The Mad King | Page 3

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EDGAR RICE BURROUGHS
THE MAD KING


PART I
I
A RUNAWAY HORSE
ALL LUSTADT was in an uproar. The mad king had es- caped. Little knots of excited
men stood upon the street corners listening to each latest rumor concerning this most
absorbing occurrence. Before the palace a great crowd surged to and fro, awaiting they

knew not what.
For ten years no man of them had set eyes upon the face of the boy-king who had been
hastened to the grim castle of Blentz upon the death of the old king, his father.
There had been murmurings then when the lad's uncle, Peter of Blentz, had announced to
the people of Lutha the sudden mental affliction which had fallen upon his nephew, and
more murmurings for a time after the announcement that Peter of Blentz had been
appointed Regent during the lifetime of the young King Leopold, "or until God, in His
infinite mercy, shall see fit to restore to us in full mental vigor our beloved monarch."
But ten years is a long time. The boy-king had become but a vague memory to the
subjects who could recall him at all.
There were many, of course, in the capital city, Lustadt, who still retained a mental
picture of the handsome boy who had ridden out nearly every morning from the palace
gates beside the tall, martial figure of the old king, his father, for a canter across the broad
plain which lies at the foot of the mountain town of Lustadt; but even these had long
since given up hope that their young king would ever ascend his throne, or even that they
should see him alive again.
Peter of Blentz had not proved a good or kind ruler. Taxes had doubled during his
regency. Executives and ju- diciary, following the example of their chief, had become
tyrannical and corrupt. For ten years there had been small joy in Lutha.
There had been whispered rumors off and on that the young king was dead these many
years, but not even in whispers did the men of Lutha dare voice the name of him whom
they believed had caused his death. For lesser things they had seen their friends and
neighbors thrown into the hitherto long-unused dungeons of the royal castle.
And now came the rumor that Leopold of Lutha had es- caped the Castle of Blentz and
was roaming somewhere in the wild mountains or ravines upon the opposite side of the
plain of Lustadt.
Peter of Blentz was filled with rage and, possibly, fear as well.
"I tell you, Coblich," he cried, addressing his dark-visaged minister of war, there's more
than coincidence in this matter. Someone has betrayed us. That he should have es- caped
upon the very eve of the arrival at Blentz of the new physician is most suspicious. None
but you, Coblich, had knowledge of the part that Dr. Stein was destined to play in this
matter," concluded Prince Peter pointedly.
Coblich looked the Regent full in the eye.
"Your highness wrongs not only my loyalty, but my intel- ligence," he said quietly, "by
even so much as intimating that I have any guilty knowledge of Leopold's escape. With
Leopold upon the throne of Lutha, where, think you, my prince, would old Coblich be?"

Peter smiled.
"You are right, Coblich," he said. "I know that you would not be such a fool; but whom,
then, have we to thank?"
"The walls have ears, prince," replied Coblich, "and we have not always been as careful
as we should in discussing the matter. Something may have come to the ears of old Von
der Tann. I don't for a moment doubt but that he has his spies among the palace servants,
or even the guard. You know the