The King's Talisman — page 177: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

168 THE KING'S TALISMAN. soon found himself in the power of those he had been wont to command. <‘Now,” cried the old dervise, in a loud tone, and before the people could catch up the last clew that had been given them by those who recognized the stranger’s voice and manner, ‘‘ you shall know all that I have to communicate, — and I would have you silent and attentive, that you may un- derstand me. | ‘©Tt is now somewhat over eighteen years since the queen of the departed Merolboth gave birth to a son. Many of you remember the event, for it cost the beloved queen her life. The king saw his lovely consort die, and when he found himself alone with his helpless infant, a strange fear took possession of his mind, nor had he the power to shake it off. At the hard-fought battle of Hedjer, he had received a dangerous wound, and he knew that it was slowly, but surely, eating away his life, and that a few years, at least, and perhapsa few months, might terminate his existence. He feared for the fate of his infant boy should it be left a helpless orphan in the hands of one whom he knew to be aspiring toa throne, and he began to study a plan for its safety. Merolboth knew that his brother Modad was look- ing anxiously upon the Petran throne; he knew that his aspiring brother aimed to be king of Idumea, and from his. knowledge of that brother's character, he feared that the infant heir to the crown would be but a slight obstacle in his way; he felt confident that Modad’s poison would find the life of his boy when he should become its guardian, and in his heart the good king resolved that his boy should be protected.” ‘I'he people had now bent forward in breathless interest, and Modad writhed in his agony like an expiring monster.. The old man wiped the perspiration from his brow, and continued: “JT had been Merolboth’s tutor, and to ‘me he explained Eomichooks.co