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The End prisoner—I was given to drink of the cup of oblivion and forgot who I was and whence I came. Now a counter-charm has given me back mind and memory. I come in the name of my people. If we have wronged you, we ask your forgiveness. If you have wronged us, we freely forgive you. Say: Shall it be peace, and shall all the sons of the sea live as brothers in love and kindliness for evermore?"

"Really," said the King of the Under Folk, "I think it is not at all a bad idea—but in confidence, and between Monarchs, I may tell you, sir, that I suspect my mind is not what it was. You, sir, seem to possess a truly royal grasp of your subject. My mind is so imperfect that I dare not consult it. But my heart—"

"Your heart says Yes," said the Queen. "So does mine. But our troops are besieging your city," she said, "they will say that in asking for peace you were paying the tribute of the vanquished."

"My people will not think this of me," said the King of Merland, "nor would your people think it of you. Let us join hands in peace and the love of royal brethren."

"What a dreadful noise they are making outside," said the King, and indeed the noise of shouting and singing was now to be heard on every side of the Palace.

"If there was a balcony now where we could show ourselves," suggested the King of Merland.

"The very thing," said the Queen, catching up her pet Fido-which-was-Cathay in her arms and leading the way to the great curtained arch at the end of the hall. She drew back the swinging, sweeping hangings of woven seaweed and stepped forth on the balcony—the two Kings close behind her. But she stopped short and staggered back a little, so that her husband had to put an arm about her to support her, when her first glance showed her that the people who were shouting outside the Palace were not, as she 169