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up in an eager, pleading voice.
"Please, Your Honor, we don't care if business improves or
not. The truth is, we're tired of being peddlers and factory-
workers. We want to stay home in our pretty city and be ladies
and gentlemen, and have crown jewels and National Magic Pos-
sessions and things, like other cities, and be glamorous and
interesting!"
"Oh, yes! That's what we want!" several other Roundheads
cried.
"And when we have a king, we can do those things, you see,
your honor?" the woman went on persuasively. "Don't you
think that will be nicer than the way things are now?"
"Oh, yes, much nicer," Robin agreed, wondering what his
opinion had to do with it. "Are you going to have a king, then?"
he added politely.
"Yes, Your Honor," Polkadots said in a solemn tone. "That is
perfectly certain. We will have a king. The Prophecy says so.
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And our king will solve all our problems, and take care of us
forever."
"Well! That's mighty nice," said Robin, privately thinking
it was quite a bit to ask even of a king.
"Mighty nice! Oh, mighty nice! Yes, mighty, mighty,
mighty nice!" cried the Roundheads joyfully. They began to
dance in circles on the glassy street, singing their National
Anthem, "Round and Round the Ballbearing Bush."
They had by this time arrived at the largest dome of all,
which Robin guessed must be the Round House. Unlike the
other buildings, it was a deep sapphire blue, and was flanked by
a tall Round Tower, which had small circular windows all around
its top but no door giving on the street. The Round House itself
had a thick glass door that reminded Robin of the bottom cut
from some vast blue bottle; this was thrown open, and Robin
and Merry were ushered into a huge round room.
Merry shied violently at a large white object on a dais in the
middle of the room. "Is it a ghost?" she whispered in a trembling
voice.
"No, just something wrapped in dust-sheets," Robin re-
assured her, sliding from the saddle and looking about him curi-
ously. The room was odd but attractive, furnished with blue
rugs and round blue velvet hassocks, with numerous small doors
around the walls. As the Roundheads came dancing in, still
bellowing their anthem, one of these little doors popped open,
and a strange little man popped out, followed by one of the
Roundhead delegations that had separated from the crowd
earlier. He wore a long, flapping robe embroidered all over with
pinwheels, and a high, peaked hat with a ball at its tip. Unlike
the other Roundheads, he was almost skinny, and he had sly,
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gleaming eyes that made Robin instantly uneasy. However, he
was beaming hospitably, and hurried toward the visitors with
every appearance of delight, the delegation trotting after.
"Welcome! Welcome!" he exclaimed, bowing and bobbing
and nodding and making repeated little circles with his fingers.
As the last rafter-shaking notes of the anthem subsided at last,
he swept a grandiose bow and said in a loud and solemn voice,
"I am honored. The Round House is honored. All Roundabout
is honored! A hundred welcomes to Your Majesty!"
"Oh, dear," Robin groaned. "He's got things muddled too!"
It was the awkwardest thing, having to keep telling people you
weren't a king. "Excuse me, sir, but-are you the mayor or some-
thing?"
"Ah, no, no, Your Majesty," the little man chuckled, shaking
his head until the ball on his peaked cap waggled and bounced.
"I am merely Roundelay, Sphere-Seer of Roundabout, tempor-
ary guardian of this beautiful city and humble advisor to the
Roundheads."
"Well, anyway, you're in charge, aren't you?" Robin went
on hurriedly. He was anxious to get the embarrassing part over
with as soon as possible. "You see, there's been a sort of mix-up.
I'm afraid the-the delegation there must have told you I was the
king you were expecting for lunch, but they're mistaken, 'cause
I'm not, really. I'm only-"
"Ah, but they are not mistaken!" cried Roundelay. "You
are the king we've been expecting."
"Yes, yes, you are!" shouted the Roundheads. "You are,
you are, you-
The noise went on for some time. After exchanging a baffled
glance with Merry, Robin peered carefully at Roundelay, then
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around at the rejoicing citizens, wondering if he could have
strayed into a city of harmless lunatics. Still, the Roundheads
seemed fairly sane-except on this one subject. Holding up both
hands for silence, he tried again.
"Look, Mr. Roundelay," he said firmly. "I'm sorry to dis-
appoint everybody-honest, I am. But this is all a mistake! It-"
"Indeed? Indeed?" murmured Roundelay, whose gleaming
eyes were moving rapidly from Robin to Merry and back again.
"But is it not true that your name is Robin-as in 'round-robin'-
and that this attractive Thing's name is Merry Go Round?"
"Yes, that's true, but-"
"And," Roundelay interrupted, beginning to rub his hands
together, "were you not discovered on our bridge, cavorting in
circles?"
"Well, I don't know about cavorting. Merry was wheeling
around, but-"
"Wheeling around!" Roundelay echoed gleefully, rubbing
his hands even faster. "Round, round, everything's round! And
-just mention once more what brought you to our country?"
"Well, in the beginning, the brass ring brought us.
you'd listen-"
"No need! It's proved! You've proved it yourself!" shrieked
Roundelay. As the Roundheads burst into a deafening cheer, he
shouted above it, "Hail to Round Robin, King of Roundabout!
Hail to Merry Go Round, Royal Symbol! Hail-"
"King of Roundabout?" gasped Robin. "W-wait a minute-"
"Royal Cymbal!" Merry whinnied shrilly. "Are they going
to beat me?"
"No, they don't mean that kind of a cymbal, Merry, but-
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oh, jeepers, if they'd only . . . Be quiet!" Robin yelled suddenly
at the top of his voice.
To his surprise, everybody obeyed instantly, but before he
could draw another breath Roundelay was already talking again,
bowing, rubbing his hands and smiling ingratiatingly.
"Pardon, Your Majesty! We are too boisterous in our re-
joicing. Your Majesty must forgive us! It is just that we have so
looked forward to the day when we would have a king!"
"But I'm not your king! Whatever makes you think I am?"
"Why, the prophecy!" chortled Roundelay. Waving his
bony hands to the rhythm, he chanted,
"The ring will bring the king
The king will bring the Thing-
Everything round
The treasure's found,
The ring will bring the king."
"That's the prophecy?" Robin said, dumbfounded.
"It is. And you are our long-awaited rulers! There's no doubt
whatever! Between you, you fulfill every line!"
"Not unless you call me a Thing, and I won't let you!" cried
Merry, her eyes filling with tears.
"Yes, and what about the treasure? We haven't got any treas-
ure!" Robin protested.
"Ah-ha, but we have!" Roundelay chuckled, wagging a
long finger at him and dancing about ecstatically. "We have
recently acquired a treasure, a National Magic Possession, all our
own-the Shining Circle of Roundabout! Now we have a Sover-
eign, too, and Roundabout can at last begin to be glamorous and
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