The Surprising Adventures of the Magical Monarch of Mo and His People | Page 9

there is a certain island in Rootbeer River
that is made of fruit cake of a very rich quality. I advise you to put the
Prince on this island and allow him nothing to eat except the fruit cake.
Presently he will have violent pains in his stomach and will be
punished as greatly as you could desire."
The King was well pleased with this plan, and having thanked the
donkey for his wise advice hurried back to the palace.
Prince Zingle was now brought from his room and rowed in a boat to
the Fruit Cake Island in Rootbeer River, where he was left without any
way to escape. He knew how to swim, to be sure, but it was forbidden
by law to swim in the Rootbeer, as many people came to this river to
drink.
"You shall stay here," said the King, sternly, "until you are sorry for
your wickedness; and you shall have nothing to eat but fruit cake."
The Prince laughed, because he thought the punishment was no

punishment at all. When the King had rowed away in the boat and
Zingle was left alone, he said to himself:
"Why, this is delightful! I shall have a jolly time here, and can eat all
the cake I want, without any one scolding me for being greedy."
He broke off a large piece of the island where the raisins and citron
were thickest, and commenced to eat it. But after a time he became
tired of eating nothing but fruit cake, and longed for something to go
with it. But the island did not contain a single thing except the cake of
which it was composed.
Presently Prince Zingle began to have a pain inside him. He paid no
attention to it at first, thinking it would pass away; but instead it grew
more severe, so that he began to cry out; but no one heard him.
The pain steadily increased, and the Prince wept and rolled on the
ground and began to feel exceeding sorry he had been so wicked.
Finally he seized the telephone, which was connected with the palace,
and called up the King.
"Hullo!" said the King's voice, in reply; "what's wanted?"
"I have a terrible pain," said the Prince, with a groan, "and I'm very
sorry indeed that I pushed your Majesty down the hole. If you'll only
take me off this dreadful island I'll be the best prince in all the Valley
from this time forth!"
So the King sent the boat and had the Prince brought back to the palace,
where he forgave his naughty actions. Being a kind parent he next fed
his suffering son a blossom from a medicine tree, which quickly
relieved his pain and led him to appreciate the pleasure of repentance.

The Fifth Surprise THE MONARCH CELEBRATES HIS BIRTHDAY
There were great festivities in the Valley of Mo when the King had a
birthday. The jolly monarch was born so many years ago that so every

one had forgotten the date. One of the Wise Men said the King was
born in February; another declared it was in May, and a third figured
the great event happened in October. So the King issued a royal decree
that he should have three birthdays every year, in order to be on the
safe side; and whenever he happened to think of it he put in an odd
birthday or two for luck. The King's birthdays came to be regarded as
very joyful events, for on these occasions festivities of unusual
magnificence were held, and everybody in the kingdom was invited to
participate.
On one occasion the King, suddenly recollecting he had not celebrated
his birthday for several weeks, announced a royal festival on a most
elaborate scale. The cream-puff crop was an unusually large one, and
the bushes were hanging full of the delicious ripe puffs, which were
highly prized by the people of Mo.
So all the maidens got out their best dresses and brightest ribbons, and
the young men carefully brushed their hair and polished their boots,
and soon the streets leading to the palace were thronged with gay
merry-makers.
When the guests were all assembled a grand feast was served, in which
the newly-picked cream puffs were an important item.
Then the King stood up at the head of the table and ordered his ruby
casket to be brought him, and when the people heard this they at once
became quiet and attentive, for the Ruby Casket was one of the most
curious things in the Valley. It was given the King many years before
by the sorceress, Maetta, and whenever it was opened something was
found in it that no living person had seen before.
So the people, and even the King himself,