With unutterable misery the fettered little king heard the
voices and footsteps fade away and die out. All hope forsook him now
for the moment, and a dull despair settled down upon his heart. 'My
only friend is deceived and got rid of,' he said; 'the hermit will
return and-' He finished with a gasp; and at once fell to struggling
so frantically with his bonds again, that he shook off the
smothering sheepskin.
And now he heard the door open! The sound chilled him to the
marrow- already he seemed to feel the knife at his throat. Horror made
him close his eyes; horror made him open them again- and before him
stood John Canty and Hugo!
He would have said 'Thank God!' if his jaws had been free.
A moment or two later his limbs were at liberty, and his
captors, each gripping him by an arm, were hurrying him with all speed
through the forest.
CHAPTER XXII
A Victim of Treachery
ONCE more 'King Foo-foo the First' was roving with the tramps
and outlaws, a butt for their coarse jests and dull-witted railleries,
and sometimes the victim of small spitefulnesses at the hands of Canty
and Hugo when the Ruffler's back was turned. None but Canty and Hugo
really disliked him. Some of the others liked him, and all admired his
pluck and spirit. During two or three days, Hugo, in whose ward and
charge the king was, did what he covertly could to make the boy
uncomfortable; and at night, during the customary orgies, he amused
the company by putting small indignities upon him- always as if by
accident.
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