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Show THE HOM5 THE LAND OF THE BLUE FLOWER. By Frances Hodgson Burnett. I. The Land of the Blue Flower was not called! by that name until King Amor came down from his castle on the mountain crag and began to reign. Before that time it was called King Mordrcth's Land, and, as the first King Mordrcth had been a fierce and cruel King, this seemed a gloomy n-amc. A few weeks before Amor was bom his boy-father whose name was King Mordrcth also had been killed while hunting, and his fair mother moth-er died when he was but a few hours old. But early in that day she sent for her venerable friend and teacher, who was said to be the oldest and wisest man in the world, and who long ago had fled to a cave in the mountains, . that he might sec no more of the famine fam-ine and disorder and hatred in the country spread out on the plains below. be-low. He was a marvelous old man, almost a giant in size, and had great blue eyes like deep sca-watcr. They seemed to sec all things and to hold in their depths no single thought which was not fine and great. The people were a little afraid of him when they saw him go striding through their streets. They had no name for him but The Ancient One. The lovely Queen drew aside the embroidered coverlet of her gold-and-ivory bed and' showed him the tiny ba'by sleeping by her side. "He was born a King," she said. "No one can help him but you." The Ancient One looked" down at hira. "He has long limbs and strong ones. He will make a great King," he said. '"Give him to me." The Queen held out the little newborn new-born one in her arms. "Take him away quickly before he hears the people quarreling at the palace gate," she said. "Take him to the castle on the mountain crag. Keep him there until he is old enough to come down and be King. When the sun sinks behind the clouds I shalV die, but :f he is with you he will learn what a King should know." ' The Ancient One took the child, folded him in his long, gray robe, and strode through the ugly city, and out over the plains to the mountain. When he began to climb the sun was setting and! casting a golden rose-color rose-color over the rocks, and the wild flowers and bushes which grdw on every ev-ery side so that there seemed no Iath to be found. But the Ancient One knew his way without a path to guide him. He climbed and climbed and little King Amor slept soundly in the folds of his gray robe. He reached the summit at last, and pushing push-ing his way through a jungle of twisted twist-ed vines starred all over with pale, sweet-scented 'buds, he stood looking look-ing at the castle which was set on the topmost crag, and looked out over the mountain's edge at the sea and the sky and the spreading plains below. be-low. The sky was dark blue now and lit by myriad stars, and all was so still that the world seemed miles away, and the ugliness and squalor and people peo-ple who quarreled! seemed things which were not true. A sweet, cool wind blew about them as The Ancient One took King Amor from the folds of his gray robe and laid hi mi on the carpet of scented moss. "The stars arc very near," he said. "Waken, young King, and sec how near they arc and know they arc your brothers. Your brother the Wind is bringing to you the breath of your brothers the Trees. You arc at home." Then King A'mor opened his eyes, and when he saw the stars in the dark blucness above him he smiled, and, though he was not yet a whole day olcB, he threw up his small hand and it touched his forehead. "Like a King and soldier he salutes them' said The Ancient One, "though he does not know he did it." The castle was huge and splendid, though it had been dcsertedl for a hundred years. The royal owners had not cared to look out on the world from high places. They knew nothing of the wind and the trees and the stars; they lived on the plains and hunted and rioted audi levied heavy taxes on their wretched people. peo-ple. And the castle had lived through its summers and winters alone. It,, had battlements and towerS which! btood out clear against the sky, and there was a great banquet-hall and chambers for hundreds of guests, and rooms for a thousand micn-at-arms and the courtyard was big enough to hold a tournament in. In the midst of its space and splcnd- yd j or the little King Amor lived alone JOT" but for the companionship of The l jW i Ancient One and a servant as old as - I himself. But they knew a secret which had kept them young in spite of the years they had passed through. , They knew that they were the broth- ' crs of all things in the world, and that I the man who never knows an angered or evil thought can never know a foe. They were strong and straight and wise, and because they held! no dark thoughts in their minds they knew i no fear, and because they knew no fear the wild creatures knew none and the speech of each was clear to the other. Every morning they went out on the battlements to sec the sun rise j out of the purple sea. One of the 1 first things King Amor remembered j was a dawn when The Ancient One wakened him, and, folding him in his gray robe, carried him up the narrow f stone stairway, until at last they came I forth on the top of the castle, which 1 seemed to the child to be so high that 1 it was close to the sky itself. ' I "The sun is going to rise and wake I the world," said The Ancient One. I "Young King, watch the wonder of 1 Amor lifted his little head) and look- 1 ed. Something golden-bright was j rising out of the edge of the ocean, j and sparkling light danced on the 1 waves. It rose higher and higher, I and grew so dazzling that he threw out his hand with a shout of joy. The next" moment he started back because j there rose, near him a loud whir and beating of powerful wings as a great bird flew up from a crag near by and soared high into the radiant morning heavens. "It is the eagle," said The Ancient One. "He has awakened and gone to give his greeting to the sun." "And as the little King sat enrapt- i ured he saw that from the dazzling brightness at the edge of the world there leaped forth a ball of living fire, and even he knew that the sun had risen. "At every day's; dawn it leaps forth like that," said The Ancient One. jT'Every day it warms, every day. it ripens and gives life. And there arc many who forget the wonder of it. Lift up your head as you walk, young King, and often look upward. Never forget the sun." J At every dawning they rose and I I saw together the wonder of the day; I Fl and the first time the sky was heavy 1 with clouds and the sun did not leap upward from behind the edge of the world, The Ancient One said another ' thing: "The 'burning gold is behind I the lowering gray and purple. The ! clouds arc heavy with soft rain. When they break they will drop it in show- ers or splendid storms and the thirsty earth will drink it up. The grains will drink it and the seed and the i roots, and the world will be joyous and rich with fresh light. The drink- ing-placcs for the cattle will be full and clear, and men and women will feel rested and! cool. Lift your head j ' high when you walk, young King, "and often look upward. Never for-i for-i get the clouds." !So hearing- these things every day King Amor learned the meaning of sun and cloud and felt himself brother broth-er to both. The first time he remembered seeing see-ing a storm The Ancient One took him to the battlements again, and together to-gether they watched the dark clouds pour down their floods while their purple was riven by the dazzling lances lan-ces of the lightning; and the thunder rolled and crashed and seemed to rend asunder things no human eye could sec. King Amor stood erect like some little soldier, though he wondered where the small birds wcr. and if the eagle were in his nest. j Through all the tumult The Ancient One stood still. He looked taller than over in his long, gray robe, and his .strange eyes were deep as the sea. At last he said in a slow, calm voice: "This is the voice of the power men know not. No man has yet quite understood un-derstood though it seems to speak, llnrkcn to it, young King. Hold your head high as you walk and often look upward. Never forget the storm;" 1 So the King learned to love the storm and be one with it, knowing no fear. But perhaps it might be because he had been laid on the scented moss and lwid without knowing it saluted them on the first night of his life he felt nearest to, and loved most his brothers, the Stars. F.vcry fair night through th -King'? earliest years The Ancient One car- ricd him to the battlements and1 let him fall asleep beneath the- shining myriads. But first he would walk about bearing him in his arms, or sit with him) in the splendid silence, some times relating wonders to him in a low voice, sometimes uttering no word, only looking calmly into the high vault above -as if the stars spoke to him and told him of perfect peace. "When a -man looks long at them," he said, "he grows calm "and forgets small things. They answer his questions ques-tions and show him that his earth is only one of the million worlds. Hold your soul still and look upward often, and you will understand) their speech. Nuvcr forgetr the stars. (To be continued) n |