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Page 32
"I thank you," said Marvel, "but there is small chance of my needing
help. Farewell, and may your future life be pleasant and happy!"
With this he sprang to the saddle of his prancing charger and,
followed by Nerle, rode slowly through the stone arch. The courtiers
and ladies had flocked from the palace to witness their departure, and
the giants and dwarfs and Gray Men were drawn up in long lines to
speed the king's guests. So it was a brilliant sight that Marvel and
Nerle looked back on; but once they were clear of the arch, the great
stone rolled back into its place, shutting them out completely from
the Kingdom of Spor, with its turreted castle and transformed king.
13. The Hidden Kingdom of Twi
Knowing that at last they were free to roam according to their desire,
the travelers rode gaily along the paths, taking but scant heed of
their way.
"Our faces are set toward new adventures," remarked the prince. "Let
us hope they will prove more pleasant than the last."
"To be sure!" responded Nerle. "Let us hope, at any rate, that we
shall suffer more privations and encounter more trouble than we did in
that mountainous Kingdom of Spor." Then he added: "For one reason, I
regret you are my master."
"What is that reason?" asked the prince, turning to smile upon his esquire.
"You have a way of overcoming all difficulties without any trouble
whatsoever, and that deprives me of any chance of coming to harm while
in your company."
"Cheer up, my boy!" cried Marvel. "Did I not say there are new
adventures before us? We may not come through them so easily as we
came through the others."
"That is true," replied Nerle; "it is always best to hope." And then
he inquired: "Why do you stop here, in the middle of the path?"
"Because the path has ended rather suddenly," answered Marvel. "Here
is a thick hedge of prickly briers barring our way."
Nerle looked over his master's shoulder and saw that a great hedge,
high and exceedingly thick, cut off all prospect of their advancing.
"This is pleasant," said he; "but I might try to force our way through
the hedge. The briers would probably prick me severely, and that
would be delightful."
"Try it!" the prince returned, with twinkling eyes.
Nerle sprang from his horse to obey, but at the first contact with the
briers he uttered a howl of pain and held up his hands, which were
bleeding in a dozen places from the wounds of the thorns.
"Ah, that will content you for a time, I trust," said Marvel. "Now
follow me, and we will ride along beside the hedge until we find an
opening. For either it will come to an end or there will prove to be
a way through it to the other side."
So they rode alongside the hedge for hour after hour; yet it did not
end, nor could they espy any way to get through the thickly matted
briers. By and by night fell, and they tethered their horses to some
shrubs, where there were a few scanty blades of grass for them to
crop, and then laid themselves down upon the ground, with bare rocks
for pillows, where they managed to sleep soundly until morning.
They had brought a supply of food in their pouches, and on this they
breakfasted, afterward continuing their journey beside the hedge.
At noon Prince Marvel uttered an exclamation of surprise and stopped
his horse.
"What is it?" asked Nerle.
"I have found the handkerchief with which you wiped the blood from
your hands yesterday morning, and then carelessly dropped," replied
the prince. "This proves that we have made a complete circle around
this hedge without finding a way to pass through it."
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