An Eccentric King

When King George of Greece ascended the throne of the Hallenes, it was generaly böliövpH thoi liis roicrn wonld be short-lived, and that the young gentlefroin Denmark would speedily Sing away his crown, and return to his delightful home ou the shores of the sound. The contrary has been the case ; the Basileus froiu Denmark is not only a very happy man, but also an excoedingly popular ruler. Nothing can be less pretentions than the manner in which he lives. I brought to hiin a letter of introduction from his father, íind, it being a fine September day, strolled down between 7 and 8 o'clock in the morning to inquire of the pilace-guards what hour would be mcit convenient for the King to receive me To my astonishment, the Greek soldier at the gate, in his picturesque uniform, replied to me : " You can see His Majesty now. He is always up before 6 o'clocn." This was singular but welcome news to me. " Where may I see the Master of Ceremonies:'" I asked.; The soldier stared at me. " Send in your card by one of those boys (pointing to two or three pages loitering about the pórtico), and you will probably be admitted at Once." Such provea to be the case, lwo or three minutes afterward I was in the presence of the King. Imagine a slender young man of 28, with thin, light-eolored hair, a very expressive, h andsome face, rudy cheek8, dressed in a checkered plaid, with steel t'ramed eye-glasses, small hands and small f'eet, enoased in red morocco slippers, and you have the Basileus before your eyes. He glanced over my letter of introduction, and then kindly asked me to be seated. " You have come here all the way from Oopenhagrn 't" he said. " Yes, sir ; seven days ago I was yet at the Tivoli, and took leave of your royal fatber." " Oh, yes, he likes to go there and mingle with the people," said the young King, smiling, and to laugh over th farces in the open air theatre." " Your Majesty has no theatre here," I remarked, " it must be a great privation." "Not at all," he said; "I believe I would have no time to go if there was a good one in Athens. I am very busy. Look at this," he added, showing me a pile of manuscripts ; "lam writing." " Writing !" I exclaimed in surprise. The King laughed. " Yes," he said, " writing a book." T 4-Vin liVni-f-TT +r utl r tv Tin. f" Ril 11- 1 took the liberty to asK on wnai buuject. "On the 'Bees of Hymettus.' Times must have changed greatly, or the ancient Helleness must have been poor judges of honey. Wait." He jumped up and brought a tumbler filled with honey and a teaspoon. "Taste this." I did so, while he looked at me expectantly. " Is it good ?" he asked. "Notvery," I said. " Not near so good as Danish honey." " That is just what L am goin to prove in my book." He asked me to accoinpany hiin to bis cabinet. It was a small room full of chemical crucibles, and glasses covered with waxed paper. " Here," said the King, " are 90 different kinds of honey - even froni Australia and New Zealand. Hymettus honey ranks far below most of them. His Majesty made me taste half a dozen different kinds. I asked biru if he thought that in olden times the busy beei of Hymettus had done better. " I incline to that opinión," he answered, " and I am sure that I have found out the true reason. The climate of Greece is no longer what it was 2,000 yeara ago. That is my discovery," he added almost triumphantly ; and if I prove the assertion am I not entitled to some philosophical honorB V" I vntured to ask the reason of this belief. " Ah, he said laughing, " that is my secret. But believe me, I am well forti lied with argiiïuents. I have classica a my fingers' ends, and I have also wade( through an enormous quantity of learned literatura." I asked the King whether he devoted all his leisure hours entirely to this branch of study. " No, no," he said eagerly ; " to tny birds. Will you see my birds ?" There was no refusing, of course. And so I followed bis Majesty into tho courtyard, where he shovved me a truly superb aviary. I expressud my surprise, and he said, with a genuine pride gleaimng from his eyes: " Is it not beautiful ? But it cost me a jreat deal of money - almost more than I was able to afford." And he showed dio his pets - the famous five trained magpies. He took ofl his hat and placed five brasa rings upon his head. The magpies took them from him, one after another, and then he whistled and they brought them back to where they had found them. They also placed theinselves, at his coinmand, upon his head, forming a sort of a crown ; and he shouted " Oikon !" (Go home !) and they flew back to their cote. Another curiosity was a tame vulture, of gigantic ize, captured near the site of ancient del)hi. At the King's cali, the terrible crea;ure placed hiinself with both lega upon ás 8houlders. I had instinctively shrank jack from the vulture ; but the King aid : " Never mind, old Miltiades is very good natured. He will now shake hands with you." Sure enough, Miltiades grasped my hrinking hand with an autique grip worthy of his namesake, and with an eieedingly ludicrous air of gravity. The King then ordered hitn to retire, jut the bird was evidently reluctant. 'he King ordered a piece of rneat to be rought to Miltiades, who thereupon withdrew, with an unmistakable air of atisfaction, while his Majesty proudly üld me that he alone had trained the bird to do all this. We ventured into the palace, and the King kindly showed the most remarkable apartinents, cbatting all the while about his parents and his brothers and sisters. He expressed his regret that naughty little Thyra, as he oalled his youngest sister, was also to be married to horrible, foggy England, which he seemed to hoid in especial ahhorrence. " I suppose," I said, " Your Majesty will be present at the wedding?" " Not if it comes off in England. I was there, once, six months and hardly ever saw a sunuy day. Now, I have become so accustomed to the glorious sun that I cannot live without it." I was over an hour with this eccentric young king. He was the soul of simplicity and kindness. His subjects like him, and he is happy. How few kings are there like bim !