Now the counsel
must have been pleasing; for Garrofat chuckled and thus addressed the
prince. "Let me congratulate you," he said with a grin, "but before I
can consider you as a suitor for the hand of Azalia, I must have further
proof that you are as wise as you pretend. Else, would I be false to my
duty as her guardian.
"Now just before your entrance we were considering a question of grave
importance to the welfare of the kingdom. You will observe that there
hangs on the wall beside you what appear to be four charts, but which
are really the parts of one chart. Know then that this kingdom consists
of eight provinces; ruled over by the eight emirs you see here
assembled. Now these eight emirs are so jealous of each other that
fierce battles occur whenever two of them chance to meet upon the road.
Only our presence now restrains them. Anxious to put an end to these
disgraceful brawls within the kingdom, the great Rajah Onalba had drawn
yonder plan of the eight provinces. On it as you see he laid down roads
running north and south, and east and west.
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