"Ah!" cried Red Rex. "I had forgot that story! Hans wounded a poor friendly bear who had done him no harm. That was cowardly, indeed! True, Cousin. Neither do I wish to hunt any more. It was that tale which you punctuated by your noisy arrival in Kisington, do you remember? I picked out that story for myself; and it has done a service to the wild creatures of my Kingdom, who will henceforth be safe from me and mine. But, indeed, though we do not hunt, I would fain see this Ancient Wood, where the Old Gnome lived in his hollow tree." "We will go this very day," answered King Victor. And go they did. Sure enough, in a clearing they found the house which David had built for his little wife, snug and clean and empty. Close by in the thick woods the three boys discovered a giant tree-stump, papered with moss and hung with cobweb hammocks, which they felt sure had been the house of the Hermit Gnome in the days before he became a Fairy. "I must bring my little daughter Hope to see this place," declared the Red King. "She would love it best of all. What good times she would have with me here in the forest! I would tell her the story of David, and learn myself to be a woodsman." "It is more amusing than war," declared King Victor. "With books in the city and woodcraft in the wild, who would be a soldier? Look, now! I will give to your little Princess Hope as a gift this tiny cottage, where David and his wife and little daughter lived so happily. When she comes to visit our Kingdom,--often, as I hope,--you can play at being a woodsman; which is a good game. But you must promise to let me be your guest for at least one night of each visit. For I, too, love these woods and this little house which has been my secret retreat for many years. Will you accept my gift for your little daughter, Cousin?" "Gladly do I accept!" cried Red Rex. And they shook hands gayly. Still further they penetrated across the meadow to the woods once called the Great Fear. Red Rex was anxious to know more of that once dangerous neighborhood. But since peace had become the fashion in the Kingdom, the wicked Gnomes, who had tried as long as possible to prick war-poison into the hearts of men, found their occupation gone. When the good King's peace plans reached their ears the Gnomes groaned in despair. They held a council, and decided unanimously to curl up forthwith in the long sleep and let the world alone.