Philip asked, sitting up and feeling suddenly very grand and manly, and very glad that Lucy was not there to interfere.
“There’s lots of different ways,” said Mr. Perrin. “Your particular way’s simple. You just got to kill the dragon.”
“A live dragon?”
“Live!” said Mr. Perrin. “Why he’s all over the place and as green as grass he is. Lively as a kitten. He’s got a broken spear sticking out of his side, so some one must have had a try at baggin’ him, some time or another.”
“Don’t you think,” said Philip, a little overcome by this vivid picture, “that perhaps I’d better look for Lucy first, and be a Deliverer afterwards?”
“If you’re afraid,” said Mr. Perrin.
“I’m not,” said Philip doubtfully.
“You see,” said the carpenter, “what you’ve got to consider is: are you going to be the hero of this ’ere adventure or ain’t you? You can’t ’ave it both ways. An’ if you are, you may’s well make up your mind, cause killing a dragon ain’t the end of it, not by no means.”
“Do you mean there are more dragons?”
“Not dragons,” said the carpenter soothingly; “not dragons exactly. But there. I don’t want to lower your heart. If you kills the dragon, then afterwards there’s six more hard things you’ve got to do. And then they make you king. Take it or leave it. Only, if you take it we’d best be starting. And anyhow we may as well get a move on us, because at sundown the dragon comes out to drink and exercise of himself. You can hear him rattling all night among these ’ere ruins; miles off you can ’ear ’im of a still night.”
“Suppose I don’t want to be a Deliverer,” said Philip slowly.
“Then you’ll be a Destroyer,” said the carpenter; “there’s only these two situations vacant here at present. Come, Master Philip, sir, don’t talk as if you wasn’t going to be a man and do your duty for England, Home and Beauty, like it says in the song. Let’s be starting, shall us?”
“You think I ought to be the Deliverer?”
“Ought stands for nothing,” said Mr. Perrin. “I think you’re a going to be the Deliverer; that’s what I think. Come on!”
As they rose to go, Philip had a brief fleeting vision of a very smart lady in a motor veil, disappearing round the corner of a pillar.
“Are there many motors about here?” he asked, not wishing to talk any more about dragons just then.
“Not a single one,” said Mr. Perrin unexpectedly. “Nor yet phonographs, nor railways, nor factory chimneys, nor none of them loud ugly things. Nor yet advertisements, nor newspapers, nor barbed wire.”
After that the two walked silently away from the ruin. Philip was trying to feel as brave and confident as a Deliverer should. He reminded himself of St. George. And he remembered that the hero never fails to kill the dragon. But he still felt a little uneasy. It takes some time to accustom yourself to being a hero. But he could not help looking over his shoulder every now and then to see if the dragon was coming. So far it wasn’t.
“Well,” said Mr. Perrin as they drew near a square tower with a long flight of steps leading up to it, “what do you say?”
“I wasn’t saying anything,” said Philip.
“I mean are you going to be the Deliverer?”
Then something in Philip’s heart seemed to swell, and a choking feeling came into his throat, and he felt more frightened than he had ever felt before, as he said, looking as brave as he could:
“Yes. I am.”
Perrin clapped his hands.
And instantly from the doors of the tower and from behind it came dozens of people, and down the long steps, alone, came Mr. Noah, moving with careful dignity and carrying his yellow mat neatly rolled under his arm. All the people clapped their hands, till Mr. Noah, standing on the third step, raised his hands to command silence.
“Friends,” he said, “and fellow-citizens of Polistopolis, you see before you one who says that he is the Deliverer. He was yesterday arrested and tried as a trespasser, and condemned to imprisonment. He escaped and you all assumed that he was the Destroyer in disguise. But now he has returned and of his own free will he chooses to attempt the accomplishment of the seven great deeds. And the first of these is the killing of the great green dragon.”
The people, who were a mixed crowd of all nations, cheered loudly.
“So now,” said Mr. Noah, “we will make him our knight.”
“Kneel,” said Mr. Noah, “in token of fealty to the Kingdom of Cities.”
Philip knelt.
“You shall now speak after me,” said Mr. Noah solemnly. “Say what I say,” he whispered, and Philip said it.
This was it. “I, Philip, claim to be the Deliverer of this great nation, and I pledge myself to carry out the seven great deeds that shall prove my claim to the Deliverership and the throne. I pledge my honour to be the champion of this city, and the enemy of its Destroyer.”
When Philip had said this, Mr. Noah drew forth a bright silver-hilted sword and held it over him.
“You must be knighted,” he said; “those among my audience who have read any history will be aware that no mere commoner can expect to conquer a dragon. We must give our would-be Deliverer every chance. So I will make him a knight.” He tapped Philip lightly on the shoulder and said, “Rise up, Sir Philip!”
This was really grand, and Philip felt new courage as Mr. Noah handed him the silver sword, and all the people cheered.
But as the cheers died down, a thin and disagreeable voice suddenly said:
“But I claim to be the Deliverer too.”
It was like a thunderbolt. Every one stopped cheering and stood with mouth open and head turned towards the person who had spoken. And the person who had spoken was the smartly dressed lady in the motor veil, whom Philip had seen among the ruins.
“A trespasser! a trespasser!” cried the crowd; “to prison with it!” and angry, threatening voices began to arise.
“I’m no more a trespasser than he is,” said the voice, “and if I say I am the Deliverer, you can’t stop me. I can kill dragons or do anything he can do.”
“Silence, trespasser,” said Mr. Noah, with cold dignity. “You should have spoken earlier. At present Sir Philip occupies the position of candidate to the post of King-Deliverer. There is no other position open to you except that of Destroyer.”
“But suppose the boy doesn’t do it?” said the voice behind the veil.
“True,” said Mr. Noah. “You may if you choose, occupy for the present the position of Pretender-in-Chief to the Claimancy of the Deliverership, an office now and here created expressly for you. The position of Claimant to the Destroyership is also,” he added
