
 
 94 SOLARIO THE TAILOR 
 
 "My boy," said I, "I beg you to trust me, and to tell me 
 who you are, and why " 
 
 "A strike !" cried the Blind Bowler. "Only forty-five to 
 make by midnight ! Trust him, Figli ! His voice is honest. 
 I think he is the one we have been waiting for. Trust him I" 
 
 "It's hard for me to tell you," said the boy, "it's too " 
 
 "I'll tell you !" cried the Blind Bowler, running down the 
 alley. "His name is Figli Babadag. Does that tell you 
 everything?" 
 
 "No, nothing," said I. 
 
 "Eight down that time !" cried the Bowler. "Never say 
 die ! He's the son of Babadag the Tailor. Now do you 
 know? 
 
 "No," said I. 
 
 "Then I must tell you," said the Blind Bowler. "It is 
 Babadag who rules the city; don't you know that? Master 
 of black secrets is Babadag, and lord of the Eyebrow; and 
 his anger is terrible. He has put the golden chain about 
 the Governor's neck and shut him up in the Cobweb Room. 
 He has drawn the wills from out of the brains of all our 
 people, by plucking out their eyebrows, so that in all the city 
 there are but two wills only, one bad and one good : the will 
 of Babadag and the will of his little son. Nine down that 
 time ! Never give up !" 
 
 "Oh!" cried Figli. "I want my father to be good! I 
 want him to be poor and good like the others ! If I could 
 only make him good !" 
 
 "Only one way to do that!" said the Blind Bowler, half- 
 way down the alley. "He is lord of the Eyebrow, and in
 
 HIS TALES OF THE MAGIC DOUBLET 95 
 
 the Eyebrow lies his power. But the hairs of his eyebrows 
 are no ordinary hairs; they are of the family of gray snakes 
 that live in the lake Siskratoum, and there is no one to cut 
 them, even if there were a blade sharp enough; and they 
 must be cut by the hand of love, and there is no one here 
 that loves him, but his son. There is not one but trembles 
 at his name, and even at the name of Figli his son; there 
 is scarcely one who dares brush against the boy in the street, 
 for fear of what power may lie in the eyebrows of the boy, 
 and for fear of his father's malice." 
 
 "They won't speak to me !" cried Figli. "They're afraid 
 of me ! And I've done them no harm I I only want to be 
 friends with them!" 
 
 "You see he's all alone. He hates his riches; he wants 
 to be poor and simple, like the others." 
 
 "And what about yourself?" said I. 
 
 "Ah!" cried the Blind Bowler. "Only six down that 
 time ! Not so easy, when you've no eyes to see with ! But 
 keep everlastingly at it, that's the word! What did you 
 say?" 
 
 "What about yourself?" said I. 
 
 "Oh, me ! I helped the governor fight this Babadag, 
 and we lost; and for that the powerful one put out my eyes, 
 and the eyes of my three brothers as well, for nothing but 
 because they were my brothers; three ballad singers " 
 
 "Yes !" said I. "I have seen them." 
 
 "Ridiculous fellows, but no harm in them! And be- 
 cause it was my pleasure in former times to play at bowling, 
 old Babadag placed me here, under my shop, to bowl a
 
 9 6 SOLARIO THE TAILOR 
 
 thousand strikes, if I could, by midnight of this very day; 
 and if not, to take my place in the web with Goolk the 
 Spider. Those ballad singers, my brothers, they would like 
 to help me if they could, and perhaps they will yet, who 
 knows? Aha! Another strike ! I'll do it yet 1" 
 
 "It's no use," said Figli. "The time's too short. And I 
 can't save him. Oh, if you could help us, peddler ! But you 
 mustn't do my father any harm !" 
 
 "My boy," said I, "I am a friend of the enchanted gov- 
 ernor, and I will do my best to help you. And perhaps the 
 three blind ballad singers mean to help too. I think they 
 do. Will you take me to your father?" 
 
 The boy started in alarm. "You are very brave, ped- 
 dler," said he. "What do you say?" he asked of the Blind 
 Bowler. 
 
 "I say yes!" cried the Bowler. "There is hope in this 
 stranger. I think he's the one we've been waiting for. My 
 brothers have been on the lookout for him. They'll help 
 too. Trust him 1" 
 
 "Do you know any stories?" said the boy. 
 
 I smiled. "A few, I dare say," said I. 
 
 "My father is a lover of tales. It's his one weakness. It 
 will be safer for you if you can amuse him with tales, and 
 the longer they are the better." 
 
 "The wine, if he offers you any," said the Blind Bowler, 
 "will be drugged; that much is sure. Take care. And do 
 not let yourself be touched by Goolk the Spider." 
 
 "Come," said I. "There is not a moment to be lost."
 
 HIS TALES OF THE MAGIC DOUBLET 97 
 
 The Prince Sets Out for His Encounter with Babadag the 
 
 Tailor 
 
 I hastened to the ladder, followed by the boy, and we 
 began to go up. The tenpins fell down with a clatter, and 
 as I reached the grating overhead I heard the voice of the 
 Blind Bowler from below, crying out cheerily, "Four down I 
 Never mind! Keep everlastingly at it!" 
 
 In the paved yard I slung my pack on my back again, 
 and followed the boy into the street. It was beginning to 
 grow dark, and I thought anxiously of my daughter; but I 
 could not go back to her yet. During our walk the boy 
 spoke only once, and then he said: 
 
 "You must not do my father any harm. I love my father. 
 I want him to be good, like the others, but I should die 
 I should die ! if he came to any harm." 
 
 I did not reply, but followed for half an hour through 
 streets which were now almost empty of people. We entered 
 at last a street narrower than the others, paved with cobble- 
 stones and without a sidewalk, and stopped before a shop 
 over whose door, by way of a sign, hung a yardstick and 
 a pair of shears. It seemed a mean enough abode for the 
 ruler of the city, but Figli, without hesitating, opened the 
 door and went in. The room inside was dark, but I could 
 see a tailor's bench and implements, and a disorderly array 
 of half-finished garments, covered with dust. The boy 
 opened a door at the rear, and I followed him along a dark 
 passage to another door, which Figli threw open to a flood 
 of light.
 
 98 SOLARIO THE TAILOR 
 
 Babadag the Tailor, Goolk the Spider, and the Eight Tailors 
 
 We were standing in a magnificent apartment, paved with 
 colored marble, hung and spread with soft rugs, and lit 
 with hundreds of tapers. At the left, near the wall, was 
 sitting an old man, and behind his chair, from ceiling to 
 floor, was a gigantic spider's web, which glistened like silver 
 in the candlelight. In the center of this web was a great 
 green spider, with five or six small black spiders about him. 
 Against the opposite wall, on a tailor's bench, eight men, 
 totally without eyebrows, were sitting cross-legged, each 
 bending over a bowl held on his knees, filled with what 
 looked like shreds of hair, and engaged in some kind of 
 work with tiny knitting needles. 
 
 The old man's gross and heavy body was clothed in a 
 gorgeous robe of pale yellow silk, like that which the boy 
 had thrown in the mud, but embroidered with spider's webs 
 of spun gold, and studded with rubies and amethysts. His 
 face, a rather jovial face, was covered with gray hair, 
 which hung over his breast, and his eyes shone like sparks 
 behind a pair of the shaggiest eyebrows I had ever seen. 
 He gazed at me calmly, and held out a hand to his son. 
 
 The boy went to him, and Babadag the Tailor put an arm 
 about him and said, with very obvious tenderness : 
 
 "My boy, you are late. And your robe and hat! Where 
 are they?" 
 
 The boy threw himself on his knees beside his father, and 
 cried, "Oh, father! I couldn't wear them any longer. I 
 couldn't! They're hateful! I don't want to be dressed in
 
 "\ on arc welcome, master peddler," said Babada^
 
 HIS TALES OF THE MAGIC DOUBLET 99 
 
 silk! I want to be poor like the others 1 I can't wear them 
 any longer, I can't, I can't!" 
 
 The old man smiled kindly. "Never mind, my son, never 
 mind. I'll not scold you. We'll think no more about it. 
 Who is the visitor you have brought with you?" 
 
 "It's a peddler," said Figli, standing up. "I don't know 
 his name ; a peddler I met by chance, and I'd like you to buy 
 me something from his pack." 
 
 I stepped forward, made my bow, and dropped my pack 
 to the floor. 
 
 "You are welcome, master peddler," said Babadag. 
 
 The green spider gave a sharp twitch, which set the whole 
 web quivering. 
 
 "Quiet, Goolk!" said Babadag. 
 
 The eight men on the tailor's bench stopped their work, 
 and said: "Welcome, master peddler!" 
 
 "Knit your brows !" said Babadag, angrily, and the eight 
 men hurriedly resumed their knitting. 
 
 I opened my pack and began to take out some toys. 
 
 "Presently, presently, peddler," said Babadag, stopping 
 me. "Your face is dark, stranger. A little more, and it 
 would have been black." 
 
 "Yes, very dark," said the eight men, stopping their work 
 again. 
 
 "Knit your brows!" thundered Babadag. "Accursed 
 dogs, be silent! A dark stranger, who wears eyebrows in 
 the city of Oogh ! A thing of interest ! I would gladly 
 know who you are and what brings you here." 
 
 I was prepared with my story, and I answered promptly.
 
 ioo SOLARIO THE TAILOR 
 
 "Magnificence," said I, "I am a peddler, and my name is 
 Nobbud Bald-er-Dash. If the ear of graciousness will in- 
 cline to me, I will tell an amusing tale concerning myself, 
 and at some length." 
 
 "A tale !" cried Babadag. "You must know, honest Bald- 
 er-Dash, that I am a lover of tales. A weakness! I con- 
 fess it. Come ! We will make a night of it. Goolk," said 
 he, rising, "come hither !" 
 
 The green spider sped down the web to the floor, and 
 ran up the old man's yellow silk robe, and came to a stop 
 on his breast, beside his beard. 
 
 "It is the hour of the evening repast," continued Babadag, 
 stroking the spider with his finger, "and I invite you to sit 
 down with me. A guest who has a tale to tell ! It is good 
 fortune, no less ! Come, Figli, my son, we will listen to the 
 excellent Bald-er-Dash while we dine." 
 
 The Prince Dines with Babadag the Tailor 
 
 He pulled aside a curtain in the wall, and leaving the 
 eight men at their work, we passed, all three, into an open 
 court, hung about with lanterns of colored glass, and odor- 
 ous with flowers. Under an awning was a small table, set for 
 two. It was now dark, and the lanterns shed a soft glow on 
 the silver and glass of the table. Servants appeared and 
 laid a place for myself, and the meal commenced. 
 
 "You are wondering, Bald-er-Dash," said Babadag, 
 "who the eight men are whom we have just left. They 
 are tailors, known among us as the Knitters of Eyebrows/ 
 They are knitting for me, out of the eyebrows which my
 
 HIS TALES OF THE MAGIC DOUBLET 101 
 
 good people have been so kind as to give me, a garment 
 known as the Cloak of Wills, which will, when finished, 
 complete the mastery of the fortunate person who wears it. 
 Try a little of this wine, my good Bald-er-Dash; you will 
 find it excellent." 
 
 I pretended to drink the wine, but I was able, while 
 Babadag's attention was fixed on his plate, to spill a good 
 deal of it on the floor. 
 
 "I am anxious to hear your story," said the old man. 
 "The singers who sometimes entertain me at my meals arc 
 late to-day, and we will not wait for them. Bald-er-Dash, 
 my good fellow, let me hear your tale." 
 
 At this moment voices were heard from the shadows, 
 and three men came running toward the table, crying out 
 boisterously. 
 
 "Good news !" they were shouting. "We're going to 
 marry! She's promised! She'll marry the one you choose, 
 tra la ! She'll marry the one you choose !" 
 
 The Three Blind Ballad Singers Once More 
 They began to sing, at the top of their voices. I started 
 in surprise. It was the three blind ballad singers. "O-o-oh !" 
 they sang: 
 
 "She wanted to marry us all, she said, 
 But that wouldn't do, no never, 
 No never, no never, no, no! 
 From suitors a dozen, 
 Not counting a cousin 
 And two or three uncles or so, 
 She'd freely and frankly, firmly and fairly,
 
 102 SOLARIO THE TAILOR 
 
 Flatly and finally fled ! 
 For never a one could sing, not one, 
 Not a line, not a note, not a thing, not one, 
 And she, she said, if she must be wed, 
 
 A singer she'd have, or she'd have none, 
 For really she'd almost rather be dead 
 If she couldn't be uninterruptedly fed 
 On an endless tonic 
 Of scales harmonic 
 In every possible key, 
 
 An infinite series, never finished, 
 Of chords with all the sevenths diminished, 
 And all the intervals less than minor, 
 Surely nothing could be diviner, 
 Nothing! nothing at all, said she: 
 And after breakfast a quaver herni, 
 And after dinner a quaver demi, 
 And after supper a quaver semi, 
 And in between, for ever and ever, 
 
 Every possible kind of shake! 
 The fact of the matter is, you see, 
 
 She'd made up her mind, beyond mistake, 
 To offer her hand to one of we ! 
 But which should it be? 
 Which one of the three? 
 And what of the two who would have to go? 
 What about them? she said; that's it! 
 She didn't approve the idea a bit. 
 Those other two she could never forget, 
 Just think of them out in the cold and wet! 
 Just think of their terrible, terrible woe ! 
 She wanted to mam-, and yet, and yet, 
 She'd never be happy, no never, 
 No never, no never, no, no!"
 
 HIS TALES OF THE MAGIC DOUBLET 103 
 
 "Silence, fools," said Babadag, laughing. "We are about 
 to listen to a tale, a tale from Bald-er-Dash the peddler. 
 Will you proceed now, excellent peddler?" 
 
 "Willingly," said I. 
 
 At the sound of my voice, the three blind men cried out 
 "Aha I" and broke into a fresh song : 
 
 "The peddler and the peddler's maid, oh fair as milk was she, 
 And she promised on her honor she would marry one of three, " 
 
 "Silence, rascals !" said Babadag. 
 
 I was becoming, all this while, more and more restless, 
 for I had no doubt that all this talk of marriage had refer- 
 ence to my own daughter. I wondered bitterly what mis- 
 chief she had been up to during my absence. 
 
 "These rascals," said Babadag, still laughing, "sometimes 
 I am minded to put them to death. I don't know really why 
 I let them live. Now then, excellent one, let us hear the 
 talc." 
 
 I bowed, and while the repast proceeded, and the three 
 ballad singers remained standing behind our chairs, I re- 
 lated to Babadag, as follows, 
 
 THE STORY OF NOBBUD BALD-ER-DASH THE PEDDLER 
 
 "In the course of my wanderings," I began, "I arrived 
 one day at a spring in the wilderness, beside which were en- 
 camped a company of " 
 
 "/ think," said Solario, interrupting himself, "that I can- 
 not conscientiously repeat this story, because " 
 
 "Oh, please!" said Bojohn. 'We'd like to hear It."
 
 io 4 SOLARIO THE TAILOR 
 
 "No," said Solario, "I couldn't, conscientiously, because 
 there is not a word of truth in the story, and I do not wish to 
 tell anything which is not strictly true." 
 
 During my tale (said the Prince) I pretended now and 
 then to take a sip of wine, and to grow drowsy, so that 
 toward the end I seemed to have difficulty in keeping awake. 
 When I had concluded, Babadag laughed and said, "I thank 
 you, peddler. Never in my life have I heard such a tissue 
 of er amusing facts. Some more wine, peddler." 
 
 I pretended to sip the wine again, and let my head fall 
 forward on my breast, and roused myself as if with a great 
 effort. 
 
 "I am something," said Babadag, appearing to take no 
 notice of my drowsiness, "of a teller of tales myself. I 
 will tell you in return a story, and when I have finished 
 you shall tell me another, if you know any, as you un- 
 doubtedly do." 
 
 Thereupon he commenced a long and detailed story; and 
 I could see that as he proceeded he was watching me from 
 the corner of his eye. He had not spun out his tale very far 
 when my eyes closed and my head nodded; and after an ap- 
 parent effort to arouse myself I let my head fall forward on 
 the table and lie there motionless. 
 
 Babadag instantly stopped, raised my head gently, and 
 laying it back against my chair shook me roughly, but with 
 no effect. 
 
 "Send in the accursed dogs," said he in a fierce whisper. 
 
 I was aware, in a moment, that the eight tailors were 
 standing around me.
 
 HIS TALES OF THE MAGIC DOUBLET 105 
 
 "The eyebrows!" said Babadag, and the tailors bent over 
 me and began to pluck at my eyebrows with instruments 
 of some sort. 
 
 "Oh, father, father," said Figli, "please don't!" 
 
 "Be still, my son," said Babadag. 
 
 The Magic Doublet Protects the Prince Against the Knitters 
 of Eyebrows and Against Goolk the Spider 
 
 I laughed inwardly, for I was sure that, under the pro- 
 tection of my doublet, my eyebrows would reappear as fast 
 as they could be plucked out. And indeed, from the snort 
 of rage given by Babadag, I soon knew that my eyebrows 
 were safe. I could hear the eight tailors whispering to- 
 gether, as if in dismay. 
 
 "Goolk!" said Babadag, in the same angry whisper, "sting 
 me this false peddler!" 
 
 "No, no, father," said Figli. "Not that, oh, please!" 
 
 I shivered a little, for I confess that the thought of the 
 spider was horrifying to me. I waited anxiously, not daring 
 to open my eyelids even a trifle. I assure you it was all I 
 could do to remain'still. There was silence, and in the midst 
 of it I felt a tickling on my left cheek, and then a kind of 
 pin-prick there, and I knew that the spider had stung me. 
 
 "Back, Goolk !" said Babadag. "^ow, false peddler that 
 you are, be no longer either a prince or a peddler, but a 
 spider, a black spider ! and take your place with Goolk 
 in the web! Change!" 
 
 I felt no change, and I heard another snort of rage from 
 Babadag. "Some charm !" he muttered. "Some charm
 
 io6 SOLARIO THE TAILOR 
 
 protects him ! Let us see what charm this lying stranger car- 
 ries upon him." 
 
 I felt that my smock was being lifted from my breast, and 
 I heard a kind of gasp from Babadag. "The doublet!" he 
 said. "It is plain! Off with the doublet!" And imme- 
 diately fingers were at my breast, trying to unbutton the 
 doublet. 
 
 But they could not unbutton it. Not a button would 
 come through its hole. 
 
 "Fetch me a pair of shears, rascals," said Babadag, and in 
 a moment I knew that shears were snapping away at my 
 doublet. But it was no use ; the blade would not cut, neither 
 the thread of the buttons nor the cloth; they held like iron 
 at every point. I heard the shears drop to the floor. 
 
 "The Shears of Sharpness ! Bring me the Shears of 
 Sharpness !" said Babadag. "Nothing else will cut this 
 doublet." 
 
 I heard a chuckle, and the voice of one of the ballad 
 singers said, "The Shears of Sharpness, brothers 1" And 
 there was another chuckle. 
 
 "What!" said Babadag. "You laugh, rascals? You 
 dare to laugh?" 
 
 "The Shears of Sharpness!" said the voice of one of the 
 ballad singers. "Where are the Shears of Sharpness, 
 brothers?" And at this there was a very considerable 
 tittering. 
 
 "Ask the fair lady, brother," said the voice of another of 
 the ballad singers.
 
 HIS TALES OF THE MAGIC DOUBLET 107 
 
 "She knows! The wonderful lady!" said the voice of 
 the third. 
 
 "Ineffable scoundrels !" said Babadag. "Have you stolen 
 my Shears?" 
 
 "No, no! Only borrowed them ! What harm in that?" 
 .said the ballad singers. 
 
 "Return them to me at once !" said Babadag. 
 
 I could hear the ballad singers chuckling together again. 
 "We would, we would," said one of them, "we meant to, 
 but" 
 
 "But what, beast?" 
 
 "She has them," said one of the three. 
 
 "The most wonderful of women," said another. 
 
 "She who swore she would marry one of us," said the 
 third. 
 
 The Prince's Daughter Has Beguiled the Shears of Sharp- 
 ness from the Ballad Singers 
 
 My daughter ! My own daughter ! She had beguiled the 
 Shears from these foolish vagabonds ! Or had they let her 
 have the Shears for some purpose of their own to help 
 their brother, say? I was quite bewildered. 
 
 "Oh, that I should let such scoundrels live 1" said Babadag, 
 fiercely. "Where is this woman?" 
 
 "But she wouldn't marry us unless we gave her the 
 Shears," said one of the ballad singers. "No harm in 
 that!" 
 
 "No harm in that, surely!" said the other two. 
 
 "Where is this woman?" said Babadag again.
 
 io8 SOLARIO THE TAILOR 
 
 "We left her," said one of the others, "by the dry foun- 
 tain at the governor's palace." 
 
 "Accursed," said Babadag, evidently addressing the eight 
 tailors, "pick up this peddler and follow me. We must find 
 the Shears. You, imbeciles that you are, I will deal with 
 you afterward. Goolk, back to your web !" 
 
 I could not see what became of Goolk, but I knew that 
 the eight tailors were lifting me from my chair, and I felt 
 myself being borne away. 
 
 "Oh, father!" cried Figli. "You mustn't! Please let 
 the poor man go, oh please 1" 
 
 "My son," said Babadag, in the voice of tenderness with 
 which he always addressed his son, "he is my enemy. I 
 must have him in my power. Accursed doublet!" 
 
 A Light Flickers in the Dark Shop 
 
 In a moment I was aware that we were in the street, and 
 I opened my eyelids a trifle. The moon was shining. I 
 saw Babadag starting on before, with the three ballad 
 singers at his back. Behind, the eight tailors were holding 
 me in a sitting posture between them. I could see the shop 
 door, without moving my head, and as we started I beheld 
 Figli, coming from the door, in the act of stowing away 
 something, I could not see what, in the bosom of his shirt. 
 The shop was dark, but as Figli closed the door behind him 
 I noticed, flickering from within, a tiny flame of light which 
 had not been there before. I remarked that the boy's 
 face was very pale in the moonlight. 
 
 We came, after a long journey through deserted streets,
 
 HIS TALES OF THE MAGIC DOUBLET 109 
 
 to the little hill which led up to the governor's palace. We 
 entered the ruined park, and crossed it to the mansion. 
 Babadag opened the door, and the company paused inside, 
 listening. All was silent. I had an impulse to shout, in 
 order to warn my daughter; but I knew that that would 
 be fatal, and I continued to lie inert and speechless in the 
 arms of the tailors. I risked opening my eyes from time to 
 time, and I saw that Babadag was leading the way from 
 room to room, all dark except for moonlight here and there 
 upon the floors, and that he came at last, followed by all 
 the others, into the court of the dry fountain; and there the 
 eight tailors laid me down on the ground. My heart almost 
 stopped beating, for fear that my daughter should be there. 
 
 "Vile rascals," said Babadag, "you have deceived mel 
 There is no woman here." 
 
 "Astonishing!" said one of the ballad singers. "Not 
 here ! Who would have thought it?" 
 
 "I doubt that she was ever here," said Babadag. "Waitl" 
 
 I saw him go off down the alley of cypress trees toward 
 the Cobweb Room, no doubt to assure himself that his 
 prisoner was safe, or else to seek the woman there. As 
 soon as he was gone, I felt a hand on my arm, and the voice 
 of Figli whispered in my ear, "Are you awake?" and I 
 pressed his hand in answer. 
 
 The Prince's Daughter Is Gone, and the Prince Makes a 
 Dash for Liberty 
 
 The eight tailors were sitting on the rim of the fountain's 
 basin, mopping their foreheads and panting, and the blind
 
 no SOLARIO THE TAILOR 
 
 men were standing near them. I measured with my eye 
 the distance to the door from which I had come, and gave 
 a sudden spring toward it which carried me nearly there ; 
 and I was off and away, before the eight tailors realized 
 what had happened. 
 
 I scoured swiftly and silently through the dark rooms in 
 all directions, listening now and then for sounds of pursuit. 
 But I heard nothing, and I began to whisper my daughter's 
 name from time to time. In a room far distant from the 
 court, to which I presently came, I found the door at the 
 opposite side closed, which in that house of open doors 
 struck me as being odd. A broad band of moonlight lay 
 across the floor, and in the dim light I could see the furnish- 
 ings of a kitchen. I approached the opposite door and 
 opened it cautiously, thinking to go through; but I looked 
 into a cupboard, hung with pots and pans, and there on the 
 floor of the cupboard was sitting my daughter, calmly eating 
 a fig. 
 
 She looked up at me with a merry laugh, and sprang to 
 her feet. 
 
 "There are very good fig trees in the park," said she. 
 "Will you have one of these? No? You've been gone a 
 long time. I heard some people going through the house, 
 and I thought I had better wait in here. I'm going to be 
 married!" 
 
 "Come," said I, "we've no time for jesting." 
 
 "But it's the best joke!" said my daughter. "When I 
 think how I played on those half-wits ! I've never had 
 such sport in my life ! I promised to marry one of them,
 
 "Beauty in tatters!" said Bahadag the Tailor
 
 HIS TALES OF THE MAGIC DOUBLET in 
 
 if they'd choose which do you remember the three ballad 
 singers?" 
 
 "And you have the Shears of Sharpness," said I. 
 
 "How do you know that?" said she. "They're simply 
 mad! And I wouldn't promise them anything unless they 
 gave me the Shears. And they didl And I promised! 
 And now you've got to get me out of it. Here are the 
 Shears. Take them." 
 
 "I suspect, my dear," said I, taking the Shears from her, 
 "that these three imbeciles meant that you should have the 
 Shears all the time, and they've been making a bit of a 
 fool of you. But there's no time for talking. Hurry!" 
 
 I stepped quickly toward the door, and as I reached it 
 it was blocked by a huge dark figure. It was Babadag. 
 
 "Not so fast, peddler," said he; and then he saw 
 my daughter, who was standing in the band of moonlight, 
 most fairylike and beautiful. He brushed past me and 
 stopped before her, gazing at her in astonishment and ad- 
 miration. 
 
 "Beauty in tatters!" he said. "No wonder that even 
 blind men are conquered. You make me forget the Shears. 
 Surely there is no woman in Oogh so beautiful. Will you 
 look on me kindly? I am powerful, and I offer you a share 
 of my power. It is Babadag who speaks." 
 
 He held out his hand to her, and she shrank away in 
 horror. "No, no!" she screamed. "Father!" 
 
 Babadag turned swiftly, and at that moment I sprang 
 upon him; but the old man snatched forth a knife, and as 
 I caught and held the arm which was lifted to strike, a
 
 112 SOLARIO THE TAILOR 
 
 small dark figure darted in from the doorway and flung 
 something over the old man's neck from behind. 
 
 Babadag the Tailor Is Conquered by His Little Son 
 
 The knife dropped from Babadag's hand. He swayed, 
 tottered, collapsed, and fell full length on the floor, and lay 
 motionless on his back in the strip of moonlight. The little 
 dark figure knelt beside him. It was Figli. 
 
 "Oh, father! Oh, father!" he cried. "I'm sorry, sorry! 
 I had to do it! I couldn't let you kill him! It can't go 
 on any longer! The eyebrows must be cut, father! It's 
 only to make you like the others ! We'll both be happier, oh, 
 indeed we will ! It's only because I love you, father 1" 
 
 "I didn't think you would have done this, Figli, my son," 
 said the old man, gently. "You have put me in the power 
 of my enemy. Ah, Figli, my son, my son!" 
 
 "I know it, I know it," sobbed the boy, "but the lady will 
 give the Shears to me, and I will cut the eyebrows myself, 
 with my own hand. The peddler will do you no harm. 
 You'll be glad, father, afterward, indeed you will." 
 
 "Ah, my son, my son! I wouldn't have thought it of 
 you," said the old man, still gently. 
 
 I knelt beside him, and found around his neck a noose of 
 the slenderest thread, extremely tough; and the end of this 
 thread the boy was holding in his hand. I took it from him 
 and looked at him inquiringly. 
 
 "Yes," said the boy, "it was spun by Goolk the Spider, 
 and there is no will can stand against it, not even my 
 father's. It's the thing that made him first able to pluck out
 
 HIS TALES OF THE MAGIC DOUBLET 113 
 
 the eyebrows of the people. I stole it as we left the shop 
 to-night. You won't do him any harm, will you?" 
 
 I stood up, keeping the end of the thread in my hand. A 
 patter of running feet sounded from the next room, and 
 the eight tailors crowded in at the doorway. They rushed 
 to their master, and wailed and wrung their hands. One 
 of them drew a pair of shears, and began to snip away at 
 the thread, but it was plain that no ordinary blade would 
 cut it, and the tailor gave it up, and the other seven wailed 
 louder than before. 
 
 "Lift up this knave," I said, "and follow me." 
 
 The eight tailors obeyed instantly, and our party started 
 back to the court of the dry fountain. I walked beside 
 the body of Babadag, keeping close hold of the thread. 
 When we reached the court, the three ballad singers were 
 sitting calmly on the rim of the basin, singing softly to 
 themselves. My daughter, ever incorrigible, greeted them 
 with an amused laugh, and they crowded around her, each 
 trying to elbow the others out of the way. At my command, 
 the eight tailors laid Babadag down on his back in the dry 
 basin. I then gave the end of the thread into the hand 
 of my daughter, and left them. 
 
 I ran down the cypress alley to the deserted audience 
 chamber. I looked through the cobweb at Urban, and by 
 the dim light of the high window saw him sitting there 
 motionless as stone, in the same attitude as before. 
 
 "I am here!" I cried, but he neither moved nor spoke. 
 I applied the Shears, and in a moment the cobweb was 
 hanging in shreds, and I was standing beside my friend. I
 
 n 4 SOLARIO THE TAILOR 
 
 tried to pull him up, but I could not budge him. I lifted 
 the golden chain from around his neck, and dropped it to 
 the floor. Immediately he raised his head, stretched his 
 arms, looked up at me as if awaking from a dream, and 
 sprang to his feet. 
 
 "Prince 1" he cried, and threw his arms about me in a 
 transport of joy. 
 
 I calmed him, and when he had recovered himself he said, 
 "What of Babadag?" 
 
 "He is in the court at this moment," said I, "bound fast." 
 
 "Good news indeed!" he cried. "Let us go!" 
 
 The Governor, Being Released, Beholds the Prince's 
 Daughter 
 
 We sped back to the court, and when Urban beheld 
 my daughter he scattered the blind men right and left and 
 clasped her hand in his. I took from her the end of the 
 thread and knelt in the basin beside the huge body of 
 Babadag, and gazed down into his eyes, glittering up at me 
 in the moonlight through their tangle of hair. I drew the 
 Shears." 
 
 "No, no!" cried the boy. "You must not! Give me the 
 Shears ! I must do it, for you do not love him, and I do ! 
 Only the hand of love ! Give me the Shears !" 
 
 "No time for talking!" I cried. "This is no child's play. 
 Work for a man! And I trust no one but myself! Now 
 for the shearing of the Eyebrow !" 
 
 The boy shrieked, as if in despair, and with a mighty snap
 
 HIS TALES OF THE MAGIC DOUBLET 115 
 
 of the Shears I cut in among the hairs of Babadag's left 
 eyebrow. 
 
 The Shearing of the Eyebrow 
 
 A spout of yellow smoke shot upward from his eyebrow, 
 and whirled and spread outward in a cloud, thick, sickening, 
 blinding, pierced with wriggling pencils of light, as if tiny 
 snakes had been set riotously free. It covered us both, so 
 that he was suddenly hidden from my sight. I gasped 
 and choked. My eyes smarted with pain. I snapped blindly 
 away at him through the smoke with my Shears, resolved 
 not to be foiled. There was a sharp crack, as of the snap- 
 ping of a whip; the Shears had cut, alas, alas! not the 
 Eyebrow, but the thread around Babadag's neck I Instantly 
 the Shears were wrenched from my hand, I did not know 
 how; and I felt them ripping through my smock, and I 
 knew that some injury had been done to my doublet. A 
 terrible voice bellowed, "Hither, accursed dogs, and bind 
 me this peddler !" And the next moment I was lying on 
 my back, with the thread fastened securely about my neck; 
 and my strength was suddenly gone, and the smoke began 
 to clear away. 
 
 I saw the old man put his arm tenderly about his son, and 
 heard him say, "It's all right now, my boy. I am not angry. 
 You have put your father in great danger, but not from 
 malice; I know it well. Don't be grieved; we'll laugh about 
 it together, hereafter. All's well again. Come, Figli, my 
 son. Rascals, follow me!"
 
 n6 SOLARIO THE TAILOR 
 
 He stalked away with his son down the cypress alley, 
 and the eight tailors lifted me and bore me after, followed 
 by my daughter and my friend. I looked for the three blind 
 ballad singers, but they were gone. I was in terrible danger, 
 and I bitterly regretted my haste in refusing the Shears 
 to the boy. 
 
 The Prince before the Seat of Judgment 
 
 In the circular audience chamber they laid me down upon 
 the floor. Babadag, grotesque and somber in the darkness, 
 seated himself in the marble armchair on the dai's; and at 
 the same time I heard, or fancied I heard, the voices of the 
 ballad singers, afar off somewhere in the palace, singing 
 away at one of their songs. 
 
 "Pluck out the hairs!" said Babadag. 
 
 "No, no!" said Figli, lying on the step of the da'i's at his 
 father's feet. 
 
 "Quick, scoundrels!" said Babadag; and the eight tailors, 
 kneeling around me, plucked out with tiny instruments all 
 the hairs of my eyebrows, by the roots. Then, at a sign 
 from their master, they stood me on my feet and removed 
 the spider's thread from around my neck. My strength re- 
 turned, and I found myself able to stand alone. 
 
 "Gone is your power, maker of fables!" said Babadag. 
 "The doublet is worthless. See 1" And he held up what 
 appeared to be the thread of a button. My smock was in 
 strips, and the doublet was exposed to view. One button 
 was missing. What had become of it? Babadag exhibited 
 only the thread.
 
 HIS TALES OF THE MAGIC DOUBLET 117 
 
 "Dog of a peddler," said he, "it is your due that I give 
 you to Goolk the Spider for his web." 
 
 "Spare him! Spare him!" said Figli, in a kind of moan, 
 rocking himself back and forth on the step of the dais. 
 
 "But Babadag is merciful," went on the old man, "and 
 loves a tale ; and never have I heard so amusing a tissue of 
 lies as that tale of Bald-er-Dash the Peddler. For that, 
 and for the pleasure I shall have in repeating that tale 
 hereafter, I spare you. You are harmless. Go ! and as you 
 have chosen to darken your skin with juices, let it be darker 
 still. Go ! and be you henceforth as black as night. I will 
 lead you to the palace gate, and speed you, with your 
 daughter and your friend, on your journey away from 
 Oogh. Return no more, peddler, for the web awaits you, 
 and Goolk the Spider longs for a brother." 
 
 He stepped down from his seat, and we others followed 
 him in silence. I was conscious of no will to resist him 
 further. We came to the court of the dry fountain, and 
 there my daughter looked into my face in the moonlight. 
 She screamed. 
 
 We followed mournfully through the dark rooms, and 
 came out on the steps before the palace; and there we saw 
 a sight both terrible and beautiful. 
 
 The Doom of the City of Oogh 
 
 The city was in flames. From every roof, as far as we 
 could see, rose sheets of fire, and sparks showered upward 
 into a pall of black smoke; and as we watched, new tongues
 
 n8 SOLARIO THE TAILOR 
 
 of flame blazed up from quarters dark before. The city 
 was doomed. 
 
 "Ah!" said Babadag with a groan. "My city, my city!" 
 
 "What have I done? What have I done?" cried Figli, 
 wringing his hands in anguish. 
 
 "You, my son? What have you to do with this?" said his 
 father, never taking his eyes from the burning city. 
 
 "It's my work!" cried the boy. "But I never dreamed 
 of this ! I set fire to the shop, our shop, before I left, to 
 burn up all the black secrets in my father's house, and to 
 kill Goolk the Spider, to kill him, kill him, so that he would 
 never get the Blind Bowler, nor any one else ! So that all 
 the old riches and wickedness might be burned up forever ! 
 And now, and now, I haven't destroyed the Eyebrow, and 
 I've burned up the city! Oh, what shall I do? What shall 
 I do?" 
 
 "My son, my son," said Babadag, quietly, never taking 
 his eyes from the burning city. 
 
 I recalled now the spark of fire I had seen through the 
 window as we had left the tailor's shop that night. 
 
 The flames of the furnace below us shot higher and 
 higher, and spread wider and wider in every direction. 
 
 "The Book of the Shavian Magic," said Babadag, as if 
 to himself. "That must be saved." 
 
 He ran down the steps and started across the park. 
 
 "Father! father! where are you going?" cried Figli, 
 but his father paid no attention. The boy sped after him, 
 and we others followed.
 
 HIS TALES OF THE MAGIC DOUBLET 119 
 
 The Tailor's Son Follows Him into the Burning City 
 
 Out at the park gate and down the hill ran Babadag, and 
 straight into the blazing ruin which was once his city. 
 Nothing could stop him. Flames roared on both sides of 
 him; sparks showered around him; walls toppled behind 
 him; smoke swallowed him; but he kept on. We paused 
 in terror ; only his little boy continued to follow him, calling 
 to him to come back. 
 
 A wall of flame shot out behind the running boy, and a 
 house fell crashing behind him into the street; and father 
 and boy were no longer to be seen. 
 
 I turned away, and leaving the eight tailors wailing, I 
 made my way with my daughter and my friend back to the 
 palace ; and there, on the palace steps, we sat all night long, 
 watching the great fire burn itself out. 
 
 The sun rose on a city of smoking ruins; and with its first 
 rays there came plodding in through the park gate a blind 
 man, who called aloud as he reached the steps. It was the 
 Blind Bowler. 
 
 "I am here," said I, "Figli's friend; and my daughter too, 
 and the governor whom once you tried to help. What 
 news?" 
 
 "Ten strikes still lacking!" said the Blind Bowler. "But 
 it makes no difference now. Figli has saved me, and all 
 the rest of us too. Come with me." 
 
 He led us out into the street and down into the city, 
 where the homeless people were standing as if bewildered. 
 We came into the street where once had been the shop of
 
 120 SOLARIO THE TAILOR 
 
 Babadag the Tailor. It was there no longer; but by some 
 chance there yet remained the wall which held the doorway, 
 and above it the yardstick and the shears; and across the 
 sill lay Figli, on his face. 
 
 The Boy Is Found on the Sill of His Ruined Home, Alive 
 
 My daughter ran to him and put her arm about him. He 
 was alive, and he shook his head and moaned, "I want my 
 father. I want my father." 
 
 "Yes," said she, "your father. Is he?" 
 
 "In there," he whispered. 
 
 "Ah! He is " 
 
 "Under the wall. I saw it fall on him. He is in there." 
 
 "Oh, my poor boy!" 
 
 "I killed him. And all I wanted was to make him good." 
 
 She put her arm under him and raised him, and he stood 
 up. 
 
 "Come with me, dear boy," said she. 
 
 "I can't go away. I can't leave him in there. Can't you 
 help me to see him?" 
 
 "Not now, but later, perhaps. Come with me now, and 
 we will talk of him together." 
 
 "He loved me, too. He did, didn't he? And I killed 
 him." 
 
 "Yes, he did, he did. But you mustn't say that you " 
 
 "It wasn't because I meant to harm him, was it? I 
 wouldn't have harmed him, would I?" 
 
 "No, no. It was just because you loved him, that was 
 all."
 
 HIS TALES OF THE MAGIC DOUBLET 121 
 
 "Yes, that was it. That was all it was." 
 
 He suffered her to lead him away, and he said nothing 
 more, but repeated to himself, once or twice, "That was 
 all it was." 
 
 On my part, I spoke at length to the Blind Bowler, and 
 gave him many directions; and he, having received at my 
 hands a purse of gold, for use as I had instructed him, went 
 his way; and we others then walked slowly back to the 
 palace, where we rested on the steps, waiting, and Figli fell 
 asleep with his head on my daughter's shoulder. 
 
 When the sun was high in the east, people began to 
 come in at the park gate, and the Blind Bowler, his first 
 duty done, joined us on the palace steps. More people 
 came, and the park began to be filled with them; they came 
 before long in a steady stream, and at length the park was 
 crowded with a great multitude, from the steps to the 
 gate. 
 
 At a signal from myself, my party on the steps arose, and 
 I addressed the people of Oogh. I told them who I was, 
 and how my skin had come to be black; I told them that I 
 was going away, and that their governor was resolved to 
 go with me; that I meant to leave a governor who would 
 help them rebuild their city, and lead them in the ways of 
 goodness and mercy; that the person whom I had selected 
 for that office was the boy known as Figli Babadag, whose 
 soundness of heart was worth to them more than the wisdom 
 of years; and that such wisdom as was necessary would be 
 supplied by him who was called the Blind Bowler, a man 
 who had known how to be cheerful under affliction. And I
 
 122 SOLARIO THE TAILOR 
 
 asked them to say whether they would have the boy Figli 
 for their governor, and the Blind Bowler for his aide. 
 
 A shout of approval went up from the multitude. 
 
 "And will you," said I, turning to Figli, "lead these people 
 in the ways of goodness and mercy, and help them to 
 forget?" 
 
 "If you think I can," said Figli, standing up very straight, 
 "I will try." 
 
 "And will you," said I to the Blind Bowler, "keep faith- 
 fully at his right hand, and never fail him?" 
 
 "That I will!" said the Blind Bowler. "Keep everlast- 
 ingly at it, that's the motto !" 
 
 "The great King, my father," said I, turning again to the 
 people, "will build your city ten times fairer than it was. I 
 have given directions for your help already, and food and 
 shelter will soon be at hand. Farewell ! I leave you in the 
 care of a blind man and a child ! A sound heart and a cheer- 
 ful mind, my friends, are better than an army. Farewell !" 
 
 The multitude shouted back farewell, and my friend 
 Urban and myself each kissed Figli on the cheek; but my 
 daughter kissed him on both cheeks and hugged him to her 
 heart; and then we went down the steps, leaving the pale 
 and beautiful boy and the blind man alone, and passed out 
 across the park through a lane opened in the crowd, down 
 into the city toward the city gate. 
 
 The Eight Tailors Stand Before Them in a Row 
 
 As we came to the last street corner before reaching the 
 city wall, my daughter pulled forth a handful of figs from
 
 HIS TALES OF THE MAGIC DOUBLET 123 
 
 her pocket and divided them laughingly with Urban and 
 myself; and at that moment a party of eight men filed 
 solemnly from around the corner, and came to a stop be- 
 fore us in a row. It was the eight tailors. They bowed 
 gravely, and the first one of them said: 
 
 "Excellency, we implore you to take pity upon us. Our 
 master is gone, our occupation is gone, we are friendless 
 and alone; we can live no longer in the city of Oogh." 
 
 "What do you wish me to do?" said I. 
 
 "We beseech you to take us with you, to be your servants, 
 your slaves, anything. We can sew, we can knit, we 
 can" 
 
 "But I am going into exile," said I. "I am going to hide 
 my hideous face from the eyes of the world." 
 
 "Listen, most merciful one ! It is known to us that the 
 missing button needs only to be sewn on the doublet by a 
 tailor, with the proper thread, in order that your skin 
 may be white again. Nine tailors are allowed for the trial, 
 and here are eight!" 
 
 "But I have neither the button nor the thread." 
 
 "No matter ! We will search until we find them, or else 
 turn black ourselves in the trial. Have pity upon us, 
 Prince!" 
 
 "Oh, father," said my daughter, "do let the poor things 
 come along with us." 
 
 "Very well," said I, whereupon we walked on, and the 
 eight tailors gave a faint cheer and fell into line behind us.
 
 124 SOLARIO THE TAILOR 
 
 They Meet the Three Blind Ballad Singers for the Last 
 
 Time 
 
 As we passed through the city gate, a loud singing struck 
 up just outside the wall, and we beheld the three blind 
 ballad singers, in the midst of a dozen idlers, prancing up 
 and down in their ridiculous dance. They were shouting 
 out one of their ballads, as follows : 
 
 "The peddler came, the peddler went, the peddler lost his pack, 
 He came in honest walnut brown, he went away in black, 
 
 And 'Oh!' said the peddler, 'I cannot come again, 
 
 For out of buttons ten, oh ! only nine remain, 
 Only nine remain,' " 
 
 My daughter laughed aloud, and at the sound of her 
 voice one of the ballad singers cried out, "Ho ! master black- 
 face ! Ballads or buttons, what will you buy?" 
 
 The idlers laughed, and the other two vagabonds sang 
 out: 
 
 "Ballads or buttons! Buy, master blackface! Ballads 
 or buttons !" 
 
 "What will you give for a button?" shouted the first, and 
 he held up in my view a large ivory button, the identical 
 one, beyond a doubt, which was missing from the doublet. 
 
 "A fig for a button!" I said, and held out one of the figs 
 in my hand. 
 
 "A button for a fig! A bargain!" cried the first ballad 
 singer, and taking the fig from me placed the button in 
 my hand.
 
 HIS TALES OF THE MAGIC DOUBLET 125 
 
 The idlers laughed at this nonsense, and we turned to go. 
 
 "Farewell, farewell !" cried the first ballad singer. "What 
 do we say to the breaker of hearts who forgets her promise 
 to marry?" The other two laughed, and began to sing. 
 
 We moved on down the road, followed by the tailors 
 marching by fours, and as we departed we heard behind us 
 the voices of the blind ballad singers for the last time, 
 shouting out a song in this wise : 
 
 "She said that she wanted to marry all three, 
 
 Fiddle-de-dee! Fiddle-de-dee! 
 And it broke her heart that it could not be, 
 But 'Oh !' said she, 'y u must all agree 
 On one who shall be the fortunate he, 
 
 For only one can I marry!' 
 But oh ! she would not wait to see, 
 
 And oh! she would not tarry, 
 For all that she said to the artless three 
 
 Was nothing but fiddle-de-dee, 
 Ah me! 
 
 Was nothing but fiddle-de-dee I"
 
 THE FOURTH NIGHT 
 
 THE RAGPICKER AND THE PRINCESS 
 
 r j iHE Queen said, "Domino!" very sweetly, and 
 I smiled at the Second Lady in Waiting, who was 
 
 much chagrined. 
 
 "I don't see how I could have been so stupid," said the 
 Second Lady in Waiting. 
 
 "Indeed, my dear," said the Queen, kindly, "I don't think 
 you were nearly so stupid as usual/' 
 
 At this moment the Princess Dorobel, with Prince Bilbo 
 and their son Bojohn, and the latter' s friend Bodkin, came 
 in from the throne room, and the Princess Dorobel, stand- 
 ing behind the Queen's chair, said: 
 
 126
 
 HIS TALES OF THE MAGIC DOUBLET 127 
 
 "Mother, we are going to hear a story, and Bojohn in- 
 sists that you " 
 
 "Yes, grandmother!" said Bojohn. "We are going to 
 ask Solario for another story, and you must come along 
 
 too." 
 
 "Dear me," said the Queen. "I must put away the 
 dominoes first." 
 
 She stacked them neatly in the box, one by one, and when 
 this was done she rose, and Bojohn took her arm and led 
 her through the throne room where the King was engaged at 
 chess with the Lord Chamberlain. 
 
 "My dear" said the Queen to the King, "you had better 
 come with us. We are going to " 
 
 "It makes no difference to me," said the King. "You can 
 have the bishop if you want him. But I've got your queen! 
 How do you like that? It's your move! Go on, why don't 
 you move?" 
 
 "It's no use, grandmother," said Bojohn. "Come along." 
 
 They left the King at his game, and proceeded to the room 
 of Solario the Tailor in the tower. They were admitted by 
 Solario himself. 
 
 In the center of the room stood Mortimer the Execu- 
 tioner. He was wearing an unfinished garment without any 
 sleeves, fastened together with pins, and basted with white 
 thread along the seams. He looked extremely foolish. 
 
 "Oh!" said Solario, covered with confusion. "Pray come 
 in, come in! Her majesty herself! This is indeed an honor! 
 I will find more chairs in the next room. I am overpowered 
 by this honor. Pray be seated, your majesty. Mortimer,
 
 128 SOLARIO THE TAILOR 
 
 the fitting is postponed. Pray be seated, your majesty. I do 
 not know when I have received the honor of such a visit. 
 Pray be seated. Mortimer, bring in some chairs. I beg 
 your majesty to take the other chair; it is far more com- 
 fortable. Mortimer, divest yourself; divest yourself." 
 
 Mortimer, red with embarrassment, took off the unfinished 
 garment and put on his old one. Solario ran from chair to 
 chair, assisting each of the party to a seat. 
 
 "We have come for a story," said Prince Bilbo, "and I 
 hope that you will be so good as to " 
 
 "We want to hear about Montesango's Cave!" cried 
 Bojohn. 
 
 "Or the Blind Giant!" said Bodkin. 
 
 "I beg your pardon," said Solario, "perhaps her majesty 
 would deign to " 
 
 "Ask him for Montesango's Cave, grandmother!" cried 
 Bojohn. 
 
 "Dear me" said the Queen, "I hardly know what to 
 It's a very pleasant room you have here, Solario; do you 
 ever play dominoes here? Dear me!" 
 
 "I'll tell you what I should like" said the Princess Doro- 
 bel. "I should like to hear how the goldsmith's son won the 
 Princess. Bojohn has been telling us about Alb and the 
 ^Princess Hyla, and I understand there is a story, a love 
 story you know I dearly like love stories." 
 
 "It isn't precisely a love story," said Solario, "but if her 
 majesty will permit me, I will " 
 
 "Dear me, yes," said the Queen. "A very comfortable 
 room it is, to be sure."
 
 HIS TALES OF THE MAGIC DOUBLET 129 
 
 Solaria, after receiving the Queen's permission to be 
 seated, sat himself cross-legged on his table, and all of the 
 others, Mortimer the Executioner, Bodkin, Prince Bilbo, 
 Bojohn, the Princess Dorobel, and the Queen, drew up their 
 chairs before him in a row. 
 
 "I will relate to you, seeing that you wish it" said Solaria, 
 "the story told me by Alb, the goldsmith's son, regarding 
 the winning of the Princess Hyla. Shall I proceed?" 
 
 "I wish I had brought my knitting," said the Queen, "but 
 never mind" 
 
 Solaria picked up his shears, and gazing at them thought- 
 fully for a moment, cleared his throat. 
 
 "This, then," said he, "is the story told me by Alb, re- 
 garding 
 
 "THE RAGPICKER AND THE PRINCESS." 
 
 When I was sixteen years old (said Alb the Fortunate) 
 and my dear Princess Hyla fourteen, the King, her father, 
 sojourned for a time at his castle of Ventamere, beside the 
 sea; and you may be sure that the Princess was with him 
 there, for he could never bear to be parted from her for a 
 single day. 
 
 My father followed in the King's train, and I, on my part, 
 was not to be left behind; and we lodged together, my 
 father and myself, in the town hard by the castle, where 
 I saw the Princess every day, and daily grew in favor with 
 her father. 
 
 The windows of the King's castle looked out across the
 
 130 SOLARIO THE TAILOR 
 
 Great Sea, and beneath the windows of the Princess's room 
 the tide washed up and down against the wall. 
 
 One evening, as it was growing dusk, and the moon was 
 beginning to tinge a wave here and there with silver, the 
 Princess was leaning out from her window and looking 
 across the sea But what I am now to tell you I did not 
 know at the time, as you will understand, but only later. 
 
 Night fell, and still the Princess leaned upon her hand 
 and gazed out across the sea. I do not know whether she 
 was thinking of me, but However. In the town of Ven- 
 tamere near by, where the shore curved inward in a bay, 
 lights began to glimmer, but the castle was dark, for the 
 King, intending to commence at daybreak his journey back 
 to his capital, was already a-bed. 
 
 The Princess Hears a Voice from the Waves Beneath Her 
 
 Window 
 
 The Princess, beginning to be drowsy, reached out her 
 hand to close the casement of her window; and as she did 
 so she heard a voice, a melancholy voice, not loud, as of 
 a young man singing to himself, directly beneath her win- 
 dow. She started in astonishment and looked down, but 
 she could see no one. The moonlight glittered on the sea to 
 the very base of her wall ; there was no foothold anywhere 
 for a human foot; but the voice rose nevertheless from just 
 below her in the restless waters, and it was singing a kind of 
 lament, pausing once to put in a few spoken words, in 
 this wise :
 
 HIS TALES OF THE MAGIC DOUBLET 131 
 
 "O quivering seas that sever, 
 
 O quivering severing sea ! 
 And I would I could sing forever 
 
 The sorrows that sleep in me, 
 The soundless sundering sorrows, 
 The shuddering secret sorrows, 
 The sorrows secret and soundless, 
 
 That sleep in the soul of me. 
 And O! the vain endeavor! 
 
 The silence and the pain! 
 The silence that now shall never 
 
 Sink into the sea again! 
 (That's a very good line, though, 
 about silence sinking into the sea. 
 It sounds a good deal like real 
 poetry. Anyway ) 
 Of such would I sing forever, 
 
 And sighing forever sing, 
 But alas, I never was clever 
 
 At all that sort of thing, 
 And though I would chant forever 
 By quivering seas that sever 
 And severing seas that quiver 
 
 A ceaseless sorrowing song, 
 I cannot sing forever, 
 
 For that would be too long." 
 
 The Princess waited, and the voice began again. It 
 seemed farther out on the water now, as if the singer were 
 moving out to sea. The words appeared to her to be so 
 strange that she never forgot them, and I am able to repeat 
 them to you precisely as she gave them to me afterward.
 
 I 3 2 SOLARIO THE TAILOR 
 
 "O weary the sea's commotion, 
 
 And weary the sea tides' fret, 
 The fretful tides of the ocean 
 
 How weary and how wet! 
 The humid hateful ocean 
 The hideous heedless ocean, 
 The ocean huge and humid, 
 
 That always will be wet! 
 (If I could only once get thoroughly 
 dry, just for a single day! It makes 
 me weary, the way they go on about a 
 life on the ocean wave. I only wish 
 they had to live in it all the time.) 
 And O ! for a seat on the settle 
 
 Beside the ingle nook! 
 And O! for the steaming kettle! 
 
 And O! for a human cook! 
 I hear, on the soft breeze sighing, 
 The sorrowful soft breeze dying, 
 
 I hear, as it sighs and rustles, 
 The music of bacon frying, 
 
 And O, I long to be free! 
 (If I could only get ashore on two 
 feet, for just one hour, I know where 
 I'd go. I know a good warm tavern 
 where ) 
 
 O dear! could I only be free! 
 For a diet of fish and mussels, 
 Of cold raw fish and mussels, 
 
 Did never agree with me." 
 
 The voice moved off across the sea, and died away in the 
 distance.
 
 HIS TALES OF THE MAGIC DOUBLET 133 
 
 "Dear me!" said the Queen. "What an extraordinary 
 song! And so sad, too." 
 
 "Never mind, grandmother," said Bojohn. "Please let 
 him go on with his story" 
 
 "Yes, yes, of course" said the Queen, "let the poor man 
 go on with his story. I wonder how he remembers all those 
 words. I'm sure I never could have remembered them. I've 
 a very poor memory for songs, myself. It's different with 
 the King; I declare he never forgets anything. I remember 
 there was a minstrel came to the castle once, and after he was 
 gone the King repeated word for word " 
 
 "Please, grandmother" said Bojohn. 
 
 'What is it, my dear?" 
 
 "Solario is waiting to go on with his story." 
 
 "So he is," said the Queen. "I think it's a very pretty 
 story indeed. I wonder how it ends!" 
 
 "Go on!" cried Bojohn, and Solario proceeded. 
 
 The Princess lingered, hoping to hear the voice again, 
 but it came no more. She turned back into her room and lit 
 the lamp which hung from the center of the ceiling. She 
 stood before her mirror, with the lamp at her back, and as 
 she raised her hand to unfasten the pearl necklace which 
 she wore, she glanced at the wall beside the mirror. Her 
 shadow, thrown by the lamp, stood upright against the 
 wall. And at that moment she saw something which caused 
 her to stiffen with terror.
 
 134 SOLARIO THE TAILOR 
 
 The Princess Sees the Shadow of an Old Woman 
 
 Through the crack of her closed door at the right of her 
 shadow, another shadow was oozing in and spreading itself 
 out across the wall toward her own. It took shape, and 
 paused for a moment; it was the shadow of a bent old 
 woman, stooping under a heavy bag, and holding out in 
 one hand a kind of poker with a hook at the end. 
 
 The Princess held her breath. The stooping shadow 
 stole slowly along the wall, and touched the Princess's 
 shadow with its poker. Instantly the Princess's shadow be- 
 gan to move toward the other, and the other began to back 
 away. The strange shadow reached the door and slipped 
 into the crack; the Princess's shadow followed, and slipped 
 into the crack after it. They were gone, and only the 
 blank surface of the wall remained. 
 
 The Princess tried to move, but she could not stir; she 
 tried to cry out, but she could not speak. She stood there 
 in the lamplight before her mirror, with one hand upraised 
 as if to unfasten her necklace; the minutes passed, and she 
 did not move. She heard the splashing of the tide outside ; 
 a clock struck the hour; there was no other sound. Hours 
 passed, and still she stood with hand raised to her neck, 
 before the mirror. She heard the clock strike twelve; and 
 on the twelfth stroke her door swung slowly open. 
 
 A Midnight Visit from a One-Armed Old Man 
 
 In the doorway stood an old man ; a spare old man, with 
 long white hair and beard, and bright blue eyes in a rosy
 
 The shadow of a Ragpicker oozed in through the door
 
 HIS TALES OF THE MAGIC DOUBLET 135 
 
 face. His blue gown, spangled with silver stars, lacked one 
 sleeve, the right; he had only one arm, and that the left. 
 The Princess felt somehow that she was glad he had come. 
 
 He stepped quickly to her side and smiling kindly took 
 down her hand from her neck. She felt a pleasant warmth 
 at his touch, and she sighed with relief. He kept her 
 hand in his, and drew her toward the door. She had no 
 wish to resist him. She followed quietly, and together they 
 passed out of the room into the dark hall. . . . 
 
 At daybreak, when the King was ready to depart, there 
 was a great to-do. The Princess was nowhere to be found. 
 Her lamp was still burning, and her bed had not been slept 
 in. The King was beside himself, and the castle was in a 
 turmoil. Searchers were sent in every direction, all the bells 
 in the town were set to ringing, and cryers went about the 
 streets proclaiming a reward. 
 
 My father and myself hastened to the castle, and I knelt 
 before the King and begged his special leave to seek the 
 Princess on my own account. I knew nothing, save that 
 she had vanished in the night, but I resolved that I would 
 find her, and I did not doubt of my success. 
 
 "Go," said the King, "and good fortune attend you. If 
 you bring her back, no reward will I refuse you, even to the 
 hand of my dear child herself. Make haste, and do not re- 
 turn alone." 
 
 Alb, Seeking the Princess, Sits Down by the Seashore 
 
 All that morning I ran about the town, seeking her in 
 every quarter ; but nowhere was any trace of her to be found.
 
 136 SOLARIO THE TAILOR 
 
 I came back in the afternoon to the seashore near the castle, 
 there to ponder what I had best do next. Trudging along a 
 strip of sand under a bluff beside the sea, I came to a large 
 rock which rose up out of the water at the beach's edge, 
 and climbing up on it I seated myself on a narrow shelf and 
 bared my head to the breeze. 
 
 I had sat thus only a moment when I heard a voice from 
 the other side of the rock, a melancholy voice, not loud, as 
 of a young man singing to himself; and it was singing a 
 mournful song, pausing now and then to speak in ordinary 
 tones. I remember the words very well, and they were 
 these. 
 
 "I dream in my deep-sea cavern 
 
 Of many a bosky copse, 
 I dream of a cosy tavern 
 
 And a couple of mutton chops, 
 For even the storks have gruel, 
 
 And even the sheep have corn, 
 But me! it is too, too cruel! 
 
 Alas, that I ever was born. 
 ( It's too cruel, that's what it is. It isn't 
 right. There's no justice in it, and I'm 
 sick of it, that's what I am.) 
 O sorrow too deep to utter! 
 
 O midnight hour of the soul! 
 If there only were bread and butter, 
 
 Or something warm in a bowl, 
 (I don't care what. I'm so sick of raw 
 fish, I believe I could even stand stewed 
 rhubarb. ) 
 O sea, so ceaselessly sloshing,
 
 HIS TALES OF THE MAGIC DOUBLET 137 
 
 O emblem of peace and hope! 
 But it's utterly useless for washing, 
 
 And O ! how I yearn for soap. 
 I seek, in my cavern's enclosure, 
 
 To talk with the fishes, but they, 
 Maintaining the strictest composure, 
 
 Have simply nothing to say. 
 Proud heart, you are left unheeded 
 
 Alone with your grief and your ache, 
 When all that is really needed 
 
 Is just a mere trifle of cake. 
 (Not fish cake. Not that. Chocolate 
 cake, three layers, with walnuts on top 
 and in between.) 
 Sing on, proud heart, though breaking 
 
 With every harmonious strain, 
 And physic be not worth the taking 
 
 For your description of pain, 
 Sing on, though it be not forever, 
 
 Forever and a day, 
 (Not that there's any sense in adding 
 on a day to forever. It's long enough, 
 in all conscience, without that. How- 
 ever ) 
 I wish I could sing forever 
 
 To pass the dull time away; 
 And could I be endlessly clever 
 
 And make me an endless song, 
 I would sing of my sorrow forever, 
 
 I would, were it not so long." 
 
 The voice gave a great sigh, and the singing ceased. 
 "I used to make up little rhymes when I was a girl," said 
 the Queen, "and very pretty little rhymes they were, too, or
 
 138 SOLARIO THE TAILOR 
 
 at least your grandmother, Dorobel, used to say so. But 
 dear me; I never could remember verses, no matter how 
 hard I tried; never." 
 
 "Yes, yes, grandmother," said Bo John. "Go on, Solario." 
 
 "Now the King was different; he could remember them, 
 but he couldn't make them up; and I could make them up, 
 but I couldn't remember them! Tee-hee-hee! Dear, dear! 
 When I think of it!" 
 
 "Grandmother" said Bojohn, "Solario is waiting to go 
 on." 
 
 "So he is," said the Queen. "I never liked sad stories 
 when I was a girl, for they always made me cry. But this 
 one may turn out better than I expect. I really think you're 
 doing very nicely, Solario. I always say, that no matter how 
 poorly one makes out, he ought to be praised if he is doing 
 his best" 
 
 "Go on!" cried Bojohn; and Solario proceeded. 
 
 When the singing ceased (said Alb) I climbed noiselessly 
 around the rock to the other side, and looked down. 
 
 An Interview with a Talking Seal 
 
 A fat seal was lying below me on a ledge of the rock, 
 just out of the water. The creature raised his head, and 
 gazed up at me with his big soft eyes. 
 
 "I could have sworn the voice was here," said I, half 
 aloud. 
 
 "Are you speaking to me?" said the seal. 
 
 I assure you I jumped in amazement. "What!" said I. 
 "Was it you?"
 
 HIS TALES OF THE MAGIC DOUBLET 139 
 
 "Well," said the seal, "there's nobody else here, is there?" 
 
 "Of all things!" said I. "A talking seal! I never 
 heard of such a " 
 
 "I suppose I haven't any right to talk. Just because I 
 haven't any legs, and have to live in a horrible sealskin, I 
 suppose I'm not even to utter a word. Is that it? Oh, 
 yes, I dare say; I suppose so." 
 
 "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to offend " 
 
 "I suppose not. Anyway, you'd better not stand there 
 quarreling with me all day if you ever expect to find the 
 Princess." 
 
 "Oh! Do you know anything about her? Tell me, 
 quick!" 
 
 "Yes, I do. I know a little about her. I know where 
 she is. The Ragpicker's shadow came last night and 
 fetched away the Princess's shadow, because the Ragpicker 
 needed the Princess's shadow to protect her against the peo- 
 ple. Everybody is afraid of shadows, I suppose you know 
 that. And then the One-Armed Sorcerer took away the 
 Princess, and what he's going to do with her I don't know. 
 But you'd better find out. Are you ready to go?" 
 
 "Yes, yes! I'm ready! I'll go anywhere! Tell me 
 where!" 
 
 "You talk brave enough. The question is, do you act as 
 brave as you talk? Do you mind getting half -drowned?" 
 
 "No, no! I mind nothing! Tell me what I must do!" 
 
 "Sounds very brave, indeed. Are you afraid of 
 shadows?" 
 
 "Of course not!"
 
 1 40 SOLARIO THE TAILOR 
 
 "Then you're the only person in these parts who isn't. 
 Where you're going, they're all afraid of shadows, and 
 that's how the Ragpicker protects herself against the people; 
 with shadows. And so you're not afraid of them. Well, 
 well!" 
 
 "I'm not afraid of anything ! Tell me what to do 1" 
 
 "So I Pretty brave ! All right, I'll take you there myself. 
 Take off your coat and shoes." 
 
 I took off my shoes, stockings, and coat. 
 
 The seal hunched himself down into the water, and lay 
 there with his head resting on the rock. 
 
 "Now," said he, "come down here and lie on my back, 
 and hold on tight; and don't get in the way of my flippers." 
 
 I hesitated for a moment at the idea of lying down in the 
 water on the back of a seal, but I came down the rock and 
 stretched myself out on his back and clung to him with my 
 arms and legs as well as I could. 
 
 A Sea Journey on the Back of a Seal 
 
 "Hold on tight," said the seal, and darted off across the 
 sea so suddenly that I lost my grip and fell off into the water ; 
 but he swam under me, and I was soon on his back once 
 more, none the worse. 
 
 "What's the matter?" said the seal. "Haven't you any 
 strength? I suppose I'll have to go slower." 
 
 He glided slowly and smoothly over the long swells, and 
 as soon as I got used to it I found that it was really wonder- 
 ful sport. We followed the shore line quite around the 
 island to its opposite side, and then the seal made straight
 
 HIS TALES OF THE MAGIC DOUBLET 141 
 
 for the open sea. The shore faded away behind us, and 
 at last it was gone. 
 
 Hours passed, and I grew stiff and cold. I slipped off the 
 seal's back now and then, for the exercise of swimming. It 
 was excessively difficult to hold on to his slippery skin, 
 and I ached so painfully with the strain that I feared at last 
 that I should have to let go for good; and I was about 
 to give up, when I saw afar off on the horizon what looked 
 like land. The seal swam faster. I took new courage, 
 and clung to him tighter. 
 
 It was indeed land, evidently an island; and as we came 
 close to it I could make out in its side a deep cove, backed 
 with dark, woody hills and flanked on either side by rocky 
 cliffs. Fishing boats of all sizes were moored in the cove, 
 and a large village straggled up the hillside behind. 
 
 The seal glided into the smooth wafer between the 
 cliffs, and slid up against the sand of the beach at the foot 
 of the village. It was just twilight. 
 
 I jumped to my feet and stretched my numb and aching 
 limbs, gazing with curiosity at the near-by houses. I turned 
 round at the sound of the seal's voice. 
 
 "Can you get me a custard pie?" said the seal. 
 
 "What?" said I, in astonishment. 
 
 "There's a pastry cook in the village. I'll wait for you 
 here. Mince pie'll do, if they're out of custard." 
 
 I hastened away into the village, without saying anything 
 more.
 
 i 4 2 SOLARIO THE TAILOR 
 
 The Village of Storks 
 
 It was a large village, and there were a good many streets ; 
 and before I found the pastry cook's shop I paused to look 
 at the strange collection of birds which adorned the house- 
 tops. On nearly every chimney or ridgepole stood a stork, 
 and on some were two or three, and even more; young 
 storks all of them, judging by their size. 
 
 I noticed, as I passed the villagers in the street, that 
 their faces were very sad; and I thought it singular that al- 
 though I saw many grown people, I met no children, and 
 heard no children's voices. 
 
 The pastry cook, when I found him, proved to have 
 the saddest face of all, and his wife looked as if she had 
 been weeping; and there were on the pastry cook's housetop 
 no less than five small storks. When I mentioned that I 
 wanted a custard pie for a seal, the pastry cook handed over 
 the pie to me without any appearance of surprise, and with- 
 out accepting any payment. 
 
 I hurried back to the beach, and sat down before the 
 seal and held the custard pie while the hungry creature ate 
 it. 
 
 "Did you ever eat raw fish?" said he. 
 
 "I should say not," said I. 
 
 "It's awful," said the seal. "It's positively petrifying. 
 You know I wasn't always a seal. Custard pie always used 
 to do me more good than anything else." 
 
 "Tell me who you are," said I, "and who the Ragpicker 
 is."
 
 HIS TALES OF THE MAGIC DOUBLET 143 
 
 "There's no time now," said the seal. "You'd better be 
 going. The people here would like to kill the Ragpicker 
 if they could, but they're afraid of the shadows; she's 
 afraid of the people, and the people are afraid of the 
 shadows; and she's more afraid of the One-Armed Sorcerer 
 than anybody else, though between you and me I think she's 
 wrong about it, because he seems to be a pretty decent sort 
 of old chap, and I rather believe he'd like to help her if she 
 wasn't afraid of him; but of course you can't help a person 
 who's afraid of you. All mixed up, isn't it?" 
 
 "I don't understand a word of it," said I. 
 
 "Brave people are always stupid," said the seal, and 
 with this he wriggled himself off into the water, and I saw 
 his head going back and forth slowly from side to side 
 across the cove. 
 
 I turned and went into the village. It was now nearly 
 dark. 
 
 As I came toward the pastry cook's shop again, the 
 village cryer came walking down the street, ringing a bell, 
 and calling out, over and over again, "Seven o'clock, and 
 time for supper ! Seven o'clock, and time for supper 1" 
 
 As the cryer passed by, the storks flapped their wings and 
 flew down from the housetops, and took their stand in a 
 row before their houses, along the curbs; and wherever a 
 stork stood before a house a woman came out with a bowl 
 in her hand. When I reached the pastry cook's shop, the 
 pastry cook's wife was kneeling on the sidewalk before the 
 five little storks, feeding them gruel out of a bowl with a 
 long spoon. I observed that all along the street women
 
 i 4 4 SOLARIO THE TAILOR 
 
 were feeding the storks in the same way; but again I noticed 
 that there were no children. 
 
 I walked on, watching in every street the feeding of the 
 storks, and looking out for some sign of the Princess. I 
 observed at last a gilded wooden arm and hand holding a 
 lantern, projecting from the front wall of a house a little in 
 advance; and before this house, at the curb, a single stork 
 was standing, and an old man, one-armed, wearing white 
 hair and beard and dressed in a blue gown with silver stars, 
 was sitting before the stork, feeding it with a long spoon 
 from a bowl in his lap. Around the stork's neck hung a 
 pearl necklace. 
 
 Wondering whether I had ever seen that necklace before, 
 I passed behind the old man, and as I did so the stork fixed 
 its eye on me and ruffled its feathers in agitation. I had no 
 sooner gone by than there was a great fluttering among all 
 the storks, and I observed, coming toward me down the 
 street, a bent old woman, stooping under a bulging bag 
 and holding out what appeared to be a poker with a hook 
 at the end. She was ragged and decrepit, and there was 
 a gleam in her eye which seemed to me to be more of terror 
 than anything. 
 
 She gazed intently at the stork with the necklace, and 
 then passed on down the street. All the storks, at sight of 
 her, suddenly flew up on to the housetops, and all the people, 
 or nearly all, went hurriedly indoors. As I turned to follow 
 her with my eyes, I saw that the stork with the necklace was 
 perched up on the ridgepole, and that the old one-armed 
 man was gone.
 
 HIS TALES OF THE MAGIC DOUBLET 145 
 The Ragpicker Frightens the Men Away with Her Bag 
 
 The Ragpicker had reached the next corner, and was 
 about to turn into the street at her right, when a dozen mea 
 came hurrying toward her in a group, and she stopped 'and 
 faced them. They were burly men, and they were plainly 
 angry; they carried cudgels, and one of them carried a rope; 
 they meant to do her harm, without a doubt. They ad- 
 vanced on her, muttering dangerously together, and she 
 stood stock still, waiting. One of the men gave a shout, 
 and they rushed upon her in a body; but quick as a wink 
 the old woman whisked her bag from her shoulder to the 
 ground, and began to open it; and at this the men fell back 
 against each other as if afraid; and as the old woman made 
 again as if to open the bag, the men hesitated, turned about, 
 and actually took to their heels and fled. 
 
 The Ragpicker slung her bag upon her back again, turned 
 the corner, and disappeared. 
 
 What could be in that bag, I wondered, to make those 
 burly men afraid? 
 
 I hurried to the corner, and saw the old woman plodding 
 away toward the end of the street. She did not look 
 around, and I followed her cautiously. She passed beyond 
 the village houses and began to climb a path which wound 
 up the hillside among the rocks. 
 
 Keeping carefully out of sight behind her, I saw her stop 
 at last beside a hut which leaned against the side of the hill, 
 and go in at its door. I stole up quietly. There were no 
 windows in the hut, but I thought I might be able to see
 
 i 4 6 SOLARIO THE TAILOR 
 
 inside through the roof, which was only a thatch of straw. 
 I could easily reach it from the side of the hill. In a moment 
 I was lying on the roof, and digging away the straw with my 
 fingers. 
 
 I worked slowly and noiselessly, and after a time made a 
 hole through which I could look down into the hut. It was 
 dark below, but I could see the old woman stooping down 
 over an opening in the floor, from which she was just 
 raising a trapdoor. She stepped down into the opening 
 and closed the door over her head. 
 
 I lost no time in making a hole in the thatch big enough 
 to admit my body; and when I had done so I dropped to 
 the floor, and stood beside the trapdoor. I raised it cau- 
 tiously and peered down. All was dark below, but I could 
 make out a flight of stone steps. I went down without a 
 sound. 
 
 He Follows the Ragpicker Down Into the Dark 
 
 At the bottom I got down on my hands and knees and 
 crawled along, touching the side of a wall at my right. The 
 wall ended abruptly, and feeling the ground before me I 
 found that I was on the edge of open space, and I could hear 
 the rushing of water far below. My hand touched the top of 
 a ladder, and I went down it carefully; but after a moment 
 my foot dangled in space, and I nearly fell off; the ladder 
 stopped short, and I clung on desperately. I then climbed 
 to the top again and crawled along toward my left, feeling 
 the edge with my hand until I shortly touched the top of 
 another ladder; and down this ladder, fastened securely 
 against the wall, I went more cautiously than before.
 
 HIS TALES OF THE MAGIC DOUBLET 147 
 
 The ladder was long, but I finally found myself on solid 
 ground. Following the wall to the left, I passed around a 
 corner, and as I did so I saw a light. 
 
 It was a square patch of light, like the light of a small 
 window, afar off in the darkness. I went down on my hands 
 and knees again and crawled toward it. The ground was 
 unbroken here, and I could now scarcely hear the sound of 
 water. I stopped at last directly beneath the light, and 
 touched a wall. I felt with my left hand what seemed to be 
 a closed door, and I got up slowly on my feet. I was look- 
 ing into a lighted room through a small square window, 
 without glass, and crossed with iron bars. 
 
 A lamp was burning brightly in a bracket on a wall of the 
 room. On the earthen floor, near the center, the old Rag- 
 picker was kneeling before a brazier containing a brisk fire, 
 over which hung an iron pot. Her bag lay on the floor be- 
 side her, flat and limp; it was evidently empty. 
 
 She Stirs a Steaming Mixture with Her Long Hooked 
 
 Forefinger 
 
 As I watched her, she arose from her knees and went to a 
 door at the rear, and made sure that it was closed tight. She 
 then went to a great heap of rubbish which was piled in one 
 corner, and scratching with her poker amongst the rags, 
 bones, and old iron there, picked out carefully a handful of 
 bones, examining each one minutely. She then took from a 
 shelf a large bottle of some dark liquid, and with this and 
 the bones she returned to the fire. She poured the liquid 
 into the iron pot and dropped in the bones, one by one; and
 
 i 4 8 SOLARIO THE TAILOR 
 
 as she did so I observed a thing which I had not discerned 
 before, that what I had thought was a poker held in her 
 hand was in fact a long, black, stiff forefinger, hooked at the 
 end. There was no doubt about it; it was the first finger of 
 her right hand, as stiff as an iron rod, and about a foot and 
 a half long. She stuck it into the steaming pot and stirred 
 the mixture with it, muttering to herself words which I could 
 not understand. 
 
 Presently she stopped stirring, and sniffing the contents 
 of the pot nodded her head as if satisfied. She picked up 
 from the ground an iron ladle and a pewter bowl, and 
 ladling the steaming liquid from the pot into the bowl, drank 
 it down, every drop. 
 
 She put down the ladle and the bowl, and stood motion- 
 less, as if waiting. A change began to come over her. 
 Her back straightened; she grew taller; the wrinkles left 
 her face; her skin became fairer, her eyes larger, her hair 
 longer; and there before my eyes stood a young and beau- 
 tiful damsel, tall and erect, with dark eyes in a pale face, 
 and two thick braids of brown hair hanging to her 
 waist. 
 
 She held up her right hand and looked at it. The long 
 black stiff finger with the hook was still there. She screamed, 
 and burying her face on her left arm shook with sobs. In a 
 moment she raised her head and put away her hideous right 
 hand behind her where she could not see it. Her left hand 
 she placed over her eyes, with a gesture of despair, and 
 as she remained standing in that attitude the hand over her 
 eyes grew old and withered ; she began to shrink and stoop,
 
 HIS TALES OF THE MAGIC DOUBLET 149 
 
 and she moaned to herself. It was plain that the effect of 
 what she had drunk was beginning to wear off. She shud- 
 dered, and gave a mournful cry; and in another instant she 
 was the old, bent Ragpicker again. 
 
 I drew a long breath. I stood back, for fear that I might 
 be seen, and when I looked again the old woman was stand- 
 ing with her back toward me, facing the closed door at the 
 rear. I noticed now, what I had not noticed before, that she 
 cast no shadow in the lamplight on the floor. 
 
 "SkagI" she cried. "Come hither!" 
 
 A shadow oozed into the room through the crack of the 
 door, and moved upright across the floor toward the Rag- 
 picker. It was the shadow of a bent old woman, stooping 
 under a bulky bag, and holding out what appeared to be a 
 poker, hooked at the end; the shadow of the old Ragpicker 
 herself. It stood still, not far from the door. 
 
 "It's no use, Skag," said the old woman to her shadow. 
 "I haven't found the right bone; but I will find it, yet I I'll 
 find it yet! Bring in the Princess's shadow." 
 
 Her own shadow disappeared through the crack in the 
 door, and returned immediately, followed by another. I 
 started, and almost cried out. It was the shadow of a young 
 girl, undoubtedly the Princess, and it stood upright on the 
 floor beside the other. 
 
 "Ah !" said the old woman. "Now my shadows are com- 
 plete. This one is the best and most fearsome of all. Ah, 
 how they fear the shadows ! Lucky for me, lucky for me ! 
 They're not afraid of me, but they're afraid of shadows! 
 This day they would have killed me, but for my bag of
 
 150 SOLARIO THE TAILOR 
 
 shadows. We mustn't lose them, Skag, we mustn't lose 
 them." 
 
 She paced about, growing more and more excited, and 
 went on talking as she walked. 
 
 "We're in danger, Skag, we're in danger. The One- 
 Armed Sorcerer is working against us. He has brought the 
 Princess herself here, to help him against me. What can he 
 mean to do? He means to take away my shadows from me, 
 Skag, it must be that. And he has brought the Princess to 
 help him. And what then? Death, Skag, death; a quick 
 death, for what will the people be afraid of then? We must 
 stop it, Skag, we must stop the sorcerer, and there is only 
 one way. The Princess must be destroyed! To-morrow 
 morning, when the sun shines and the shadows can be seen, 
 I will seek her out and destroy her; and the shadows shall 
 go with me and protect me. Bring in the shadows, Skag." 
 
 The Shadows of the Children 
 
 The old woman's shadow disappeared through the crack 
 again, and immediately returned; and behind it came a 
 shadow, and another, and another; many shadows, all of 
 children, and they moved upright across the floor and stood 
 before the Ragpicker. They were flat as paper and black 
 as ink; and the lamplight did not shine through them. They 
 kept on coming, and the room was soon full of them; hun- 
 dreds, as it seemed, hundreds of shadows of little children, 
 some so small that they were just beginning to walk. And 
 the shadow of the Princess was the tallest of all.
 
 HIS TALES OF THE MAGIC DOUBLET 151 
 
 The Ragpicker pointed at the Princess's shadow with her 
 long, black rod of a finger, and said, "Into the bag!" 
 
 She stooped to her bag and held it open at the floor, and 
 the shadow of the Princess moved to it, crouched, and went 
 in. 
 
 "In, all of you!" cried the old woman. 
 
 All the shadows crowded around the mouth of the bag, 
 and one after another stooped and went in. There was none 
 left but the shadow of the old woman herself. She closed the 
 bag, now bulging, and flinging it over her shoulder she said 
 to her own shadow, "Hither, Skag, and lie down!" 
 
 Her shadow moved close to her, and spread itself out on 
 the ground with its feet to hers, growing longer as it did so, 
 so that it became no more than an ordinary shadow cast by 
 the lamplight on the floor. 
 
 The old woman went to the lamp and blew out the light, 
 and the room was in darkness, except for the glimmer of the 
 dying fire. 
 
 I flattened myself on the ground as the door opened and 
 the old woman came forth with her bag on her back. I could 
 scarcely see her, and in an instant she had disappeared in the 
 darkness. 
 
 He Loses His Way in the Dark 
 
 I waited a moment or two, and then crawled cautiously in 
 the direction I thought she had taken; but there was nothing 
 but the blackness of deep night all round me, and I could not 
 be sure of my direction. I looked behind me, and I could 
 not see any longer the window I had just left. I had come
 
 152 SOLARIO THE TAILOR 
 
 from the ladder easily enough, but it was plainly a different 
 matter to get back. I crawled on uncertainly, and stopped 
 now and then; I had gone by this time farther than I had 
 come at first, but I found no wall. I must have lost my way. 
 I went on, and found myself going down a slope. I knew 
 that this could not be right, and I changed my course a little ; 
 but I was still going down the slope, and I was afraid that I 
 would be utterly lost if I turned back. 
 
 The sound of rushing water came to my ears now. The 
 slope grew steeper, and I crawled more cautiously. The 
 sound of water became more distinct. The ground was sud- 
 denly slimy, and before I knew it I was slipping down a steep 
 descent, unable to stop myself. I slid and slid, faster and 
 faster, clutching the slimy ground and rolling over and over; 
 and as I was fainting with dizziness I shot off into space, 
 and came down with a splash into a torrent of deep water. 
 
 The stream hurled me away. I struggled against it, but 
 it was too swift. It was impossible to swim. I could do no 
 more than keep my head above water, and let the current 
 fling me along into the darkness. Tossed like a leaf, hurled 
 against the walls of the stream, scratched by the edges of 
 rocks, bruised, bleeding, and half-drowned, I almost lost 
 consciousness, and scarcely knew anything more until I felt 
 myself lying on soft sand in shallow water. I looked up, and 
 saw above me a clear sky; the open sea was rolling toward 
 me on a beach, and the moon was glittering on the waves. 
 
 I tottered to my feet. I was so weak and sore that I could 
 hardly stand. When I was able to move, I walked forward 
 toward the ocean. The stream which had brought me
 
 HIS TALES OF THE MAGIC DOUBLET 153 
 
 spread out and lost itself in the sand. At my feet the break- 
 ers came rushing up, and a strip of beach lay at my right 
 hand and my left, enclosed at the back and sides by a high 
 cliff. There was no way out except by climbing the cliff. I 
 shouted, hoping that the seal might be out there in the water, 
 but there was no response. I made up my mind that I would 
 have to climb the cliff. 
 
 It was a cruel task, for the cliff was steep, and there was 
 scarcely any foothold but an occasional rock and bush ; but I 
 never once thought of discouragement, and I stuck to it 
 with all my might. My bare feet and my hands were torn 
 by the rocks, but I kept on, up and up, and in time I stood 
 on the top. I hastened away along the edge of the cliff, and 
 came after a long walk to a place where the cliff turned back 
 shoreward; and there I looked down, and saw the roofs of 
 the village straggling up its hillside behind the cove. 
 
 He Hears the Voice of the Seal Again 
 
 I lay down and put my head out over the edge of the cliff, 
 and at that moment there came to me from the still water 
 of the cove a faint, sad voice, singing: 
 
 "O wonderful pancake batter! 
 
 table and fork and plate! 
 
 I wonder whatever's the matter, 
 That he keeps me waiting so late? 
 
 He said he was willing to serve us 
 Regardless of danger or pelf, 
 
 But I'm getting so dreadfully nervous 
 
 1 really am scarcely myself.
 
 I 54 SOLARIO THE TAILOR 
 
 O why does he loiter and linger 
 
 While I wait so sorry and sick? 
 Let him sever the Ragpicker's ringer 
 
 And do it almightily quick. 
 For then I shall, sit at a table, 
 
 My napkin over my knees, 
 And tipple as long as I'm able, 
 
 And gobble as long as I please, 
 With plenty of good hot curry, 
 
 And plenty of custard pie, 
 If he only would hurry, hurry! 
 
 O why does he linger, why?" 
 
 The voice stopped, and I rose to my feet and made off 
 across the moonlit fields. 
 
 "There used to be a baker at the castle" said the Queen, 
 "shortly after I was married, who made up a great many 
 very pretty songs. The King used to say that he sang better 
 than he baked. For my part, I was very sorry to lose him. 
 His niece was going to be married in one of our villages, I 
 forget which, no, I believe it was a cousin; I am almost 
 sure it was his cousin, and I think it was the niece who was 
 looking after his mother while he was here, and she had to 
 go and keep house for the cousin after she was married, and 
 that left his mother all alone; so that he had to go back to 
 his mother, and I always thought he was such a good son to 
 give up his place here at the castle in order to take care of 
 his poor old mother, and I'm sure very few would have done 
 it in his place; but I must say that the next baker was very 
 much better at gingerbread, though he never made up any
 
 HIS TALES OF THE MAGIC DOUBLET 155 
 
 songs, and I think the King himself missed the first one a 
 good deal afterward, though he never would say so." 
 
 "Go on!" cried Bojohn; and Solario proceeded. 
 
 I rose to my feet (said Alb) and made off across the 
 fields. I found a path which wound down to the village, and 
 I was presently standing in the street. All the storks were 
 gone, probably within doors for the night. 
 
 I set forth briskly to find the house of the One-Armed 
 Sorcerer. I realized that the stork with the necklace was the 
 Princess herself, and I knew that if she was to be saved from 
 the Ragpicker I must act quickly. 
 
 I remembered the gilded wooden arm and hand, holding 
 a lantern, which stood out from the one-armed man's house, 
 and it was only a matter of time to find it. I found it sooner 
 than I expected. A light was burning dimly in the lantern, 
 but the house was dark. There was no stork upon the house- 
 top. I tried the handle of the door quietly, and to my sur- 
 prise the door gave before me, and I pushed it open. 
 
 He Peeps into the Sorcerer's Workshop 
 
 I found myself in a dark room, which I crossed quickly to 
 a door at the other side. This door I opened on a crack, and 
 through the crack I looked into a lighted room; a small 
 room, evidently a workshop, cluttered about with glass ves- 
 sels of strange shapes, metal machines of various sorts, 
 wooden hoops curiously interlaced, charts of the skies, and 
 great, brass-bound books; and at one side of the room was a 
 forge and in the center a table. 
 
 Before this table was standing the one-armed man whom
 
 156 SOLARIO THE TAILOR 
 
 I had already seen. On the table, the stork with the neck- 
 lace was lying on its side, perfectly still, and as I looked the 
 old man plucked a feather from the stork's wing and ex- 
 amined it carefully. He then cast it aside and plucked 
 another, this time from the back. This also he tossed away, 
 after examining it, and he then plucked a feather from the 
 shoulder, and holding it up to the light gave a cry of pleas- 
 ure, and without turning said, "Come in, Alb, I have been 
 expecting you." 
 
 I stepped into the room, and the old man greeted me with 
 a friendly smile, and held up the feather. 
 
 "Do you see this?" said he. 
 
 I looked at it closely. At the point of the quill hung a 
 single drop of blood. 
 
 The stork on the table stirred uneasily. The sorcerer 
 stroked it gently and said, "Sleep !" and the stork lay per- 
 fectly still again. 
 
 "Wait a minute," said the old man. "We must keep this 
 drop from falling off, and we must harden the point of the 
 quill." 
 
 He produced from a closet a metal box, and out of this 
 he took a small glass tube, covered with frost. He held the 
 drop of blood for a moment inside the tube, and then put 
 the tube away in its box. 
 
 "Now," said he, "the drop will not fall off." 
 
 He went to the forge, and blowing up the coals with a 
 pair of bellows, he held the point of the quill for a moment 
 in the fire. 
 
 "Now," said he, "it is as hard as a pin."
 
 The (Jut-Armed Sorcerer plucked a feather from the stork
 
 HIS TALES OF THE MAGIC DOUBLET 157 
 
 "Sir," said I, "will you tell me what this is for?" 
 
 "To save the Ragpicker from herself," said the sorcerer. 
 
 "But it's the Princess I have come to save," said I. 
 
 "It is the same thing," said the old man. "If the Rag- 
 picker is saved from herself, everybody else is saved too. 
 And this drop of blood from the Princess's heart will do it, 
 and nothing else." 
 
 "I have seen the Ragpicker to-night, sir," said I, "and I 
 will tell you about it." 
 
 "Sit down, my son," said the old man, and when we were 
 seated I told him all that I had seen and heard in the Rag- 
 picker's cavern. 
 
 The sorcerer shook his head and smiled. "And so she 
 thinks I wish to take away her shadows and let the people 
 kill her! Well, well, it's the way of wickedness to see noth- 
 ing but evil. Why should I wish her harm? What I seek 
 to do is to save her, not to destroy her; but she'll never be- 
 lieve that, because she can't think straight. Anyway, in try- 
 ing to do evil she has provided me with the means of making 
 her good." 
 
 "How has she done that?" said I. 
 
 "If she hadn't stolen the Princess's shadow, I shouldn't 
 have brought the Princess here; and if I hadn't brought the 
 Princess here, she wouldn't now be a stork; and if she hadn't 
 been turned to a stork I couldn't have gotten the drop of 
 blood from her heart." 
 
 "Is it true," said I, "that the Ragpicker protects herself 
 with shadows?" 
 
 "Of course! What could protect her better? What else
 
 158 SOLARIO THE TAILOR 
 
 is there to fear, but shadows? I confess I'm more than half 
 afraid of them myself. We all know we shouldn't be, but 
 we are, just the same. They're perfectly harmless, but 
 they're terrible. There's nothing so real as shadows." 
 
 "But tell me," said I, "how we are to save the Princess." 
 
 "All in good time," said the sorcerer; "in the meantime, 
 you must get a little rest, for you have an important task to 
 do in the morning." 
 
 I was tired out, in fact. The sorcerer left me, and I sat 
 beside the sleeping stork, watching it in silence for a long 
 while, and then I surrendered myself to drowsiness, and fell 
 asleep. 
 
 When I awoke, it was morning. The stork was gone, and 
 the sorcerer's hand was on my shoulder. 
 
 "Come," said he, and placed in my hand a tiny bow of 
 thin metal, with a string of fine hair, and showed me how to 
 use the stork's feather as an arrow to the bow. He then in- 
 structed me in what I had to do, and led me out into the 
 street. 
 
 The stork which had been a Princess was standing on the 
 curb before the door, and all the other storks were in their 
 places on the housetops. The street was already busy; shops 
 and houses were being opened for the day and many people 
 were outdoors. 
 
 He Lies in Wait with a Bow and Arrow 
 
 Carrying the stork's feather and the bow, I went to the 
 next corner, round which on the evening before I had seen
 
 HIS TALES OF THE MAGIC DOUBLET 159 
 
 the Ragpicker turn up toward her home. I passed this 
 corner, and concealed myself in a doorway just beyond. 
 
 I had not long to wait. I had drawn my head back into 
 the doorway for a moment, and when I looked again the 
 Ragpicker was standing at the street crossing with her back 
 toward me, gazing in the direction of the stork which stood 
 before the sorcerer's door. On her back was her bag, and 
 in her left hand she carried a knife. The people in the street 
 stopped to watch her, muttering together. 
 
 "Skag!" said she, "come in!" And she turned sidewise to 
 her shadow, which lay at a great length on the ground be- 
 fore her. It began to shorten toward her, and kept shorten- 
 ing until it was no longer than herself. "Stand up!" said 
 she, and the shadow stood upright beside her, a black, flat 
 image of herself in outline, looking as if it had been cut from 
 stiff, black paper. 
 
 The Ragpicker let down the bag from her shoulder and 
 opened it on the ground and said "Come out I" And at this 
 all the people gave a cry of terror and fled into their houses 
 and shut the doors, and all the storks on the housetops flut- 
 tered their feathers and flapped their wings. 
 
 The Ragpicker Releases the Shadows in the Street 
 
 Out of the bag poured shadows; hundreds of them; all 
 the shadows of little children which I had seen go into the 
 bag the night before; and as they poured out, they ran 
 about in the street as if bewildered. 
 
 "Skag!" said the Ragpicker. "To the fore!"
 
 160 SOLARIO THE TAILOR 
 
 The old woman's shadow hastened to the front of all the 
 others and raised its long poker finger, beckoning them to 
 follow. They crowded behind, and moved noiselessly up the 
 street toward the stork at the sorcerer's door. The Rag- 
 picker followed close behind, holding her knife up in her left 
 hand. The stork which was the Princess stood motionless 
 on the curb before the door. The sorcerer was not to be 
 seen. 
 
 Now was my time for action. I crept silently after the 
 old woman, and came up just behind her. I fitted the feather 
 with its drop of blood to the little bow, and as I approached 
 the old woman so close that I might have touched her, I 
 aimed quickly at her back and let the arrow fly. Straight 
 into her back it darted, and stuck there fast. 
 
 "Skag!" she screamed, but she said no more. 
 
 Quick as a wink I plucked the feather from her back, and 
 as I did so she turned upon me with her knife uplifted. But 
 she stood suddenly still, her hand relaxed, and the knife fell 
 to the ground. A change came slowly over her. Her back 
 straightened; she grew taller; the wrinkles left her face; her 
 skin became fairer, her eyes larger, her hair longer; and 
 there was standing before me in her place a beautiful young 
 damsel, tall and erect, with dark eyes in a pale face, and two 
 thick braids of brown hair hanging to her waist. 
 
 She held up her right hand and looked at it, and gave a 
 cry of joy. The long, black, hooked finger was gone. Her 
 two hands were the shapely white hands of a young woman, 
 without blemish. 
 
 "Free!" she cried. "The enchantment is over! I am my-
 
 HIS TALES OF THE MAGIC DOUBLET 161 
 
 self at last! Oh, thanks, young man!" And she threw her 
 arms around me and kissed me soundly on the cheek. 
 
 I released myself, awkwardly enough, and as I did so I 
 saw all the shadows up the street fall flat to the ground, as 
 if they had been knocked over by a ball; and they began to 
 slip swiftly away in every direction across the pavement. In 
 an instant Skag, the old Ragpicker's shadow, lay at the 
 young woman's feet. She screamed and shrank away, but 
 in another instant the shadow's shape was changed, and in 
 its place on the ground was the shadow of the young woman 
 herself. She clapped her hands with joy. 
 
 A Singular Commotion on the Housetops 
 
 The shadows of the children were climbing the walls of 
 the houses; and all of a sudden I heard a great clamor from 
 the housetops, as of hundreds of children crying out to- 
 gether. 
 
 "We can't get down! Oh, I'm falling! Help! I can't 
 hold on! Oh, Mother! We can't get down ! I'm slipping! 
 I'm going to fall ! Hurry! Mother! Come quick!" 
 
 I looked up, and there on the housetops, where the storks 
 had been, children were clinging to the chimney pots, strad- 
 dling the ridgepoles, hanging on to the gables, big children 
 and little children, boys and girls, shrieking out at the top 
 of their voices, and struggling to keep from toppling off into 
 the street. One tiny boy suddenly disappeared down a chim- 
 ney; a big girl lost her hold and rolled down the roof into a 
 wide leaden gutter, where she hung, half on and half off. 
 Dozens of boys and girls sat astride the ridgepoles, as if
 
 1 62 SOLARIO THE TAILOR 
 
 riding cockhorses. The big boys began to shout with glee, 
 but the little ones were crying with fright; and at the hubbub 
 all the doors flew open and all the fathers and mothers ran 
 out, and when they saw what it was, a mighty shout went up, 
 and it wasn't a minute before a ladder stood against every 
 wall, and not more than two minutes before all the children 
 were safe on the ground, hugged up in their mothers' and 
 fathers' arms, with such laughing and weeping and cheering 
 as never were, I am sure, in this world before. 
 
 "Oh, isn't it wonderful !" cried the beautiful young 
 woman. "I'm so glad, so glad !" 
 
 "The Princess !" I cried. "Look at the Princess 1" 
 
 The Princess Is Herself Again, but 
 
 She was her own lovely self again, and she was standing 
 at the same place on the curb before the sorcerer's house, 
 and the sorcerer himself was standing beside her. The 
 young woman and myself ran swiftly to her, and I shouted 
 a joyous greeting as I approached; but to my surprise, she 
 did not reply. 
 
 She was standing perfectly motionless, with her eyes wide 
 open, and one hand raised to her neck as if about to un- 
 fasten her necklace. On her shoulder, shown by the open 
 neck of her dress, was a tiny spot of blood. 
 
 The young woman kissed the sorcerer's hand and thanked 
 him. 
 
 "But the Princess!" I cried. "What is the matter with 
 the Princess?"
 
 The sorcerer shook his head sadly. "Somebody always 
 has to pay for these benefits," said he, "and I'm afraid that 
 when we plucked the feather we took away something we 
 cannot replace. She cannot move nor speak. But I will set 
 to work, and in time I will " 
 
 "Come!" said the young woman. "I will help her! We 
 must take her home ! Come at once 1" 
 
 The sorcerer and myself lifted the Princess between us 
 and carried her down the street toward the cove. The vil- 
 lage people and their children followed us, and stood in a 
 throng on the beach as we got into a boat and hoisted a sail. 
 
 "Good-bye!" shouted the people, and the sorcerer and 
 myself waved our hands, none too cheerfully; and at that 
 moment we heard a kind of bark from the water beside the 
 boat, and a voice cried, "Sister!" It was the seal. The 
 young woman leaned down toward him and cried, 
 "Brother!" 
 
 "Is everything all right now?" said the seal. "What are 
 you going to do about me?" 
 
 His sister raised the Princess and showed him the red 
 mark on the Princess's shoulder, and told him about the 
 plucking of the stork's feather. Then the seal's sister said: 
 
 "For once you have done a good deed, brother; and if 
 you'll do another you know the promise ! two good 
 deeds ! you will be free too. Go ! and do not return until 
 you have brought that which will cure the Princess. The 
 milk of the White Walrus who lives in the Far-Alone 
 Grotto on the Twelfth Ice Floe! Do you understand?" 
 
 "It's a pretty good trip," said the seal, "and I'll probably
 
 z 64 SOLARIO THE TAILOR 
 
 have to fight the walruses. But if you say so, why I sup- 
 pose When do you think I'd better start?" 
 
 "This instant!" cried his sister. "Off with you! And 
 return to us at the King's castle at Ventamere." 
 
 "Oh, very well," said the seal, and dived. He came up 
 again at the mouth of the cove, making off at a great rate for 
 the open sea. . . . 
 
 We reached the King's castle at Ventamere in the evening, 
 and pressed straightway into the Grand Refectory, where 
 the King was at supper with his court. As we entered, the 
 whole company sprang up, and my father ran toward me. 
 
 The King Beholds His Child and Is Grieved 
 
 The sorcerer and myself, carrying the Princess, stood her 
 on her feet and supported her thus between us, and the seal's 
 sister stood beside us. 
 
 "My daughter!" cried the King, and rushing toward the 
 Princess with outstretched arms, stopped in amazement as 
 she remained between us as speechless and motionless as a 
 statue. 
 
 I whispered rapidly into my father's ear, and the sorcerer, 
 kneeling before the King, began to explain. 
 
 The King paid no attention to him, but placed a hand 
 upon his daughter's arm and wept. 
 
 "My poor child!" he said. "What shall we do now?" 
 
 There was a movement at the door. A crowd of the cas- 
 tle people poured into the room, and parting, opened a lane 
 for a young man, a stranger, who advanced rapidly from the 
 door; a very fat young man, with a round, pink face and
 
 HIS TALES OF THE MAGIC DOUBLET 165 
 
 round, blue eyes, who wore hanging from his shoulders the 
 skin and head of a seal. 
 
 "Brother!" cried the seal's sister. 
 
 "Yes," said the fat young man, "it's me; and a pretty 
 little time I've had among the walruses, I can tell you;" and 
 he bowed low at the same time to the King. 
 
 "Have you some business with us, young sir?" said the 
 King. 
 
 "Venison steak and hasty pudding," said the fat young 
 man, with his eye on the supper table. "Oh; I beg your par- 
 don. I am the milk man." 
 
 "Milk? We want no milk here," said the King. 
 
 "It's for the Princess," said the fat young man. "To be 
 taken externally. Good for lumbago, rheumatism, sprains, 
 chilblains, strawberry rash " 
 
 "What is this fellow talking about?" said the King, in 
 exasperation. 
 
 "Brother!" said the young woman, his sister, fixing him 
 sternly with her eye. 
 
 "Rub a little on her shoulder," said her brother. "Direct 
 from the White Walrus on the Twelfth Ice Floe, and the 
 walruses nearly ate me alive before I got it; but here it is. 
 Excellent for all sorts of skin and blood diseases, as well 
 as" 
 
 "Brother !" said the young woman, sternly. 
 
 "I beg your pardon," said the fat young man; and with a 
 very grand manner he took out of his pocket an oyster shell, 
 and pried it open with a knife from the table. On the lower 
 half of the shell was a spoonful of white liquid.
 
 1 66 SOLARIO THE TAILOR 
 
 The Seal Introduces His Liniment, Guaranteed to Cure in 
 
 All Cases 
 
 "Very convenient milk bottle," said he; and waving the 
 King aside he stepped up to the Princess and went on pom- 
 pously, as if he were making a speech: 
 
 "I will now," said he, "in the presence of the entire com- 
 pany, and openly before you all, so that you may see that no 
 deception is practised upon you, apply a modicum of my lini- 
 ment to the shoulder of the young lady, at the point where 
 I perceive a stain of red, rubbing the same in gently thus, 
 with a downward motion of the first two fingers of the right 
 hand, thus, and thus, and thus." 
 
 He poured the white liquid from the shell on to the red 
 spot on the Princess's shoulder, and rubbed it in gently, talk- 
 ing all the while. 
 
 "Now, ladies and gentlemen," he went on, "I call your at- 
 tention to the effects of this lotion when properly applied. 
 It is warranted to be very efficacious in all cases of But 
 see; she lowers her hand; she moves her foot; she speaks; 
 she" 
 
 "Father!" cried the Princess, and threw herself into her 
 father's arms. 
 
 "Hurrah !" I shouted, and all the company cheered, until 
 the rafters rang again. 
 
 "Let the castle people retire," said the King, and he led 
 the Princess to the table, where he seated her at his right 
 hand, wiping his eyes and blowing his nose. When we were 
 all at table, the sorcerer told his tale, and not until he had
 
 HIS TALES OF THE MAGIC DOUBLET 167 
 
 heard it to the end would the King permit the meal to pro- 
 ceed. I observed that the son of the assistant carol singer 
 was very attentive to the seal's sister; and as for the fat 
 young man her brother, during the repast, which lasted a 
 full two hours, he spoke not a word. 
 
 At the end the King begged him to relate the story of his 
 enchantment and his sister's, and he readily consented; 
 whereupon he commenced, without being asked a second 
 time, 
 
 THE STORY OF THE TALKING SEAL AND HIS SISTER 
 
 "You must know," he began 
 
 "I am very sorry," said the Princess Dorobel, interrupt- 
 ing, "but it is Bo John's bedtime, and I fear we shall have to 
 hear this story another time." 
 
 "Oh, mother!" said Bojohn. "I couldn't go to sleep if I 
 tried. Please don't " 
 
 "No, my dear," said the Princess Dorobel, "not to-night. 
 Pray go on with Alb's story, Solario." 
 
 When the seal's story was finished (said Alb), the King 
 begged the One-Armed Sorcerer to remain with him as his 
 friend and adviser; and this the sorcerer consented to do. 
 
 "And now," said the King, turning to me, "what reward 
 shall be yours? I will deny you nothing." 
 
 I knelt before him, and made my request boldly. I knew 
 that my whole future hung upon that moment. 
 
 "The hand of my lady Princess," said I, "if she is will- 
 ing." 
 
 "What do you say, my dear?" said the King.
 
 1 68 SOLARIO THE TAILOR 
 
 The Princess said nothing, but turned red as a rose, and 
 buried her head on her father's shoulder. She was mine 1 I 
 took her hand in mine and kissed it. 
 
 "That's settled," said the King. "And you, sir," said he 
 to the fat young man, "what gift shall I bestow upon you?" 
 
 "A little more of the custard pie, if you please," said the 
 fat young man.
 
 THE FIFTH NIGHT 
 
 THE CITY OF DEAD LEAVES 
 
 f^OLARIO was sitting cross-legged on his worktable, 
 i j and before him, in a row, sat the Executioner, Bod- 
 kin, Bojohn, Prince Bilbo, the Princess Dorobel, and 
 the Queen. 
 
 "This time, said Bojohn, "we want to hear the story of 
 Montesango's Cave." 
 
 Solario shook his head. "The story is too dreadful alto- 
 gether," said he. "I fear you would lie awake all night 
 
 if-" 
 
 "Then tell us about the Roving Griffin," said Bodkin. 
 
 "Or the Blind Giant," said Bojohn. 
 
 "I am very curious myself," said the Princess Dorobel, 
 "to hear the story of the seal and his sister. What do you 
 say, mother?" 
 
 "I remember very well," said the Queen, dropping her 
 knitting in her lap, "I saw a seal once when I was a young 
 
 169
 
 170 SOLARIO THE TAILOR 
 
 girl, and a very curious creature it was, too, I'm sure. I've 
 never forgotten it, because I was on my way to be married 
 to your father, of course he wasn't your father then, you 
 know, and I think the day I saw the seal was the day your 
 father was expected to meet us, or the day before, I can't 
 be quite certain now, it's so long ago; and we were waiting 
 for him by the seashore, but no, we weren't expecting him 
 on that day, because he had sent a messenger to say that he 
 couldn't start until all the horses were shod, and the black- 
 smith was just getting over the measles. I remember that 
 messenger very well; a small, dark man with a beard, by the 
 name of what was his name? Something like Manniko, 
 or Finnikin, no, it was Tallboy. That was it. Tallboy. He 
 didn't stay with the King very long after we were married, 
 because his sister's youngest boy was taken down with 
 the" 
 
 "Grandmother!" said Bojohn. "Solario is waiting to 
 go on." 
 
 "Dear me," said the Queen, "so he is. I'm glad I brought 
 my knitting with me to-night." 
 
 "I am sure," said Prince Bilbo, "we would all be glad to 
 hear about the seal and his sister." 
 
 "Your will is my pleasure," said Solario, very prettily, 
 "and I will therefore now commence the story of " 
 
 Here there was a sharp cry from outside the room door. 
 
 "Let me in!" piped up a voice, loud and sharp as a 
 whistle. 
 
 Mortimer the Executioner opened the door, and at first 
 glance there appeared to be no one there. But Bojohn cried.
 
 HIS TALES OF THE MAGIC DOUBLET 171 
 
 out, "It's the Encourager/" And there, on the sill, was in 
 fact the tiny figure of the Encourager, no taller than a spar- 
 row, carrying his umbrella folded under his arm. He opened 
 the umbrella, and leaping into the air floated up with it to 
 the Executioner's shoulder, where, folding the umbrella 
 again, he stood bowing to the company. 
 
 "Dear me," said the Queen, "I believe it's the Encourager 
 of the Interrupter." 
 
 "If there's anything going on," piped up the Encourager, 
 in his shrill voice, "I don't want to be left out!" 
 
 "Then sit down, Mortimer," said Prince Bilbo, "and let 
 the Encourager hear the story too" 
 
 The Executioner seated himself, and the Encourager sat 
 down on the Executioner's shoulder and gazed solemnly at 
 Solario with his beady black eyes. 
 
 "Ahem!" said Solario, clearing his throat and picking up 
 his shears. "I will now, with your majesty's gracious per- 
 mission, proceed with the story as it was related to the as- 
 sembled company at Ventamere by the seal, and by Alb the 
 Fortunate to myself. This, then, is 
 
 "THE STORY OF TUSH THE APOTHECARY, AND OF 
 
 PARAVAINE HIS SISTER." 
 
 I must tell you (said the fat young man), that I am an 
 apothecary, and my name is Tush. 
 
 "We had a Lord Treasurer once" interrupted the Queen, 
 "whose name was Filch. It seemed so odd." 
 
 My name is Tush; and this damsel, my sister, who was 
 lately a Ragpicker, is known as Paravaine. So much for.
 
 172 SOLARIO THE TAILOR 
 
 that. I now proceed to the catastrophe which begins my 
 tale, and I hope you will pardon me if I pause at times to 
 wipe away a tear. 
 
 We were left alone at an early age, my sister and myself, 
 without kith or kin, and we dwelt together in the city of our 
 birth, the city of Fadz you have heard of Fadz? A sea- 
 port of the Kingdom of Wen, a city of ships and conversa- 
 tion; and in that city we dwelt quietly together, and there I 
 kept my shop. 
 
 My sister, as you may see by looking at her, was beautiful 
 in the highest degree ; and I am bound to admit to you that 
 she was not a little vain of her beauty, and prized admira- 
 tion above all things in the world. Regarding myself, I may 
 say that I was considered to be quite handsome, though a 
 trifle fat. 
 
 In the art of inventing remedies I greatly excelled; and I 
 would beyond a doubt have succeeded in my profession, but 
 that I was much given to the making of songs and the tasting 
 of rare dishes, and these two occupations consumed the 
 greater part of my days. My sister, on her part, applied her- 
 self so diligently to the adornment of her lovely person be- 
 fore the mirror, that she had scarcely time for anything else. 
 In consequence, my business and my house fell into neglect; 
 and another apothecary, a tuneless fellow in a neighboring 
 street, who knew not beef from mutton, took away all my 
 trade. But such is the fate of your true artist, the world 
 over. 
 
 I forgot, in the application necessary for the composition 
 of songs, the foolish moneys which I chanced to owe here
 
 HIS TALES OF THE MAGIC DOUBLET 173 
 
 and there, and at length (so dead to the finer things of life 
 is the coarse mind of trade), I could find no one who was 
 willing to trust us any longer, even for the meanest knuckle 
 of the least respectable portion of a pig. I burn with in- 
 dignation when I think of it, but I proceed. 
 
 The Misfortunes of Tush the Apothecary 
 
 I soon found out what monsters in the shape of men 
 However. Certain churls, men of no character, no elevation, 
 no refinement, forgive me; I am not quite myself; these 
 men, if I may call them men, to whom I owed, I believe, 
 some trifling sums of no account, came to my shop one morn- 
 ing in a body, fifteen or so; and if you can believe a thing so 
 monstrous, they seized, they tore away, they loaded into 
 oxcarts in the street, in the broad light of day, all the goods 
 of my shop and all the furnishings of my house. I wept, I 
 threatened, I raved; but all to no purpose. They answered 
 never so much as a word; they departed, and left my sister 
 and myself without so much as a chair to sit on, or one coin 
 to jingle against another. 
 
 "Now that," said the Queen, "was going entirely too far. 
 However did they expect the poor man to sit down?" 
 
 One thing I entreated them to spare me, my Perfection 
 Cream, a salve or ointment of my own invention, warranted 
 to relieve in all cases of affliction of the skin; a remedy 
 which I had compounded many years before, and had tried 
 once or twice on myself with good results. Of this, having 
 never sold any, I had on hand, in little jars, a quite consider- 
 able quantity. They left me this, with contempt; and my sis-
 
 174 SOLARIO THE TAILOR 
 
 ter, observing it, begged them to spare to her of her own 
 possessions one thing only, her mirror, a handglass backed 
 with blue enamel, with a long handle of the same; and this 
 also they granted, not without a jeer. 
 
 We sat for a long time upon the barren floor; and then 
 we rose, and shaking the dust of the place from our feet, we 
 departed, never to return. In a pouch at my side I carried 
 my Perfection Cream, and in her hand my sister carried her 
 blue mirror ; and thus we went forth, to try our fortunes in 
 the world. 
 
 We sought the wharves, designing to take ship for some 
 distant clime ; and we found, in fact, a vessel loading for a 
 voyage. The ship's master was sitting on a bale, directing 
 the porters, and I addressed him politely, explaining our 
 case. He shrugged his shoulders and shook his head; but 
 he happened to turn around and catch sight of my sister, 
 and his manner changed. He jumped to his feet, bowed, and 
 begged us to come aboard. 
 
 In effect, we sailed away. My heart was light again. The 
 city faded behind us, the sunlight sparkled on the waves; and 
 I was none the less happy because I had not the least idea 
 where we were going. I composed a song regarding life on 
 the ocean wave, and sang it with ecstasy, until my sister 
 begged me to stop. 
 
 The master of the ship treated us with distinguished 
 courtesy; I could not help contrasting his conduct with that 
 of the cold-blooded men who had But I resolved to 
 think of them no more. I gave myself up to the pleasures of 
 the voyage.
 
 HIS TALES OF THE MAGIC DOUBLET 175 
 
 They Find Themselves on an Unknown Shore 
 
 On the third day, when we were sailing offshore in a light 
 breeze, my sister came to me in tears. The master of the 
 ship had demanded that she marry him, as the price of our 
 passage. I. went to him at once, and remonstrated with him 
 patiently. It was no use. He was set upon marrying my 
 sister. We left the matter to Paravaine herself, and she re- 
 jected the proposal with scorn. "You see !" said I, throwing 
 up my hands in despair. "Yes, I see," said the mariner. 
 "You wish to go ashore. I will not detain you any longer." 
 The ship was brought in closer to the shore, a boat was low- 
 ered, and my sister and myself (I assure you the black- 
 hearted scoundrel bowed to us politely to the last) my 
 sister and myself were landed on a sandy beach, and the ship 
 sailed away. 
 
 "Now isn't that a perfect shame" said the Queen. "And 
 such a nice young man, too" 
 
 We stood for a time in silence, petrified with despair. A 
 vast, treeless plain stretched away beyond the beach, far as 
 the eye could see; there was no human habitation anywhere. 
 Not an ounce of food nor a copper coin did we have between 
 us, nothing but my Perfection Cream and my sister's blue 
 mirror. We were at our wits' end. 
 
 "Let us sit down and think what we had better do," said 
 I, and I led my sister to a brown rock embedded in the sand 
 at no great distance. It was a large rock, round and smooth, 
 and we sat down with our backs against it, gazing mourn-
 
 176 SOLARIO THE TAILOR 
 
 fully at the Great Sea, where it sparkled in the sunlight. It 
 was a beautiful sight, and I began to think up a new song. 
 
 "I always used to say," said the Queen, "that the sea was 
 a very pretty thing, but the King never could abide it. He 
 used to get so sick! And he finally declared he would never 
 put his foot on a boat as long as he Dear me! I remem- 
 ber a sailor on one of our trips who had a parrot that used to 
 talk Oh, dear! Such things as he did say! Oh, dear! Oh, 
 dear! When I think of them!" 
 
 "All right, grandmother" said Bo John. "Go on, So- 
 lario." 
 
 As we sat there (said the fat young man) with our backs 
 against the brown rock, I amused myself by plucking away 
 idly certain blades of long brown grass which fringed the 
 lower portion of the rock near my hand; and these blades 
 I twined, scarce thinking what I did, into a ring of a size to 
 fit a finger. Instead of putting it on my own finger, I took 
 my sister's hand and placed the ring, jestingly, on the first 
 finger of her right hand. 
 
 The Startling Effect of Making a Ring of Grass 
 
 No sooner was this done than a kind of groan came from 
 the rock. The sand on which we sat heaved and shuddered. 
 It rose beneath us, and we were lifted slowly into the air; 
 and when we were higher than a man's height above the 
 ground we were thrown off on to the beach, and we were 
 looking up at a monstrous creature in the shape of a man, 
 who had risen up under us from beneath the sand. He was 
 chocolate brown in color, and he towered above us full seven
 
 HIS TALES OF THE MAGIC DOUBLET 177 
 
 yards or more. The rock against which we had been sitting 
 was, as we now perceived, his head; he had been lying, no 
 doubt asleep, on his stomach under the sand, completely 
 covered except for his head. We had been sitting above his 
 buried shoulders, and leaning against the back of his head; 
 and from this head, all bald but for a fringe of hair at the 
 bottom, I had plucked the hairs which I had thought were 
 grass. 
 
 "A genie!" I cried, and pulled my sister to her feet in 
 fright. 
 
 The genie opened his mouth in a great yawn, and stretched 
 his mighty arms; and as he breathed out again, jets of flame 
 shot from his nostrils. He was bare, except for a wide cloth 
 twisted around his middle from waist to thigh, and in the 
 waistband he wore a long, curved scimitar, which flashed in 
 the sun. He spread his hands out before him and bowed low. 
 
 "Were you asleep in the sand?" said my sister, recovering 
 her wits first. 
 
 He bowed again. 
 
 "What do you want with us?" said my sister, becoming 
 bolder. 
 
 "I await your commands," said the genie, in a voice like 
 the roaring of a waterfall. 
 
 "Oh !" said my sister. "Is it the ring of hair on my finger? 
 Is that it?" 
 
 He bowed again, extending his hands. 
 
 "Then please! please! take us away from here!" cried 
 my sister. 
 
 "What is it you seek?" said the genie.
 
 178 SOLARIO THE TAILOR 
 
 "We seek the best thing in the world!" cried my sister. 
 "Take us where we may find it !" 
 
 "What do you mean by the best thing in the world?" said 
 I to my sister. 
 
 "I don't know," said she; "but the genie ought to know, 
 and he'll take us where we may find it. Won't you?" said 
 she, looking up at him. 
 
 "Hearing is obedience !" said the genie, and little jets of 
 fire spurted from his nostrils. 
 
 "Where will you take us?" said I. 
 
 "I will take you where you may find the best thing in the 
 world," said the genie. "And if you find it, it will be the best 
 thing in the world for me too, because it will release me from 
 the power of the One-Armed Sorcerer, who dwells in an 
 island far out in the Great Sea. If you don't find it, it will 
 be your own fault, and in that case, beware !" 
 
 "This sounds pretty doubtful," said I. 
 
 "No matter !" cried my sister. "We will find it. Take us 
 there at once !" 
 
 They Start Upon a Journey Through the Air 
 
 The genie stooped down over us, and under his right arm 
 he gathered me up, and under his left arm he gathered up 
 my sister. He stamped upon the earth so that it shook, and 
 leaped into the air; and in an instant we were soaring over 
 the treeless plain, and I was sick with dizziness. Higher and 
 higher we mounted, with the speed of an arrow; we seemed 
 to be flying straight into the face of the sun; I could no
 
 The genie flew away with Tush and hi sister
 
 HIS TALES OF THE MAGIC DOUBLET 179 
 
 longer tell which was sea and which was plain below. I 
 closed my eyes. 
 
 It was a long time before I opened them again. We were 
 lower, and I could see the plain, flat and grassy, without a 
 tree. The sun declined, and still we kept our course; I 
 thought we should soon be at the end of the world; and 
 still there were no trees anywhere on the plain below us. 
 
 I ached in every limb ; I cried out, but the genie did not 
 hear me ; and when I was ready to faint with exhaustion his 
 speed suddenly relaxed, and I saw, at the edge of the hori- 
 zon before me, what was, or seemed to be, a city. And still 
 there were no trees. 
 
 Scarcely a moment passed before the city rose in plain 
 view ; and with a swoop the genie descended upon the earth, 
 and we were standing, all three of us, before a gate in the 
 city wall, and my sister was arranging her hair before her 
 mirror. 
 
 A tall and muscular man stood beside the gate, as if on 
 guard. He was chocolate brown in color, and he was bare 
 except for a wide cloth twisted about his middle from waist 
 to thigh, and in his right hand he carried a scimitar, which 
 flashed in the sunlight. I looked around for the genie, but 
 he was gone. 
 
 "What city is this?" said I to the Guardian of the Gate. 
 
 "It is the City of Dead Leaves," said the man. "What 
 do you seek in the city?" 
 
 "We are seeking," said my sister, "the best thing in the 
 world. We were told that we would find it here." 
 
 "Ah I" said the Guardian, looking at my sister. "You are
 
 180 SOLARIO THE TAILOR 
 
 she who has come to save the King's brother. Come with 
 me." 
 
 He led the way through the gate, and we found ourselves 
 in an alley of high walls, along which we followed him for 
 some distance, coming out upon an open plot of grass, sur- 
 rounded by the same high walls in a circle. As we ap- 
 proached it, I smelled a familiar fragrance, the fragrance of 
 orange blossoms; and I thought with some regret of the 
 groves upon our slopes at home. 
 
 The Orange Tree and the Panther 
 
 In the center of this plot was an orange tree. It was green 
 with foliage and white with blossoms; the odor was de- 
 licious. Under the tree, prowling stealthily around it, was 
 a panther. I drew back in alarm. "Do not go too close," 
 said our guide. "It is death to touch the tree." 
 
 I had no desire to approach that terrible beast, and we 
 gave him a wide berth as we proceeded around the rim of 
 the grassplot to an opening in the opposite wall. We passed 
 through that opening into a city street; a street of glass, as 
 it seemed, for the front wall of every house was made of 
 glass; and within, in every case, was a kind of storeroom, 
 piled up with something which looked like dead leaves. In 
 the greater houses these rooms were piled quite full ; in the 
 meaner there were only little mounds; but much or little, 
 they appeared to be on exhibition, as if in pride. 
 
 "The treasures of our people," said the Guardian of the 
 Gate. "Dead orange leaves. Our most precious possession. 
 The wealth and station of each citizen are gauged by his
 
 HIS TALES OF THE MAGIC DOUBLET 181 
 
 store of dead leaves. It is of course only proper to put them 
 where they may be seen. But come; the King's brother 
 
 awaits us." 
 
 I nudged my sister. "The King's brother!" I whispered. 
 "Here is a chance for you !" She smiled, and glanced into 
 her mirror. 
 
 We wound through many streets of glass, and I observed 
 that besides glass the houses contained no material but stone 
 and metal; the absence of wood was very noticeable. We 
 turned down a mean street toward the city wall, and came 
 out upon a common, strewn with refuse of all kinds, and 
 bounded on the further side by the wall. A shelter of canvas 
 leaned against the wall, and beneath this shelter, on a pallet 
 of straw, lay a man in rags. He raised himself on his elbow 
 and looked up at us. 
 
 "The King's brother," said our guide, and I started back 
 in surprise. 
 
 They Come Upon the King's Brother in Rags 
 
 He was a young man, and very ugly, but not unpleasant 
 to look at; indeed, his ugliness had something honest and 
 winning in it; and if he had not been so ragged, he might 
 have made a passable appearance. As it was, I laughed to 
 myself at the thought of such a fellow in connection with my 
 beautiful sister. 
 
 The ugly young man stood up and bowed politely. 
 
 "Is it the first stranger?" said he to the Guardian of the 
 Gate. 
 
 "It is," said the Guardian.
 
 1 82 SOLARIO THE TAILOR 
 
 "I am content," said the young man, casting on my sister 
 a look of admiration. 
 
 "Fair lady," he went on, dropping on one knee and taking 
 her hand, "if you are not pledged elsewhere, I beseech you 
 to accept me as a suitor for your hand. Stay; do not repulse 
 me at my first word, but hear me further, and take time to 
 consider. I am the King's younger brother; and because I 
 would not marry a lady of his choosing, he has cast me out, 
 swearing that I shall remain in this misery unless I shall 
 marry the first stranger who shall come to our gates. Oh, 
 fortunate hour that brought you here the first of all ! I am 
 poor; I do not possess a single leaf; but I will devote myself 
 to you loyally, and I do not think you will regret it. I know, 
 having seen you, that I cannot live without you. Do not 
 refuse me now, but at the end of a week give me your 
 answer." 
 
 He kissed her hand fervently, and arose. I confess that 
 I liked this young man, but of course I could not think of 
 marrying my sister to one so utterly forlorn. I answered 
 for her. 
 
 "In a week I will let you know," said I, and drew my 
 sister away. 
 
 "Before you go," said he, "let me give you a warning. 
 Look at my hands." 
 
 He held out his palms, and I saw that they were covered 
 with a rash, red and angry-looking. He rubbed his palms 
 together, as if to soothe an irritation. 
 
 "The itching palms !" said he. "I have handled the dead 
 leaves all my life; and because I have handled them my
 
 HIS TALES OF THE MAGIC DOUBLET 183 
 
 palms itch, itch, all day and night, without ever a moment's 
 peace. I warn you not to touch the dead leaves. The dead 
 leaves of the orange tree; do not touch them." 
 
 "Very well," said I, and with these words we left him. 
 
 The Guardian of the Gate, leading us back into the city 
 streets, turned and said: 
 
 "You have just had your first chance to gain the best 
 thing in the world. I will now give you your second. Be 
 careful how you choose." 
 
 We entered a street of shops ; and I now noticed that the 
 people were, each of them, rubbing their palms together, as 
 if to soothe an intolerable itching. 
 
 I paused to look into one of the shops as we passed. The 
 customers within were handing over to the dealer, in return 
 for his goods, leaves, dead leaves, of the sort we had seen 
 in the glass showrooms; and whenever these dead leaves 
 passed from hand to hand, I remarked that the itching of 
 the palm they touched became more exasperating, so that 
 the people were quite beside themselves, and could not keep 
 quiet on their feet; but the dealer nevertheless received the 
 dead leaves eagerly, and the others gave them up with re- 
 luctance. 
 
 "These people are mad," said I. 
 
 We joined a great rout of people, all rubbing their hands, 
 who were pouring down a street in the direction of an open 
 square ; and when we reached it, we saw in the center, on a 
 platform above the heads of the crowd, a man in a robe, 
 who was evidently about to read from a paper held in his 
 hand.
 
 1 84 SOLARIO THE TAILOR 
 
 "Your second chance," said the Guardian of the Gate. 
 "I will leave you to your choice. Be careful how you 
 choose." 
 
 He turned away, and disappeared in the crowd. 
 
 "Hear ye! Hear ye !" cried the man on the platform. "A 
 message from the King! Whereas the affliction of the itch- 
 ing palm has now become so grievous that it can no longer 
 be endured, the King now offers, to such person as shall 
 cure him, one-half of all the dead leaves in his treasury I 
 And to him also he promises one-half of all the dead leaves 
 belonging to each person whom he shall cure ! The offer is 
 open to all! Be diligent! Thus saith the King!" 
 
 The messenger got down, and immediately there arose 
 near the platform a commotion, with much laughter, and 
 those in that neighborhood began to cry out: 
 
 "Way for the Lord Buffo ! Make way for the wise Lord 
 Buffo!" 
 
 A Dwarf Clad in Motley Stands up to Speak 
 
 A singular figure now mounted the platform, facing in 
 our direction. He was a dwarf, hunchbacked and thickset, 
 with a very large head set deep in his shoulders, and arms 
 which hung to his knees. His clothing was of squares of 
 yellow and blue and green and orange, and on his head he 
 wore a paper crown, rimmed around at the top with little 
 bells. With his right hand he pulled up by a cord a small 
 monkey, dressed in all respects like himself; and in his other 
 hand he held the long tail feather of a cock. 
 
 "The King's Fool," said one of the bystanders in my ear.
 
 HIS TALES OF THE MAGIC DOUBLET 185 
 
 The Fool waved the feather, and the crowd settled itself 
 to listen. 
 
 "Hear ye ! Hear ye !" he cried, in a loud, harsh voice. 
 
 At this the people shouted, "Go on, go on!" 
 
 The monkey leaped up on to the dwarf's shoulder, and 
 the dwarf proceeded, with the greatest gravity. 
 
 "I, Buffo, chief counselor to his most gracious majesty, 
 King Fatchaps, do call upon you to hearken to the voice 
 of Wisdom 1" 
 
 "Wisdom! That's good!" laughed the crowd, never 
 ceasing to rub their palms and dance up and down the while. 
 
 "First I must tell you, my loyal subjects, that you are all 
 mad. Do you believe it?" 
 
 "Yes ! yes ! Of course !" shouted the crowd, still laughing. 
 
 "Give ear, and I will prove it to you ! Thus ! Answer 
 me ! Isn't there enough in our city for all, to feed you and 
 clothe you and shelter you and amuse you? Answer!" 
 
 "True !" cried many persons in the throng. 
 
 "Then why are there some among you who starve, and 
 others who cast out of their abundance to the dogs? Tell me 
 that!" 
 
 No one replied. 
 
 "Because you are mad ! With the itching palm ! Look 
 at you ! You can't stand still on your feet I Rub, rub ! Want 
 in the midst of plenty ! Scratch, scratch ! Some with too little 
 and some with too much ! Rub, rub ! And enough for every- 
 body in reason ! Scratch, scratch ! All mad, all mad I Rub, 
 rub ! Look at me have I itching palms?" He held up his 
 hands, palms outward.
 
 1 86 SOLARIO THE TAILOR 
 
 "No 1" exclaimed several in the crowd. 
 
 "Tell me why! Tell me why! Because I touch not the 
 dead leaves! Isn't it so?" 
 
 No one answered. 
 
 "Give ear, madmen, and I will reveal to you how to cure 
 the itching palm I Bring the dead orange leaves here to the 
 square ! Pile them up ! Burn them, burn them, burn them, 
 everyone! That's it I Will you give up the dead leaves?" 
 
 "No !" roared the people as if with one voice. 
 
 "Then farewell, madmen!" cried the Fool, and he jerked 
 the monkey from his shoulder and descended from the plat- 
 form. 
 
 The people, still rubbing their hands together and danc- 
 ing, but laughing withal, rapidly left the square, and my 
 sister and myself started to go; and as we started, the dwarf 
 appeared before us with his monkey, and cocked his eye up 
 at us waggishly. 
 
 "What, ho !" said the Fool. "Strangers, by the ears of a 
 donkey! Greeting, strangers, what do you among my mad 
 subjects?" 
 
 "To tell you the truth, my lord," said I, making up my 
 mind on the spur of the moment, "I have come here with my 
 sister from a distant land, to cure the people and their 
 King of the itching palm." 
 
 "How so?" said the hunchback, sharply. 
 
 "With a little remedy of my own," said I, tapping my 
 pouch. 
 
 "Bah!" said the Fool, jerking the monkey's cord. "Go 
 home, madman, you are wasting your time."
 
 HIS TALES OF THE MAGIC DOUBLET 187 
 
 "One moment!" I said. "Conduct me to the King, I beg 
 you. You shall see me prove my boast." 
 
 He looked up at me sidewise. "Pouf !" said he, snapping 
 his fingers. "Old Fatchaps is as big a fool as you are. Here ; 
 I'll give you a chance; there's nobody here to help me. I ask 
 you, will you help me? I have a plan to gather the leaves 
 together and burn them. With your help I can do it, and we 
 will save the people together. Will you help?" 
 
 "Not I," said I, laughing again. "The people would tear 
 us both to pieces." 
 
 "What does that matter?" said the Fool. 
 
 "It matters to me," said I. 
 
 "Is that your choice?" said the Fool. "You have made 
 your choice? Done, then. Come with me. I will take you to 
 the King; and you will wish that I hadn't. Oh, these fools! 
 The time is coming when I must take the case in hand my- 
 self, all alone; for I will tell you a secret; lend me your ear." 
 He pulled my head down, and whispered fiercely in my ear. 
 "I love this people, and I will save them; whether they will 
 or no. D'ye hear? They are my people, and they must be 
 saved ! Whether they will or no ! And then what a bonfire I 
 What a bonfire !" 
 
 He jerked the monkey's cord again, and made off swiftly. 
 We followed him, and my sister said to me, in a low voice, 
 "Do you think he is mad?" 
 
 "That," said I, "is precisely what I do not know."
 
 i88 SOLARIO THE TAILOR 
 
 Buffo the Fool Leads Them to the Palace 
 
 In a few moments we entered and crossed the grounds of 
 an immense palace, and Buffo the Fool opened the palace 
 door without ceremony and preceded us into a great hall, 
 where he stopped and said: 
 
 "I must have a good look at you first. Buffino, my 
 mirror!" 
 
 The monkey darted off down the hall and up the stair- 
 case. While he was gone the Fool said to me : 
 
 "You have seen the orange tree and the panther?" 
 
 "Yes," said I. 
 
 "Do they worship the orange tree in your country?" 
 
 "No, no," said I. "Orange trees are the commonest of 
 our possessions. We have them by thousands. Their leaves 
 are of no account." 
 
 "So?" said he, with a look which said that he did not 
 believe it. "We have no tree in all this city, nor anywhere 
 in all this land, but a single orange tree. No one knows how 
 the seed came here. We worship that tree ; nothing else." 
 
 "A very pretty sentiment," said I. "Nothing could be 
 prettier." 
 
 "Hideous!" said he. "The leaves that drop from that 
 tree and die are the cause of all our evil. We fight over 
 them, we steal them, we waste our lives in getting them, and 
 we suffer the agony of the itching palm when they are ours. 
 Will you help me destroy the panther that guards the 
 tree?"
 
 HIS TALES OF THE MAGIC DOUBLET 189 
 
 "Certainly not," said I with a shiver. 
 
 "You haye made your choice," said the Fool. "Buffino, 
 give me the mirror." 
 
 The monkey, who had now returned, handed to the dwarf 
 a large mirror, and the Fool held it up before my sister. 
 
 Instead of the beautiful person of my sister appeared in 
 the glass the face and figure of an old woman, bent, ugly, 
 and wrinkled. My sister started back in dismay, and the 
 dwarf held up the mirror before myself. It showed me a 
 gross, puffy face with three chins and pig's eyes, horribly re- 
 pulsive. I shuddered. 
 
 "Just as I thought," said the Fool. "Tell me now, have 
 you seen the King's brother?" 
 
 "Yes," said I. 
 
 "Will you marry him?" said he to my sister. 
 
 "Oh!" said she. "How could I? I can't say. I'm" 
 
 "Just as I thought," said the dwarf. "And you won't 
 help me cure my people. What is it you came here to seek?" 
 
 "We are seeking the best thing in the world," said I. 
 
 "And what is that?" 
 
 "I don't know; but we'll certainly recognize it when we 
 find it." 
 
 "Not you," said the dwarf; "not until my mirror shows 
 you fair and comely; then you'll know it." 
 
 "How are we to get it to show us fair and comely?" 
 said I. 
 
 "One of you by saving a miserable outcast, and the other 
 by saving a whole people; then you'll be fair and comely, 
 inside and out, but not until then."
 
 1 90 SOLARIO THE TAILOR 
 
 "You talk in riddles, master Buffo," said I. "Let us go to 
 the King." 
 
 "Madman!" said the dwarf, and gave the mirror back to 
 the monkey, who scampered off with it and disappeared. 
 
 We followed the Fool up the great staircase and into a 
 distant wing of the palace, and stopped at a door, on which 
 the hunchback knocked. Receiving no answer, he opened the 
 door and led us in. "Your majesty!" he cried. 
 
 They Find the King in a Terrible State 
 
 The King was pacing the floor, grinding and scratching 
 his palms together, and muttering angrily to himself. He 
 was an enormous man with a puffy, red face, a snub nose, and 
 three chins, and he wheezed as he walked. His hair stood 
 up on end all over his head as if it was trying to fly off. His 
 fat legs went back and forth in a kind of tripping run, and 
 his fat hands rubbed and scratched and slapped each other 
 in a perfect frenzy. 
 
 "What, what!" he cried, never halting for an instant. 
 "What's the matter, what's the matter?" 
 
 "Stop a minute, King Fatchaps !" said the Fool. "Here's 
 a madman come to cure your itching palms ! Ha, ha !" 
 
 "What do you say? What do you say?" said the King, 
 dancing along, back and forth. 
 
 "It is true, your majesty," said I. 
 
 "You can cure me? What do you say? You're an im- 
 postor ! They're all impostors ! Can you cure me ? Why 
 don't you do it then?" 
 
 "I understand," said I, "that a reward is offered "
 
 HIS TALES OF THE MAGIC DOUBLET 191 
 
 "Well, well? What of it?" said the King, wheezing and 
 puffing. "Half of my dead leaves! What of it?" 
 
 "The fact is," said I, "we should prefer gold or silver." 
 
 "Impudence!" cried the King. "Gold? Silver? What 
 do you mean? I never heard of them." 
 
 "He'll take the leaves, never fear," said the dwarf. "Oh, 
 yes." 
 
 "Take 'em !" cried the King. "Who is the beautiful lady? 
 Take 'em? Dead leaves or nothing! Take 'em or leave 
 'em!" 
 
 It was plain that a fortune of dead leaves was as good as 
 any other, if you only thought it so, and if these people 
 thought it so, as they evidently did, I might as well take it. 
 
 "I am satisfied, your majesty," said I, "and if you will 
 hold out your palm, I will work the cure." 
 
 The Perfection Cream Is Rubbed into the Itching Palm 
 
 The King held out his left hand as he passed, and I trot- 
 ted along beside him, and drawing from my pouch one of 
 my little jars, I applied to the King's palm, with my fingers, 
 a small portion of my salve, rubbing it in as well as I could; 
 and then I ran around to his other side, and did the same for 
 his other hand. It was rather difficult, considering that I had 
 to trot along beside him as he tripped back and forth across 
 the carpet. 
 
 "What, what, what! Bless my soul!" cried the King, 
 stopping suddenly. "It feels better!" 
 
 I bowed and smiled, and Buffo the Fool said, "Mad, old 
 Fatchaps! Both of you mad!"
 
 192 SOLARIO THE TAILOR 
 
 "Speak when you're spoken to!" said the King. "Who 
 asked your opinion ? Pfoo ! pfoo ! I haven't any breath left ! 
 Not another word out of you, sir ! I know when I'm cured i 
 I'm no fool, I'm no fool !" 
 
 "Oh, no, not at all !" said the Fool. 
 
 "Here, you !" said the King. "Take this young man and 
 his wife and feed 'em, and let 'em sleep in the palace. I'll 
 settle with 'em in the morning, if the itching's gone. I'm no 
 fool." 
 
 "Not my wife, my sister," said I, bowing. 
 
 "What do you say?" cried the King. "Oh, that's differ- 
 ent I" 
 
 He bowed before my sister, and kissed her hand very 
 respectfully. 
 
 "Bless my soul ! Beautiful as a moonbeam ! What do you 
 say? Where do you come from, eh? The itching's gone. 
 But I'll wait till morning. I'm no fool. Be off with you, 
 clown, and let 'em eat and sleep in the palace. What do you 
 say? He shall cure the whole city, and I'll make 'em give 
 up half of all their dead leaves to him ! In the morning, in 
 the morning! What do you say? Be off with you !" 
 
 We hastily left him, and as we passed down the hall we 
 saw him poke his head out of the door and heard him call : 
 
 "Ho! I'm cured! Where's that confounded chamber- 
 lain? Send me the chamberlain! What do you say? I'm 
 cured!" And he banged the door shut again. 
 
 That night we dined sumptuously and slept in gorgeous 
 apartments in the palace. In the morning, being once more 
 conducted by Buffo to the King, we found him in a transport
 
 HIS TALES OF THE MAGIC DOUBLET 193 
 
 of happiness. The cure was perfect. He kissed my sister's 
 hand, and threw his arms about me, and cried: 
 
 "It's yours! Half of my dead leaves, and I'll make a 
 Prince out of you ! Not a word I What do you say? Never 
 woke up once last night ! Get to work and cure all my peo- 
 ple. Where's that confounded chamberlain? Get to work, 
 get to work!" 
 
 Tush the Apothecary Takes the People in Hand 
 
 The arrangements were soon made. I took my stand on 
 the palace steps, and all day long the people filed before me, 
 and into each palm I rubbed a little of my salve. It was a 
 work of days, and all business stopped until my task was 
 done. At the end, the city was cured; never were there in 
 this world a people so beside themselves with joy. 
 
 In the square where I had first met the King's Fool the 
 King caused to be thrown up, with five hundred pairs of 
 willing hands, a vat of hardened mud in blocks, and into this 
 vat his servants poured for me a good full half of all the 
 dead orange leaves in his treasury, and on top of these, from 
 each of those whom I had cured, one-half of his store of 
 leaves; so that when all was done the vat was just half full. 
 I was rich; richer than the King himself; and my Perfection 
 Cream was all gone. 
 
 I hinted to the King that some kind of covering should be 
 provided for the vat, to protect my riches from the weather. 
 
 "What, what?" said he, his face growing a trifle purple. 
 "There's no rain at this time of year! What do you say? 
 All in good time ! I can't do everything in a minute 1"
 
 194 SOLARIO THE TAILOR 
 
 Now it came to pass, as you may guess, that the King 
 grew daily more smitten with my sister's beauty. Scarcely 
 a day passed on which he did not visit us in the splendid 
 apartments in his palace which he had given us for our own. 
 His favors became more lavish as time went on; they could 
 have only one meaning. "You shall be Queen!" said'l to 
 my sister, and she smiled knowingly. 
 
 We were expecting, one evening, a visit from the King, 
 when the Fool entered our apartment, and behind him came, 
 instead of the King, the King's ugly brother. I was startled, 
 for I had forgotten him completely. 
 
 He knelt beside my sister, and took her hand tenderly 
 in his. 
 
 "Dear lady," he said, "I do not blame you that you have 
 neglected your promise. I have stolen here at great risk 
 to lay myself again at your feet. Surely a loyal heart must 
 weigh with you more than rank or riches. Ah, dear lady, 
 say that you will be mine !" 
 
 I confess that there was something about this young man 
 which made me like him better than before; but of course 
 a match such as he proposed was out of the question. 
 
 My sister shook her head and drew away her hand. "I 
 cannot, I cannot," she said. 
 
 "Tell me," he said, "do you think well of me do you 
 care for me a little do you think you can say you love me, 
 ever so little?" 
 
 "I do ! I do !" cried my sister, to my amazement, hiding 
 her face in her hands. "I loved you on the first day I saw 
 you ! I can't help it ! I do !"
 
 HIS TALES OF THE MAGIC DOUBLET 195 
 
 "Ah, then," said the young man, rising, while I on my 
 part remained speechless with astonishment, "what's to 
 hinder? You are mine!" 
 
 "No, no," said my sister, weeping, "it can never be." 
 
 "Is it because I am poor and friendless?" 
 
 My sister said never a word. 
 
 "Is it because you prize rank and wealth more than love?" 
 
 Still my sister said nothing. 
 
 The young man hesitated, and stooping to kiss her hand, 
 he said, "I have received my answer;" and with these words 
 he strode mournfully to the door. But she did not look up 
 at him, and with a sigh of deep grief he left us. 
 
 Paravaine Has Made Her Choice 
 
 "The wrong choice once more," said the Fool, and he, 
 too, went his way. 
 
 My sister had hardly dried her eyes when there came a 
 knock upon the door behind her, and the King entered. She 
 did not turn round, and the King tripped in silently on his 
 toes, putting a finger roguishly to his lips and shaking all 
 over with mirth; and coming up behind her he placed his 
 two fat hands over her eyes, wagging his eyebrows up and 
 down at me. 
 
 "Guess who it is!" he cried, wheezing. "What do you 
 say? It's somebody come a-wooing! Never mind who ! Ha, 
 ha, ha ! Guess who it is, and to-morrow you'll be Queen ! 
 What do you say? Pouf ! Pah ! I'm all out of breath. It's 
 somebody that wants you to be his Queen. Guess ! The 
 most beautiful Queen in the whole "
 
 196 SOLARIO THE TAILOR 
 
 He stopped suddenly. The King's Fool and his monkey 
 had slipped into the room behind him and were standing be- 
 fore my sister, and the dwarf was holding up his mirror be- 
 fore my sister's face. 
 
 "What, what, what!" cried the King in a rage, taking 
 away his hands from my sister's eyes. "What do you mean? 
 Out of my sight, Fool ! Away ! Begone !" 
 
 The dwarf held the mirror higher, shaking with laughter 
 the while, and my sister gazed into it. I saw her shudder and 
 turn pale, and then she screamed and buried her face in her 
 hands. 
 
 The King, staring likewise into the mirror, turned purple 
 and remained as if frozen with horror. He shook himself, 
 and gave a choking gasp. 
 
 "What's this?" he cried. "It's the what a Take it 
 away. She's an old woman ! She's a witch ! What a 
 I'm no fool, it's a trick, I knew it all the time ! Take her 
 away ! She's an old woman. You can't play tricks on me, I 
 won't have it, I won't stand it. She's a witch 1 I'm going. 
 I won't stay. It's a trick. I'm no fool 1" 
 
 With these words, puffing and wheezing, he trotted on 
 his fat legs out of the room. 
 
 "No marriage yet," said the Fool, looking at me queerly, 
 and he ran after the King, pulling his monkey along with 
 him. 
 
 He Finds Himself Rubbing His Palms Together 
 
 That night, as I stood before my mirror, undressing, and 
 comforting myself with the thought of all the magnificence
 
 HIS TALES OF THE MAGIC DOUBLET 197 
 
 I had acquired and would acquire with my dead orange 
 leaves, I found myself rubbing the palm of my right hand 
 with the fingers of my left. I was aware of a slight itching 
 in the palm. 
 
 At breakfast in the morning, I noticed that my sister, who 
 was very sober, would now and then scratch the palm of her 
 right hand; but I said nothing, and in the afternoon, without 
 questioning her on the subject of her love for the King's 
 brother, I prepared to visit the King, to try if I could not 
 bring him back to reason. I was ready to leave, when my 
 sister broke into my room, crying out frantically: 
 
 "I can't stand it, I can't stand it! The itching in my 
 palms! It won't stop for a moment! I can't sit still! It's 
 growing worse and worse ! Oh, brother, cure it, cure it, or 
 I shall go mad!" 
 
 She walked up and down the room in a frenzy, rubbing 
 her palms together. I tried in vain to pacify her, and at 
 length I left her and betook myself to the King. 
 
 On my way the itching of the night before returned, and 
 this time I felt it in both my hands. I knew that my sister 
 and myself, in common with the King and all his subjects, 
 had been handling the dead leaves freely since I had worked 
 the cure, and I began to be uneasy. 
 
 When I knocked at the King's door the voice of the Fool 
 said "Come in," and I found the King running with his trip- 
 ping step up and down the room, rubbing his hands, and be- 
 side him trotted the Fool and the monkey. 
 
 "Imbecile !" cried the King, without stopping for an in- 
 stant. "You shall die the death! A trick, a trick! And
 
 198 SOLARIO THE TAILOR 
 
 half of my dead leaves gone for nothing ! A death in boiling 
 oil! What do you say? Don't answer me! My hands, my 
 hands ! Worse than before ! You shall suffer, you shall 
 suffer! A slow death! Why don't you speak? What are 
 you going to do?" 
 
 "Ha, ha, ha !" laughed the Fool. "He's been handling 
 the dead leaves again, and so have you all. It'll be my turn 
 soon! My turn soon!" 
 
 "Patience, your majesty," said I, rubbing my hands. "I 
 will go to work at once and prepare more of my salve. Have 
 no fear. I will cure you instantly. I am off to my work." 
 
 He Cannot Find the Ingredients for Making the Salve 
 
 "Pouf ! Pah !" said the King, angrily, and I ran from the 
 room, to find the ingredients necessary for my salve. But 
 alas, they were not to be found. I sent everywhere ; the city 
 was scoured; but it was no use; I was in despair. Such sim- 
 ples as could be found I gathered together, and of these I 
 made a new remedy, far different from my old, but it was 
 the best I could do. I tried it on myself, and felt an almost 
 instant relief. I shouted with joy. 
 
 I returned to the King, and as I passed an open window 
 in the great hall I heard the muttering of many voices out- 
 side, and I saw a great concourse of people in the palace 
 grounds, all talking angrily, and all rubbing their hands and 
 dancing on their toes in anguish. They began to shout my 
 name, and I knew that if I should fall among them in their 
 present temper I should be lost.
 
 HIS TALES OF THE MAGIC DOUBLET 199 
 
 The King was trotting up and down as before, and the 
 dwarf and the monkey were running along beside him. 
 
 "What, what?" he cried. "What now? No tricks! I'm 
 no fool. What's the matter?" 
 
 "If I cure you," said I, holding up my box of ointment, 
 "I must have the rest of your leaves; and from every one 
 I cure I must have the rest of his ; it is only just." 
 
 "Anything!" cried the King. "You can't do it! It's an- 
 other trick ! I'll give all the dead leaves in the city to any- 
 one who can save me and my people ! It's a trick ! You 
 can't do it. What are you waiting for? Try it! Oh, these 
 hands ! It's no use ! Hurry up !" 
 
 I seized his hand, and running beside him I rubbed into 
 his palm a little of my new ointment; and running around 
 to his other side I did the same for his other hand. 
 
 "See the madmen!" cried the Fool, clapping his hands 
 in glee. 
 
 "By the beard of my uncle !" cried the King. "I feel bet- 
 ter! It's going! It's gone! It's all over! I'm cured! Oh, 
 wonderful young man, come to my arms! What do you 
 say? I knew you could do it all the time. I'm cured !" 
 
 He grasped my arm and pulled me from the room, and 
 down the stairway to the front door. A great throng filled 
 the grounds, from the door to the gate; and commanding 
 silence, the King announced in a loud voice that I was ready 
 with my cure, and that whoever wished to be cured should 
 give up the remainder of his dead leaves. 
 
 There was a moment's hesitation, but the anguish of their 
 affliction was too great; the people whispered together,
 
 200 SOLARIO THE TAILOR 
 
 doubtless remarking that they would soon get back their 
 leaves in trade; and at any rate they began to file before me, 
 and my healing work commenced; but not before I had ap- 
 plied my salve, in sight of all, to my sister's palms, and given 
 her immediate relief. 
 
 All that day and the next and for several days the work 
 continued, and in each case the itching vanished at once; the 
 city was cured again, and my vat in the public square was 
 filled to the brim, with all the dead orange leaves that the 
 people owned. The glory of my future was beyond calcu- 
 lation; my sister, I resolved, should yet be Queen; and I 
 planned for myself such offices in the state as should give 
 me power even greater than the King's. 
 
 When I awoke in my bed on the following morning, I 
 found that I was rubbing my hands. 
 
 I dressed hurriedly, and my sister came to me in tears. 
 She was rubbing her hands. 
 
 We hurried to the King. He was running up and down, 
 rubbing his hands. 
 
 We fled from him and ran out upon the palace steps, not 
 knowing where next to go ; and as we stood there, hesitating, 
 the King's brother appeared before us, and spoke with ex- 
 citement. 
 
 "Beloved!" he cried. u We love each other what more 
 is needed? Quick, it is not yet too late! Say that you love 
 me let me hear it again!" 
 
 "Ah, yes, I do," said my sister, and he threw his arm 
 about her and clasped her to his breast.
 
 HIS TALES OF THE MAGIC DOUBLET 201 
 
 "Come! I will save you!" he cried. "There is time, if 
 we hurry. Will you come with me now?" 
 
 My sister drew back a little, still struggling within her- 
 self; and while she hesitated, a commotion arose at the gate, 
 and the young man cried out, in a voice full of despair : 
 
 "It is too late, too late!" 
 
 Tush and His Sister are Seized by the Angry Crowd 
 
 At the gate a throng of people were pressing in with 
 angry shouts. They made toward us, dancing and rubbing 
 their hands. They surrounded us ; they crowded upon us to 
 suffocation; the young man and myself tried in vain to shield 
 my sister; angry hands were laid upon her and upon myself, 
 and we were hustled away toward the gate. 
 
 "Give us back our leaves ! Kill them both ! To the 
 square!" shouted the mob; and thrusting the King's brother 
 aside they pulled and pushed us to the public square, and 
 halted us beneath the vat which contained all my wealth. 
 
 A sudden outcry, followed by silence, drew my attention 
 upward. There above us, on the rim of the vat, stood the 
 King's Fool. He held a lighted torch aloft in his hand. 
 
 "Madmen!" he cried. "I am ready to cure you! All 
 alone! Speak! Shall I destroy the leaves?" 
 
 "No, no!" shouted the crowd. "Stop him! Stop him!" 
 
 "If you fire the leaves, we will kill these two!" shouted 
 one of our captors. 
 
 "Oh !" said my sister at my side, pale with terror. "What 
 shall we do? Stop him! If the genie would only come and 
 help us ! I wish the genie were here to help us !"
 
 202 SOLARIO THE TAILOR 
 
 "The time has come !" cried the Fool. "I must save you ! 
 Why will you all be mad ? I must save you from your mad- 
 ness ! In with the torch !" 
 
 He faced about toward the center of the vat, and swung 
 his torch as if about to toss it in; but at that instant a great 
 wind swept across the square with a roar, such a blast as I 
 had never in my life known before, and the King's Fool 
 tottered in it for a moment, and his torch went out; and then, 
 clutching at the air, he was blown headlong to the ground 
 in a heap. 
 
 "The whirlwind! The whirlwind!" shouted the crowd in 
 terror. "Fly! Fly for your lives !" 
 
 Far off across the housetops appeared a yellow cloud, and 
 a saffron gloom overspread the city. From the cloud to the 
 ground revolved a yellow funnel, as of dust-laden wind; and 
 it was coming toward us with the speed of lightning. 
 
 The crowd dispersed madly, trampling one another, 
 shrieking and cursing, and in a twinkling they were gone. I 
 seized my sister and dragged her to the street corner, where 
 I opened one half of a cellar door and plunged down with 
 her, closing the door over us, but peeping out through a 
 crack. We were just in time. 
 
 The Genie in the Whirlwind 
 
 The whirling funnel of wind and dust swept over the 
 square ; and in the forefront of it, at a great height, flew the 
 genie, his great mouth open, and darts of fire flickering 
 around his face. 
 
 The square was empty, save for the crumpled body of the
 
 HIS TALES OF THE MAGIC DOUBLET 203 
 
 King's Fool, lying motionless beside the vat of dead leaves; 
 and as I gazed at him where he lay, I saw, moving toward 
 him across the bare pavement, the humped figure of his 
 little monkey. 
 
 The genie, far above, kept just ahead of the whirlwind; 
 the yellow funnel whirled after him directly across the vat 
 and covered it and passed; and as it passed, all the dead 
 leaves surged up into it in a furious gale, so that it was dark- 
 ened with them; and the next moment the whirlwind was 
 gone, and the square lay quiet in the sunshine. 
 
 "Come, Paravaine!" said I, and pulled my sister forth 
 across the square. 
 
 We came to the base of the vat, and on the ground beside 
 it, left there untouched by the storm, lay the King's Fool on 
 his side, graver than he had ever been in his life; and hud- 
 dled against his breast sat his monkey, shivering, and look- 
 ing up at us with eyes that seemed to reproach us. 
 
 We hurried toward the city gate. Many houses were in 
 ruins, and the streets were strewn with rubbish. People were 
 running busily about, gazing intently at the ground, and 
 now and then one would stoop and pick up something. I 
 saw what it was they were doing; they were searching for 
 dead leaves, scattered by the whirlwind. 
 
 "I can't go!" said my sister, weeping. "I must see him 
 first ! Oh, my love, my love !" 
 
 "Too late now!" I cried. "Too late, too late!" 
 
 I pulled her onward, knowing that death awaited us in 
 that city; and we came to the plot of grass where we had 
 seen the sacred tree. It was gone, and in the place where
 
 204 SOLARIO THE TAILOR 
 
 it had been was only a gaping hole. The whirlwind had 
 passed that way. On the ground beside the hole lay the 
 panther, its head on its paws. It watched us with sleepy 
 eyes as we fled by. 
 
 In a moment we had reached the city gate and passed 
 out. The Guardian was standing there, his face clouded 
 with a frown, and his scimitar raised. 
 
 "Why do you flee?" said he. 
 
 "From the wrath of the people !" I cried. "Let us pass !" 
 
 "You cannot pass," said he. His scimitar glittered in the 
 sun. 
 
 "But we repent! We repent!" cried my sister. 
 
 "Too late, too late!" said the Guardian. "See!" 
 
 He pointed upward, and afar off in the sky appeared a 
 black speck, speeding toward us. 
 
 "The genie!" I cried; and I had no sooner said it, than 
 the earth trembled, and before us on the ground towered 
 the genie, breathing fire. 
 
 "Save us from him !" I cried, turning to the Guardian, but 
 he was gone. We were alone with the genie. 
 
 The Pulling Off of the Genie's Ring 
 
 "Off with the ring! That will send him away!" I cried 
 to my sister, and she tugged at the ring on her forefinger, 
 to pull it off; but it came unwillingly; and as she pulled, her 
 finger lengthened; she tugged harder, and as the ring came 
 her finger stretched out longer and longer; and when the 
 ring was off and dropped on the ground, the first finger of
 
 The genie swung him back and forth and tossed him out to sea
 
 HIS TALES OF THE MAGIC DOUBLET 205 
 
 her right hand was more than a foot long, a black, stiff 
 rod, hooked at the end like a poker. 
 
 The genie stooped, and gathered me under his right arm 
 and my sister under his left; and giving a stamp upon the 
 ground which shook the earth he mounted into the air. . . . 
 
 Far out over the Great Sea, as the sun was setting, the 
 genie drew downward toward an island; and on a bluff of 
 this island, overlooking a cove in which fishing boats lay 
 moored, he alighted and set us on our feet. Over my sister's 
 head and back he passed his hand, speaking strange words 
 in his throat. She shriveled before my eyes ; her face became 
 old and wrinkled and her body bent; and before I could 
 speak she was the hideous creature I had seen in the Fool's 
 glass, with a forefinger like the poker of a ragpicker. 
 
 "Paravaine!" I cried; but the genie turned her away to- 
 ward a village which showed itself at the back of the cove, 
 and sent her off in that direction; and when she had gone, he 
 picked me up in his mighty hands, and carrying me to the 
 further edge of the bluff where it looked down on the rolling 
 surf, he swung me back and forth three or four times and 
 tossed me out to sea. 
 
 I sank into the depths; I rose to the surface; and as my 
 head came up I looked for the genie. Far up in the evening 
 sky flew what seemed a tiny, black arrow. I cried aloud; 
 and instead of a shriek there came from my throat a bark. 
 It was the bark of a seal.
 
 THE SIXTH NIGHT 
 
 THE ENCHANTED HIGHWAYMAN 
 
 71 J^ORTIMER the Executioner, very grand and un- 
 
 /yt comfortable in his new suit, placed a chair for the 
 
 Queen before Solaria's worktable, and the old 
 
 tailor having seated himself cross-legged on the table, the 
 
 entire company sat down in a row, facing him. 
 
 There were first the Executioner, with the tiny Encour> 
 ager on his shoulder; then Bodkin; then Bojohn; then his 
 mother, the Princess Dorobel, and his father, Prince Bilbo; 
 and last, his grandmother, the Queen. 
 
 "Now then," said Bojohn, "I hope we're going to hear 
 the story of Montesango's Cave at last." 
 
 "If it please your majesty," began Solario, addressing the 
 
 206
 
 HIS TALES OF THE MAGIC DOUBLET 207 
 
 Queen, but at this moment there came a loud knock at 
 the door. 
 
 Mortimer the Executioner hastened to open it, and there 
 in the doorway stood the King himself. Solaria sprang 
 down from his table, and all the others rose. 
 
 "Ah! your majesty!" cried Solario, bowing profoundly. 
 "This is indeed an honor/" 
 
 "I was told I would find you here," said the King. "It 
 seems that my entire family deserts me in the evening, and 
 I am obliged to climb the worst stairs in the castle to i 
 But of course if you find my society too " 
 
 "My dear!" said the Queen. "We have been listening 
 to Solaria's stories, and you were so taken up with your 
 chess that we thought you wouldn't care to " 
 
 'Why not?" said the King. "But of course if you don't 
 want me to hear the stories, I'll " 
 
 "Sit down, grandfather!" cried Bojohn. "He's just go- 
 ing to begin." 
 
 "Do sit down, my dear," said the Queen. "Don't you 
 remember the story he told us the first night?" 
 
 "Hum! Ha! I'm all out of breath with those plaguey 
 stairs. Something about a button, wasn't it?" 
 
 "Perhaps," said Prince Bilbo, "he'll tell us to-night how 
 the magic doublet came to be " 
 
 "Well" said the King, "if it isn't a long story Is it 
 a long story?" 
 
 "No, no, your majesty " said Solario, bowing again, "it is 
 quite short." 
 
 "Hum!" said the King. "If you're sure it's not a long
 
 208 SOLARIO THE TAILOR 
 
 story Why don't you begin?" and he sat down in the Exe- 
 cutioner's chair. 
 
 Solario took his place cross-legged on the table again, and 
 the others resumed their seats before him, all except the 
 Executioner, who stood, with the Encourager on his 
 shoulder, behind the King. 
 
 "My dear," said the Queen, <( did you give the orders for 
 locking the castle for the night?" 
 
 "I believe I usually attend to that" said the King. "So- 
 lario, proceed." 
 
 "If it is your pleasure," said Solario, fingering his shears, 
 "I will now relate to you the story concerning the magic 
 doublet, as it was told to the Black Prince by his father the 
 King of Wen, and by the Black Prince to me. The King of 
 Wen, having directed his son regarding his mission to the 
 City of Oogh, placed the doublet in his son's left hand, and 
 thus commenced what I may call 
 
 "THE STORY OF THE ENCHANTED HIGHWAYMAN." 
 
 "/ thought" interrupted Bojohn, "you were going to tell 
 us the story of the magic doublet." 
 
 "I am about to do so," said Solario. "As I was saying, 
 the King of Wen, placing the magic doublet in his son's left 
 hand, thus commenced 
 
 "THE STORY OF THE ENCHANTED HIGHWAYMAN." 
 
 When I was a young man (said the King of Wen), I left 
 my father's castle one morning for a day's hunting in the 
 forest. Late in the afternoon it chanced that I had wan-
 
 HIS TALES OF THE MAGIC DOUBLET 209 
 
 dered away from my attendants, and being warm and weary 
 I threw myself down upon the moss to rest. I had lain 
 there but a moment when I saw, not far off among the trees, 
 a fine buck, the only game I had come upon that day. I 
 crept cautiously in his direction, and soon came within easy 
 bowshot of him; but just as I was fitting my arrow to the 
 string he tossed his head and trotted off into the forest and 
 disappeared. 
 
 I made off after him as fast as I could, marking his trail 
 by a broken branch here and there and an occasional hoof- 
 print in the damp earth, and presently I found myself deep 
 in a considerable thicket of underwood, and from this thicket 
 I came out, to my surprise, upon a forest road. 
 
 A Voice from Nowhere Bids the Prince Stop 
 
 I stood for a moment looking up and down curiously. 
 The deer was nowhere to be seen. The road was arched 
 in a charming manner by the branches of the trees, and at no 
 great distance lost itself in the shadowy forest. I wondered 
 that I had never heard of this road before, and after ponder- 
 ing this for a moment I began to cross the road, looking 
 carefully for the deer's tracks in the dust. I saw no trace 
 of him, and I was about to push into the forest on the other 
 side, when suddenly a voice, a low but clear voice, said dis- 
 tinctly in my ear, "Stop !" 
 
 I looked about me, but I could see no one. There was 
 positively no living creature near me, unless I except a 
 wasp which at the moment was flying about my head, and 
 which I struck away with my hand.
 
 2io SOLARIO THE TAILOR 
 
 I walked down the road some twenty paces, peering about 
 for the person who had spoken, and becoming more and 
 more perplexed; and as I was about to enter the forest the 
 same voice, still low but quite distinct, spoke again close 
 into my ear: "Stop!" 
 
 I stopped in bewilderment. The forest was silent as the 
 sky; no living creature, not even a bird, could I see any- 
 where; there was nothing; nothing, indeed, except the wasp 
 which was still flying about my head and which now began to 
 annoy me exceedingly. 
 
 I went on again, striking out at the wasp, and in a moment 
 (I assure you I began to doubt my senses), the same voice 
 spoke again, this time close into my left ear. 
 
 "Stop! Just a moment!" it said. "Look, if you please! 
 On your left shoulder !" 
 
 I craned my neck about, and there was nothing on my left 
 shoulder except the wasp. The wasp was there, indeed, and 
 I made as if to brush him off; but the voice said, "Don't, 
 if you please !" and I stayed my hand. 
 
 You may imagine that I was more astonished than ever. 
 I gazed at the wasp intently, and as I did so the voice began 
 to murmur, in a kind of rapid, buzzing drone, into my left 
 ear. 
 
 "Mercy on us!" I cried. "It's the wasp that's talking!" 
 
 It was true, beyond a doubt. "Yes !" said the voice. 
 "Please listen ! If you'd only be so good I really wish you 
 would!"
 
 HIS TALES OF THE MAGIC DOUBLET 211 
 
 The Prince Listens to a Curious Discourse 
 
 I stood perfectly still in the roadway, and I know that 
 my mouth hung open as I listened. The wasp buzzed into 
 my ear a kind of rapid, droning song, so low that I had to 
 strain my attention a little to catch it all, and these were 
 the words I heard : 
 
 "I know it's rude to speak to you, it's something I but seldom do, 
 to speak before I'm spoken to, 
 
 Or buttonhole a stranger; 
 
 Excuse me if I do not pause to think just now of social laws, I can 
 not spare the time, because 
 
 I'm in the gravest danger; 
 
 In gravest danger, yes, it's true, I'm sure I don't know what I'll 
 do, I'll positively die if you 
 
 Refuse me your assistance; 
 
 Come, follow me without delay, I pray you do not say me nay, 
 it's life or death, and anyway 
 
 It's scarcely any distance. 
 
 "My lot is sad in the extreme, I really am not what I seem, 
 I once was held in high esteem 
 
 By every friend and neighbor: 
 
 A man entirely free of guile, who lived but in his children's smile, 
 and kept them all in modest style 
 
 By hard and patient labor, 
 
 A man of pleasing manners who, whatever other men might do, 
 spoke seldom unless spoken to, 
 
 A practice much commended ; 
 
 My trade in such a way I plied upon the highway far and wide 
 (I say it with a modest pride) 
 
 I scarcely once offended.
 
 212 SOLARIO THE TAILOR 
 
 "It used to be my pleasant way (it always made my work seem 
 play) to take the air from day to day, 
 
 Unless, of course, 'twas raining, 
 
 Upon the road to watch and wait from early morn to rather late, 
 but always coming home by eight 
 
 (Such was my early training), 
 
 I used to watch and wait, I say, and when a trav'ler came my 
 way, which happened every other day 
 
 Unless too cold or sunny, 
 
 I never spoke a word, not I, I merely breathed a patient sigh, 
 and held my trusty blade on high 
 
 And took from him his money. 
 
 " 'Twas thus I kept my children ten, a decent, worthy citizen, 
 the happiest of mortal men 
 
 My humble sphere adorning, 
 
 The father of ten daughters fair who needed tons of clothes to 
 wear, and that was why I took the air 
 
 Upon the road each morning, 
 
 But oh, alas for them and me, it's over now, as you may see, 
 and you are incontestably 
 
 Our only hope remaining; 
 
 And all our truly dreadful plight is just because one rainy night 
 I simply for a moment quite 
 
 Forgot my early training. 
 
 ' 'Twas rainy and 'twas after eight, I knew that I was out too 
 late, but when your trade's in such a state 
 
 You hardly know what cash is, 
 
 You cannot stop because you get your feet all muddy, cold and wet, 
 I knew I should be ill, and yet, 
 
 My children needed sashes. 
 
 I shivered with the wet and cold, I counted twenty times all told 
 I'd meant to have my shoes half-soled 
 
 And still they'd not been cobbled,
 
 "I held my trusty blade on high 
 And took from him his money"
 
 HIS TALES OF THE MAGIC DOUBLET 213 
 
 Til certainly,' I thought, 'be sick,' and then from out the dark- 
 ness thick an ancient woman with a stick 
 In fearsome silence hobbled. 
 
 "She was an ancient, crooked crone, an ugly thing of skin and 
 bone, she passed me silent as a stone 
 
 (I thought it rather funny), 
 
 But I could hear my children cry, 'Oh, buy us ribbons, father, buy,' 
 and stopping her, my blade on high, 
 
 I shouted, 'Stand! Your money!' 
 
 Ah, that was just where I did make a most unfortunate mistake, 
 for she with mirth began to shake 
 
 (It made my blood run colder), 
 
 And up she raised her crooked staff, she gave a most unearthly 
 laugh, a thing I did not like by half, 
 
 And touched me on the shoulder. 
 
 "She stood, she looked me through and through, she said not even 
 'How d'ye do,' she merely gave a laugh or two, 
 
 And munched her gums together: 
 
 A witch, a sorceress of the wood! I nearly fainted where I stood, 
 I really truly think you could 
 
 Have felled me with a feather. 
 
 A witch, as sure, as sure could be! You see what she has done to 
 me! And all because I carelessly 
 
 Forgot my early training. 
 
 From which you learn this lesson true, that it will never, never 
 do to speak before you're spoken to 
 
 Or stay out when it's raining." 
 
 The voice stopped, and the wasp flew off, directly before 
 my nose, as if leading me away. 
 
 "Why, dear me!" interrupted the Queen. "I believe this 
 wasp was nothing more nor less than a Highwayman."
 
 214 SOLARIO THE TAILOR 
 
 "What I don't understand is," said the King, "how a 
 Highwayman could have learned to make up verses." 
 
 "In the Forest of Wen, your majesty" said Solaria, "the 
 Highwaymen always talked in that fashion. It was their 
 regular custom. I am told that no Highwayman could get 
 his certificate until he had passed an examination in arith- 
 metic, swordplay, and composition; and of course composi- 
 tion included verse making." 
 
 "Well," said the King, "I don't see what that had to do 
 with making a good Highwayman of him; but then I don't 
 pretend to understand these notions about education. As 
 far as I'm concerned, if I had to pass an examination in 
 arithmetic in order to be a King, I'd simply have to look 
 about for something else to do. I never could see the sense 
 in teaching a King arithmetic, and I don't see the sense in 
 teaching a Highwayman how to make verses. I know it's 
 done in some places; it's gotten to be quite the thing, I un- 
 derstand that perfectly well; but I don't see any sense in it." 
 
 "My dear," said the Queen, "you mustn't forget that a 
 Highwayman has to know a great deal more than a King. 
 It's so very much harder to be a good Highwayman. But I 
 don't think I should like to be married to one." 
 
 "This one was a widower, evidently," said the King. "I 
 know I shouldn't like to be a widower with ten daughters on 
 my hands. I don't see how any human being could keep ten 
 daughters in ribbons and " 
 
 "When Dorobel was little," said the Queen, "I always 
 had the most terrible time to make her remember that she 
 mustn't speak until she was spoken to. I don't wonder the
 
 HIS TALES OF THE MAGIC DOUBLET 215 
 
 poor man forgot it, when he was so worried about sashes 
 for his dear children, and out so late at night, and in the 
 rain, tool" 
 
 "Why don't you let the man go on with his story?" said 
 the King. "We'll never get to bed at this rate. Solario, be 
 kind enough to proceed." 
 
 The wasp flew off (said the King of Wen), directly be- 
 fore my nose, as if leading me away; and I followed him 
 down the road. 
 
 We had gone about a mile, when the wasp turned off into 
 the forest. I hesitated a moment, but I was curious to 
 know what this unfortunate Highwayman intended, and I 
 pushed on after him into a portion of the forest which was 
 wilder and gloomier than any I had yet seen. The branches 
 of the trees hung low, and the ground was thick with under- 
 brush; I had to part the bushes and branches with my hands 
 in order to get through. 
 
 The wasp flew within a foot of my nose, and I kept on 
 after him thus for more than half an hour. He seemed to 
 know the way, but for my part I began to wonder whether 
 I should ever be able to find my way back. Suddenly he flew 
 off, and I saw him no more. 
 
 The Prince, Alone in the Forest, Hears the Bark of a Dog 
 
 I was at this moment in an uncommonly thick part of 
 the forest. The trees were perhaps less close, but the 
 underbrush was taller; so tall that I could not see through. 
 I stopped for a moment, and listened. All was still. Not a 
 bird twittered among the leaves overhead. I was vexed
 
 216 SOLARIO THE TAILOR 
 
 that I had allowed myself to be drawn upon such a wild- 
 goose chase, and I decided that I had better begin to make 
 my way back to the road; and as I was considering this, I 
 heard the bark of a dog. 
 
 It was a single, sharp bark, and it stopped abruptly, as 
 if a hand had been clapped over the animal's mouth. I 
 listened again, but it came no more. "What should a dog 
 be doing here?" I thought; and full of curiosity I pushed 
 on through the underbrush in the direction of the sound. 
 In a moment I had broken through the tanglewood, and I 
 was standing at the edge of a clearing, in the midst of which 
 was a little house. 
 
 It was a very tiny house indeed, not much more, in fact, 
 than a hut. Its door was closed, and the window beside the 
 door was barred with shutters. I listened intently, thinking 
 to hear again the bark of a dog, but I heard nothing. Evi- 
 dently the place was deserted. 
 
 I crossed the open space before the door, and as I did so 
 I noticed, clinging to the trunk and lower branches of a 
 tree at the side of the clearing, what appeared to be a wasp's 
 nest; but an enormous wasp's nest, big enough, in all con- 
 science, to contain a man if need be; a wasp's nest greater 
 than I should have thought could exist in the world. I 
 looked at it curiously, and coming nearer I saw, crawling 
 over it, a number of wasps. I counted them, and there 
 were eleven. 
 
 They arose with one accord and flew in great agitation 
 about my head; and at the same time I heard a voice from 
 inside the wasp's nest, the voice of a human being, but not
 
 HIS TALES OF THE MAGIC DOUBLET 217 
 
 the one I had already heard; a voice much stronger and 
 louder. I put my ear against the wasp's nest, and from 
 within came these words : 
 
 "Don't speak before you're spoken to!" 
 
 "Who is it?" I said. "Where are you?" 
 
 "Beware the dog!" said the voice again. 
 
 "But who what ?" I began. 
 
 The Prisoner Inside the Wasp's Nest 
 
 "I can't get out ! I'm imprisoned inside the wasp's nest ! 
 Do as you're bid, and don't speak before you're spoken to. 
 Beware the dog!" 
 
 At this moment I heard the click of a latch, and I turned 
 round in time to see the door of the hut open. 
 
 In the doorway was standing an old woman, and by her 
 side a dog. She was a hideous old crone, wrinkled and 
 bent, with little, beady eyes and a hooked nose and no 
 teeth. She stood there munching her gums and blinking her 
 eyes at me, and I noticed that she wore about her neck a 
 string of what looked like ivory buttons, ten of them, 
 white and flat. 
 
 With her left hand she leaned on a crooked stick, and 
 with her right hand she held, by a leather thong, the 
 biggest and fiercest-looking dog I had ever seen in my life. 
 His head came nearly to the old woman's shoulder. He was 
 chocolate brown in color, and his skin was entirely naked 
 of hair, except for a patch of long wiry hair which fringed 
 his neck. He bared his sharp, white teeth at me and growled. 
 I felt decidedly uneasy.
 
 218 SOLARIO THE TAILOR 
 
 The eleven wasps were flying about my head in violent 
 agitation. The old woman said nothing, but continued to 
 blink at me and munch her gums. Suddenly the dog barked, 
 and without a word the old woman flung the thong from 
 her hand. The dog gave a bound toward me and crouched 
 for a spring, growling and bristling. In another instant I 
 knew that I would be torn to pieces. I started back and 
 cried out in alarm. 
 
 "Call him off !" I shouted. "Stop him ! Call him off I" 
 
 At these words, a groan came from inside the wasp's nest. 
 At the same time one of the eleven wasps, which were flying 
 directly before my face, dropped to the ground at my feet 
 as if dead. I realized that I had spoken before being spoken 
 to, and one of the wasps one of the Highwayman's daught- 
 ers, in fact, had suffered for my error. But the worst con- 
 sequence was now to come. 
 
 The old woman shook her stick and danced up and down 
 in hideous glee. 
 
 "He's spoken !" she cried. "Ha ! ha ! Spoken before he 
 was spoken to ! He's done for himself now ! At him, dog, 
 he's helpless! Seize him, dog, destroy him!" 
 
 The Dog Leaps Upon Him to Devour Him 
 
 Before I could turn, the dog was upon me. No man on 
 earth could have stood up under such an attack. With one 
 leap he was upon my breast, and bore me to the ground; 
 and as I fell his sharp teeth sank into my shoulder, and I 
 nearly fainted with pain and terror. 
 
 "A hair of the dog that bit you !" It was the voice from
 
 HIS TALES OF THE MAGIC DOUBLET 219 
 
 within the wasp's nest, and it was crying: "A hair of the 
 dog that bit you !" 
 
 My senses were slipping away, and I hardly knew what I 
 did; but somehow or other I put my hand on the beast's 
 neck, and plucked from it a long hair; and as I did so the 
 dog bounded away from me and stood cowering and quiver- 
 ing, as if in fear. 
 
 "At him!" screamed the witch for it was a witch, be- 
 yond a doubt; and she rushed upon the dog and began to 
 beat him violently with her stick. "At him again!" she 
 screamed, but to my amazement the dog turned upon her, 
 snarling; and at that moment the voice came again from 
 the wasp's nest, and it cried: 
 
 "A ring of the hair ! Make a ring of the hair for your 
 finger!" 
 
 I sat up and quickly wound about my finger, in a ring, 
 the hair which I had plucked from the dog's neck. The 
 effect of this was startling. The witch shrieked, plainly in 
 terror, and sprang away from the dog; and the brute came 
 to me and cringed before me on the ground and whined; and 
 behold, all the pain was gone from my shoulder. 
 
 "Command him to be himself again!" cried the voice 
 from the wasp's nest. 
 
 "Be yourself again!" I cried, not knowing what I said. 
 
 The Prince, Sitting on the Ground, Looks Up at a Genie 
 
 Instantly, in the flash of an eye, the dog was gone; and 
 in his place stood, towering above me full seven yards or 
 more, a monstrous creature in the shape of a, man, chocolate
 
 220 SOLARIO THE TAILOR 
 
 brown in color, baldheaded except for a fringe of long hair 
 at the base of his skull, and bare except for a cloth twisted 
 about his middle, in which hung a gleaming scimitar. It was 
 a genie. He was panting with anger or some other strong 
 emotion, and as he panted jets of fire shot forth from his 
 nostrils. His mighty chest heaved, and I shrank back in 
 alarm; but he spread out his hands and bowed low before 
 me. I remembered the ring of hair on my finger, and grew 
 bolder. 
 
 The witch was creeping quietly away, stick in hand, to- 
 ward the door of her hut; but as she reached it the genie 
 stooped and caught her in his hand and held her fast. I 
 sprang to my feet. 
 
 "Set free your victims !" I cried to her. "The wasps and 
 the prisoner inside the nest ! Release them ! or by the power 
 of the genie's hair, I will command him to destroy you !" 
 
 She kicked and squirmed and shrieked, but all in vain. 
 There was no escaping from that terrible grasp. She grew 
 quiet, and began to mutter to herself. "I will count ten," I 
 cried, "and if at the tenth " But she did not wait for 
 me to count. With one look up at the genie's face she waved 
 her crooked stick in the air and began to pour out strange 
 words, and then, giving a despairing cry, she let the stick 
 fall to the ground; and as it touched the ground, there came 
 from the wasp's nest I assure you it was an extraordinary 
 sight I scarcely know how to tell you, it all happened so 
 quickly
 
 HIS TALES OF THE MAGIC DOUBLET 221 
 
 The One-Armed Sorcerer Appears from Within the Wasp's 
 
 Nest 
 
 Well, the wasp's nest opened from top to bottom, and 
 inside it was sitting a young man, who leaped down with a 
 laugh and stood before me, bowing. I noticed that he had 
 but one arm, the left; his eyes were blue, and his skin 
 was fair and rosy; and he wore a long blue gown spangled 
 with silver stars. 
 
 The Highwayman and Nine of His Daughters Appear in 
 Proper Person 
 
 Almost at the same instant there were standing before me 
 nine young maidens, all of extraordinary beauty; and in 
 their midst an elderly man with a gray beard and a long 
 thin face, and spindly legs. The nine maidens were gazing 
 at an object on the ground, and the elderly man looked down 
 at it also, and they all began to wring their hands together 
 and moan. 
 
 u Oh I" said the elderly man, sniffling, 
 
 "Just see what he has gone and done, he can't deny it, he's the 
 one, he ought to hide his head where none 
 
 Could ever look upon it, 
 
 He knew, he did, he surely knew, I told him it would never do 
 to speak before you're spoken to, 
 
 And now he's gone and done it." 
 
 "I warned him," said the one-armed young man, "but 
 he was frightened, and he forgot."
 
 222 SOLARIO THE TAILOR 
 
 "Oh, yes," saicl the elderly man, wiping his tears away 
 with the back of his hand, 
 
 "Oh, yes, it's well enough to say it slipped his mind a bit to-day 
 and in an absent sort of way 
 
 He slew my darling daughter; 
 
 But that will hardly, hardly do, I really can't agree with you, it's 
 simply from my point of view 
 
 A case of plain manslaughter." 
 
 "Oh, sister! sister!" cried the nine maidens. "Isn't it 
 terrible? It's too terrible! It is terrible, isn't it?" 
 
 "Let me go !" screamed the witch, struggling in the hand 
 of the genie. 
 
 He Sees the Highwayman's Tenth Daughter 
 
 I pushed into the group around the elderly Highwayman, 
 and there at his feet I saw what made my heart stand still 
 with grief and remorse. On the ground was lying a maiden, 
 far lovelier than any of the others; and she was dead. 
 Her eyes were closed, her face was pale, she did not breathe ; 
 and her hair lay about her like a shower of gold. Alas, 
 that my carelessness had brought her to this sorrowful end ! 
 If she had only lived! How I should have rejoiced to be 
 her friend, and in the course of time, perhaps, persuade 
 her to smile upon me Alas! alas! At that moment, if she 
 could but have cast one look upon me, I would have laid at 
 her feet all that I 
 
 I knelt beside her and took her cold hand in mine. I 
 stooped over her, and in an excess of pity, and of more, far 
 more than pity, I kissed her softly on the lips.
 
 HIS TALES OF THE MAGIC DOUBLET 223 
 
 Oh, wonderful! Her eyelids quivered. A faint flush 
 came into her cheeks. Her eyes opened, and she looked 
 straight into my own. She smiled, and it was like the 
 evening sky after rain. I put my arm beneath her shoulder, 
 and helped her to stand up. She rubbed her eyes and swayed 
 a little, and I kept my arm about her. We gazed at each 
 other, smiling. 
 
 "Is it?" said she. 
 
 "It is, beloved!" I cried, and folded her, unresisting, to 
 my heart. 
 
 "Oh, isn't it just too perfectly sweet?" cried her nine 
 sisters, clapping their hands and laughing merrily, all to- 
 gether. "It is sweet, isn't it? It's love at first sight! It's 
 just the sweetest thing ever! Isn't it just too sweet for 
 anything, though?" 
 
 But while they were still running on in this fashion, and 
 the elderly Highwayman was cheering faintly and the one- 
 armed young man was cheering lustily, a loud roar came 
 from the genie, and we saw that the witch had slipped from 
 his grasp and was even now dashing in at the door of the 
 hut. She shut it behind her with a bang, and the one- 
 armed youth pounded against it in vain. 
 
 "The stolen hair!" he cried. "The genie's hair which 
 she stole from me! I must get it back! Don't let her 
 get away!" 
 
 The Genie Breathes Fire Upon the Witch's Hut 
 
 The genie opened his great mouth and roared with anger; 
 then he stooped down over the hut, and I saw that he was
 
 224 SOLARIO THE TAILOR 
 
 breathing fire upon the roof from his nostrils; and as the 
 sparks caught in the dry thatch, he began to walk around 
 the hut, bending and breathing fire upon its roof from place 
 to place. In a few moments it was ablaze from end to end; 
 the walls caught; and as I held my fair lady trembling close 
 beside me, the house arose in flames, crackling and roaring, 
 and showering sparks upward into the twilight sky. 
 
 "Oh!" said my fair one, clinging to my arm. "The poor 
 witch ! Save her ! She will be burned to death !" But the 
 genie's thunderous laugh was her only answer. 
 
 We watched until the fire was out, and there remained 
 only a heap of smoking ashes; and the witch was gone. 
 
 "Oh, the poor thing!" said my beautiful lady. 
 
 "Isn't it terrible?" said her nine sisters, among them- 
 selves. "It's just too terrible for anything! It is terrible, 
 isn't it? It's simply terrible, it is, isn't it?" 
 
 The one-armed youth stepped up to the ruin and appeared 
 to be looking among the ashes near what was once the door. 
 He looked for a long time, and then he suddenly straight- 
 ened up and cried, "Ah!" 
 
 He came toward us, and he was holding up in his hand 
 what seemed to be a necklace. 
 
 "See !" he said, and I saw that it was a string of but- 
 tons, of large flat buttons, eleven of them, threaded on 
 what seemed to be a hair; the same I had seen about the 
 witch's neck. 
 
 "It is the genie's hair," said the young man, "the same 
 that she stole from me; and it was this hair which gave 
 her power to turn my genie to a dog and imprison me in
 
 HIS TALES OF THE MAGIC DOUBLET 225 
 
 the wasp's nest. Now let me see these buttons; I must look 
 at them with care." 
 
 He examined each one minutely; and when he had ex- 
 amined them all, he placed his finger on his lips and smiled 
 knowingly; and while I held the hair he broke it and slipped 
 off the eleventh button, inviting me to look at it closely. I 
 looked and saw upon it, near the rim, a crooked black line, 
 much like the imprint of a tiny, crooked stick. 
 
 The One-Armed Sorcerer Performs Upon a Button 
 
 He threw the button upon the ground, laughing, and took 
 from within his gown a leather pouch, from which he 
 sprinkled upon the button a black powder; and then he 
 began to speak, in a loud voice, words which I could not 
 understand, in the midst of which he picked up the button, 
 now crusted with black; and still repeating his strange 
 words, he swung his arm, and with a loud cry flung the 
 button into the branches of the nearest tree; and there, 
 hanging on to a branch of the tree, trying desperately to 
 keep from toppling off, was the old witch herself. 
 
 Instantly the young man took the threaded buttons from 
 me and slipped them off the hair; he wound the hair about 
 his finger and cried, 
 
 "Off with her! Off with her to the Forest Kingdom, 
 far from here, and see that she never comes back again! 
 Off with her, I say, to the Kingdom of the Great Forest!" 
 
 At these words the genie strode over to the witch and 
 
 "Well, bless my soul," interposed the King, "what busi- 
 ness did he have to send that witch here, I'd like to know?
 
 226 SOLARIO THE TAILOR 
 
 So that's how she came to live in my Forest! A fine piece of 
 work, I must say! A pretty how-d'ye-do, to send their cast- 
 off witches over here! What business had he to " 
 
 "Never mind, grandfather," said Bo John, "do let him go 
 on with his story." 
 
 "A fine piece of work!" said the King. "Of all the high- 
 handed, brazen-faced " 
 
 "My dear!" said the Queen. 
 
 The genie strode over to the witch in three steps and 
 plucked her down with one hand. He then tucked her under 
 his arm like a sack of corn, and stood before the one-armed 
 youth. 
 
 "Stoop down !" said the young man. 
 
 The genie bowed low, and the young man, to my sur- 
 prise, reached up and pulled from the back of his head, at 
 the neck, ten long hairs, one by one. 
 
 "Away I" cried the one-armed youth. 
 
 The Genie Flies Away With the Witch 
 
 The genie stood up, and opening his great mouth in a 
 silent laugh, stamped upon the earth so that it shook, and 
 leaped straight up. He rose in the air in a wide curve; 
 and before we could blink again he was gone like an arrow 
 over the treetops, with the witch under his arm, and was no 
 more than a speck in the evening sky. 
 
 The young man tucked the ten hairs away inside his 
 gown. 
 
 "Now," said he, "she's gone. And good riddance, too, 
 I should say."
 
 HIS TALES OF THE MAGIC DOUBLET 227 
 
 "Sir," said I to him, "will you tell us who you are, and 
 what brings you here?" 
 
 "I am a sorcerer," said he, "and I dwell in an island far 
 out in the Great Sea. I am known there as the One-Armed 
 Sorcerer. I came here, with the genie whom I command by 
 virtue of a ring of his hair, in order to prove my skill against 
 the witch. I undertook to release our good friend the High- 
 wayman and his ten fair daughters, but I am bound to say 
 that I managed it badly; so badly that the witch got the 
 genie's hair away from me, and by means of that hair turned 
 him into a dog and shut me up inside the wasp's nest. And 
 all because I didn't know the rule, that you mustn't speak 
 before you're spoken to." 
 
 "A pretty good rule," said I, "but if everybody observed 
 it, "who would ever talk?" 
 
 "Well, anyway," said the One-Armed Sorcerer, "here I 
 have ten buttons, and here I have ten threads from the 
 genie's head. I propose to make you a doublet, sir; a 
 magic doublet; and for the cloth, the wasp's nest will be 
 the very thing. It will be a doublet worth having; and to 
 you, sir, who have so nobly preserved us all, I will present 
 it on er ahem ! on your wedding day." 
 
 "Hurrah!" piped up the elderly Highwayman, and the 
 lady on my arm blushed. 
 
 "Oh, isn't that sweet of him?" cried her nine sisters. 
 "Isn't it just too sweet for anything? It's really the sweet- 
 est thing, now isn't it? Too perfectly sweet for words, 
 it is, really!" 
 
 The One-Armed Sorcerer, stepping over to the wasp's
 
 228 SOLARIO THE TAILOR 
 
 nest, pulled it down from the tree without breaking it, and 
 slung it on his back. 
 
 "Come with me !" I cried. "You shall all return with me 
 to my father's castle. Will you consent to that?" 
 
 "Well," said the elderly Highwayman, 
 
 "Though anxious to accommodate, I fear it's growing rather late, 
 I seldom stay out after eight " 
 
 "Oh, father!" cried his daughters, nine of them, together, 
 "it would be perfectly jolly!" 
 
 "It would suit me to perfection," said the One-Armed 
 Sorcerer. 
 
 "Oh, -won't it be jolly? It will be jolly, won't it? 
 Wouldn't it be perfectly jolly?" cried the nine young dam- 
 sels, clapping their hands. 
 
 "Will you come home with me?" I whispered to the fair- 
 est of the ten, who had said nothing. 
 
 "If you wish it," she whispered, blushing again. 
 
 "Oh, aren't they just the dearest things?" cried her nine 
 sisters. "It's love at first sight oh, the dear things! 
 Aren't they just simply too dear for anything? They are 
 perfectly dear, now, aren't they? Really now, aren't they 
 just too perfectly dear?" 
 
 The Prince Leads His Beloved Home 
 Well, the long and the short of it is, we reached my 
 father's castle late that night, under a starry sky. The 
 attendants whom I had left in the forest had returned with- 
 out me, and the castle was a-twitter with anxiety. But
 
 HIS TALES OF THE MAGIC DOUBLET 229 
 
 when I led my fair lady into the great hall and presented 
 her to my father, the King, and her nine sisters and the 
 elderly Highwayman and the One-Armed Sorcerer stood 
 bowing behind us, there was joy, I can tell you, and the 
 rafters rang again. 
 
 My father, after a long look at the beautiful damsel at 
 my side, and then at me, gave a long, slow whistle, without 
 making a sound, and stooped and kissed her on both cheeks, 
 nudging me with his elbow at the same time. 
 
 A cheer went up again, and my father took me aside and 
 whispered in my ear. 
 
 "You rascal," said he, "I never thought you had it in you 
 to Really! You don't say so! You astonish me! A 
 Highwayman's daughter ! Well, well, think of that ! Very 
 original of you, my son; I'm sure I never would have 
 thought of such a thing at your age. She's got a fine eye, 
 my boy; there's a look in it I've seen in your mother's eye; 
 a will of her own, you can't fool me about that look, 
 yes, yes, very beautiful, but a will of her own, remember I 
 told you. A Highwayman's daughter! That's good. 
 Highly original. Well, well, it might have been the Hang- 
 man's daughter but remember what I told you about that 
 look in the eye, I've seen it before, your mother used 
 to but she's certainly beautiful all the same when does 
 the wedding come off?" 
 
 The Magic Doublet Is Presented at the Wedding 
 
 We were married on the morning of the third day. Such 
 feasting, such dancing, such merriment, and gifts innum-
 
 230 SOLARIO THE TAILOR 
 
 erable; but the best gift of all was a doublet, made with his 
 left hand by the One-Armed Sorcerer from the skin of the 
 witch's wasp's nest, fastened by the witch's ten buttons sewed 
 on with the genie's hair; a doublet to preserve the wearer 
 from all harm. And this, as the wedding dinner was near- 
 ing its end, the One-Armed Sorcerer, rising in his place, pre- 
 sented to me with a pretty speech, for which I thanked 
 him. 
 
 "Sir," said my father, addressing the One-Armed Sor- 
 cerer, "I invite you to remain with me at my court, to in- 
 struct my son in the mystery of handling a wife. Nobody 
 but a sorcerer should undertake such a job. Will you try 
 it?" 
 
 "Alas, your majesty," said the One-Armed Sorcerer, "it 
 is far beyond my powers. And besides, I must return to my 
 island home, on pressing business." 
 
 "Very well, then," said my father. He took my bride's 
 hand in his and patted it, while she looked down in con- 
 fusion. "My dear," said he to her, "you must persuade 
 your sisters to remain here with us. And as for your father, 
 I design to appoint him Lord Treasurer of my kingdom. 
 I think a Highwayman ought to be a good man to take 
 charge of my money. Will you persuade him to accept that 
 office?" 
 
 "Oh!" cried the nine sisters, without giving my bride a 
 chance to speak. "That would be jolly ! Oh, wouldn't it be 
 jolly? It will be just too perfectly jolly for anything, won't 
 it? But really, though, won't it be jolly? Just too simply, 
 perfectly, adorably jolly!"
 
 HIS TALES OF THE MAGIC DOUBLET 231 
 
 "Your majesty," said my father-in-law the Highwayman, 
 rising up on his elderly legs, 
 
 "Although I am not confident that I'm entirely competent, I thank 
 you for the compliment, 
 
 I thank you most sincerely; 
 
 I fear I am not very quick in matters of arithmetic, but often when 
 the answers stick 
 
 I get them, very nearly; 
 
 And if at first I don't succeed I try again, although indeed I 
 cannot say I always heed 
 
 Each wretched little fraction; 
 
 And anyway you must agree if one but knows his Rule of Three 
 there's hardly any need to be 
 
 Acquainted with subtraction. 
 
 "I do not wish to seem to boast, of all things I detest it most, 
 and yet I think I'd fill the post 
 
 Not very ill, not very: 
 
 From early youth I did betray, I've often heard my mother say, 
 a really rather taking way 
 
 In matters monetary; 
 
 A simple little rule or two I always try to keep in view, to do 
 what I am told to do, 
 
 And always speak politely, 
 
 And never make a saucy joke behind the backs of other folk, a rule 
 which I have seldom broke, 
 
 If I remember rightly. 
 
 "My motto is a simple one, that happiness depends upon the con- 
 sciousness of duty done 
 
 (Unless it's too unpleasant),
 
 232 
 
 SOLARIO THE TAILOR 
 
 I value virtue more than wit, and as for riches, I admit I do not 
 value them a bit 
 
 (At least, not just at present), 
 
 I think, however, I should state, that though I don't mind working 
 late, I like to be at home by eight, 
 
 When supper's on the table; 
 
 And thus, in words of simple art, I thank you, Sir, with all my 
 heart, and promise I will do my part 
 
 (At least, as far as able)."
 
 
 University of California 
 
 SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY 
 
 Return this material to the library 
 
 from which it was borrowed.