The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-03-18
THE GIFT OF QUIRN
(Contin1ed from Page Eleven)

(Contin1ed from Page Eleven)
 whom he claimed willing to do almost any. thing to please him, and when he had run out of plausible inventions it was great sport to order forth the palace musicians and sit listening to sweet music as he specu- lated on the manner of his life when he had finally won the Princess, for he had perfect faith that the purse would fail neither the King nor himself.
 The Princess, true to her part in the pro- ceedings, appeared in the throne room every day. Passing along a corridor which ran to the right of the dais, on her way to the palace gardens, she would part the heavy draperies and look smilingly at Shom, call ing. in the very silveriest of tones and with merry twinkle in her taunting eyes, Good morning, Poppa" The first morr- ing she added, holding up seven slim fingers and making most provocative mouth at him. "Only seven daysw which delighted Shom immensely! And then it was "Only six days," "Only five days" "Only foul days,"' until the seventh day of the ap- pointed week she called gaily Tomorrow! which so moved Shom that he kept the mu sicians playing hard all day long, until they fell over from fatigue.
 But in the evening of this last day of the Kings absence, while walking beneath the vine-covered balcony of the Princess apart ments. Shom heard her in earnest conversa- ton with her old nurse, and what she said filled him with uncommon bitterness, for she was giving the woman amazing direc- tions to be carried out on the following day. It appeared that, before leaving, the willy King had agreed to a most polite and satis- factory marriage between Zeni and one of the Princes of Cav. Upon the very after noon of the Kings return Zeni and her en- tourage were to set off for Cav, and she would be married that evening. The Prin- cess was far from averse to becoming Queen in the happy city of Cav, and one can un- derstand her apparent impatience and her delight in announcing to the unsuspccting Shom the approach of the great day But the part of the story which made Shonl determine upon a suitable vengeance was when he further learned that tie King Lad a second daughter, an ugly half-wt, whom he proposed to dress in Zeni's raiment, dis guised by a wedding veil, and marry to
 
 Shom, while knowing very well that Shom expected to marry Zeni herself. Thus. re- marked the Princess, while the old nurse nodded her appreciation of the Kings scru- pulousness in trifles, the letter of the prom ise would be respected, and Shom perceived that kings were much cleverer than gost- herds, after all, and that it would again be necessary for him to do some serious think ing.
 Shom's thoughts finally resolved them selves into the following rather peculiar actions. He went quietly to the royal apiary, which supplied the honey that the King delighted to spread on his white bread carefully closed and lifted hive into which the bees had retired for the night and car ried it to a small glass-inclosed summer house in distant corner of the grounds He left it there, fastening the door securely behind him. Very early the next morning he dressed, in the Kings robes as usual and went secretly to the summer house. pre- viding himself on the way with long straight branch. Opening the door crack he inserted the branch and pohed the hive until he had stirred up the bees to an ominous dim roar of anger. When they were about to discover the position of taeil enemy he quickly closed the door, and thev