L. Frank Baum (15 page)

The girls at once obeyed, for they greatly feared the Red Rogue; and of
course they descended the front stairway and walked through the great
hall. At once the large mirror that had been exposed to view caught
the eye of Seseley, and she paused to regard her reflection in the
glass. Her two companions did likewise, and instantly all three girls
became invisible, while the mirror held their reflections fast in its
magic surface.

The Red Rogue was watching them through a crack in the door, and seeing
the girls disappear he gave a joyful laugh and exclaimed:

"Now let Prince Marvel find them if he can!"

The three girls began to wander aimlessly through the castle; for not
only were they invisible to others, but also to themselves and to one
another, and they knew not what to do nor which way to turn.

Presently Prince Marvel and his party arrived and paused before the
doors of the castle, where the Red Rogue stood bowing to them with mock
politeness and with an evil grin showing on his red face.

"I come to demand the release of the Lady Seseley and her companions!"
Prince Marvel announced, in a bold voice. "And I also intend to call
you to account for the murder of Baron Merd."

"You must be at the wrong castle," answered the Red One, "for I have
murdered no baron, nor have I any Lady Seseley as prisoner."

"Are you not the Red Rogue of Dawna?" demanded the prince.

"Men call me by that name," acknowledged the other.

"Then you are deceiving me," said the prince.

"No, indeed!" answered the Red Rogue, mockingly. "I wouldn't deceive
any one for the world. But, if you don't believe me, you are welcome
to search my castle."

"That I shall do," returned the prince, sternly, "whether I have your
permission or not," and he began to dismount. But Nerle restrained
him, saying:

"Master, I beg you will allow me to search the castle. For this Red
Rogue is playing some trick upon us, I am sure, and if anything
happened to you there would be no one to protect the little High Ki and
our other friends."

"But suppose something should happen to you?" inquired the prince,
anxiously.

"In that case," said Nerle, "you can avenge me."

The advice was so reasonable, under the circumstances, that the prince
decided to act upon it.

"Very well," said he, "go and search the castle, and I will remain with
our friends. But if anything happens to you, I shall call the Red
Rogue to account."

So Nerle entered the castle, passing by the huge form of its owner, who
only nodded to the boy and grinned with delight.

The esquire found himself in the great hall and began to look around
him, but without seeing any one. Then he advanced a few steps and, to
his surprise, discovered a large mirror, in which were reflected the
faces and forms of three girls, as well as his own.

"Why, here they are!" he attempted to say; but he could not hear his
own voice. He glanced down at himself but could see nothing at
all—for his body had become invisible. His reflection was still in
the glass, and he knew that his body existed the same as before; but
although he yet saw plainly the hall and all that it contained, he
could see neither himself nor any other person of flesh.

After waiting a considerable time for his esquire to reappear Prince
Marvel became impatient.

"What have you done with Nerle?" he asked of the Red Rogue.

"Nothing," was the reply. "I have been here, plainly within your
sight, every moment."

"Let me go and find him!" exclaimed King Terribus, and rushed into the
castle before the prince could reply. But Terribus also encountered
the enchanted mirror, and the prince waited in vain for his return.

Then Wul-Takim volunteered to go in search of the others, and drew his
big, sharp sword before entering the hall. But an hour passed by and
he did not return.

The Red Rogue was overjoyed at the success of his stratagem, and could
scarce refrain from laughing outright at the prince's anxiety.

Marvel was really perplexed. He knew some treachery was afoot, but
could not imagine what it was. And when the pretty High Ki declared
their intention of entering the castle, he used every endeavor to
dissuade them. But the twin girls would not be denied, so great was
their curiosity. So the prince said:

"Well, we will all go together, so that the Ki and I may be able to
protect you."

The Red Rogue gladly granted them admittance, and they passed him and
entered the great hall.

The place appeared to them to be completely empty, so they walked along
and came opposite the mirror. Here all stopped at once, and the twin
High Ki uttered exclamations of surprise, and the twin Ki shouted,
"Great Kika-koo!"

For there in the glass were the reflections of the three girls and
Nerle and King Terribus and Wul-Takim. And there were also the
reflections of the twin High Ki and the twin Ki. Only Prince Marvel's
reflection was missing, and this was because of his fairy origin. For
the glass could reflect and hold only the forms of mortals.

But the prince saw the reflections of all the others, and then made the
discovery that the forms of the Ki and the High Ki had become
invisible. No one except himself appeared to be standing in the great
hall of the Red Rogue's castle! Yet grouped within the glass were the
likenesses of all his friends, as well as those of Lady Seseley and her
companions; and all were staring back at him earnestly, as if imploring
him to save them.

The mystery was now explained, and Prince Marvel rushed from the hall
to find the treacherous Red Rogue. But that clever trickster had
hidden himself in an upper room, and for the present was safely
concealed.

For a time Prince Marvel could not think what to do. Such magic was
all unknown to him, and how to free the imprisoned forms of his friends
was a real problem. He walked around the castle, but no one was in
sight, the Rogue having given orders to all his people to keep away.
Only the tethered horses did he see, and these raised their heads and
whinnied as if in sympathy with his perplexity.

Then he went back into the hall and searched all the rooms of the
castle without finding a single person. On his return he stopped in
front of the mirror and sorrowfully regarded the faces of his friends,
who again seemed to plead for relief.

And while he looked a sudden fit of anger came over him at being
outwitted by this Red Rogue of Dawna. Scarcely knowing what he did, he
seized his sword by the blade and struck the mirror a powerful blow
with the heavy hilt. It shattered into a thousand fragments, which
fell clattering upon the stone floor in every direction. And at once
the charm was broken; each of his friends now became visible. They
appeared running toward him from all parts of the castle, where they
had been wandering in their invisible forms.

They called out joyful greetings to one another, and then all of them
surrounded the prince and thanked him earnestly for releasing them.

The little Lady Seseley and her friends, Berna and Helda, were a bit
shy in the presence of so many strangers; but they alone knew the
prince's secret, and that he was a fairy transformed for a year; so
they regarded him as an old and intimate acquaintance, and after being
introduced by him to the others of his party they became more at ease.

The sweet little High Ki maids at once attracted Seseley, and she loved
them almost at first sight. But it was Nerle who became the little
lady's staunchest friend; for there was something rather mystical and
unnatural to him about the High Ki, who seemed almost like fairies,
while in Seseley he recognized a hearty, substantial girl of his own
rank in life.

While they stood talking and congratulating one another outside of the
castle, the Red Rogue of Dawna appeared among them. He had heard the
noise of the smashing of his great mirror, and had come running
downstairs from his hiding-place to find his cunning had all been for
naught and his captives were free.

A furious anger then took possession of the Rogue, and forgetting his
personal weakness he caught up a huge battle-ax and rushed out to hurl
himself upon Prince Marvel, intending to do him serious injury.

But the prince was not taken unawares. He saw the Red Rogue coming and
met him with drawn sword, striking quickly at the arm that wielded the
big ax. The stroke was as sure as it was quick, and piercing the arm
of the giant caused him to drop the ax with a howl of pain.

Then Prince Marvel seized the Red Rogue by the ear—which he was just
tall enough to reach—and dragged him up the steps and into the castle,
the big fellow crying for mercy at every step and trembling like a leaf
through cowardice.

But down the hall Marvel marched him, seeking some room where the Rogue
might be safely locked in. The great curtain that covered the second
enchanted mirror now caught Prince Marvel's eye, and, still holding his
prisoner by the ear, he reached out his left hand and pulled aside the
drapery.

The Red Rogue looked to see what his captor was doing, and beheld his
own reflection in the magic mirror. Instantly he gave a wild cry and
disappeared, his body becoming absolutely invisible, while his coarse
red countenance stared back from the mirror.

And then Prince Marvel gave a sigh of relief and dropped the curtain
over the surface of the mirror. For he realized that the Red Rogue of
Dawna had at last met with just punishment and was safely imprisoned
for all time.

When Prince Marvel and his friends had ridden away from the castle the
savage followers of the Red One came creeping up to listen for their
master's voice. But silence reigned in every part of the castle, and
after stealing fearfully through the rooms without seeing any one the
fellows became filled with terror and fled from the place, never to
return.

And afterward the neighbors whispered that the castle was haunted by
the spirit of the terrible Red Rogue, and travelers dared not stop in
the neighborhood, but passed by quickly and with averted faces.

The prince and his party rode gaily along toward the Kingdom of Heg,
for Nerle had invited them all to visit his father's castle. They were
very happy over their escape, and only the little Lady Seseley became
sad at times, when she thought of her father's sad fate.

The Baron Neggar, who was Nerle's father, was not only a wealthy
nobleman, but exceedingly kind and courteous; so that every member of
Prince Marvel's party was welcomed to the big castle in a very
hospitable manner.

Nerle was eagerly embraced by both his father and mother, who were
overjoyed to see him return safe and sound after his wanderings and
adventures.

"And have you been cured of your longing for something that you can not
have?" asked the baron, anxiously.

"Not quite," said Nerle, laughing; "but I am more reconciled to my lot.
For I find wherever I go people are longing for just the things they
can not get, and probably would not want if they had them. So, as it
seems to be the fate of most mortals to live unsatisfied, I shall try
hereafter to be more contented."

These words delighted the good baron, and he gave a rich and
magnificent feast in honor of his son's return.

The High Ki of Twi, after passing several pleasant days at Nerle's
home, now decided that they had seen enough of the world and would be
glad to return to their own kingdom, where all was peaceful and
uneventful, and rule it to the end of their days. So the baron
furnished them an escort of twenty men-at-arms, and these conducted the
High Ki and the aged Ki safely back to the hole in the hedge.

And after they had entered the Land of Twi, the first act of the High
Ki was to order the hedge repaired and the hole blocked up; and I have
never heard that any one, from that time forth, ever succeeded in
gaining admittance to the hidden kingdom. So its subsequent history is
unknown.

King Terribus also bade the prince an affectionate farewell and rode
back to his own kingdom; and burly Wul-Takim accompanied him as far as
the cave, where the fifty-eight reformed thieves awaited him.

Nerle's mother gladly adopted the Lady Seseley and her two companions,
and thereafter they made their home at the baron's castle. And years
afterward, when they had grown to be women, Seseley was married to
Nerle and became the lady of the castle herself.

Prince Marvel enjoyed the feasting and dancing at the castle very much,
but after the party began to break up, and the High Ki and the Ki had
left him, as well as King Terribus and honest Wul-Takim, the young
knight grew thoughtful and sometimes uneasy, and his happy laugh was
less frequently heard. Nerle often regarded his young master with a
feeling of awe, for there occasionally came a look into Marvel's eyes
that reminded him more of the immortals than of any human being. But
the prince treated him with rare kindness and always pressed Nerle's
hand affectionately when he bade him good night, for he had grown fond
of his esquire. Also they had long conversations together, during
which Nerle gleaned a great deal of knowledge and received some advice
that was of much use to him in his later life.

One day Prince Marvel sought out Lady Seseley and said:

"Will you ride with me to the Forest of Lurla?"

"Willingly," she answered; and calling Berna and Helda to attend them,
they mounted their horses and rode swiftly away, for it was a long
distance to Lurla.

By noon the party entered the forest, and although the path they
traversed was unknown to the girls, who had usually entered the forest
from its other side, near to where the Baron Merd's castle had stood,
the prince seemed to have no difficulty in finding his way.