“The very same, please your majesty; and a very arduous service it was, and right cleverly performed.”
“This reminds me of a duty.—Let my cousin be summoned.”
I now began to see a ray of hope, and to feel the truth of the saying which teaches us that justice, though sometimes slow, never fails to arrive at last. I had also, now, and for the first time, a good view of the king’s eldest first-cousin of the masculine gender, who drew near at the summons; and, while he had the appearance of listening with the most profound attention to the instructions of the king of Leaphigh, was very evidently telling that potentate what he ought to do. The conference ended, his majesty’s proxy spoke in a way to be heard by all who had the good fortune to be near the royal person.
“Reasono did a good thing,” he said; “really, a very good thing, in bringing us these specimens of the human family. But for his cleverness, I might have died without ever dreaming that men were gifted with tails.” [Kings never get hold of the truth at the right end.] “I wonder if the queen knew it. Pray, did you know, my Augusta, that men had tails?”
“Our exemption from state affairs gives us females better opportunities than your majesty enjoys, to study these matters,” returned his royal consort, by the mouth of her lady of the bed-chamber.
“I dare say I’m very silly—but our cousin, here, thinks it might be well to do something for these good people, for it may encourage their king himself to visit us some day.”
An exclamation of pleasure escaped the ladies; who declared, one and all, it would be delightful to see a real human king—it would be so funny!
“Well, well,” added the good-natured monarch, “Heaven knows what may happen, for I have seen stranger things. Really, we ought to do something for these good people; for, although we owe the pleasure of their visit, in a great degree, to the cleverness of Reasono—who, by the way, I’m glad to hear is declared an H. O. A. X.—yet he very handsomely admits, that but for their exertions—none of our seamikins being within reach—it would have been quite impossible to get through the ice. I wish I knew, now, which was the cleverest and the most useful of their party.”
Here the queen, always thinking and speaking by proxy, suggested the propriety of leaving the point to Prince Bob.
“It would be no more than is due to his rank; for though they are men, I dare say they have feelings like ourselves.”