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  9. The Royal Dragon of Spor

  "Now," said Terribus, regarding the prince gloomily, "I must dispose ofyou in another way."

  For a moment he dropped his scarlet head in thought. Then he turnedfiercely upon his attendants.

  "Let the Wrestler come forward!" he shouted, as loudly as his mildvoice would carry.

  Instantly a tall blackamoor advanced from the throng and cast off hisflowing robe, showing a strong figure clad only in a silver loincloth.

  "Crack me this fellow's bones!" commanded Terribus.

  "I beg your Majesty will not compel me to touch him," said PrinceMarvel, with a slight shudder; "for his skin is greasy, and will soilmy hands. Here, Nerle!" he continued, turning to his esquire, "disposeof this black man, and save me the trouble."

  Nerle laughed pleasantly. The black was a powerfully built man, andcompared with Nerle and the prince, who had but the stature of boys, hetowered like a very giant in size. Nevertheless, Nerle did nothesitate to spring upon the Wrestler, who with a quick movement sentthe boy crashing against the stone pavement.

  Nerle was much bruised by the fall, and as he painfully raised himselfto his feet a great lump was swelling behind his left ear, where hishead had struck the floor, and he was so dizzy that the room seemedswimming around him in a circle. But he gave a happy little laugh, andsaid to the prince, gratefully:

  "Thank you very much, my master! The fall is hurting me delightfully.I almost feel as if I could cry, and that would be joy indeed!"

  "Well," answered the prince, with a sigh, "I see I must get my handsgreased after all"--for the black's body had really been greased toenable him to elude the grasp of his opponents.

  But Marvel made a quick leap and seized the Wrestler firmly around thewaist. The next moment, to the astonishment of all, the black man flewswiftly into the air, plunged through one of the open windows high upin the wall, and disappeared from view. When the king and his peopleagain turned their wondering eyes upon the prince he was wiping hishands carefully upon a silk handkerchief.

  At this sight a pretty young girl, who stood near the throne, laughedaloud, and the sound of her laughter made King Terribus very angry.

  "Come here!" he commanded, sternly. The girl stepped forward, her facenow pale and frightened, while tear-drops trembled upon the lashes thatfringed her downcast eyes. "You have dared to laugh at the humiliationof your king," said Terribus, his horrid face more crimson than ever,"and as atonement I command that you drink of the poisoned cup."

  Instantly a dwarf came near, bearing a beautiful golden goblet in hiscrooked hands.

  "Drink!" he said, an evil leer upon his face.

  The girl well knew this goblet contained a vile poison, one drop ofwhich on her tongue would cause death; so she hesitated, trembling andshrinking from the ordeal.

  Prince Marvel looked into her sweet face with pitying eyes, andstepping quickly to her side, took her hand in his.

  "Now drink!" he said, smiling upon her; "the poison will not hurt you."

  She drank obediently, while the dwarf chuckled with awful glee and theking looked on eagerly, expecting her to fall dead at his feet. Butinstead the girl stood upright and pressed Marvel's hand, lookinggratefully into his face.

  "You are a fairy!" she whispered, so low that no one else heard hervoice. "I knew that you would save me."

  "Keep my secret," whispered the prince in return, and still holding herhand he led her back to her former place.

  King Terribus was almost wild with rage and disappointment, and hiselephant nose twisted and squirmed horribly.

  "So you dare to thwart my commands, do you!" he cried, excitedly."Well, we shall soon see which of us is the more powerful. I havedecreed your death--and die you shall!"

  For a moment his eye roved around the chamber uncertainly. Then heshouted, suddenly:

  "Ho, there! Keepers of the royal menagerie--appear!"

  Three men entered the room and bowed before the king. They were of theGray Men of the mountains, who had followed Prince Marvel and Nerlethrough the rocky passes.

  "Bring hither the Royal Dragon," cried the king, "and let him consumethese strangers before my very eyes!"

  The men withdrew, and presently was heard a distant shouting, followedby a low rumbling sound, with groans, snorts, roars and a hissing likesteam from the spout of a teakettle.

  The noise and shouting drew nearer, while the people huddled togetherlike frightened sheep; and then suddenly the doors flew open and theRoyal Dragon advanced to the center of the room.

  This creature was at once the pride and terror of the Kingdom of Spor.It was more than thirty feet in length and covered everywhere withlarge green scales set with diamonds, making the dragon, when it moved,a very glittering spectacle. Its eyes were as big as pie-plates, andits mouth--when wide opened--fully as large as a bath-tub. Its tailwas very long and ended in a golden ball, such as you see on the top offlagstaffs. Its legs, which were as thick as those of an elephant, hadscales which were set with rubies and emeralds. It had two monstrous,big ears and two horns of carved ivory, and its teeth were also carvedinto various fantastic shapes--such as castles, horses' heads, chinamenand griffins--so that if any of them broke it would make an excellentumbrella handle.

  The Royal Dragon of Spor came crawling into the throne-room ratherclumsily, groaning and moaning with every step and waving its ears liketwo blankets flying from a clothesline.

  The king looked on it and frowned.

  "Why are you not breathing fire and brimstone?" he demanded, angrily.

  "Why, I was caught out in a gale the other night," returned the Dragon,rubbing the back of its ear with its left front paw, as it paused andlooked at the king, "and the wind put out my fire."

  "Then why didn't you light it again?" asked Terribus, turning on thekeepers.

  "We--we were out of matches, your Majesty!" stammered the tremblingGray Men.

  "So--ho!" yelled the king, and was about to order the keepers beheaded;but just then Nerle pulled out his match-box, lit one of the matches,and held it in front of the Dragon's mouth. Instantly the creature'sbreath caught fire; and it began to breathe flames a yard in length.

  "That's better," sighed the Dragon, contentedly. "I hope your Majestyis now satisfied."

  "No,--I am not satisfied!" declared King Terribus. "Why do you notlash your tail?"

  "Ah, I can't do that!" replied the Dragon. "It's all stiffened up withrheumatism from the dampness of my cave. It hurts too much to lash it."

  "Well, then, gnash your teeth!" commanded the king.

  "Tut--tut!" answered the Dragon, mildly; "I can't do that, either; forsince you had them so beautifully carved it makes my teeth ache tognash them."

  "Well, then, what are you good for?" cried the king, in a fury.

  "Don't I look awful? Am I not terrible to gaze on?" inquired theDragon, proudly, as it breathed out red and yellow flames and made themcurl in circles around its horns. "I guess there's no need for me tosuggest terror to any one that happens to see me," it added, winkingone of the pie-plate eyes at King Terribus.

  The king looked at the monster critically, and it really seemed to himthat it was a frightful thing to behold. So he curbed his anger andsaid, in his ordinary sweet voice:

  "I have called you here to destroy these two strangers."

  "How?" asked the Dragon, looking upon Prince Marvel and Nerle withinterest.

  "I am not particular," answered the king. "You may consume them withyour fiery breath, or smash them with your tail, or grind them to atomsbetween your teeth, or tear them to pieces with your claws. Only, dohurry up and get it over with!"

  "Hm-m-m!" said the Dragon, thoughtfully, as if it didn't relish thejob; "this one isn't Saint George, is it?"

  "No, no!" exclaimed the king, irritably; "it's Prince Marvel. Do getto work as soon as possible."

  "Prince Marvel--Prince Marvel," repeated the Dragon. "Why, there isn'ta prince in the whole world named Marvel! I'm pre
tty well posted onthe history of royal families, you know. I'm afraid he's Saint Georgein disguise."

  "Isn't your name Prince Marvel?" inquired the king, turning to theboyish-looking stranger.

  "It is," answered Marvel.

  "Well, it's mighty strange I've never heard of you," persisted theDragon. "But tell me, please, how would you prefer to be killed?"

  "Oh, I'm not going to be killed at all," replied the prince, laughing.

  "Do you hear that, Terribus?" asked the Dragon, turning to the king;"he says he isn't going to be killed."

  "But I say he is!" cried Terribus. "I have decreed his death."

  "But do you suppose I'm going to kill a man against his will?" inquiredthe Dragon, in a reproachful voice; "and such a small man, too! Do youtake me for a common assassin--or a murderer?"

  "Do you intend to obey my orders?" roared the king.

  "No, I don't; and that's flat!" returned the Dragon, sharply. "It'stime for me to take my cough medicine; so if you've nothing more to sayI'll go back to my cave."

  "Go, go, go!" shrieked the king, stamping his foot in passion. "You'veoutlived your usefulness! You're a coward! You're a traitor! You'rea--a--a--"

  "I'm a dragon and a gentleman!" answered the monster, proudly, as theking paused for lack of a word; "and I believe I know what's proper fordragons to do and what isn't. I've learned wisdom from my father, whogot into trouble with Saint George, and if I fought with this personwho calls himself Prince Marvel, I'd deserve to be a victim of yourFool-Killer. Oh, I know my business, King Terribus; and if you knewyours, you'd get rid of this pretended prince as soon as possible!"

  With this speech he winked at Prince Marvel, turned soberly around andcrawled from the room. One of the keepers got too near and theDragon's breath set fire to his robe, the flames being with difficultyextinguished; and the gold ball on the end of the Dragon's tail strucka giant upon his shins and made him dance and howl in pain.

  But, aside from these slight accidents, the monster managed to leavethe throne-room without undue confusion, and every one, including theking, seemed glad to be rid of him.