The King's Talisman — page 178: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

THE KING'S TALISMAN. Oo aage his fears and made known his determination. I remember his words as though he had spoken them but now. ‘ Abdah Nazor,’ said he to me, and the tears ran down the good king’s cheeks as he spoke, ‘ I cannot live long, as you yourself know, and before I die I would provide for the safety of my infant boy. In the hands of my brother I dare not leave it, for it would stand between him and a throne. Therefore, Abdah Nazor, I give it henceforth to you, and to the world I will proclaim its death. Seek you out some one—some poor and honest man—who will adopt it as his own, and be you its counselor, its tutor, and its guide. If the boy lives and grows, make him fit to be a king; and when he has reached the age of eighteen years, if he be fit for a king, then you shall proclaim his true birth;and if he prove unworthy of a crown, let him die in his obscurity.’ I sincerely believe that the people will receive in kindness and in love the only child of their faithful Merolboth.” «< Yes! yes!” burst spontaneously from a thousand hearts. «‘Give us our good king’s son, and if necessary, our heart’s blood shall cement his throne!” The old man raised his eyes to heaven, and then waving his hand for silence, he continued: ‘¢T took the child, and with it I received a casket con- taining the King’s Talisman, together with all the necessary documents for substantiating the boy’s birth. The king also gave to me his royal armor, and bade me preserve the’ treasure with a jealous care for his son. To a woman called Ossifrage, one devout and pious, I intrusted the infant, and shortly afterward it was given in adoption to an honest man, Ali Kinah, the poor corn-seller. The good king lived nearly five years after this event, but as he grew weaker and weaker every day, he thought it not safe to recall what he had done. He often saw his little son, and his heart was made light and joyous in death, by a knowledge of the noble disposition which eyen the. child had begun to ex- comicbooks.com