Page:Tales of old Lusitania.djvu/171

Rh some day we shall be his humble servants. The impudent little chit! He deserves to be taken and thrown into the sea."

The father took her at her word, went for a chest, and having found one strong and large enough to hold the child, he put him inside, fastened the lid down firmly, and consigned the chest and the child to the mercy of the waves.

After the box had been tossed about by the wind and waves, it was driven to a distant shore, where some fishermen, seeing it floating on the water, and thinking it must contain some treasure, hauled it in and carried it to the king. His majesty ordered the box to be opened, and was delighted to find that it contained a beautiful boy. He said he would take care of him and adopt him as his son, and he charged a number of masters to bring him up and educate him as if he were a prince. And when he was twenty years of age, the king gave him a large sum of money and sent him to travel with a numerous and brilliant retinue.

The boy's parents were now reduced to great poverty, and, in order to gain a livelihood, they left their own country and set up an inn by the side of a road much frequented by travellers.

The prince, during his travels, reached the same country where his parents had established themselves. When he came to where the inn stood, he