ble rags that a beggar would
have been ashamed to wear, the prancing horses appeared as wretched
skeletons hardly able to drag one leg after the other, while their
trappings, which really sparkled with gold and jewels, looked like old
sheepskins that would not have been good enough for a plough horse. The
pages resembled the ugliest sweeps. The trumpets gave no more sound than
whistles made of onion-stalks, or combs wrapped in paper; while the
train of fifty carriages looked no better than fifty donkey carts. In
the last of these sat the Ambassador with the haughty and scornful air
which he considered becoming in the representative of so powerful a
monarch: for this was the crowning point of the absurdity of the whole
procession, that all who took part in it wore the expression of vanity
and self-satisfaction and pride in their own appearance and all their
surroundings which they believed their splendour amply justified.

[Illustration]

The laughter and howls of derision from the whole crowd rose ever louder
and louder as the extraordinary cortege advanced, and at last reached
the ears of the King as he waited in the audience hall, and before the
procession reached the palace he had been informed of its nature, and,
supposing that it must be intended as an insult, he ordered the gates
to be closed. You may imagine the fury of the Ambassador when, after all
his pomp and pride, the King absolutely and unaccountably refused to
receive him. He raved wildly both against King and people, and the
cortege retired in great confusion, jeered at and pelted with stones and
mud by the enraged crowd. It is needless to say that he left the country
as fast as horses could carry him, but not before he had declared war,
with the most terrible menaces, threatening to devastate the country
with fire and sword.

Some days after this disastrous embassy King Bayard sent couriers to
Prince Mannikin with a most friendly letter, offering his services in
any difficulty, and enquiring with the deepest interest how he fared.

Mannikin at once replied, relating all that had happened since they
parted, not forgetting to mention the event which had just involved
Farda-Kinbras and Brandatimor in this deadly quarrel, and he ended by
entreating his faithful friend to despatch a few thousands of his
veteran spaniels to his assistance.

Neither the King, the Queen, nor the Princess could in the least
understand the amazing conduct of Brandatimor's Am