第21章

HOW BETSINDA FLED, AND WHAT BECAME OF HER

Betsinda wandered on and on, till she passed through the town gates, and so on the great Crim Tartary road, the very way on which Giglio too was going.'Ah!' thought she, as the diligence passed her, of which the conductor was blowing a delightful tune on his horn, 'how I should like to be on that coach!' But the coach and the jingling horses were very soon gone.She little knew who was in it, though very likely she was thinking of him all the time.

Then came an empty cart, returning from market; and the driver being a kind man, and seeing such a very pretty girl trudging along the road with bare feet, most good-naturedly gave her a seat.He said he lived on the confines of the forest, where his old father was a woodman, and, if she liked, he would take her so far on her road.All roads were the same to little Betsinda, so she very thankfully took this one.

And the carter put a cloth round her bare feet, and gave her some bread and cold bacon, and was very kind to her.For all that she was very cold and melancholy.When after travelling on and on, evening came, and all the black pines were bending with snow, and there, at last, was the comfortable light beaming in the woodman's windows; and so they arrived, and went into his cottage.He was an old man, and had a number of children, who were just at supper, with nice hot bread-and-milk, when their elder brother arrived with the cart.And they jumped and clapped their hands; for they were good children; and he had brought them toys from the town.And when they saw the pretty stranger, they ran to her, and brought her to the fire, and rubbed her poor little feet, and brought her bread and milk.

'Look, father!' they said to the old woodman, 'look at this poor girl, and see what pretty cold feet she has.They are as white as our milk! And look and see what an odd cloak she has, just like the bit of velvet that hangs up in our cupboard, and which you found that day the little cubs were killed by King Padella, in the forest! And look, why, bless us all! she has got round her neck just such another little shoe as that you brought home, and have shown us so often--a little blue velvet shoe!'

'What,' said the old woodman, 'what is all this about a shoe and a cloak?'

And Betsinda explained that she had been left, when quite a little child, at the town with this cloak and this shoe.And the persons who had taken care of her had--had been angry with her, for no fault, she hoped, of her own.And they had sent her away with her old clothes--and here, in fact, she was.She remembered having been in a forest--and perhaps it was a dream--it was so very odd and strange--having lived in a cave with lions there;and, before that, having lived in a very, very fine house, as fine as the King's, in the town.

When the woodman heard this, he was so astonished, it was quite curious to see how astonished he was.He went to his cupboard, and took out of a stocking a five-shilling piece of King Cavolfiore, and vowed it was exactly like the young woman.And then he produced the shoe and piece of velvet which he had kept so long, and compared them with the things which Betsinda wore.

In Betsinda's little shoe was written, 'Hopkins, maker to the Royal Family'; so in the other shoe was written, 'Hopkins, maker to the Royal Family.' In the inside of Betsinda's piece of cloak was embroidered, 'PRIN ROSAL'; in the other piece of cloak was embroidered 'CESS BA.NO.246.' So that when put together you read, 'PRINCESS ROSALBA.NO.246.'

On seeing this, the dear old woodman fell down on his knee, saying, 'O my Princess, O my gracious royal lady, O my rightful Queen of Crim Tartary,--I hail thee--I acknowledge thee--I do thee homage!' And in token of his fealty, he rubbed his venerable nose three times on the ground, and put the Princess's foot on his head.