_There were first the Executioner, with the tiny Encourager on his shoulder; then Bodkin; then Bojohn; then his mother, the Princess Dorobel, and his father, Prince Bilbo; and last, his grandmother, the Queen._ _“Now then,” said Bojohn, “I hope we’re going to hear the story of Montesango’s Cave at last.”_ _“If it please your majesty,” began Solario, addressing the Queen,--but at this moment there came a loud knock at the door._ _Mortimer the Executioner hastened to open it, and there in the doorway stood the King himself. Solario sprang down from his table, and all the others rose._ _“Ah! your majesty!” cried Solario, bowing profoundly. “This is indeed an honor!”_ _“I was told I would find you here,” said the King. “It seems that my entire family deserts me in the evening, and I am obliged to climb the worst stairs in the castle to-- But of course if you find my society too--”_ _“My dear!” said the Queen. “We have been listening to Solario’s stories, and you were so taken up with your chess that we thought you wouldn’t care to--”_ _“Why not?” said the King. “But of course if you don’t want me to hear the stories, I’ll--”_ _“Sit down, grandfather!” cried Bojohn. “He’s just going to begin.”_ _“Do sit down, my dear,” said the Queen. “Don’t you remember the story he told us the first night?”_ _“Hum! Ha! I’m all out of breath with those plaguey stairs. Something about a button, wasn’t it?”_ _“Perhaps,” said Prince Bilbo, “he’ll tell us to-night how the magic doublet came to be--”_ _“Well,” said the King, “if it isn’t a long story-- Is it a long story?”_ _“No, no, your majesty,” said Solario, bowing again, “it is quite short.”_ _“Hum!” said the King. “If you’re sure it’s not a long story--Why don’t you begin?” and he sat down in the Executioner’s chair._ _Solario took his place cross-legged on the table again, and the others resumed their seats before him,--all except the Executioner, who stood, with the Encourager on his shoulder, behind the King._ _“My dear,” said the Queen, “did you give the orders for locking the castle for the night?”_ _“I believe I usually attend to that,” said the King. “Solario, proceed.”_ _“If it is your pleasure,” said Solario, fingering his shears, “I will now relate to you the story concerning the magic doublet, as it was told to the Black Prince by his father the King of Wen, and by the Black Prince to me. The King of Wen, having directed his son regarding his mission to the City of Oogh, placed the doublet in his son’s left hand, and thus commenced what I may call_ “THE STORY OF THE ENCHANTED HIGHWAYMAN.” _“I thought,” interrupted Bojohn, “you were going to tell us the story of the magic doublet.”_ _“I am about to do so,” said Solario. “As I was saying, the King of Wen, placing the magic doublet in his son’s left hand, thus commenced_ “THE STORY OF THE ENCHANTED HIGHWAYMAN.”