CHAPTER VIII

A MESSAGE FROM RUTH

The moon was shining clear and bright as David stepped out of the door of the Mansion of Happiness. The clear song of the Bird broke again upon the peaceful evening air. David ran to the foot of the tree whence the notes came. Seeking eagerly among the branches, he caught a shimmer of iridescent blue in the soft moonlight.

“My Bird, my Bird!” he cried, “I have found you again at last. Lead on--guide me there--guide me! Do not let me lose sight of you again! My Bird, I need you, I need to follow you, for _her_ dear sake. For I must guide Ruth to the Tree when I have found the way.”

The Bird flew before him, and all night he trudged on and on through the deep, dark forest, over rough unmarked trails filled with briers and treacherous pitfalls where his steps were all too apt to falter.

“Ruth--where can Ruth be?” he said to himself.

“In a palace dark and deep Ruth is lying fast asleep,”

sang the Blue Bird.

“What do you mean?” cried David. “Guide me there, my Blue Bird; guide me there where she is. I must find her!”

“In the Bronze Kings’s dark domain, There the poor girl must remain,”

sang the Bird.

“Where?” asked David. “Why?”

“She is a maiden sorely tried-- The King will have her for his bride,”

came the song in reply.

“What!” David cried in a wild frenzy of fear and anger. “NEVER! Blue Bird, Blue Bird, lead me to her! I must save my Ruth! She must be saved from this terrible and cruel fate!”

“I can guide you to the door, But I, alas! can do no more.”

“Guide me there, then--that is all I ask!” cried David.

So, after following the Blue Bird over another long, long trail, he saw at last, far away in the distance, the Palace of the great Bronze King. Its tower and parapets rose in a huge mass of ugly red above the green foliage and gray rocks of the hillside.

In a few minutes he stood without the massive walls. It was very early in the morning, and all within seemed as still and quiet as though it were midnight.

“Is Ruth really there?” he thought to himself. “How can I be sure of this? and, being sure, how can I ever free her?”

“Wait in patience, doubt no more; And never try to force the door,”

came the song again.

“That’s all right,” said David, “but how can a man be patient for ever? I must and will rescue Ruth!”

As he spoke there appeared, in the window above him, the Bronze King himself. David hid in the leaves of a neighbouring thicket so that the King could not see him, though he himself could gaze with safety upon the unearthly and monstrous visage of the King. The thought of Ruth’s being a captive in that monster’s Palace was almost more than he could endure.

The sun shone through the window right into the King’s face. It was a curious fact, and one which had been noticed by Ruth as well as by others in the Palace, that in the bright sunlight the King’s face always seemed to grow a still darker bronze. The more light shone upon him, the darker he seemed to grow. Now, in this brilliant morning light, his face was darker than the moon when, in eclipse, it takes on a strange and terrifying cast which no one can look at without a shudder.

A surge of repulsion swept over David as he gazed; he thought he had never seen any being so thoroughly ugly and so altogether awful. Then the thought of sweet, gentle Ruth filled his heart, and in a moment he grew strong and fearless. He resolved to rescue her, no matter what the cost might be.

“I must wait in patience,” thought David to himself. “Wait and watch. I will learn something of the manners and customs of this strange monarch.”

So he hid himself in the thicket to watch and see what might develop in and around the Palace. He could hear the servants moving about, and now and then he caught a glimpse of someone inside the Castle. Soon he judged that breakfast was being served. Not long after this, great preparations were made for something--some kind of expedition. David watched and waited in curiosity to know what was going to happen. Soon the King, with a number of his followers, appeared at the great gateway. All of them were armed with spears and hunting-knives. The grooms brought horses from the royal stables, which the great men mounted; and soon they rode away into the distant forest that covered the hillsides on either hand.

“Now,” thought David, “if the King and his followers have left the Palace, it is time for me to try to prove in some way whether or not Ruth really is here.”

Just as the thought passed through his mind, someone moved at one of the upper windows. He looked more closely. The next instant, to his wonder and delight, he recognized his dearly loved Ruth! She opened the casement window and leaned far out, gazing up into the clear sky above. The bright sunlight touched her hair so that it seemed like a crown of gold upon her head. Her eyes, upturned, held the wondrous beauty of the sky in their depths.

“Ruth!” he called. She heeded not. He dared not call louder, lest others within the Palace might hear. He watched her, spellbound. Suddenly she moved and turned as if to leave the window. Without even giving a thought to what he was doing, David shaped his lips to give a low, clear, sweet whistle--the call they had used together at the Cobbler’s cottage.

The girl turned toward the window, her face very white and her breath coming in short, quick gasps. He knew that she had heard, for her eyes searched the garden below, her delicate hand resting on her throat, her whole expression one of fear and wonder.

“Here wings to serve you true-- Try what written words will do.”

Yes, it was the song of the ever faithful Blue Bird. David saw the little creature hopping on a twig close by.

“Good!” cried the boy. Then, searching in his pocket, he found a pencil and a bit of paper and wrote hastily:

“Ruth, it is I, David, come to rescue you. We must flee together. Come to me!”

He folded the bit of paper carefully, and the Bird took it in its beak and flew over the casement window, dropping it on the sill just in front of Ruth. She opened it, read the message. Tears of joy filled her eyes. Then, eagerly, she wrote this answer:

“I am watched and guarded constantly. I cannot possibly come to you, David. You must capture the Pale-Coloured Wingèd Horse. He only can save my life. Capture him, come to the Palace some dark starless night riding upon his back, and fly to the garden at the eastern side of the Palace. There I can meet you, but I cannot go outside the garden wall. Help me, David dear--no one else can ever save me.

“Ruth.”

She had just time to finish the message, fold it, and drop it from the casement window, when one of the women of the Palace came to her. It was time to begin her daily tasks and lessons. But the faithful Blue Bird was still keeping watch, and the bit of white paper had no sooner touched the ground than he flew to it, seized it in his beak, and bore it safely to David.

“The Pale-Coloured Wingèd Horse?” said David. “Where can I find him? He must be the same of which _she_ spoke in the Mansion of Happiness. _She_ told me I must go on past the Bronze King’s Palace, where the Lions are! I wonder where the Lions are, and why I have not seen them? I will go on, for I must capture the horse: I know that is the only way to rescue Ruth.--Blue Bird, guide me!” he cried aloud.

A flash of azure darted before his eyes and disappeared round the corner of the Palace wall. He followed, almost running in his eagerness not to lose sight of his trusted guide.

Turning the corner of the great brick wall, he came suddenly into the very midst of the Lions. There were a dozen or more of them, some standing, some lying down dozing in the warm, bright sunshine. David was thoroughly frightened when he realized where he was, and he hesitated, not knowing what was best to do; for he had come upon them so suddenly that he had run right into their midst before realizing where he was. He drew his hunting-knife from its sheath, for he was not one to turn back. He had learned long ago that more is gained by keeping bravely on than by wasting time trying to retrace one’s footsteps.

Soon he noticed that each Lion was chained and that the beasts, great, fierce, and powerful as they were, could only move as far as their chains would allow. Beyond this point they were as powerless and harmless as tethered watch dogs. But as David advanced, the Lions walked toward him, closing in on either side, and the boy’s heart sank within him lest, after all, one of the terrible creatures reach him. He noticed a narrow pathway running through the grass, and this he followed slowly, deliberately, and carefully, for he felt that it must have been worn by those who knew the safe and sure way through the domain of these fierce creatures. He proved his wisdom thereby; for although, as he advanced, each Lion pulled its chain taut, none could quite reach him. Yet several times he felt their hot, burning breath upon his cheek as he passed them by.

At last he reached a point beyond and away from them. “There!” he said to himself, “that is over. How truly terrible it seemed while I was doing it! If I had run blindly forward when I wakened to a realization of where I was, I should probably have run right into the jaws of the first Lion; but I went slowly and picked my way, and here I am, safe. Now I can look back over the trail and see how the path winds in and out. Yes, indeed, it does pay to be careful and keep one’s eyes open, after all!”

As he thought about it he began to wonder why the Lions had made no noise. Not one of them had roared or even growled. The reason was really this, though David did not know it: the Lions were all trained to guard that little path over which David had walked so wisely and cautiously. They had been taught that one who walked on the path was not to be disturbed; for only those who had self-possession and wisdom could see to choose the way of safety. But any who, coming that way, diverged from the pathway, were not wise; and these could and should suffer for their folly. Many a one had already become food for the ravenous beasts, who were at all times half starved. Had David taken one misstep, had he left the little narrow winding path by so much as a hair’s breadth, the Lions would have roared furiously, alarmed all within the Palace, and frightened poor David so terribly that he would have run blindly on, and so have been caught and devoured. He little realized how narrow an escape he had had.