The Arkansaw traveler., 1888-09-22
CHAPTER 1.-THE SURPRISE.

This little island of the Northern sea had been so far ill-used of fortune: hitherto it could boast of no royal visit. King after king of the dynasty that sways these realms was crowned and buried; rumors of grand doings reached the fisher folks from time to time brilliant court ceremonials, christenings, bridals, burials. A more stay at home folk than these island- CTS, except, perhaps, their neighbors. the Lapps, hardly existed. They heard of pageants without beholding any. Very rarely, and only on mat ters of urgent business, they crossed the sea that divided them from the continent.
 Now at last they were to have pa- geant of their own; not, perhaps, to be compared to celebrations in the capi- tai, but great affair for all that. The king was comingl
 The good islanders were not more exuberantly loyal than the rest of the worksday world. They were sorely weighed down with taxation. It was as much as they could do to get a frugal living. Sentiment had no hold upon this sturdy, matter-o of- fact race. Yet that piece of news, the king was coming, sufficed to awaken universal enthusiasm. The island was about to keep holiday from end to end. From the remotest corners, all who were old enough to toddle and not too old to creep along with the aid of stick, were fiocking to the spectacle.
 Capital the island could not be said to possess, nor was the so- called loyal palace much more than & hunting lodge or summer pavilion. There was therefore no possibility of carrying out anything to be called programme indoors, and as the weather was mag nifcent, alike the banquet and the ball were to take place in the open air. This arrangement admirably suited the general taste and convenience. for while the little palace could hardly have held hundred and fifty guests, the entire population of the island would find more than breathing room in the park outside. A fine stretch of sward was enclosed for the dancers, and tent erected for the royal ban quet. Beyond these precincts all could disport themselves as they pleased. Rows of booths, such as we see at fairs, were to be supplied with refresh ments, served to all at the royal ex- pense. Truth to tell, this visit was a kind of apology on the part of a newly crowned king for series of ancestral neglects. The times, too, were crit ical. It was not . moment when rulers, whether of small states or large, could afford to have sulky subjects.
 There were many reasons why Er- mengarde, the head forester's daugh- ter, should take a leading part in the days proceedings. She was the best educated girl of the island, to begin with. She had seen something of life and manners in the great world be- yond the sea. She would know ex- actly what to do and say when lead- ing her rose-garlanded maidens to welcome the king. A procession of girls dressed in white and bearing flowers was to await the royal visitor on the landing place, and it was Err mengarde's duty to offer bouquet and make little speech.
 "WhAt mockery, what mere child's play, it all is P she nid, e sheg glanced 1t her white dress and wreath before putting them on. elf some hero were to bs welcomed to-day, one who had