The young prince's death had startled rather than saddened them.

They did not know him, but it was terrible to die so young and so suddenly.

They would not have listened to a merry tale which stirred them to laughter, but Biberli's stories of distant lands, of the court, of war, of the tournament, just suited their present mood, and the narrator was well pleased to find ready listeners.

He had so many things to forget, and he never succeeded better than when permitted to use his tongue freely.

He wagged it valiantly, too, but when the thunderstorm burst he paused and went to the window.