"Burroughs, Edgar Rice - The Mad King" - читать интересную книгу автора (Burroughs Edgar Rice)

Barney and the girl were mounted on two of the animals,
the soldiers who had ridden them clambering up behind
two of their comrades. A moment later the troop set out
along the road which leads to Blentz.

The prisoners rode near the center of the column, sur-
rounded by troopers. For a time they were both silent. Bar-
ney was wondering if he had accidentally tumbled into the
private grounds of Lutha's largest madhouse, or if, in reality,
these people mistook him for the young king--it seemed
incredible.

It had commenced slowly to dawn upon him that perhaps
the girl was not crazy after all. Had not the officer addressed
her as "your highness"? Now that he thought upon it he re-
called that she did have quite a haughty and regal way
with her at times, especially so when she had addressed the
officer.

Of course she might be mad, after all, and possibly the
bandit, too, but it seemed unbelievable that the officer was
mad and his entire troop of cavalry should be composed of
maniacs, yet they all persisted in speaking and acting as
though he were indeed the mad king of Lutha and the
young girl at his side a princess.

From pitying the girl he had come to feel a little bit in
awe of her. To the best of his knowledge he had never be-
fore associated with a real princess. When he recalled that
he had treated her as he would an ordinary mortal, and that
he had thought her demented, and had tried to humor her
mad whims, he felt very foolish indeed.

Presently he turned a sheepish glance in her direction,
to find her looking at him. He saw her flush slightly as his
eyes met hers.

"Can your highness ever forgive me?" he asked.

"Forgive you!" she cried in astonishment. "For what,
your majesty?"

"For thinking you insane, and for getting you into this
horrible predicament," he replied. "But especially for think-
ing you insane."

"Did you think me mad?" she asked in wide-eyed aston-
ishment.

"When you insisted that I was a king, yes," he replied.