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Page 13
King Kitticut, so completely surprised that he was
bewildered, gazed at the approaching host with terror
and grief.
"They are the men of Regos and Coregos!" he groaned.
"We are, indeed, lost!"
Then he bethought himself, for the first time, of his
wonderful pearls. Turning quickly, he ran back into the
palace and hastened to the hall where the treasures
were hidden. But the leader of the warriors had seen
the King enter the palace and bounded after him,
thinking he meant to escape. Just as the King had
stooped to press the secret spring in the tiles, the
warrior seized him from the rear and threw him backward
upon the floor, at the same time shouting to his men to
fetch ropes and bind the prisoner. This they did very
quickly and King Kitticut soon found himself helplessly
bound and in the power of his enemies. In this sad
condition he was lifted by the warriors and carried
outside, when the good King looked upon a sorry sight.
The Queen and her maidens, the officers and servants
of the royal household and all who had inhabited this
end of the Island of Pingaree had been seized by the
invaders and bound with ropes. At once they began
carrying their victims to the boats, tossing them in as
unceremoniously as if they had been bales of
merchandise.
The King looked around for his son Inga, but failed
to find the boy among the prisoners. Nor was the fat
King, Rinkitink, to be seen anywhere about.
The warriors were swarming over the palace like bees
in a hive, seeking anyone who might be in hiding, and
after the search had been prolonged for some time the
leader asked impatiently: "Do you find anyone else?"
"No," his men told him. "We have captured them all."
"Then," commanded the leader, "remove everything of
value from the palace and tear down its walls and
towers, so that not one stone remains upon another!"
While the warriors were busy with this task we will
return to the boy Prince, who, when the fog lifted and
the sun came out, wakened from his sleep and began to
climb down from his perch in the tree. But the
terrifying cries of the people, mingled with the shouts
of the rude warriors, caused him to pause and listen
eagerly.
Then he climbed rapidly up the tree, far above his
platform, to the topmost swaying branches. This tree,
which Inga called his own, was somewhat taller than the
other trees that surrounded it, and when he had reached
the top he pressed aside the leaves and saw a great
fleet of boats upon the shore -- strange boats, with
banners that he had never seen before. Turning to look
upon his father's palace, he found it surrounded by a
horde of enemies. Then Inga knew the truth: that tile
island had been invaded by the barbaric warriors from
the north. He grew so faint from the terror of it all
that he might have fallen had he not wound his arms
around a limb and clung fast until the dizzy feeling
passed away. Then with his sash he bound himself to the
limb and again ventured to look out through the leaves.
The warriors were now engaged in carrying King
Kitticut and Queen Garee and all their other captives
down to the boats, where they were thrown in and
chained one to another. It was a dreadful sight for the
Prince to witness, but he sat very still, concealed
from the sight of anyone below by the bower of leafy
branches around him. Inga knew very well that he could
do nothing to help his beloved parents, and that if he
came down he would only be forced to share their cruel
fate.
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