ens.

Then he knelt down and thanked her, and she murmured strange words of
blessing which he did not understand; but her face was grave and kind,
and he thought of Queen Rosalind, his wife.

Then he jumped on the Flying Horse, galloped down and down, till he
reached his palace gate; called for Ricardo, set him behind him on the
saddle, and away they rode, above land and wide seas, till they saw the
crest of the hollow hill, where Jaqueline was with the Earthquaker.
Beyond it they marked the glittering spires and towers of Manoa, the City
of the Sun; and "Thither," said King Prigio, who had been explaining how
matters stood, to Ricardo, "we must ride, for I believe they stand in
great need of our assistance."

"Had we not better go to Jaqueline first, sir?" said Ricardo.

"No," said the king; "I think mine is the best plan. Manoa, whose golden
spires and pinnacles are shining below us, is the City of the Sun, which
Sir Walter Raleigh and the Spaniards could never find, so that men have
doubted of its existence. We are needed there, to judge by that angry
crowd in the marketplace. How they howl!"

CHAPTER X.
The End.

{Man with rock: p186.jpg}

It was on a strange sight that the king and Ricardo looked down from the
Flying Horse. Beneath them lay the City of Manoa, filling with its
golden battlements and temples a hollow of the mountains. Here were
palaces all carved over with faces of men and beasts, and with twisted
patterns of serpents.

The city walls were built of huge square stones, and among the groves
towered pyramids, on which the people did service to their gods. From
every temple top came the roar of beaten drums, great drums of
serpentskin.

But, in the centre of the chief square of the town, was gathered a wild
crowd of men in shining copper armour and helmets of gold and glittering
dresses of feathers. Among them ran about priests with hideous masks,
crying them on to besiege and break down the royal palace. From the
battlements of the palace the king's guardsmen were firing arrows and
throwing spears. The mob shot arrows back, some of them tipped with
lighted straw, to burn the palace down.

But, in the very centre of the square, was a clear space of ground, on
which fell the shadow of a tall column of red stone, all carved with
serpents and faces of gods. Beside it stood a figure horrible to see: a
man clothed in serpent skins, whose face was the grinning face of a
skull; b