But, my dear, you know that he can't see, as he is stone-blind," said
father.

"So he is, Wilhelm, and for that very reason he could not find the
throne of England," snapped mother, "but never was he blind as you to
his queenly wife's unfashionable appearance, nor was he ever deaf to
her demands for something decent to wear!"

And mother, as always when it came to ultimate extremes, finally gained
her point, for father loved her dearly and dared not deny her.

On the following day arrived the king, for whose reception our township
had made grand preparations. Festoons of evergreen decorated the
roadway from the parsonage to the opposite house, and mother and my
sisters were stationed at our gate with an abundance of roses to strew
in the king's path.

From the steeple pealed the chimes, heralding his majesty's arrival. He
traveled in an open landau, which was drawn by six milk-white Arabian
steeds and surrounded by a select escort of young men who were his
subjects and served as his guard of honor.

They wore scarfs of the royal colors over breasts and shoulders.

A courtier sat on either side of the king for the purpose of advising
him and to direct his movements.

Poor man, he turned his sightless white eyes on us, bowing to the
ladies in acknowledgment of their curtesies and roses.

This king was very unlike his royal namesake predecessors, as he was
pitied by everyone and not envied or hated. I must confess to having
been sorely disappointed with this sight of royalty, for I thought a
king must be an extraordinary being, expecting to see a double-header,
as kings and queens are pictured on playing cards, the kings holding
scepters in their left hands and bearing a ball with their right, but I
saluted and shouted as everyone else did, and when my sisters pelted
the royal equipage with their roses I shied my cap at his majesty, at
which the people who saw this laughed as loudly as they dared in the
presence of a king. I expected also to see a military display, but
there were no soldiers present, because the king traveled "incognito,"
which means that it was forbidden to reveal his royal identity. He was
supposed to be a plain nobleman merely, "Herr von Beerstein" for
instance.

But a king, who is human after all, may wish to enjoy himself as others
do and desire to associate occasionally with ordinary people. So "Herr
von Beerstein" goes to a beer garden in quest of a pleasing companion
who is readily found