L. Frank Baum (16 page)

He guided them carefully along the paths, his handsome war-charger
stepping with much grace and dignity, until at length they came to a
clearing.

Here the prince paused abruptly, and Seseley looked around her and at
once recognized the place.

"Why," she exclaimed, in surprise, "it is the Fairy Bower!"

And then she turned to Prince Marvel and asked in a soft voice:

"Is the year ended, Prince?"

His smile was a bit sad as he answered, slowly:

"The year will be ended in five minutes!"

The girls sat upon the green moss and waited. Prince Marvel stood
silent beside his horse. The silver armor was as bright as the day he
donned it, nor was there a dent in his untarnished shield. The sword
that had done such good service he held lightly in his hand, and the
horse now and then neighed softly and turned to look at him with
affectionate eyes.

Seseley began to tremble with excitement, and Berna and Helda stared at
the prince with big round eyes.

But, after all, they saw nothing so remarkable as they expected. For
presently—and it all happened in a flash—Prince Marvel was gone from
their midst, and a handsome, slender-limbed deer darted from the bower
and was quickly lost in the thick forest. On the ground lay a sheet of
bark and a twig from a tree, and beside them was Lady Seseley's white
velvet cloak.

Then the three girls each drew a long breath and looked into one
another's eyes, and, while thus engaged, a peal of silvery laughter
sounded in their ears and made them spring quickly to their feet.

Before them stood a tiny and very beautiful fairy, clothed in floating
gossamer robes of rose and pearl color, and with eyes sparkling like
twin stars.

"Prince Marvel!" exclaimed the three, together.

"No, indeed!" cried the fairy, with a pretty little pout. "I am no one
but myself; and, really, I believe I shall now be content to exist for
a few hundred years in my natural form. I have quite enjoyed my year
as a mortal; but after all there are, I find, some advantages in being
a fairy. Good by, my dears!"

And with another ripple of laughter the pretty creature vanished, and
the girls were left alone.

About a hundred years after Prince Marvel enjoyed his strange
adventures in the Enchanted Island of Yew an odd thing happened.

A hidden mirror in a crumbling old castle of Dawna broke loose from its
fastenings and fell crashing on the stone pavement of the deserted
hall. And from amid the ruins rose the gigantic form of a man. His
hair and beard were a fiery red, and he gazed at the desolation around
him in absolute amazement.

It was the Red Rogue of Dawna, set free from his imprisonment.

He wandered out and found strange scenes confronting him, for during
the hundred years a great change had taken place in the Enchanted
Island. Great cities had been built and great kingdoms established.
Civilization had won the people, and they no longer robbed or fought or
indulged in magical arts, but were busily employed and leading
respectable lives.

When the Red Rogue tried to tell folks who he was, they but laughed at
him, thinking the fellow crazy. He tried to get together a band of
thieves, as Wul-Takim had done in the old days, but none would join him.

And so, forced to be honest against his will, the Rogue was driven to
earn a living by digging in the garden of a wealthy noble, of whom he
had never before heard.

But often he would pause in his labors and lean on his spade, while
thoughts of the old days of wild adventure passed through his mind in
rapid succession; and then the big man would shake his red head with a
puzzled air and mutter:

"I wonder who that Prince Marvel could have been! And I wonder what
ever became of him!"