very encrustation of carved wood, and pushing out of that chaotic centre came a great shoulder and a grotesque head which held in its mouth a bronze chain with a crystal ball swinging from it, and that ball was so round and pure it seemed to be one great drop of clear water. Sometimes Cathfa came here, and would read matters in the crystal to the king. The walls of [Pg 33] the room were panelled in polished red oak, and between each oaken panel was a panel of ruddy bronze, with a silver rail above it, and a golden bird was perched at the end of each rail; so that the light from the torches gleamed gently again from the walls and multiplied itself in faint winks and reflections about the room. There was one large chair there, and a small stool.

[Pg 33]

Lavarcham was seated on the stool. She was permitted to rest in her master’s presence, for she usually had much to say to him and he always found her interesting.

“Good my soul,” said the king. “I am glad that you are a woman.”

“I am not badly contented about that myself,” she smiled.

“For,” he continued, “if you had been a man I should have been afraid of you.”

“How so, master?”

“Because you could have taken my kingdom whenever you wanted it.”

“Indeed, master, I would not accept a kingdom if I got one as a present. There is too much responsibility and there is too much to do.”

“It is no lie,” he conceded.

[Pg 34]

[Pg 34]

“I like,” she continued, “to do my work, and then I like to forget my work; but if I had the bad luck to be a king, or a queen, I should never again know what a rest meant, as you, my dear master, do not know what it is to rest yourself.”

“Still,” said the king smilingly, “the queen does get an occasional rest.”

“A king wants rest but cannot get it; a queen, however, may not feel the need to rest, and may not wish for it.”

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