CHAPTER VIIITHE WHITE SLIPPER
Itwas not long after Ronald’s sleep-walking adventure when the faithful Stumpy was stricken with a sharp rheumatic attack that made it necessary for him to come up to the Lighthouse and be nursed by Mrs. McLean. On the whole he found his illness rather agreeable than otherwise, for Ronald and Lesley were his constant companions and the Lightkeeper laughingly said more than once that he didn’t know when he hired Stumpy whether he had engaged a nurse for his children, or an assistant for his own work.
When the old fellow was recovering and could limp about almost as well as usual, he rambled out one balmy day with his young friends and they all sat together on the rocks in the sun. Not a feather of breeze was blowing, a thing most remarkable and to be remembered, for King Æolus was supposed to have his cave in the immediate vicinity of the island and to let out from it all his romping, roaring winds every morning.
Jenny Lind, though not invited, had joined the party and was looking down upon them, benevolently, from a high rock; several sheep were scrambling about near by and a rabbit occasionally appeared, stood on his hind legs, sniffed the air, and disappeared again. Jim Crow was there, perched on the donkey’s back and croaking certain remarks in a low tone about this being a hard world, anyway, and it was a strange thing, so it was, that a poor crow couldn’t have a red ribbon around his neck, like Lesley. From time to time he eyed the steel chain that hung from Stumpy’s pocket with such a covetous air that its owner clapped his hand over it in pretended alarm and cried laughingly, “Oh, you Jim Crow! You young, handsome bird! You no want take chain from poor old man.”
“Jim-ery Crow-ery, never-y you-ery mind-ery!” cried Lesley, affectionately. “Bad-ery Stump-ery, tease-ery you-ery!”
“Oh-ery you-ery think-ery Jim-ery never-y bad-ery!” exclaimed Ronald.
“Oh, that secret language! When I learn?” sighed Stumpy. “I tell you many times you better learn Spanish.”
“Well, we’re willing,” answered Lesley, cheerfully.“We always were. Teach us some now. We know ‘Viva México!’ to begin with.”
“I think you not even know my name in Spanish,” said the old man, seriously. “My name Francisco Lopez, or Pancho Lopez, if you want use little name. In Mexico children like you call me Don Pancho.”
“Well, that’s all right,” said Ronald. “I’ll call you that, and now we know four words.”
“If we learn eight more words this afternoon and that will make twelve, will you tell ‘The White Slipper?’” asked Lesley, eagerly.
“Sure I will,” agreed Don Pancho, and the children set to work at once and learned the Spanish fordonkey,crow,sheep,lamb,rabbit,man,boyandgirl.
“Well, that’s done,” said Ronnie with a sigh of content, “and now ‘The White Slipper.’”
Here is the story, but it would best be told as the little Pancho heard it at his mother’s knee and not in the halting English he had learned since then.
“There was once a king of great riches and a great kingdom whose queen was no longer living and whowould have been very lonely on his golden throne had it not been for his beautiful daughter, Diamantina.
“Only fifteen years old was Diamantina, but how beautiful and how graceful! When she rode through the streets of the city, her eyes and her jewels shone like the sun at midday and she had more lovers than there are grasses in the meadow. For all that, her father, King Balancin, had no idea of marriage for her and indeed she was too busy with her birds and her flowers to think about a husband.”
“But where is the White Slipper?” the children interrupted.
“Well, that is exactly what Balancin wanted to know,” said Stumpy, “and I will tell you all about it this very minute.
“Everybody in this world, my dears, no matter how happy he seems to be, has yet some trouble to bear, be it small or great, and Balancin’s trouble was of very good size.
“The monarch was devoted to the sport of hunting and one day, while pursuing the wild boar, he fell from his horse into a ravine where his face and hands were torn with thorns and his foot received a grievous wound.
“All the doctors in the kingdom were summoned to him, one after the other, but no one of them cured the wound which kept the poor king in constant pain. At length a learned physician from another country was heard of, was offered a magnificent fee and summoned to the palace, and after examining the injured foot he declared that he could not cure it, but that he could make a sandal or slipper for it that would quiet the pain. This offer Balancin eagerly accepted, and the physician gave orders for the slipper, which was to be made of kid-skin, beautifully soft and white and was guaranteed to last one thousand years from that date.
“When this wonderful object was delivered, the monarch naturally wished to try it at once, but the physician warned him that it must first be soaked for eight days in a liquid which he, only, could manufacture, if it were to be of any service.
“This was done, the famous White Slipper was finally put on and, oh, joy! Balancin was comfortable once more. His delight was such that he made the physician the most extravagant offers to remain at his court, but the learned man replied that he had many patients awaiting him in his own country, and he departed, at length, laden with the richest of presents.
“The king was now as happy as the sun on Easter Day and so was the charming Diamantina who had shared to the full in her father’s distress, but, alas! children of my heart, the joys of this world are fleeting!
“The date of the king’s birthday now drew near and great preparations were made for the occasion. There was to be a water festival, an afternoon of sports and games, a grand banquet at night, fireworks and an illumination of the palace. The king and his beautiful daughter appeared early upon the streets, arrayed in the greatest magnificence and were cheered and applauded wherever they went. The day was spent in gayety, but, at night, as Balancin stepped into the boat which was to take him back to the palace his foot caught on one of the thwarts and, shaking it, in a moment of impatience with the pain, off fell the White Slipper into the stream!
“The king cried out in distress, but, as it was already dusk, no one noticed his loss, and he fell swooning into the bottom of the boat before any one understood what had happened.
“The courtiers rushed to his rescue, but in their haste they overturned the boat in so doing and upsetthe unfortunate monarch into the water. Diamantina fainted, at once, on seeing her father’s plight, and parent and child were carried insensible to the palace where an end was immediately made to all festivities.
“Balancin remained insensible for three days and therefore could not order a search for the White Slipper; Diamantina, however, recovered on the morning after the accident, inquired for the treasure which none of the careless attendants had even thought of up to that time, and, finding that it was missing, immediately fainted away again. When she came to herself she at once organized search-parties both by land and by water in every direction, but neither then nor at any other time was so much as an inch of the White Slipper ever found.
“The king, again pursued by pain both night and day, fell into the deepest gloom, the princess wept like a fountain, and the court was plunged into mourning. Messengers were dispatched for the foreign physician, but, alas! in spite of all his learning he had departed this life.
“The unfortunate monarch now posted notices in every part of his kingdom offering the hand of Diamantina and the succession to the throne to whosoeverwould find the White Slipper. The princess, ready to sacrifice all for her beloved father, watched from the palace windows the swarm of youths who swam and dived in the neighboring stream in search of the missing treasure. The town looked like a seaside resort in the bathing season and, wherever you went, showers of drops were scattered over your garments as the dripping figures, with chattering teeth, darted in and out of the waters.
“At last, when Balancin was completely discouraged and ready to put an end to his life, he heard a disturbance one day in an antechamber of the palace and sending to inquire the cause found out that a fellow of the streets, a mere nobody from nowhere, as the servants expressed it, had had the impudence to call at the palace and ask to measure His Majesty’s foot for another shoe like the one he had lost.
“‘And what did you do with the fellow?’ asked Balancin.
“‘We packed him off at once,’ cried the servants, ‘and gave him a good drubbing besides for his insolence.’
“‘Very ill done,’ frowned the king. ‘The meanest of my subjects has a right to attempt, at least, to do mea service. Send for the youth. I can hear what he has to say, if I can do no more.’
“The poor fellow was sent for at once, and, appearing before the monarch and giving him a respectful salutation, begged permission to measure the injured foot and to place upon the wound a small plaster that would ease the pain until he could complete the cure.
“Balancin was astonished at the ease and assurance of the youth, but he liked his face and his manner and allowed him to make the examination, which he did with the greatest care. The plaster was scarcely laid on the wound when the king felt some relief and, more astonished still at this result, he asked his caller’s name.
“‘I am very well known in the city, Your Majesty,’ the youth answered humbly, ‘although I have no kinsfolk and never knew my parents. When I was little they called me “Goldfinch,” because I always sang in spite of my troubles and they call me “Goldfinch” still.’
“‘And you think you can cure me, Master Finch?’ asked Balancin.
“‘I am sure of it, sire.’
“‘And how long will it take?’
“‘I can hardly manage it in less than fifteen days, sire,’ answered Goldfinch.
“‘And what do you require for the cure?’ inquired the king.
“‘A good horse, strong and swift, Your Majesty.’
“Balancin was astonished again, and the courtiers could hardly restrain their laughter, but the monarch replied at once: ‘The horse shall be yours, Master Goldfinch, and in fifteen days I shall expect you here again. If you succeed in the cure, you know what the reward will be; if you fail, your daring will receive a fitting punishment.’
“Goldfinch made a profound bow and withdrew; the horse was provided at once, and the youth left the city followed by the hoots and jeers of the entire populace.
“Now I must tell you, my children, who Goldfinch was and how he became possessed of so much medical knowledge.
“His parents having died in his infancy he was taken in, out of charity, by an old apothecary who had nothing left of his business but his learning and his library.
“As the boy grew, he applied himself to study thebooks with which the walls were lined and was greatly assisted and encouraged by his benefactor, who, upon his death, bequeathed to his charge all the weighty volumes. The youth gained a light employment to support his scanty needs and spent his remaining time in study, whereby, one day, he found a marvelous specific for wounds which, however, required the use of a plant only to be found at a great distance and was thus completely out of his reach, as he possessed neither horse nor money.
“He had often seen the Princess Diamantina in her royal progress through the city and cherished for her a passionate affection, but had had no hope, even of speaking to her, until he saw the king’s proclamation published in the streets and so was emboldened to call at the palace and offer a substitute for the White Slipper.
“Astride his good horse, Goldfinch now galloped away for six whole days, stopping hardly to eat and only to snatch an hour’s sleep at night, and finally, in the depths of a thick wood, he found the plant so much desired. He plucked it, placed it carefully in his bosom, andKatakées, katakás, katakées, katakás, he was off again, galloping back to the city.
“Reasoning that if the king were willing to give his daughter and his kingdom to the man who should furnish him with a shoe to ease his pain, he would be even more grateful to one who should cure him altogether, the youth prepared his balsam according to directions and mixed within it the juices of the precious plant.
“This done and before the fifteen days had quite expired, Goldfinch presented himself at the palace and asked for an audience with the king. All was immediately prepared for his reception and the court assembled, the beautiful Diamantina entering by her father’s side. She saw at once that the new physician was young and of good appearance and, modestly casting down her eyes, awaited her fate.
“Goldfinch approached His Majesty and after the usual salutations inquired of him whether he would prefer another White Slipper, or a complete cure of the wounded foot. Balancin naturally replied that a complete cure was what most he longed for in the world, whereupon Goldfinch at once applied his precious balsam to the wound. A few moments slipped by, and the king, the courtiers, and most of all the princess, waited with bated breath.
“Suddenly Balancin started to his feet, he walked, he ran across the floor, and finally, in a transport of ecstasy, he danced gayly about the room, tossing his crown before him like a ball into the air.
“‘Approach, my benefactor, approach, Prince Goldfinch!’ he cried, ‘and I will gladly give thee thy reward.’
“Drawing toward him his beloved daughter, who was blushing like a white cloud in the setting sun, Balancin joined the hands of the young couple and ordered the immediate celebration of their wedding.
“Prince Goldfinch, attended by respectful courtiers, withdrew to a sumptuous apartment in the palace and shortly issued clad in white velvet embroidered in gold. Diamantina, in garments frosted with lace and glittering with gems, joined him at the altar and amid the cheers of the populace the marriage took place.
“The new-made prince filled equally well his double offices of husband and son-in-law, and on the death of Balancin reigned over the kingdom many years in peace and contentment.”
HE DANCED GAYLY ABOUT THE ROOM, TOSSING HIS CROWN BEFORE HIM LIKE A BALL
HE DANCED GAYLY ABOUT THE ROOM, TOSSING HIS CROWN BEFORE HIM LIKE A BALL
HE DANCED GAYLY ABOUT THE ROOM, TOSSING HIS CROWN BEFORE HIM LIKE A BALL
“Oh, what a good story!” cried Lesley.
“Stump-ery, true-eryI love you-ery!”
“Stump-ery, true-eryI love you-ery!”
“Stump-ery, true-ery
I love you-ery!”
and she pressed close to the blue-clad arm beside her.
“Much obliged to you, Don Pancho,” said Ronald in an offhand, manly way.
Nobody else said anything, for Jenny Lind had wandered away and Jim Crow had flapped his wings once or twice and departed, crying as he went, “Caw! Caw! I know a better story than that, about a pirate and a buried treasure.”
There had been a rabbit in almost constant attendance upon the party, but he had popped up and popped down so frequently that it was hard to tell at any given time whether it was himself or his brother, and probably timidity would have hindered either of them from giving applause even to a better story than that of the White Slipper.