The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1904-04-17


Like every other literary man, il was
praise and not criticism that James
wanted; still he preferred TO have suc,
praise from the lips of one who knew
something of the life he tried 10 sing:
tHeIeIore, as evening came on The mon
Arch dressed himself in his farmer cos
luIne and taking his thirteen stanzas
Win him, ventured upon a cautious
visit 10 his friend the cobbIer i'm me
rover town Of Stirling.
The C0bbIer listened with an attention
winch was in itself hattering and paid
MS royal visitor the additional cor1plt-
Inent OF asking him 10 repeat certain
OF the verses, which the king in his own
neart thought were the best Then when
me thirteenth stanza was arrived at.
with the "No-that-bad" commentator
which is dear to the heart of the chaTv
Scotchman, be he of high or low de-
gree, FIemming continued:
Ihey might be worse, and we've had
many poet Of great reputation in
scotland who would not be ashamed 10
rather them. But I'm thinking lou
palnt the existence Of beggar in
brighter colors than the life itself war
rants"
No. no. Flemming," protested the
KING earnestly. I'm convinced that
only the beggar knows what the con-
tentment ia You see, he begins at the
very bottom of the ladder and every
step he takes must be a step upward.
Now imagine a man at the top, like my
sen; any move l make in the way Of
changing my condition must be down
ward. A beggar is the real king, and
KING IS but a beggar, for he holds his
position by the favor Of others. You
see. Flemming, anything a beggar gets
Is so much to the good, and. as - has
nothing to lose, not even his heal-for
Inr IL L .
he must needs be therefore the most
contented man on the face Of the foot
stool"
We'll, in so far as concerns myself,
your majesty, I'd like TO be sure of a
roof over my head when the rains
coming down, and Of that a begEar
can never be. a king or a cobbler has a
place to lay his head, at any rate"
Aye" admitted the king, but SOME
times that place is the block. To tell
YOU the truth, Flemming, I'm thilking
Of taking a week at the begging myself.
4 poet should have practical kaow'",Ig-
Of the subject about which he writes.
Give me d week on the road, Fleming.
and III pen you a poem on beCgarv
that will get warmer praise from YOU
than this has had"
Does your majesty intend 10 go
aIore?"
Entirely alone, Flemming. Bless me,
do you imagine I would tramp The
country as a beggar with a troop Of
horse at my back?"
Your majesty would be wise to
think twice OF such a project" warned
the cobbler.
oh. we'll, I've doubled the number:
I've thought four times about it; once
when 1 was writing the poem and three
times while you were raising objections
to my assertion that the besgar is thu
happiest man on earth.h
IF your majesty's mind Is fixed, then
there's no more to be said. But take
my advice and put a belt round your
body with a number of gold pieces in
II. for the time may come when yum
want a horse in a hurry. and PEI ha pa
YOU may be refused lodgings even
when you greatly need them; n either
case a few gold rascals will st9n1 your
friend"
That's canny counsel, Flemming,
and I'll act on it,
And thus it came about that the kin3
of Scotland, with belt OF goli around
his waist in case Of need. and garments
cOncealing the belt which save little in
dication that anything worth a rObbeI- :
care was underneath, tramped he high
roads and byways Of a part o. Scotland,
finding in general welcome wherever he
went. for he could tell a story Ihas
would bring "a laugh and sing 4 song
that would bring a tear. and all such
rarely starve or lack shelter N this
sympathetic world.
Only once did he feel himself II Can
ger, and that was on what he thought
TO be the last day of his trama. fC- in
the evening he expected &c reach the
lower town OF Stirling, even though he
came 10 it late in the night. But the
weather Of Scotland has alway r1me-
thing 20 say to the pedestrian, and IL
delights in upsetting his plans.
He was still more than two leagues
from his castle. and the dark forest
of Torwood lay between aim anC royal
Stirling. when toward the end 30 4 tow
ering day there came up ovei Jhc n: ls
70 the west one of the lie est storms
ne had ever beheld, which drove him for
shelter to a wayside inn on the cut
skirts of the forest. The place o. shell
Ter was low and fOrbidding enough. but
needs must when a Scottish storm
drives. and the king burst in On a
drinking company, bringing n sw.Il Is
rain and a blast of wind with him; s1
fierce in truth was the wind that one
of the drinkers had to spring to his tCct
and put his shoulder 10 the door before
the king could get it closed again. lie
found but scant welcome in the ccm-
pany. Those seated on the benches by
the fire sCOwled at him; AMI the land
lord seeing he was but Il reg CIR. Gid
not limit his displeasure % 50 silent a
CensuTe.
what in the fend's name he cried
angrily, docs the like Of YOU want in
here?"
The king nonchalantly shook the wa
ter from his rags and took "a step nearer
the fire.
THAT is very unnecessary question,
landlord" said the young man with a
smile, nevertheless. l will answer It.
want shelter in the first place, and fC Cd
and drink as soon as YOU can bring
them
I'm take your order for 2 meal when
I have seen the color Of your money
Quite right said the king. and
only fair Scottish caution" Then with
a lack OF that quality he had just
commended. he drew his belt out from
under his coat. and taking a gold
piece from II, threw the coin on the
table
The entrance of the king and the
manner of his reception exposed him
10 the danger almost sure 10 attend
the display Of so much wealth in such
forbldding company. A moment later
ne realized the jeopardy in which HE
rashness had placed him, by the sig
nifcant chances which the half-dozen
rough men there seated gave to each
other. He was alone and unarmed in
a disreputable bothy on the edge Of a
forest. well known as the refuge OF
desperate characters.
When the time came to retire. his
host brought the king by q ladder TO
a loft which occupied the whole length
OF the building, and muttered some