After this miracle, The Boss's reputation is great in the Valley of Holiness, so he decides to suggest that a bath be built. He assures the abbot that it will not dry up the water again and that an error had been made the previous time, when it was believed that the bath had been the cause of the fountain's failure. The abbot agrees, and when the bath is finished, he is the first to try it out.
A heavy cold and a touch of rheumatism ensue and leave The Boss weak. Later, while walking about the valley to get his strength back, he discovers a cave that had been abandoned by a hermit. He looks inside and finds one of his telephone linemen putting in a phone. He uses the opportunity to call Clarence and find out what is happening back in Camelot. One thing that he learns is that the king and the queen, with a large party of nobles, have just set out toward the Valley of Holiness. He also learns that the king has started raising a standing army, one of his suggestions to the king, although he had wanted to oversee its development.
When he returns to the monastery, another magician has arrived; his specialty is announcing what great people around the globe are doing. The Boss tests him by asking what Arthur is doing; the new magician says that Arthur is presently asleep, but that the next day, Arthur and the court will ride to the north—away from the Valley of Holiness—for two days. The Boss contradicts him, telling him that the king and his party will be in this very valley by evening two days hence.
The new magician, however, seems to sway the crowd, for they make no preparations for the kings arrival. Thus, The Boss uses the telephone to check on the kings progress and manages to gather together something of a crowd to go out and greet the king. When the abbot and the monks discover that Arthur is indeed arriving, they dash out to greet him, although they take the time to—in Twain's words—ride the rival magician out on a rail.
In Chapter 25, we see that King Arthur always takes care of business matters wherever he is. The Commission charged with examining candidates for posts in the army arrives with the king, and the examination of officer candidates takes place. The Commission and the king insist that the main qualifications that an officer must have is a noble lineage that extends at least four generations into the past. Thus, The Boss's candidate, who has been trained at his "West Point," is denied a post, even though The Boss leads him through a series of questions that shows that he does know military matters thoroughly. Another candidate is given a post because he has the requisite lineage, even though The Boss shows that he knows nothing about military matters.
Later, The Boss proposes to the king that he form a regiment to be considered the kings own, formed of officers only, that can do as it pleases during battles. The other regiments would have to follow orders and do the dirty work of fighting.
In Chapter 26, we learn that The Boss is planning to go about the countryside as a "petty freeman" in order to find out what things are like on that level of society. When he tells the king about his plan, Arthur decides that he will come along.
In the meantime, however, the king must take care of "the king's evil business," a time when all those who are genuinely ill (they are screened) can come forward, touch the king, and receive a small piece of gold—or, now, one of The Boss's new nickles. In this process, many are cured because of their faith that they will be cured.
It is a long and tedious process, but the tedium is relieved by the sound of a boy's hawking the first edition of the Camelot Weekly Hosannah and Literary Volcano. The Boss gets a copy through the window and spends his time looking through it rather critically. His judgment, however, is that it is a pretty fair first effort, although he sees some things which he wants changed. It is passed about from hand to hand, and the people are amazed.
