Stories from the Ballads | Page 9

did the
king love his daughter, and ofttimes he stroked her hair and wished that
she had a playfellow to cheer her in his absence. For when the king
would journey from city to city to see that justice and right ruled
throughout the land, his child was left alone.
But now that Hynde Horn and his companions had come, the king
knew that the Princess Jean would no longer be dull while he was
away.
She, too, in the early days after the prince came to the palace, would
ride to hunt and hawk, Hynde Horn by her side. And later she would
listen as he talked to her of his beautiful home under the eastern sky, of
his dear lost mother, Godylt, and his father, King Allof, who was slain
by the cruel Mury.
She would listen, her eyes dim with tears, for she knew how well he
had loved his home in the far-off East.
But her eyes would flash as he told of the cruel King Mury, and of how
one day he would go back to his kingdom and win it from the hand of
the evil king.
Her eyes would flash and her heart would beat, yet when she was alone
she would weep. For what would she do if Hynde Horn went away to
the far East and she was left alone? To the Princess Jean it seemed that
the palace would be empty were Prince Horn no longer dwelling there.
Well, the years rolled on and Hynde Horn was no longer a boy,

Princess Jean no longer a girl. They both had changed in many ways,
but in one way both were still as they had been when they were boy and
girl together. They had loved each other then, they loved each other
now. So well did they love one another that they went to King Alymer
and told him that they wished to marry, and that without delay.
Now the king was well pleased that Hynde Horn should marry his
beautiful daughter the Princess Jean, but he was not willing that the
wedding should be at once.
'Thou must wait, my daughter,' said the king; 'thou must wait to wed
Hynde Horn until he has journeyed to the far East and won back the
kingdom Mury so unjustly wrested from him. Then, when he has
shown himself as brave as he is courteous, then shall the wedding be
without delay.'
Thus it was that a few days later Hynde Horn and Princess Jean stood
together to say farewell one to another. Hynde Horn was going away to
win his spurs, to show himself worthy of the lady whom he loved.
Before he left her, he gave her a beautiful silver wand, and on the wand
were perched seven living larks. They would warble to the Princess
Jean when Hynde Horn was no longer near to sing to her, as had been
his wont, in his soft sweet voice.
And the Princess Jean drew from her own finger a ring, and seven
diamonds shone therein. She placed it on the finger of her dear Hynde
Horn, and said, 'As long as the diamonds in this ring flash bright, thou
wilt know I love thee as I do now. Should the gleam of the diamonds
fade and grow dim, thou wilt know, not that my love grows less, for
that may never be, but thou wilt know that evil hath befallen me.'
Then sadly they parted and Hynde Horn, the ring on his finger,
hastened down to the shore. Swiftly he embarked in the ship that
awaited him, and sailed away. On and on for many a long day he sailed,
until he reached the kingdom which Mury the king had seized when he
killed King Allof.

Here Hynde Horn warred against King Mury until he overcame him
and won again the kingdom of the East for himself, the rightful heir.
And the people over whom he ruled rejoiced, for Hynde Horn, though
he no longer was prince but king, did not forget his kind and courteous
ways.
For seven years King Horn ruled in this distant land, doing many a
deed of daring meanwhile, and winning both gold and glory for
himself.
Ofttimes during these long years he would glance at the diamond ring
which the Princess Jean had given to him, and always the diamonds
flashed back bright. Then one day, when his work was over and he
knew he was free to go again to the princess, his heart wellnigh stopped
for fear. He had looked downward at his ring, and lo! the diamonds
were dull and dim. Their lustre had vanished.
The Princess Jean must be in trouble, or already evil had befallen her.
Hynde Horn hastened down to the