Page:Zangwill-King of schnorrers.djvu/367

353 THE QUE EX'S TRIPLETS. 353

have I caught the slightest glimpse of him. What a fool I was to give up the magic car ! From a height I could have commanded an ampler area of ocean. Perhaps he was up the river."

" No, I haven't seen anything of him," replied the Blue Prince hastily. " But go into my hut, thy supper must be getting quite cold." He hurried his verdant brother into the hut, and gave him some chestnuts out of the oven (it was the best he could do for him), and then rushed outside again, on the plea of seeing if the Serpent was coming. But he seemed to expect him to come from the sky, for, leaning against the trunk of the plane-tree by the river, he resumed his anxious scrutiny of the constellations. Presently there was a gentle whirring in the air, and a white bird became visible, flying rapidly downwards in his direction. Almost at the same instant he felt himself pinioned by a rope to the tree-trunk, and saw the legs of the alighting pigeon neatly prisoned in the Black Prince's fist.

"Aha !" croaked the Black Prince triumphantly. "Now we shall see through thy little schemes."

. He detached the slip of papyrus which dangled from the pigeon's neck.

"How darest thou read my letters?" gasped the Blue Prince.

" If I dare to rob the mail, I shall certainly not hesitate to read the letters," answered the Black Prince coolly, and went on to enunciate slowly (for the light was bad) the following lines : —

" Heart-sick I watch the old moon's ling'ring death, And long upon my face to feel thy breath; I burn to see its final flicker die, And greet our moon of honey in the sky."