He did a good many things, however, unlike most men and most kings,
which a little astonished his subjects. First, he pardoned the condemned
woman who had been his nurse, and ordained that from henceforth there
should be no such thing as the punishment of death in Nomansland. All
capital criminals were to be sent to perpetual imprisonment in Hopeless
Tower and the plain round about it, where they could do no harm to
anybody, and might in time do a little good, as the woman had done.

Another surprise he shortly afterward gave the nation. He recalled his
uncle's family, who had fled away in terror to another country, and
restored them to all their honors in their own. By and by he chose the
eldest son of his eldest cousin (who had been dead a year), and had him
educated in the royal palace, as the heir to the throne. This little
prince was a quiet, unobtrusive boy, so that everybody wondered at the
King's choosing him when there were so many more; but as he grew into a
fine young fellow, good and brave, they agreed that the King judged more
wisely than they.

"Not a lame prince, either," his Majesty observed one day, watching
him affectionately; for he was the best runner, the highest leaper, the
keenest and most active sportsman in the country. "One cannot make one's
self, but one can sometimes help a little in the making of somebody
else. It is well."

This was said, not to any of his great lords and ladies, but to a good
old woman--his first homely nurse whom he had sought for far and wide,
and at last found in her cottage among the Beautiful Mountains. He sent
for her to visit him once a year, and treated her with great honor until
she died. He was equally kind, though somewhat less tender, to his other