If any King, beholding such a state of things, were to
suddenly cut himself clear of the corruption, and to make a straight
road for his own progress--clean and open--and elect to walk in it,
society would follow his lead, and as a logical consequence politics
would become honourable. But no monarchs have the courage of their
opinions nowadays,--if only one sovereign of them all possessed such
courage, he could move the world!
The long bright day unwound its sunny hours, crowned with blue skies
and fragrant winds, and the life and movement of the fair city by the
sea was gay, incessant and ever-changing. There was some popular
interest and excitement going on down at the quay, for the usual idle
crowd had collected to see the Royal yacht being prepared for her
afternoon's cruise. Though she was always kept ready for sailing, the
King's orders this time had been sudden and peremptory, and,
consequently, all the men on board were exceptionally hard at work
getting things in immediate readiness. The fact that the Queen was to
accompany the King in the afternoon's trip to The Islands, where up to
the present she had never been, was a matter of lively comment,--her
extraordinary beauty never failing to attract a large number of sight-
seers.
In the general excitement, no one saw Professor von Glauben quietly
enter a small and common sailing skiff, manned by two ordinary
fishermen of the shore, and scud away with the wind over the sea
towards the west, where, in the distance on this clear day, a gleaming
line of light showed where The Islands lay, glistening like emerald and
pearl in the midst of the dark blue waste of water.
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