A ROYAL KNIGHTERRANT.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XLII, Issue 7374, 28 January 1902, Page 4

A ROYAL KNIGHTERRANT.

Good King Carlos, of Portugal received a considerable shock to his system the other day, according to a story now current, when five pretty chorus girls surrounded him and sobbed out the story of their hardships. King Carlos is still a young man, big and burly, not to say stout iv build, and very goodhuinoured. He has a reputation for generosity and good-heartedness, and it must be said that he is not allowed to lack opportunities of showing his charity. A Spanish operatic company, playing in Lisbon, found itself stranded, because the manager and treasurer had levanted with all the takings. Five members of the chorus had not enough money to get back to Madrid. They appealed to their Consul, who declined to help them, and next day they determined to appeal to the King himself. Their attempts to secure an audience by means of a letter pcoved fruitless, so they travelled out to Cintra, where he was^spending the summer, and, taking advantage of the fact that the public are admitted to the Eoyal gardens, remained concealed behind a bush until they saw the King approaching. Then all five burst suddenly upon him and surrounded him. King Carlos is not a timid man, and five brawny bandits in the position of the five chorus girls would have had quite a merry time; but he was undoubtedly startled by this feminine attack. All five insisted on talking at the same time, and when the King endeavoured to learn their story they began by contradicting one another, and ended in tears. He did at last ascertain that they were penniless, so he emptied his purse into theic hands, and, having calmed them a little, made them tell him the whole sad tale. He bade them dry their tears, and chatted and joked with them gaily until they were all laughing merrily. Then he shook hands with them all, and directed his aide-de-camp to escort them to the railway station, and provide them with tickets back to Madrid, at his expense. As soon as the story got abroad, he was naturally deluged with applications for assistance from brokendown actors and actresses, but not many of the applicants succeeded in obtaining a personal interview.