The Floating Prince and Other Fairy Tales. Frank Richard Stockton
of silk or muslin in the curtains or bed-clothes was fine, and delicate, and flimsy. At last, the Smart-boy hit upon a plan. The apartment was a very long one, and was floored with narrow boards, of costly wood, which ran from one end to the other of it. He proposed that they should take up one of these boards,
THE PRISONERS ESCAPE.
and, putting it out of the window, should rest one end on the ground, and the other on the window-sill. Then they could slide down.
Instantly, every aristocrat set to work, with knife, or piece of tin, or small coin, to take out the silver screws which held down one of the boards.
"It is very narrow," said the Head-boy. "I am afraid we shall slip off"."
"Oh, there is no danger of that," replied the Smart-boy. "If we only go fast enough, we cannot slip off. We will grease the board, and then we shall go fast enough."
So the board was taken up, and, after having been well greased with oil from the lamps, was put out of the window.
Then the boys, one at a time, got on the board and slid, with the speed of lightning, to the ground. Most of them came down with such rapidity and force that they shot over the smooth grass to a considerable distance. As soon as they were all down, the Smart-boy took the end of the board and moved it to one side, so that it rested on the edge of a deep tank.
"Now, then," said he, "if any of the guards slide down after us, they will go into the tank."
It was now nearly dark, and the boys set about finding some place where they could spend the night. They soon came to a large building, the doors of which were shut, but, as they were not locked, they had no trouble in entering. This building was a public library, which was closed very early every afternoon, and opened very late every morning. Here the aristocrats found very comfortable quarters, and having lighted a candle which one of them had in his pocket, they held a meeting, to determine what they should do next.
"Of course the ship will come back, some day," said the Smart-boy, "for that admiral would be afraid to go home without us. The giant would smash him and his old ship if he did that. So we shall have to wait here until the ship returns."
"But how are we going to live?" asked several of his companions.
"We can sleep here," he answered. "It's a nice, big place, and nobody will ever disturb us, for a notice on the door says it's closed two hours before sunset And as to victuals, we shall have to work at something."
This was thought good reasoning, and they now began to consider what they should work at. It was agreed that it would be wise for them all to select the same trade, because then they could stand by each other in case of any business disputes, and their trade was to be chosen in this way: Every boy was to write on a piece of paper the business he liked best, and whatever trade or profession was written on the most papers, was to be adopted by the whole company.
When the papers were read by the Head-boy, it was found that nearly every one had selected a different calling; but three of the smaller boys happened to want to be letter-carriers, and so, as there was no business which had so many votes as this, it was determined that they should all be letter-carriers.
The three little boys shouted for joy at this.
"But where shall we get letters to carry?" asked some of the older fellows.
"Oh, we'll see about that in the morning," said the Smart-boy. "There'll be plenty of time before the library opens."
They slept that night on piles of parchments, and in the morning the building was searched to see if any letters could be found for them to carry. In the cellar they discovered a great many huge boxes, filled with manuscripts which had been collecting ever since the city was first wound up and started. These, they concluded, would do just as well as letters, and each boy filled his satchel with them, and started off to deliver them.
Each carrier was assigned by the Head-boy to a different street, and all went to work with a will. The people were glad to get the manuscripts, for many of them were very instructive and interesting, and they gave the boys a small piece of money for each one. This went on, day after day, and every morning each person in the whole city got a letter.
When the king was informed of the escape of his prisoners, he hurried, in great trouble, to see how they had got away. But
THE WATCH ON THE HIGH TOWER.
when he saw the board which they had left resting on the edge of the tank, he was delighted.
"Those wretched Bagists," he exclaimed, "in trying to escape, have all slid into the tank. Let it be walled over, and that will be the end of them. We are fortunate to get rid of them so easily."
But the watch on the high tower was still kept up, for no one knew when the ship might come back with more Bagists.
One day, as the Head-boy was delivering his letters, he met
THE SCHOOL-MASTER AND HEAD-BOY EMBRACE.
an old man, whom he instantly recognized as his master. At first, he felt like running away; but when the master told him that he was alone, and forgave everything, they embraced in tears. The old man had not been able to find his boys in the town, and had wandered into the surrounding country. In this way, he had never had a letter.
The Head-boy took him to the library that night, and he afterward spent most of his time reading the old manuscripts and sorting them out for the carriers. Nobody ever came into the cellar to disturb him.
The people of the city were very much benefited by the instructive papers which were brought to them every day, and many of them became quite learned. The aristocrats also learned a great deal by reading the papers to those persons who could not read themselves, and, every evening, the master gave them lessons in the library. So they gradually became better and better educated.
They often looked up to the high tower, because they had heard that a flag was to be hoisted there whenever a ship with a pink-and-blue sail was seen approaching the city.
Ten years passed, and they saw no flag, but one day they saw, posted up all over the city, a notice from the king, stating that, on the next day, the city would run down, and ordering all the people to retire into their houses, and to shut up their doors and windows. This struck the aristocrats with dismay, for how were they to get a living if they could not deliver their letters?
So they all boldly marched to the palace, and, asking for the king, proposed to him that they should be allowed to wind up his city.
The king gazed upon them in amazement. "What!" he cried. "Do you letter carriers venture to come to me with such a bold request! Do you think for a moment that you know anything about what you propose doing?"
"We can do it a great deal easier than we did it before," said one of the younger aristocrats, "for some of us were very small then, and didn't weigh much."
"Did it before?" exclaimed the bewildered king, staring at the sturdy group before him.
The Head-boy, who was by this time entirely grown up, now came forward, and, acknowledging that he and his companions were the boys who had been shut up in the luxurious apartment, told their whole story since their escape.
"And you have lived among us all this time, and have not tried to bag our heads?" said the king.
"Not a bit of it," replied the other.
"I am very glad, indeed, to hear this," said the king, "and now, if you please, I would like you to try if you really can wind us up, for I feel that I am running down very fast."
At this, the whole body of aristocrats ran to the great stair-way, and began quickly to mount the