The Eighteenth Chapter.
In which something is told of how the Page brought a Message which proved a Surprise. Also of what the Dame found in the Fountain of the Fish.
ITH everyone enjoying such a good time in the gardens, it would not have been surprising if the King had forgotten his guard at the gate. This he did not do, however, and at the moment when Red Beard and his men were entering, a page was being dispatched for Rolie Polie.
Thus, it happened then, that when the page was about to enter the court yard, he saw it thronged with ruffians.
“We are betrayed!” he cried as he ran hurrying back to the gardens. “The gates have been opened and the enemy is now within the walls!” {136}