"
The others looked their surprise.
"The king?" one cried.
"Behold!" cried Yellow Franz. "Leopold of Lutha!"
He waved a ham-like hand toward Barney.
Among the rough men was a young smooth-faced boy, and now with wide
eyes he pressed forward to get a nearer view of the wonderful person
of a king.
"Take a good look at him, Rudolph," cried Yellow Franz. "It is the
first and will probably be the last time you will ever see a king.
Kings seldom visit the court of their fellow monarch, Yellow Franz
of the Black Mountains.
"Come, my children, remove his majesty's sword, lest he fall and
stick himself upon it, and then prepare the royal chamber, seeing to
it that it be made so comfortable that Leopold will remain with us a
long time. Rudolph, fetch food and water for his majesty, and see to
it that the silver plates and the golden goblets are well scoured
and polished up."
They conducted Barney to a miserable lean-to shack at one side of
the clearing, and for a while the motley crew loitered about
bandying coarse jests at the expense of the "king." The boy,
Rudolph, brought food and water, he alone of them all evincing the
slightest respect or awe for the royalty of their unwilling guest.
After a time the men tired of the sport of king-baiting, for Barney
showed neither rancor nor outraged majesty at their keenest thrusts,
instead, often joining in the laugh with them at his own expense.
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