THE SEALING-WAX CROWN

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 690, 15 June 1929, Page 31

THE SEALING-WAX CROWN

The Story of One King and I'wo Princes

King’ Kylo had two Suns. Dav us a fid » Petrus, who were as handsome and j j noble in appearance as all princes j , should bo. But, alas! he was as poor ] i as no king should be. The Royal Treasury was almost empty, and there ; c seemed no likelihood of its colters ever ; being full again, for his people were | i far too poor to pay taxes. At length the king grew weary oi this poverty-stricken life, and he i ; made a plan. First, he arrayed him- ! ] self in his robes of State, pinning up j the moth-lioles with large safety-pins. Then he took out the great crown, i which was no longer magnificent, the j precious gems having been long ago j picked out and sold to foreign Kings. ] Well, King Kylo polished the gold i crown, and got some red sealing wax j and filled up all the holes where the j jewels had been, till it looked very ■ gaudy and bright. Then he put it on, and went to find Davus and Petrus. "I have something important to : say to you two,” he said grandly. ■ "Put on your State crowns and come j at once to the great Banqueting Hall, j Wonderingly Davus and Petrus ! obeyed, and presently appeared before j their royal father in the great hall, j The chief cook, guessing that some- J tiling interesting was about to take j place, put on a clean cap and apron, j armed himself with a large ladle, and • went and sat at the furthest end of I the hall. The king bowed to the empty chairs and to liis two sons. “Lords and Ladies, chief cook, and you, my most dear sons. Princes Royal of the Great Kingdom of Kylphungria, the time has now come when we can no longer live happily in this, our magnificent castle. Times are hard” —here the chief cook cried “hear, hear,” and rapped on the floor with his ladle. “Times are hard,” went on the king, “and I must now follow' the example of my ancestors, who, when anything went wrong, sent out their sons to seek a remedy. The reward in each case was the Royal Crown. Davus, I know that you are the eldest; you will be given the first | chance.” “That is not fair, father,” cried Petrus. “Let us go together, and the better man will win.” “Yes, indeed.” said Davus, “that would be fairer. But what must we do. dear father?” The king looked thoughtful. Suddenly his face brightened. “I know,” he cried. “You must find the secret of the alchemists. You must come back able to turn all the poor things in my palace into gold.” The two princes were not very hopeful of success, but early next morning, having breakfasted well on porridge, they sallied forth on foot. liavus took the pretty, grassy path which wandered across the fields and meadows into the enchanted wood beyond, while Petrus followed the road which led through the city. He went straight to the home of their old tutor, [ Hans, to whom he told his tale. Obligingly Hans looked through his ; Book of Wizardry, but he could not find the l'ecipe for turning things into • pure gold. “Here, look for yourself,” cried Hans.

and night. and soon became so in tcrested in the weird and wonderl things therein that he almost forgwhat he was looking tor. Meanwhile, havus had reach*-d clear, Unwins stream in the midst <•;' the wood, and sat down beside it »« think. Presently, along came an old dan“l am thirsty.” she whimpered. 'Pr*: good stranger, make a cup of y o hands, and let me drink a little ” Obligingly. l)avus cupped his hand' and scooped up water for the old “I am hungry.' she said. "Hav* you nothing to give me to eat?’’ l>avus opened his shabby knapsacand drew out a dry sandwich and an apple, which was all the lunch th* chief cook had been able to find fo him. “Take it and welcome he saM cheerfully. “What are you seeking in this er, chanted wood, young sir/'* the old dame inquired when she had eaten all ; the food. l>avus told her. “Pooh!” she said. “What ridiculous ! tilings kings do sometimes. Thei • lis no such secret recipe in all th» j world, and you will be wasting you* ; time looking for it. Hut why should j the king want such a thing when rv i lives on gold ?” i “laves on gold!" Davos echoed. “Of course,” said the old dam i with a knowing smile. “Why. thetais gold in the ground all over his king ! (loin, if he would only look for it. And | his palace is standing on what woulo ! be,the greatest gold mine in the world, jif he only knew it.” j “You must be a fairy to know i that,” said Oavus. “1 will go bay' j at once to the palace ami tell my fath* i j the king. Oh, dear, kind fairy, nv brother Petrus lias also set out on thi | foolish search. If you would only fine j him and tell him what you have told i me, we could all search together for j the gold. “With pleasure." cried the fair." ! and disappeared. } Oavus hastened home with the glad news. The king immediately ordered throspades, one for himself, one for Dam and one for the chief cook. They dug with might and main and before very long they saw yellow gold twinkling up at them out of white quartz. The King waved his spade in the air and shouted hurrah. Prince Oavus stood on his head and kicked his heels in the aii. while the chief cook immediately began to plan the menu for a great State banquet. Meanwhile the fairy had sought out Petrus, who had just come to page five thousand four hundred and ninetythree in the Book of Wizardry. "I am thirsty.” whimpered the old dame. “Young sir, give me some ; water.” “Go away,” said Petrus. - “I am hungry.” whined the fairy. “A crust of bread, for the love of '• charity.” “(Jo away.” shouted Petrus. ' “What are you seeking in that gre&i book?” she asked politely, though siu ■ was beginning to feel annoyed. “Go away!” screamed the prince angrily. “So be it.” said the fairy solemn]}'. : She waved her wand over the rud“ | fellow, and in a trice he disappeared. ! while, in his place there sat a big. | grey bird with a tuft of feathers on the ; back of its head. i The go-away bird still lives in ceji tain parts of Africa, but the king and ; Davus did not miss Petrus very mud: They were too busy eating all the ftp- | dishes that the chief cook concofeted j for them. |