"Then fill them, and be gone," returned the new
King.
Ruggedo obeyed. Stooping down, he began
gathering up jewels by the handful and stuffing
them into his many pockets. They were heavy
things, these diamonds and rubies and emeralds and
amethysts and the like, so before long Ruggedo was
staggering with the weight he bore, while the
pockets were not yet filled. When he could no
longer stoop over without falling, Betsy and
Polychrome and the Rose Princess came to his
assistance, picking up the finest gems and tucking
them into his pockets.
At last these were all filled and Ruggedo
presented a comical sight, for surely no man ever
before had so many pockets, or any at all filled
with such a choice collection of precious stones.
He neglected to thank the young ladies for their
kindness, but gave them a surly nod of farewell
and staggered down the path by the way he had
come. They let him depart in silence, for with all
he had taken, the masses of jewels upon the ground
seemed scarcely to have been disturbed, so
numerous were they. Also they hoped they had seen
the last of the degraded King.
"I'm awful glad he's gone," said Betsy, sighing
deeply. "If he doesn't get reckless and spend his
wealth foolishly, he's got enough to start a bank
when he gets to Oklahoma."
"But my brother--my dear brother! Where is he?"
inquired Shaggy anxiously. "Have you seen him,
Queen Ann?"
"What does your brother look like?" asked the
Queen.
Shaggy hesitated to reply, but Betsy said: "He's
called the Ugly One.
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