“David!” she cried, “I won’t—I won’t do it! I WILL NOT MARRY THE BRONZE KING! NEVER!”
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,”