"Was Kerry one of your slaves?" asked Mandy, rocking herself cheerfully to and fro with all her hands resting quietly in her lap.
"SLAVE!" The Ox spoke sharply. "I should say not. Kerry was a King! Our own little King up to a few years ago, and what a lad he was—what a lad!"
"Was?" exclaimed Mandy. "Why—what happened to him?"
"He disappeared," Nox told her sadly. "Nobody knows how—or where, just disappeared, my girl, on a hunting trip, and this blue nosed scoundrel who claims to be his uncle, came to rule over Keretaria. Since then," Nox lowered his voice cautiously, "everything is different—and changed. The people are treated no better than dogs. DOGS!" repeated the Royal Ox bitterly. "Of course this fellow cannot interfere with me nor take any chances for there is a prophecy on the west wall of the castle that has stood for a thousand years."
"What does it say?" asked Mandy, leaning forward and clasping the arms of the rocker with all hands.
Impressively Nox repeated the prophecy: "So long as the Royal Ox of Keretaria is in good health and spirits, so long and no longer shall the present King rule over the Land."
"But who wrote it?" Mandy's rocker stopped with a surprised squeak.
"Nobody knows," answered Nox soberly, "but it has come true dozens and dozens of times. Each time a new King is crowned in Keretaria a new Ox appears mysteriously at the Royal coronation. If anything happens to the Royal Ox the King also is destroyed!"
"My—y!" The Goat Girl now rocked very fast indeed. "So that's the reason they take such good care of you, old Toggins. But tell me, where do all of you Royal Oxen come from in the first place? And how is it you can speak? None of the beasts on Mount Mern can say a word."