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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Rinkitink in Oz, by L. Frank Baum
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Rinkitink in Oz
+
+Author: L. Frank Baum
+
+Posting Date: March 23, 2009 [EBook #958]
+Release Date: June, 1997
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RINKITINK IN OZ ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Anthony Matonac
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+RINKITINK IN OZ
+
+
+by
+
+L. Frank Baum
+
+
+
+  Wherein is recorded the Perilous Quest of
+     Prince Inga of Pingaree and King
+         Rinkitink in the Magical
+          Isles that lie beyond
+              the Borderland
+                   of Oz
+
+             By L. Frank Baum
+         "Royal Historian of Oz"
+
+
+
+Introducing this Story
+
+
+Here is a story with a boy hero, and a boy of whom you have never
+before heard. There are girls in the story, too, including our old
+friend Dorothy, and some of the characters wander a good way from the
+Land of Oz before they all assemble in the Emerald City to take part in
+Ozma's banquet. Indeed, I think you will find this story  quite
+different from the other histories of Oz, but I hope you will not like
+it the less on that account.
+
+If I am permitted to write another Oz book it will tell of some
+thrilling adventures encountered by Dorothy, Betsy Bobbin, Trot and the
+Patchwork Girl right in the Land of Oz, and how they discovered some
+amazing creatures that never could have existed outside a fairy-land. I
+have an idea that about the time you are reading this story of
+Rinkitink I shall be writing that story of Adventures in Oz.
+
+Don't fail to write me often and give me your advice and suggestions,
+which I always appreciate. I get a good many letters from my readers,
+but every one is a joy to me and I answer them as soon as I can find
+time to do so.
+
+"OZCOT"
+  at HOLLYWOOD
+    in CALIFORNIA, 1916.
+
+L. FRANK BAUM
+  Royal Historian of Oz
+
+
+
+
+LIST OF CHAPTERS
+
+   1  The Prince of Pingaree
+   2  The Coming of King Rinkitink
+   3  The Warriors from the North
+   4  The Deserted Island
+   5  The Three Pearls
+   6  The Magic Boat
+   7  The Twin Islands
+   8  Rinkitink Makes a Great Mistake
+   9  A Present for Zella
+  10  The Cunning of Queen Cor
+  11  Zella Goes to Coregos
+  12  The Excitement of Bilbil the Goat
+  13  Zella Saves the Prince
+  14  The Escape
+  15  The Flight of the Rulers
+  16  Nikobob Refuses a Crown
+  17  The Nome King
+  18  Inga Parts With His Pink Pearl
+  19  Rinkitink Chuckles
+  20  Dorothy to the Rescue
+  21  The Wizard Finds an Enchantment
+  22  Ozma's Banquet
+  23  The Pearl Kingdom
+  24  The Captive King
+
+
+
+
+Chapter One
+
+The Prince of Pingaree
+
+
+If you have a map of the Land of Oz handy, you will find that the great
+Nonestic Ocean washes the shores of the Kingdom of Rinkitink, between
+which and the Land of Oz lies a strip of the country of the Nome King
+and a Sandy Desert. The Kingdom of Rinkitink isn't very big and lies
+close to the ocean, all the houses and the King's palace being built
+near the shore. The people live much upon the water, boating and
+fishing, and the wealth of Rinkitink is gained from trading along the
+coast and with the islands nearest it.
+
+Four days' journey by boat to the north of Rinkitink is the Island of
+Pingaree, and as our story begins here I must tell you something about
+this island. At the north end of Pingaree, where it is widest, the land
+is a mile from shore to shore, but at the south end it is scarcely half
+a mile broad; thus, although Pingaree is four miles long, from north to
+south, it cannot be called a very big island. It is exceedingly pretty,
+however, and to the gulls who approach it from the sea it must resemble
+a huge green wedge lying upon the waters, for its grass and trees give
+it the color of an emerald.
+
+The grass came to the edge of the sloping shores; the beautiful trees
+occupied all the central portion of Pingaree, forming a continuous
+grove where the branches met high overhead and there was just space
+beneath them for the cosy houses of the inhabitants. These houses were
+scattered everywhere throughout the island, so that there was no town
+or city, unless the whole island might be called a city. The canopy of
+leaves, high overhead, formed a shelter from sun and rain, and the
+dwellers in the grove could all look past the straight tree-trunks and
+across the grassy slopes to the purple waters of the Nonestic Ocean.
+
+At the big end of the island, at the north, stood the royal palace of
+King Kitticut, the lord and ruler of Pingaree. It was a beautiful
+palace, built entirely of snow-white marble and capped by domes of
+burnished gold, for the King was exceedingly wealthy. All along the
+coast of Pingaree were found the largest and finest pearls in the whole
+world.
+
+These pearls grew within the shells of big oysters, and the people
+raked the oysters from their watery beds, sought out the milky pearls
+and carried them dutifully to their King. Therefore, once every year
+His Majesty was able to send six of his boats, with sixty rowers and
+many sacks of the valuable pearls, to the Kingdom of Rinkitink, where
+there was a city called Gilgad, in which King Rinkitink's palace stood
+on a rocky headland and served, with its high towers, as a lighthouse
+to guide sailors to the harbor. In Gilgad the pearls from Pingaree were
+purchased by the King's treasurer, and the boats went back to the
+island laden with stores of rich merchandise and such supplies of food
+as the people and the royal family of Pingaree needed.
+
+The Pingaree people never visited any other land but that of Rinkitink,
+and so there were few other lands that knew there was such an island.
+To the southwest was an island called the Isle of Phreex, where the
+inhabitants had no use for pearls. And far north of Pingaree--six days'
+journey by boat, it was said--were twin islands named Regos and
+Coregos, inhabited by a fierce and warlike people.
+
+Many years before this story really begins, ten big boatloads of those
+fierce warriors of Regos and Coregos visited Pingaree, landing suddenly
+upon the north end of the island. There they began to plunder and
+conquer, as was their custom, but the people of Pingaree, although
+neither so big nor so strong as their foes, were able to defeat them
+and drive them all back to the sea, where a great storm overtook the
+raiders from Regos and Coregos and destroyed them and their boats, not
+a single warrior returning to his own country.
+
+This defeat of the enemy seemed the more wonderful because the
+pearl-fishers of Pingaree were mild and peaceful in disposition and
+seldom quarreled even among themselves. Their only weapons were their
+oyster rakes; yet the fact remains that they drove their fierce enemies
+from Regos and Coregos from their shores.
+
+King Kitticut was only a boy when this remarkable battle was fought,
+and now his hair was gray; but he remembered the day well and, during
+the years that followed, his one constant fear was of another invasion
+of his enemies. He feared they might send a more numerous army to his
+island, both for conquest and revenge, in which case there could be
+little hope of successfully opposing them.
+
+This anxiety on the part of King Kitticut led him to keep a sharp
+lookout for strange boats, one of his men patrolling the beach
+constantly, but he was too wise to allow any fear to make him or his
+subjects unhappy. He was a good King and lived very contentedly in his
+fine palace, with his fair Queen Garee and their one child, Prince Inga.
+
+The wealth of Pingaree increased year by year; and the happiness of the
+people increased, too. Perhaps there was no place, outside the Land of
+Oz, where contentment and peace were more manifest than on this pretty
+island, hidden in the besom of the Nonestic Ocean. Had these conditions
+remained undisturbed, there would have been no need to speak of
+Pingaree in this story.
+
+Prince Inga, the heir to all the riches and the kingship of Pingaree,
+grew up surrounded by every luxury; but he was a manly little fellow,
+although somewhat too grave and thoughtful, and he could never bear to
+be idle a single minute. He knew where the finest oysters lay hidden
+along the coast and was as successful in finding pearls as any of the
+men of the island, although he was so slight and small. He had a little
+boat of his own and a rake for dragging up the oysters and he was very
+proud indeed when he could carry a big white pearl to his father.
+
+There was no school upon the island, as the people of Pingaree were far
+removed from the state of civilization that gives our modern children
+such advantages as schools and learned professors, but the King owned
+several manuscript books, the pages being made of sheepskin. Being a
+man of intelligence, he was able to teach his son something of reading,
+writing and arithmetic.
+
+When studying his lessons Prince Inga used to go into the grove near
+his father's palace and climb into the branches of a tall tree, where
+he had built a platform with a comfortable seat to rest upon, all
+hidden by the canopy of leaves. There, with no one to disturb him, he
+would pore over the sheepskin on which were written the queer
+characters of the Pingarese language.
+
+King Kitticut was very proud of his little son, as well he might be,
+and he soon felt a high respect for Inga's judgment and thought that he
+was worthy to be taken into the confidence of his father in many
+matters of state. He taught the boy the needs of the people and how to
+rule them justly, for some day he knew that Inga would be King in his
+place. One day he called his son to his side and said to him:
+
+"Our island now seems peaceful enough, Inga, and we are happy and
+prosperous, but I cannot forget those terrible people of Regos and
+Coregos. My constant fear is that they will send a fleet of boats to
+search for those of their race whom we defeated many years ago, and
+whom the sea afterwards destroyed. If the warriors come in great
+numbers we may be unable to oppose them, for my people are little
+trained to fighting at best; they surely would cause us much injury and
+suffering."
+
+"Are we, then, less powerful than in my grandfather's day?" asked
+Prince Inga.
+
+The King shook his head thoughtfully.
+
+"It is not that," said he. "That you may fully understand that
+marvelous battle, I must confide to, you a great secret. I have in my
+possession three Magic Talismans, which I have ever guarded with utmost
+care, keeping the knowledge of their existence from anyone else. But,
+lest I should die, and the secret be lost, I have decided to tell you
+what these talismans are and where they are hidden. Come with me, my
+son."
+
+He led the way through the rooms of the palace until they came to the
+great banquet hall. There, stopping in the center of the room, he
+stooped down and touched a hidden spring in the tiled floor. At once
+one of the tiles sank downward and the King reached within the cavity
+and drew out a silken bag.
+
+This bag he proceeded to open, showing Inga that it contained three
+great pearls, each one as big around as a marble. One had a blue tint
+and one was of a delicate rose color, but the third was pure white.
+
+"These three pearls," said the King, speaking in a solemn, impressive
+voice, "are the most wonderful the world has ever known. They were
+gifts to one of my ancestors from the Mermaid Queen, a powerful fairy
+whom he once had the good fortune to rescue from her enemies. In
+gratitude for this favor she presented him with these pearls. Each of
+the three possesses an astonishing power, and whoever is their owner
+may count himself a fortunate man. This one having the blue tint will
+give to the person who carries it a strength so great that no power can
+resist him. The one with the pink glow will protect its owner from all
+dangers that may threaten him, no matter from what source they may
+come. The third pearl--this one of pure white--can speak, and its words
+are always wise and helpful."
+
+"What is this, my father!" exclaimed the Prince, amazed; "do you tell
+me that a pearl can speak? It sounds impossible."
+
+"Your doubt is due to your ignorance of fairy powers," returned the
+King, gravely. "Listen, my son, and you will know that I speak the
+truth."
+
+He held the white pearl to Inga's ear and the Prince heard a small
+voice say distinctly: "Your father is right. Never question the truth
+of what you fail to understand, for the world is filled with wonders."
+
+"I crave your pardon, dear father," said the Prince, "for clearly I
+heard the pearl speak, and its words were full of wisdom."
+
+"The powers of the other pearls are even greater," resumed the King.
+"Were I poor in all else, these gems would make me richer than any
+other monarch the world holds."
+
+"I believe that," replied Inga, looking at the beautiful pearls with
+much awe. "But tell me, my father, why do you fear the warriors of
+Regos and Coregos when these marvelous powers are yours?"
+
+"The powers are mine only while I have the pearls upon my person,"
+answered King Kitticut, "and I dare not carry them constantly for fear
+they might be lost. Therefore, I keep them safely hidden in this
+recess. My only danger lies in the chance that my watchmen might fail
+to discover the approach of our enemies and allow the warrior invaders
+to seize me before I could secure the pearls. I should, in that case,
+be quite powerless to resist. My father owned the magic pearls at the
+time of the Great Fight, of which you have so often heard, and the pink
+pearl protected him from harm, while the blue pearl enabled him and his
+people to drive away the enemy. Often have I suspected that the
+destroying storm was caused by the fairy mermaids, but that is a matter
+of which I have no proof."
+
+"I have often wondered how we managed to win that battle," remarked
+Inga thoughtfully. "But the pearls will assist us in case the warriors
+come again, will they not?"
+
+"They are as powerful as ever," declared the King. "Really, my son, I
+have little to fear from any foe. But lest I die and the secret be lost
+to the next King, I have now given it into your keeping. Remember that
+these pearls are the rightful heritage of all Kings of Pingaree. If at
+any time I should be taken from you, Inga, guard this treasure well and
+do not forget where it is hidden."
+
+"I shall not forget," said Inga.
+
+Then the King returned the pearls to their hiding place and the boy
+went to his own room to ponder upon the wonderful secret his father had
+that day confided to his care.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter Two
+
+The Coming of King Rinkitink
+
+
+A few days after this, on a bright and sunny morning when the breeze
+blew soft and sweet from the ocean and the trees waved their leaf-laden
+branches, the Royal Watchman, whose duty it was to patrol the shore,
+came running to the King with news that a strange boat was approaching
+the island.
+
+At first the King was sore afraid and made a step toward the hidden
+pearls, but the next moment he reflected that one boat, even if filled
+with enemies, would be powerless to injure him, so he curbed his fear
+and went down to the beach to discover who the strangers might be. Many
+of the men of Pingaree assembled there also, and Prince Inga followed
+his father. Arriving at the water's edge, they all stood gazing eagerly
+at the oncoming boat.
+
+It was quite a big boat, they observed, and covered with a canopy of
+purple silk, embroidered with gold. It was rowed by twenty men, ten on
+each side. As it came nearer, Inga could see that in the stern, seated
+upon a high, cushioned chair of state, was a little man who was so very
+fat that he was nearly as broad as he was high This man was dressed in
+a loose silken robe of purple that fell in folds to his feet, while
+upon his head was a cap of white velvet curiously worked with golden
+threads and having a circle of diamonds sewn around the band. At the
+opposite end of the boat stood an oddly shaped cage, and several large
+boxes of sandalwood were piled near the center of the craft.
+
+As the boat approached the shore the fat little man got upon his feet
+and bowed several times in the direction of those who had assembled to
+greet him, and as he bowed he flourished his white cap in an energetic
+manner. His face was round as an apple and nearly as rosy. When he
+stopped bowing he smiled in such a sweet and happy way that Inga
+thought he must be a very jolly fellow.
+
+The prow of the boat grounded on the beach, stopping its speed so
+suddenly that the little man was caught unawares and nearly toppled
+headlong into the sea. But he managed to catch hold of the chair with
+one hand and the hair of one of his rowers with the other, and so
+steadied himself. Then, again waving his jeweled cap around his head,
+he cried in a merry voice:
+
+"Well, here I am at last!"
+
+"So I perceive," responded King Kitticut, bowing with much dignity.
+
+The fat man glanced at all the sober faces before him and burst into a
+rollicking laugh. Perhaps I should say it was half laughter and half a
+chuckle of merriment, for the sounds he emitted were quaint and droll
+and tempted every hearer to laugh with him.
+
+"Heh, heh--ho, ho, ho!" he roared. "Didn't expect me, I see.
+Keek-eek-eek-eek! This is funny--it's really funny. Didn't know I was
+coming, did you? Hoo, hoo, hoo, hoo! This is certainly amusing. But I'm
+here, just the same."
+
+"Hush up!" said a deep, growling voice. "You're making yourself
+ridiculous."
+
+Everyone looked to see where this voice came from; but none could guess
+who had uttered the words of rebuke. The rowers of the boat were all
+solemn and silent and certainly no one on the shore had spoken. But the
+little man did not seem astonished in the least, or even annoyed.
+
+King Kitticut now addressed the stranger, saying courteously:
+
+"You are welcome to the Kingdom of Pingaree. Perhaps you will deign to
+come ashore and at your convenience inform us whom we have the honor of
+receiving as a guest."
+
+"Thanks; I will," returned the little fat man, waddling from his place
+in the boat and stepping, with some difficulty, upon the sandy beach.
+"I am King Rinkitink, of the City of Gilgad in the Kingdom of
+Rinkitink, and I have come to Pingaree to see for myself the monarch
+who sends to my city so many beautiful pearls. I have long wished to
+visit this island; and so, as I said before, here I am!"
+
+"I am pleased to welcome you," said King Kitticut. "But why has Your
+Majesty so few attendants? Is it not dangerous for the King of a great
+country to make distant journeys in one frail boat, and with but twenty
+men?"
+
+"Oh, I suppose so," answered King Rinkitink, with a laugh. "But what
+else could I do? My subjects would not allow me to go anywhere at all,
+if they knew it. So I just ran away."
+
+"Ran away!" exclaimed King Kitticut in surprise.
+
+"Funny, isn't it? Heh, heh, heh--woo, hoo!" laughed Rinkitink, and this
+is as near as I can spell with letters the jolly sounds of his
+laughter. "Fancy a King running away from his own ple--hoo, hoo--keek,
+eek, eek, eek! But I had to, don't you see!"
+
+"Why?" asked the other King.
+
+"They're afraid I'll get into mischief. They don't trust me.
+Keek-eek-eek--Oh, dear me! Don't trust their own King. Funny, isn't it?"
+
+"No harm can come to you on this island," said Kitticut, pretending not
+to notice the odd ways of his guest. "And, whenever it pleases you to
+return to your own country, I will send with you a fitting escort of my
+own people. In the meantime, pray accompany me to my palace, where
+everything shall be done to make you comfortable and happy."
+
+"Much obliged," answered Rinkitink, tipping his white cap over his left
+ear and heartily shaking the hand of his brother monarch. "I'm sure you
+can make me comfortable if you've plenty to eat. And as for being
+happy--ha, ha, ha, ha!--why, that's my trouble. I'm too happy. But
+stop! I've brought you some presents in those boxes. Please order your
+men to carry them up to the palace."
+
+"Certainly," answered King Kitticut, well pleased, and at once he gave
+his men the proper orders.
+
+"And, by the way," continued the fat little King, "let them also take
+my goat from his cage."
+
+"A goat!" exclaimed the King of Pingaree.
+
+"Exactly; my goat Bilbil. I always ride him wherever I go, for I'm not
+at all fond of walking, being a trifle stout--eh, Kitticut?--a trifle
+stout! Hoo, hoo, hoo-keek, eek!"
+
+The Pingaree people started to lift the big cage out of the boat, but
+just then a gruff voice cried: "Be careful, you villains!" and as the
+words seemed to come from the goat's mouth the men were so astonished
+that they dropped the cage upon the sand with a sudden jar.
+
+"There! I told you so!" cried the voice angrily. "You've rubbed the
+skin off my left knee. Why on earth didn't you handle me gently?"
+
+"There, there, Bilbil," said King Rinkitink soothingly; "don't scold,
+my boy. Remember that these are strangers, and we their guests." Then
+he turned to Kitticut and remarked: "You have no talking goats on your
+island, I suppose."
+
+"We have no goats at all," replied the King; "nor have we any animals,
+of any sort, who are able to talk."
+
+"I wish my animal couldn't talk, either," said Rinkitink, winking
+comically at Inga and then looking toward the cage. "He is very cross
+at times, and indulges in language that is not respectful. I thought,
+at first, it would be fine to have a talking goat, with whom I could
+converse as I rode about my city on his back;
+but--keek-eek-eek-eek!--the rascal treats me as if I were a chimney
+sweep instead of a King. Heh, heh, heh, keek, eek! A chimney sweep-hoo,
+hoo, hoo!--and me a King! Funny, isn't it?" This last was addressed to
+Prince Inga, whom he chucked familiarly under the chin, to the boy's
+great embarrassment.
+
+"Why do you not ride a horse?" asked King Kitticut.
+
+"I can't climb upon his back, being rather stout; that's why. Kee, kee,
+keek, eek!--rather stout--hoo, hoo, hoo!" He paused to wipe the tears
+of merriment from his eyes and then added: "But I can get on and off
+Bilbil's back with ease."
+
+He now opened the cage and the goat deliberately walked out and looked
+about him in a sulky manner. One of the rowers brought from the boat a
+saddle made of red velvet and beautifully embroidered with silver
+thistles, which he fastened upon the goat's back. The fat King put his
+leg over the saddle and seated himself comfortably, saying:
+
+"Lead on, my noble host, and we will follow."
+
+"What! Up that steep hill?" cried the goat. "Get off my back at once,
+Rinkitink, or I won't budge a step.
+
+"But-consider, Bilbil," remonstrated the King. "How am I to get up that
+hill unless I ride?"
+
+"Walk!" growled Bilbil.
+
+"But I'm too fat. Really, Bilbil, I'm surprised at you. Haven't I
+brought you all this distance so you may see something of the world and
+enjoy life? And now you are so ungrateful as to refuse to carry me!
+Turn about is fair play, my boy. The boat carried you to this shore,
+because you can't swim, and now you must carry me up the hill, because
+I can't climb. Eh, Bilbil, isn't that reasonable?"
+
+"Well, well, well," said the goat, surlily, "keep quiet and I'll carry
+you. But you make me very tired, Rinkitink, with your ceaseless
+chatter."
+
+After making this protest Bilbil began walking up the hill, carrying
+the fat King upon his back with no difficulty whatever.
+
+Prince Inga and his father and all the men of Pingaree were much
+astonished to overhear this dispute between King Rinkitink and his
+goat; but they were too polite to make critical remarks in the presence
+of their guests. King Kitticut walked beside the goat and the Prince
+followed after, the men coming last with the boxes of sandalwood.
+
+When they neared the palace, the Queen and her maidens came out to meet
+them and the royal guest was escorted in state to the splendid throne
+room of the palace. Here the boxes were opened and King Rinkitink
+displayed all the beautiful silks and laces and jewelry with which they
+were filled. Every one of the courtiers and ladies received a handsome
+present, and the King and Queen had many rich gifts and Inga not a few.
+Thus the time passed pleasantly until the Chamberlain announced that
+dinner was served.
+
+Bilbil the goat declared that he preferred eating of the sweet, rich
+grass that grew abundantly in the palace grounds, and Rinkitink said
+that the beast could never bear being shut up in a stable; so they
+removed the saddle from his back and allowed him to wander wherever he
+pleased.
+
+During the dinner Inga divided his attention between admiring the
+pretty gifts he had received and listening to the jolly sayings of the
+fat King, who laughed when he was not eating and ate when he was not
+laughing and seemed to enjoy himself immensely.
+
+"For four days I have lived in that narrow boat," said he, "with no
+other amusement than to watch the rowers and quarrel with Bilbil; so I
+am very glad to be on land again with such friendly and agreeable
+people."
+
+"You do us great honor," said King Kitticut, with a polite bow.
+
+"Not at all--not at all, my brother. This Pingaree must be a wonderful
+island, for its pearls are the admiration of all the world; nor will I
+deny the fact that my kingdom would be a poor one without the riches
+and glory it derives from the trade in your pearls. So I have wished
+for many years to come here to see you, but my people said: 'No! Stay
+at home and behave yourself, or we'll know the reason why.'"
+
+"Will they not miss Your Majesty from your palace at Gilgad?" inquired
+Kitticut.
+
+"I think not," answered Rinkitink. "You see, one of my clever subjects
+has written a parchment entitled 'How to be Good,' and I believed it
+would benefit me to study it, as I consider the accomplishment of being
+good one of the fine arts. I had just scolded severely my Lord High
+Chancellor for coming to breakfast without combing his eyebrows, and
+was so sad and regretful at having hurt the poor man's feelings that I
+decided to shut myself up in my own room and study the scroll until I
+knew how to be good--hee, heek, keek, eek, eek!--to be good! Clever
+idea, that, wasn't it? Mighty clever! And I issued a decree that no one
+should enter my room, under pain of my royal displeasure, until I was
+ready to come out. They're awfully afraid of my royal displeasure,
+although not a bit afraid of me. Then I put the parchment in my pocket
+and escaped through the back door to my boat--and here I am. Oo,
+hoo-hoo, keek-eek! Imagine the fuss there would be in Gilgad if my
+subjects knew where I am this very minute!"
+
+"I would like to see that parchment," said the solemn-eyed Prince Inga,
+"for if it indeed teaches one to be good it must be worth its weight in
+pearls."
+
+"Oh, it's a fine essay," said Rinkitink, "and beautifully written with
+a goosequill. Listen to this: You'll enjoy it--tee, hee, hee!--enjoy
+it."
+
+He took from his pocket a scroll of parchment tied with a black ribbon,
+and having carefully unrolled it, he proceeded to read as follows:
+
+"'A Good Man is One who is Never Bad.' How's that, eh? Fine thought,
+what? 'Therefore, in order to be Good, you must avoid those Things
+which are Evil.' Oh, hoo-hoo-hoo!--how clever! When I get back I shall
+make the man who wrote that a royal hippolorum, for, beyond question,
+he is the wisest man in my kingdom--as he has often told me himself."
+With this, Rinkitink lay back in his chair and chuckled his queer
+chuckle until he coughed, and coughed until he choked and choked until
+he sneezed. And he wrinkled his face in such a jolly, droll way that
+few could keep from laughing with him, and even the good Queen was
+forced to titter behind her fan.
+
+When Rinkitink had recovered from his fit of laughter and had wiped his
+eyes upon a fine lace handkerchief, Prince Inga said to him:
+
+"The parchment speaks truly."
+
+"Yes, it is true beyond doubt," answered Rinkitink, "and if I could
+persuade Bilbil to read it he would be a much better goat than he is
+now. Here is another selection: 'To avoid saying Unpleasant Things,
+always Speak Agreeably.' That would hit Bilbil, to a dot. And here is
+one that applies to you, my Prince: 'Good Children are seldom punished,
+for the reason that they deserve no punishment.' Now, I think that is
+neatly put, and shows the author to be a deep thinker. But the advice
+that has impressed me the most is in the following paragraph: 'You may
+not find it as Pleasant to be Good as it is to be Bad, but Other People
+will find it more Pleasant.' Haw-hoo-ho! keek-eek! 'Other people will
+find it more pleasant!'--hee, hee, heek, keek!--'more pleasant.' Dear
+me--dear me! Therein lies a noble incentive to be good, and whenever I
+get time I'm surely going to try it."
+
+Then he wiped his eyes again with the lace handkerchief and, suddenly
+remembering his dinner, seized his knife and fork and began eating.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter Three
+
+The Warriors from the North
+
+
+King Rinkitink was so much pleased with the Island of Pingaree that he
+continued his stay day after day and week after week, eating good
+dinners, talking with King Kitticut and sleeping. Once in a while he
+would read from his scroll. "For," said he, "whenever I return home, my
+subjects will be anxious to know if I have learned 'How to be Good,'
+and I must not disappoint them."
+
+The twenty rowers lived on the small end of the island, with the pearl
+fishers, and seemed not to care whether they ever returned to the
+Kingdom of Rinkitink or not. Bilbil the goat wandered over the grassy
+slopes, or among the trees, and passed his days exactly as he pleased.
+His master seldom cared to ride him. Bilbil was a rare curiosity to the
+islanders, but since there was little pleasure in talking with the goat
+they kept away from him. This pleased the creature, who seemed well
+satisfied to be left to his own devices.
+
+Once Prince Inga, wishing to be courteous, walked up to the goat and
+said: "Good morning, Bilbil."
+
+"It isn't a good morning," answered Bilbil grumpily. "It is cloudy and
+damp, and looks like rain."
+
+"I hope you are contented in our kingdom," continued the boy, politely
+ignoring the other's harsh words.
+
+"I'm not," said Bilbil. "I'm never contented; so it doesn't matter to
+me whether I'm in your kingdom or in some other kingdom. Go away--will
+you?"
+
+"Certainly," answered the Prince, and after this rebuff he did not
+again try to make friends with Bilbil.
+
+Now that the King, his father, was so much occupied with his royal
+guest, Inga was often left to amuse himself, for a boy could not be
+allowed to take part in the conversation of two great monarchs. He
+devoted himself to his studies, therefore, and day after day he climbed
+into the branches of his favorite tree and sat for hours in his
+"tree-top rest," reading his father's precious manuscripts and thinking
+upon what he read.
+
+You must not think that Inga was a molly-coddle or a prig, because he
+was so solemn and studious. Being a King's son and heir to a throne, he
+could not play with the other boys of Pingaree, and he lived so much in
+the society of the King and Queen, and was so surrounded by the pomp
+and dignity of a court, that he missed all the jolly times that boys
+usually have. I have no doubt that had he been able to live as other
+boys do, he would have been much like other boys; as it was, he was
+subdued by his surroundings, and more grave and thoughtful than one of
+his years should be.
+
+Inga was in his tree one morning when, without warning, a great fog
+enveloped the Island of Pingaree. The boy could scarcely see the tree
+next to that in which he sat, but the leaves above him prevented the
+dampness from wetting him, so he curled himself up in his seat and fell
+fast asleep.
+
+All that forenoon the fog continued. King Kitticut, who sat in his
+palace talking with his merry visitor, ordered the candles lighted,
+that they might be able to see one another. The good Queen, Inga's
+mother, found it was too dark to work at her embroidery, so she called
+her maidens together and told them wonderful stories of bygone days, in
+order to pass away the dreary hours.
+
+But soon after noon the weather changed. The dense fog rolled away like
+a heavy cloud and suddenly the sun shot his bright rays over the island.
+
+"Very good!" exclaimed King Kitticut. "We shall have a pleasant
+afternoon, I am sure," and he blew out the candles.
+
+Then he stood a moment motionless, as if turned to stone, for a
+terrible cry from without the palace reached his ears--a cry so full of
+fear and horror that the King's heart almost stopped beating.
+Immediately there was a scurrying of feet as every one in the palace,
+filled with dismay, rushed outside to see what had happened. Even fat
+little Rinkitink sprang from his chair and followed his host and the
+others through the arched vestibule.
+
+After many years the worst fears of King Kitticut were realized.
+
+Landing upon the beach, which was but a few steps from the palace
+itself, were hundreds of boats, every one filled with a throng of
+fierce warriors. They sprang upon the land with wild shouts of defiance
+and rushed to the King's palace, waving aloft their swords and spears
+and battleaxes.
+
+King Kitticut, so completely surprised that he was bewildered, gazed at
+the approaching host with terror and grief.
+
+"They are the men of Regos and Coregos!" he groaned. "We are, indeed,
+lost!"
+
+Then he bethought himself, for the first time, of his wonderful pearls.
+Turning quickly, he ran back into the palace and hastened to the hall
+where the treasures were hidden. But the leader of the warriors had
+seen the King enter the palace and bounded after him, thinking he meant
+to escape. Just as the King had stooped to press the secret spring in
+the tiles, the warrior seized him from the rear and threw him backward
+upon the floor, at the same time shouting to his men to fetch ropes and
+bind the prisoner. This they did very quickly and King Kitticut soon
+found himself helplessly bound and in the power of his enemies. In this
+sad condition he was lifted by the warriors and carried outside, when
+the good King looked upon a sorry sight.
+
+The Queen and her maidens, the officers and servants of the royal
+household and all who had inhabited this end of the Island of Pingaree
+had been seized by the invaders and bound with ropes. At once they
+began carrying their victims to the boats, tossing them in as
+unceremoniously as if they had been bales of merchandise.
+
+The King looked around for his son Inga, but failed to find the boy
+among the prisoners. Nor was the fat King, Rinkitink, to be seen
+anywhere about.
+
+The warriors were swarming over the palace like bees in a hive, seeking
+anyone who might be in hiding, and after the search had been prolonged
+for some time the leader asked impatiently: "Do you find anyone else?"
+
+"No," his men told him. "We have captured them all."
+
+"Then," commanded the leader, "remove everything of value from the
+palace and tear down its walls and towers, so that not one stone
+remains upon another!"
+
+While the warriors were busy with this task we will return to the boy
+Prince, who, when the fog lifted and the sun came out, wakened from his
+sleep and began to climb down from his perch in the tree. But the
+terrifying cries of the people, mingled with the shouts of the rude
+warriors, caused him to pause and listen eagerly.
+
+Then he climbed rapidly up the tree, far above his platform, to the
+topmost swaying branches. This tree, which Inga called his own, was
+somewhat taller than the other trees that surrounded it, and when he
+had reached the top he pressed aside the leaves and saw a great fleet
+of boats upon the shore--strange boats, with banners that he had never
+seen before. Turning to look upon his father's palace, he found it
+surrounded by a horde of enemies. Then Inga knew the truth: that the
+island had been invaded by the barbaric warriors from the north. He
+grew so faint from the terror of it all that he might have fallen had
+he not wound his arms around a limb and clung fast until the dizzy
+feeling passed away. Then with his sash he bound himself to the limb
+and again ventured to look out through the leaves.
+
+The warriors were now engaged in carrying King Kitticut and Queen Garee
+and all their other captives down to the boats, where they were thrown
+in and chained one to another. It was a dreadful sight for the Prince
+to witness, but he sat very still, concealed from the sight of anyone
+below by the bower of leafy branches around him. Inga knew very well
+that he could do nothing to help his beloved parents, and that if he
+came down he would only be forced to share their cruel fate.
+
+Now a procession of the Northmen passed between the boats and the
+palace, bearing the rich furniture, splendid draperies and rare
+ornaments of which the royal palace had been robbed, together with such
+food and other plunder as they could lay their hands upon. After this,
+the men of Regos and Coregos threw ropes around the marble domes and
+towers and hundreds of warriors tugged at these ropes until the domes
+and towers toppled and fell in ruins upon the ground. Then the walls
+themselves were torn down, till little remained of the beautiful palace
+but a vast heap of white marble blocks tumbled and scattered upon the
+ground.
+
+Prince Inga wept bitter tears of grief as he watched the ruin of his
+home; yet he was powerless to avert the destruction. When the palace
+had been demolished, some of the warriors entered their boats and rowed
+along the coast of the island, while the others marched in a great body
+down the length of the island itself. They were so numerous that they
+formed a line stretching from shore to shore and they destroyed every
+house they came to and took every inhabitant prisoner.
+
+The pearl fishers who lived at the lower end of the island tried to
+escape in their boats, but they were soon overtaken and made prisoners,
+like the others. Nor was there any attempt to resist the foe, for the
+sharp spears and pikes and swords of the invaders terrified the hearts
+of the defenseless people of Pingaree, whose sole weapons were their
+oyster rakes.
+
+When night fell the whole of the Island of Pingaree had been conquered
+by the men of the North, and all its people were slaves of the
+conquerors. Next morning the men of Regos and Coregos, being capable of
+no further mischief, departed from the scene of their triumph, carrying
+their prisoners with them and taking also every boat to be found upon
+the island. Many of the boats they had filled with rich plunder, with
+pearls and silks and velvets, with silver and gold ornaments and all
+the treasure that had made Pingaree famed as one of the richest
+kingdoms in the world. And the hundreds of slaves they had captured
+would be set to work in the mines of Regos and the grain fields of
+Coregos.
+
+So complete was the victory of the Northmen that it is no wonder the
+warriors sang songs of triumph as they hastened back to their homes.
+Great rewards were awaiting them when they showed the haughty King of
+Regos and the terrible Queen of Coregos the results of their ocean raid
+and conquest.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter Four
+
+The Deserted Island
+
+
+All through that terrible night Prince Inga remained hidden in his
+tree. In the morning he watched the great fleet of boats depart for
+their own country, carrying his parents and his countrymen with them,
+as well as everything of value the Island of Pingaree had contained.
+
+Sad, indeed, were the boy's thoughts when the last of the boats had
+become a mere speck in the distance, but Inga did not dare leave his
+perch of safety until all of the craft of the invaders had disappeared
+beyond the horizon. Then he came down, very slowly and carefully, for
+he was weak from hunger and the long and weary watch, as he had been in
+the tree for twenty-four hours without food.
+
+The sun shone upon the beautiful green isle as brilliantly as if no
+ruthless invader had passed and laid it in ruins. The birds still
+chirped among the trees and the butterflies darted from flower to
+flower as happily as when the land was filled with a prosperous and
+contented people.
+
+Inga feared that only he was left of all his nation. Perhaps he might
+be obliged to pass his life there alone. He would not starve, for the
+sea would give him oysters and fish, and the trees fruit; yet the life
+that confronted him was far from enticing.
+
+The boy's first act was to walk over to where the palace had stood and
+search the ruins until he found some scraps of food that had been
+overlooked by the enemy. He sat upon a block of marble and ate of this,
+and tears filled his eyes as he gazed upon the desolation around him.
+But Inga tried to bear up bravely, and having satisfied his hunger he
+walked over to the well, intending to draw a bucket of drinking water.
+
+Fortunately, this well had been overlooked by the invaders and the
+bucket was still fastened to the chain that wound around a stout wooden
+windlass. Inga took hold of the crank and began letting the bucket down
+into the well, when suddenly he was startled by a muffled voice crying
+out:
+
+"Be careful, up there!"
+
+The sound and the words seemed to indicate that the voice came from the
+bottom of the well, so Inga looked down. Nothing could be seen, on
+account of the darkness.
+
+"Who are you?" he shouted.
+
+"It's I--Rinkitink," came the answer, and the depths of the well
+echoed: "Tink-i-tink-i-tink!" in a ghostly manner.
+
+"Are you in the well?" asked the boy, greatly surprised.
+
+"Yes, and nearly drowned. I fell in while running from those terrible
+warriors, and I've been standing in this damp hole ever since, with my
+head just above the water. It's lucky the well was no deeper, for had
+my head been under water, instead of above it--hoo, hoo, hoo, keek,
+eek!--under instead of over, you know--why, then I wouldn't be talking
+to you now! Ha, hoo, hee!" And the well dismally echoed: "Ha, hoo,
+hee!" which you must imagine was a laugh half merry and half sad.
+
+"I'm awfully sorry," cried the boy, in answer. "I wonder you have the
+heart to laugh at all. But how am I to get you out?"
+
+"I've been considering that all night," said Rinkitink, "and I believe
+the best plan will be for you to let down the bucket to me, and I'll
+hold fast to it while you wind up the chain and so draw me to the top."
+
+"I will try to do that," replied Inga, and he let the bucket down very
+carefully until he heard the King call out:
+
+"I've got it! Now pull me up--slowly, my boy, slowly--so I won't rub
+against the rough sides."
+
+Inga began winding up the chain, but King Rinkitink was so fat that he
+was very heavy and by the time the boy had managed to pull him halfway
+up the well his strength was gone. He clung to the crank as long as
+possible, but suddenly it slipped from his grasp and the next minute he
+heard Rinkitink fall "plump!" into the water again.
+
+"That's too bad!" called Inga, in real distress; "but you were so heavy
+I couldn't help it."
+
+"Dear me!" gasped the King, from the darkness below, as he spluttered
+and coughed to get the water out of his mouth. "Why didn't you tell me
+you were going to let go?"
+
+"I hadn't time," said Inga, sorrowfully.
+
+"Well, I'm not suffering from thirst," declared the King, "for there's
+enough water inside me to float all the boats of Regos and Coregos or
+at least it feels that way. But never mind! So long as I'm not actually
+drowned, what does it matter?"
+
+"What shall we do next?" asked the boy anxiously.
+
+"Call someone to help you," was the reply.
+
+"There is no one on the island but myself," said the boy; "--excepting
+you," he added, as an afterthought.
+
+"I'm not on it--more's the pity!--but in it," responded Rinkitink. "Are
+the warriors all gone?"
+
+"Yes," said Inga, "and they have taken my father and mother, and all
+our people, to be their slaves," he added, trying in vain to repress a
+sob.
+
+"So--so!" said Rinkitink softly; and then he paused a moment, as if in
+thought. Finally he said: "There are worse things than slavery, but I
+never imagined a well could be one of them. Tell me, Inga, could you
+let down some food to me? I'm nearly starved, and if you could manage
+to send me down some food I'd be well fed--hoo, hoo, heek, keek,
+eek!--well fed. Do you see the joke, Inga?"
+
+"Do not ask me to enjoy a joke just now, Your Majesty," begged Inga in
+a sad voice; "but if you will be patient I will try to find something
+for you to eat."
+
+He ran back to the ruins of the palace and began searching for bits of
+food with which to satisfy the hunger of the King, when to his surprise
+he observed the goat, Bilbil, wandering among the marble blocks.
+
+"What!" cried Inga. "Didn't the warriors get you, either?"
+
+"If they had," calmly replied Bilbil, "I shouldn't be here."
+
+"But how did you escape?" asked the boy.
+
+"Easily enough. I kept my mouth shut and stayed away from the rascals,"
+said the goat. "I knew that the soldiers would not care for a skinny
+old beast like me, for to the eye of a stranger I seem good for
+nothing. Had they known I could talk, and that my head contained more
+wisdom than a hundred of their own noddles, I might not have escaped so
+easily."
+
+"Perhaps you are right," said the boy.
+
+"I suppose they got the old man?" carelessly remarked Bilbil.
+
+"What old man?"
+
+"Rinkitink."
+
+"Oh, no! His Majesty is at the bottom of the well," said Inga, "and I
+don't know how to get him out again."
+
+"Then let him stay there," suggested the goat.
+
+"That would be cruel. I am sure, Bilbil, that you are fond of the good
+King, your master, and do not mean what you say. Together, let us find
+some way to save poor King Rinkitink. He is a very jolly companion, and
+has a heart exceedingly kind and gentle."
+
+"Oh, well; the old boy isn't so bad, taken altogether," admitted
+Bilbil, speaking in a more friendly tone. "But his bad jokes and fat
+laughter tire me dreadfully, at times."
+
+Prince Inga now ran back to the well, the goat following more leisurely.
+
+"Here's Bilbil!" shouted the boy to the King. "The enemy didn't get
+him, it seems."
+
+"That's lucky for the enemy," said Rinkitink. "But it's lucky for me,
+too, for perhaps the beast can assist me out of this hole. If you can
+let a rope down the well, I am sure that you and Bilbil, pulling
+together, will be able to drag me to the earth's surface."
+
+"Be patient and we will make the attempt," replied Inga encouragingly,
+and he ran to search the ruins for a rope. Presently he found one that
+had been used by the warriors in toppling over the towers, which in
+their haste they had neglected to remove, and with some difficulty he
+untied the knots and carried the rope to the mouth of the well.
+
+Bilbil had lain down to sleep and the refrain of a merry song came in
+muffled tones from the well, proving that Rinkitink was making a
+patient endeavor to amuse himself.
+
+"I've found a rope!" Inga called down to him; and then the boy
+proceeded to make a loop in one end of the rope, for the King to put
+his arms through, and the other end he placed over the drum of the
+windlass. He now aroused Bilbil and fastened the rope firmly around the
+goat's shoulders.
+
+"Are you ready?" asked the boy, leaning over the well.
+
+"I am," replied the King.
+
+"And I am not," growled the goat, "for I have not yet had my nap out.
+Old Rinki will be safe enough in the well until I've slept an hour or
+two longer."
+
+"But it is damp in the well," protested the boy, "and King Rinkitink
+may catch the rheumatism, so that he will have to ride upon your back
+wherever he goes."
+
+Hearing this, Bilbil jumped up at once.
+
+"Let's get him out," he said earnestly.
+
+"Hold fast!" shouted Inga to the King. Then he seized the rope and
+helped Bilbil to pull. They soon found the task more difficult than
+they had supposed. Once or twice the King's weight threatened to drag
+both the boy and the goat into the well, to keep Rinkitink company. But
+they pulled sturdily, being aware of this danger, and at last the King
+popped out of the hole and fell sprawling full length upon the ground.
+
+For a time he lay panting and breathing hard to get his breath back,
+while Inga and Bilbil were likewise worn out from their long strain at
+the rope; so the three rested quietly upon the grass and looked at one
+another in silence.
+
+Finally Bilbil said to the King: "I'm surprised at you. Why were you so
+foolish as to fall down that well? Don't you know it's a dangerous
+thing to do? You might have broken your neck in the fall, or been
+drowned in the water."
+
+"Bilbil," replied the King solemnly, "you're a goat. Do you imagine I
+fell down the well on purpose?"
+
+"I imagine nothing," retorted Bilbil. "I only know you were there."
+
+"There? Heh-heh-heek-keek-eek! To be sure I was there," laughed
+Rinkitink. "There in a dark hole, where there was no light; there in a
+watery well, where the wetness soaked me through and
+through--keek-eek-eek-eek!--through and through!"
+
+"How did it happen?" inquired Inga.
+
+"I was running away from the enemy," explained the King, "and I was
+carelessly looking over my shoulder at the same time, to see if they
+were chasing me. So I did not see the well, but stepped into it and
+found myself tumbling down to the bottom. I struck the water very
+neatly and began struggling to keep myself from drowning, but presently
+I found that when I stood upon my feet on the bottom of the well, that
+my chin was just above the water. So I stood still and yelled for help;
+but no one heard me."
+
+"If the warriors had heard you," said Bilbil, "they would have pulled
+you out and carried you away to be a slave. Then you would have been
+obliged to work for a living, and that would be a new experience."
+
+"Work!" exclaimed Rinkitink. "Me work? Hoo, hoo, heek-keek-eek! How
+absurd! I'm so stout--not to say chubby--not to say fat--that I can
+hardly walk, and I couldn't earn my salt at hard work. So I'm glad the
+enemy did not find me, Bilbil. How many others escaped?"
+
+"That I do not know," replied the boy, "for I have not yet had time to
+visit the other parts of the island. When you have rested and satisfied
+your royal hunger, it might be well for us to look around and see what
+the thieving warriors of Regos and Coregos have left us."
+
+"An excellent idea," declared Rinkitink. "I am somewhat feeble from my
+long confinement in the well, but I can ride upon Bilbil's back and we
+may as well start at once."
+
+Hearing this, Bilbil cast a surly glance at his master but said
+nothing, since it was really the goat's business to carry King
+Rinkitink wherever he desired to go.
+
+They first searched the ruins of the palace, and where the kitchen had
+once been they found a small quantity of food that had been half hidden
+by a block of marble. This they carefully placed in a sack to preserve
+it for future use, the little fat King having first eaten as much as he
+cared for. This consumed some time, for Rinkitink had been exceedingly
+hungry and liked to eat in a leisurely manner. When he had finished the
+meal he straddled Bilbil's back and set out to explore the island,
+Prince Inga walking by his side.
+
+They found on every hand ruin and desolation. The houses of the people
+had been pilfered of all valuables and then torn down or burned. Not a
+boat had been left upon the shore, nor was there a single person, man
+or woman or child, remaining upon the island, save themselves. The only
+inhabitants of Pingaree now consisted of a fat little King, a boy and a
+goat.
+
+Even Rinkitink, merry hearted as he was, found it hard to laugh in the
+face of this mighty disaster. Even the goat, contrary to its usual
+habit, refrained from saying anything disagreeable. As for the poor boy
+whose home was now a wilderness, the tears came often to his eyes as he
+marked the ruin of his dearly loved island.
+
+When, at nightfall, they reached the lower end of Pingaree and found it
+swept as bare as the rest, Inga's grief was almost more than he could
+bear. Everything had been swept from him--parents, home and country--in
+so brief a time that his bewilderment was equal to his sorrow.
+
+Since no house remained standing, in which they might sleep, the three
+wanderers crept beneath the overhanging branches of a cassa tree and
+curled themselves up as comfortably as possible. So tired and exhausted
+were they by the day's anxieties and griefs that their troubles soon
+faded into the mists of dreamland. Beast and King and boy slumbered
+peacefully together until wakened by the singing of the birds which
+greeted the dawn of a new day.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter Five
+
+The Three Pearls
+
+
+When King Rinkitink and Prince Inga had bathed themselves in the sea
+and eaten a simple breakfast, they began wondering what they could do
+to improve their condition.
+
+"The poor people of Gilgad," said Rinkitink cheerfully, "are little
+likely ever again to behold their King in the flesh, for my boat and my
+rowers are gone with everything else. Let us face the fact that we are
+imprisoned for life upon this island, and that our lives will be short
+unless we can secure more to eat than is in this small sack."
+
+"I'll not starve, for I can eat grass," remarked the goat in a pleasant
+tone--or a tone as pleasant as Bilbil could assume.
+
+"True, quite true," said the King. Then he seemed thoughtful for a
+moment and turning to Inga he asked: "Do you think, Prince, that if the
+worst comes, we could eat Bilbil?"
+
+The goat gave a groan and cast a reproachful look at his master as he
+said:
+
+"Monster! Would you, indeed, eat your old friend and servant?"
+
+"Not if I can help it, Bilbil," answered the King pleasantly. "You
+would make a remarkably tough morsel, and my teeth are not as good as
+they once were."
+
+While this talk was in progress Inga suddenly remembered the three
+pearls which his father had hidden under the tiled floor of the banquet
+hall. Without doubt King Kitticut had been so suddenly surprised by the
+invaders that he had found no opportunity to get the pearls, for
+otherwise the fierce warriors would have been defeated and driven out
+of Pingaree. So they must still be in their hiding place, and Inga
+believed they would prove of great assistance to him and his comrades
+in this hour of need. But the palace was a mass of ruins; perhaps he
+would be unable now to find the place where the pearls were hidden.
+
+He said nothing of this to Rinkitink, remembering that his father had
+charged him to preserve the secret of the pearls and of their magic
+powers. Nevertheless, the thought of securing the wonderful treasures
+of his ancestors gave the boy new hope.
+
+He stood up and said to the King:
+
+"Let us return to the other end of Pingaree. It is more pleasant than
+here in spite of the desolation of my father's palace. And there, if
+anywhere, we shall discover a way out of our difficulties."
+
+This suggestion met with Rinkitink's approval and the little party at
+once started upon the return journey. As there was no occasion to delay
+upon the way, they reached the big end of the island about the middle
+of the day and at once began searching the ruins of the palace.
+
+They found, to their satisfaction, that one room at the bottom of a
+tower was still habitable, although the roof was broken in and the
+place was somewhat littered with stones. The King was, as he said, too
+fat to do any hard work, so he sat down on a block of marble and
+watched Inga clear the room of its rubbish. This done, the boy hunted
+through the ruins until he discovered a stool and an armchair that had
+not been broken beyond use. Some bedding and a mattress were also
+found, so that by nightfall the little room had been made quite
+comfortable.
+
+The following morning, while Rinkitink was still sound asleep and
+Bilbil was busily cropping the dewy grass that edged the shore, Prince
+Inga began to search the tumbled heaps of marble for the place where
+the royal banquet hall had been. After climbing over the ruins for a
+time he reached a flat place which he recognized, by means of the tiled
+flooring and the broken furniture scattered about, to be the great hall
+he was seeking. But in the center of the floor, directly over the spot
+where the pearls were hidden, lay several large and heavy blocks of
+marble, which had been torn from the dismantled walls.
+
+This unfortunate discovery for a time discouraged the boy, who realized
+how helpless he was to remove such vast obstacles; but it was so
+important to secure the pearls that he dared not give way to despair
+until every human effort had been made, so he sat him down to think
+over the matter with great care.
+
+Meantime Rinkitink had risen from his bed and walked out upon the lawn,
+where he found Bilbil reclining at ease upon the greensward.
+
+"Where is Inga?" asked Rinkitink, rubbing his eyes with his knuckles
+because their vision was blurred with too much sleep.
+
+"Don't ask me," said the goat, chewing with much satisfaction a cud of
+sweet grasses.
+
+"Bilbil," said the King, squatting down beside the goat and resting his
+fat chin upon his hands and his elbows on his knees, "allow me to
+confide to you the fact that I am bored, and need amusement. My good
+friend Kitticut has been kidnapped by the barbarians and taken from me,
+so there is no one to converse with me intelligently. I am the King and
+you are the goat. Suppose you tell me a story.
+
+"Suppose I don't," said Bilbil, with a scowl, for a goat's face is very
+expressive.
+
+"If you refuse, I shall be more unhappy than ever, and I know your
+disposition is too sweet to permit that. Tell me a story, Bilbil."
+
+The goat looked at him with an expression of scorn. Said he:
+
+"One would think you are but four years old, Rinkitink! But there--I
+will do as you command. Listen carefully, and the story may do you some
+good--although I doubt if you understand the moral."
+
+"I am sure the story will do me good," declared the King, whose eyes
+were twinkling.
+
+"Once on a time," began the goat.
+
+"When was that, Bilbil?" asked the King gently.
+
+"Don't interrupt; it is impolite. Once on a time there was a King with
+a hollow inside his head, where most people have their brains, and--"
+
+"Is this a true story, Bilbil?"
+
+"And the King with a hollow head could chatter words, which had no
+sense, and laugh in a brainless manner at senseless things. That part
+of the story is true enough, Rinkitink."
+
+"Then proceed with the tale, sweet Bilbil. Yet it is hard to believe
+that any King could be brainless--unless, indeed, he proved it by
+owning a talking goat."
+
+Bilbil glared at him a full minute in silence. Then he resumed his
+story:
+
+"This empty-headed man was a King by accident, having been born to that
+high station. Also the King was empty-headed by the same chance, being
+born without brains."
+
+"Poor fellow!" quoth the King. "Did he own a talking goat?"
+
+"He did," answered Bilbil.
+
+"Then he was wrong to have been born at all. Cheek-eek-eek-eek, oo,
+hoo!" chuckled Rinkitink, his fat body shaking with merriment. "But
+it's hard to prevent oneself from being born; there's no chance for
+protest, eh, Bilbil?"
+
+"Who is telling this story, I'd like to know," demanded the goat, with
+anger.
+
+"Ask someone with brains, my boy; I'm sure I can't tell," replied the
+King, bursting into one of his merry fits of laughter.
+
+Bilbil rose to his hoofs and walked away in a dignified manner, leaving
+Rinkitink chuckling anew at the sour expression of the animal's face.
+
+"Oh, Bilbil, you'll be the death of me, some day--I'm sure you will!"
+gasped the King, taking out his lace handkerchief to wipe his eyes;
+for, as he often did, he had laughed till the tears came.
+
+Bilbil was deeply vexed and would not even turn his head to look at his
+master. To escape from Rinkitink he wandered among the ruins of the
+palace, where he came upon Prince Inga.
+
+"Good morning, Bilbil," said the boy. "I was just going to find you,
+that I might consult you upon an important matter. If you will kindly
+turn back with me I am sure your good judgment will be of great
+assistance."
+
+The angry goat was quite mollified by the respectful tone in which he
+was addressed, but he immediately asked:
+
+"Are you also going to consult that empty-headed King over yonder?"
+
+"I am sorry to hear you speak of your kind master in such a way," said
+the boy gravely. "All men are deserving of respect, being the highest
+of living creatures, and Kings deserve respect more than others, for
+they are set to rule over many people."
+
+"Nevertheless," said Bilbil with conviction, "Rinkitink's head is
+certainly empty of brains."
+
+"That I am unwilling to believe," insisted Inga. "But anyway his heart
+is kind and gentle and that is better than being wise. He is merry in
+spite of misfortunes that would cause others to weep and he never
+speaks harsh words that wound the feelings of his friends."
+
+"Still," growled Bilbil, "he is--"
+
+"Let us forget everything but his good nature, which puts new heart
+into us when we are sad," advised the boy.
+
+"But he is--"
+
+"Come with me, please," interrupted Inga, "for the matter of which I
+wish to speak is very important."
+
+Bilbil followed him, although the boy still heard the goat muttering
+that the King had no brains. Rinkitink, seeing them turn into the
+ruins, also followed, and upon joining them asked for his breakfast.
+
+Inga opened the sack of food and while he and the King ate of it the
+boy said:
+
+"If I could find a way to remove some of the blocks of marble which
+have fallen in the banquet hall, I think I could find means for us to
+escape from this barren island."
+
+"Then," mumbled Rinkitink, with his mouth full, "let us move the blocks
+of marble."
+
+"But how?" inquired Prince Inga. "They are very heavy."
+
+"Ah, how, indeed?" returned the  King, smacking his lips contentedly.
+"That is a serious question. But--I have it! Let us see what my famous
+parchment says about it." He wiped his fingers upon a napkin and then,
+taking the scroll from a pocket inside his embroidered blouse, he
+unrolled it and read the following words: 'Never step on another man's
+toes.'
+
+The goat gave a snort of contempt; Inga was silent; the King looked
+from one to the other inquiringly.
+
+"That's the idea, exactly!" declared Rinkitink.
+
+"To be sure," said Bilbil scornfully, "it tells us exactly how to move
+the blocks of marble."
+
+"Oh, does it?" responded the King, and then for a moment he rubbed the
+top of his bald head in a perplexed manner. The next moment he burst
+into a peal of joyous laughter. The goat looked at Inga and sighed.
+
+"What did I tell you?" asked the creature. "Was I right, or was I
+wrong?"
+
+"This scroll," said Rinkitink, "is indeed a masterpiece. Its advice is
+of tremendous value. 'Never step on another man's toes.' Let us think
+this over. The inference is that we should step upon our own toes,
+which were given us for that purpose. Therefore, if I stepped upon
+another man's toes, I would be the other man. Hoo, hoo, hoo!--the other
+man--hee, hee, heek-keek-eek! Funny, isn't it?"
+
+"Didn't I say--" began Bilbil.
+
+"No matter what you said, my boy," roared the King. "No fool could have
+figured that out as nicely as I did."
+
+"We have still to decide how to remove the blocks of marble," suggested
+Inga anxiously.
+
+ "Fasten a rope to them, and pull," said Bilbil.
+"Don't pay any more attention to Rinkitink, for he is no wiser than the
+man who wrote that brainless scroll. Just get the rope, and we'll
+fasten Rinkitink to one end of it for a weight and I'll help you pull."
+
+"Thank you, Bilbil," replied the boy. "I'll get the rope at once."
+
+Bilbil found it difficult to climb over the ruins to the floor of the
+banquet hall, but there are few places a goat cannot get to when it
+makes the attempt, so Bilbil succeeded at last, and even fat little
+Rinkitink finally joined them, though much out of breath.
+
+Inga fastened one end of the rope around a block of marble and then
+made a loop at the other end to go over Bilbil's head. When all was
+ready the boy seized the rope and helped the goat to pull; yet, strain
+as they might, the huge block would not stir from its place. Seeing
+this, King Rinkitink came forward and lent his assistance, the weight
+of his body forcing the heavy marble to slide several feet from where
+it had lain.
+
+But it was hard work and all were obliged to take a long rest before
+undertaking the removal of the next block.
+
+"Admit, Bilbil," said the King, "that I am of some use in the world."
+
+"Your weight was of considerable help," acknowledged the goat, "but if
+your head were as well filled as your stomach the task would be still
+easier."
+
+When Inga went to fasten the rope a second time he was rejoiced to
+discover that by moving one more block of marble he could uncover the
+tile with the secret spring. So the three pulled with renewed energy
+and to their joy the block moved and rolled upon its side, leaving Inga
+free to remove the treasure when he pleased.
+
+But the boy had no intention of allowing Bilbil and the King to share
+the secret of the royal treasures of Pingaree; so, although both the
+goat and its master demanded to know why the marble blocks had been
+moved, and how it would benefit them, Inga begged them to wait until
+the next morning, when he hoped to be able to satisfy them that their
+hard work had not been in vain.
+
+Having little confidence in this promise of a mere boy, the goat
+grumbled and the King laughed; but Inga paid no heed to their ridicule
+and set himself to work rigging up a fishing rod, with line and hook.
+During the afternoon he waded out to some rocks near the shore and
+fished patiently until he had captured enough yellow perch for their
+supper and breakfast.
+
+"Ah," said Rinkitink, looking at the fine catch when Inga returned to
+the shore; "these will taste delicious when they are cooked; but do you
+know how to cook them?"
+
+"No," was the reply. "I have often caught fish, but never cooked them.
+Perhaps Your Majesty understands cooking."
+
+"Cooking and majesty are two different things," laughed the little
+King. "I could not cook a fish to save me from starvation."
+
+"For my part," said Bilbil, "I never eat fish, but I can tell you how
+to cook them, for I have often watched the palace cooks at their work."
+And so, with the goat's assistance, the boy and the King managed to
+prepare the fish and cook them, after which they were eaten with good
+appetite.
+
+That night, after Rinkitink and Bilbil were both fast asleep, Inga
+stole quietly through the moonlight to the desolate banquet hall.
+There, kneeling down, he touched the secret spring as his father had
+instructed him to do and to his joy the tile sank downward and
+disclosed the opening. You may imagine how the boy's heart throbbed
+with excitement as he slowly thrust his hand into the cavity and felt
+around to see if the precious pearls were still there. In a moment his
+fingers touched the silken bag and, without pausing to close the
+recess, he pressed the treasure against his breast and ran out into the
+moonlight to examine it. When he reached a bright place he started to
+open the bag, but he observed Bilbil lying asleep upon the grass near
+by. So, trembling with the fear of discovery, he ran to another place,
+and when he paused he heard Rinkitink snoring lustily. Again he fled
+and made his way to the seashore, where he squatted under a bank and
+began to untie the cords that fastened the mouth of the bag. But now
+another fear assailed him.
+
+"If the pearls should slip from my hand," he thought, "and roll into
+the water, they might be lost to me forever. I must find some safer
+place."
+
+Here and there he wandered, still clasping the silken bag in both
+hands, and finally he went to the grove and climbed into the tall tree
+where he had made his platform and seat. But here it was pitch dark, so
+he found he must wait patiently until morning before he dared touch the
+pearls. During those hours of waiting he had time for reflection and
+reproached himself for being so frightened by the possession of his
+father's treasures.
+
+"These pearls have belonged to our family for generations," he mused,
+"yet no one has ever lost them. If I use ordinary care I am sure I need
+have no fears for their safety."
+
+When the dawn came and he could see plainly, Inga opened the bag and
+took out the Blue Pearl. There was no possibility of his being observed
+by others, so he took time to examine it wonderingly, saying to
+himself: "This will give me strength."
+
+Taking off his right shoe he placed the Blue Pearl within it, far up in
+the pointed toe. Then he tore a piece from his handkerchief and stuffed
+it into the shoe to hold the pearl in place. Inga's shoes were long and
+pointed, as were all the shoes worn in Pingaree, and the points curled
+upward, so that there was quite a vacant space beyond the place where
+the boy's toes reached when the shoe was upon his foot.
+
+After he had put on the Shoe and laced it up he opened the bag and took
+out the Pink Pearl. "This will protect me from danger," said Inga, and
+removing the shoe from his left foot he carefully placed the pearl in
+the hollow toe. This, also, he secured in place by means of a strip
+torn from his handkerchief.
+
+Having put on the second shoe and laced it up, the boy drew from the
+silken bag the third pearl--that which was pure white--and holding it
+to his ear he asked.
+
+"Will you advise me what to do, in this my hour of misfortune?"
+
+Clearly the small voice of the pearl made answer:
+
+"I advise you to go to the Islands of Regos and Coregos, where you may
+liberate your parents from slavery."
+
+"How could I do that?" exclaimed Prince Inga, amazed at receiving such
+advice.
+
+"To-night," spoke the voice of the pearl, "there will be a storm, and
+in the morning a boat will strand upon the shore. Take this boat and
+row to Regos and Coregos."
+
+"How can I, a weak boy, pull the boat so far?" he inquired, doubting
+the possibility.
+
+"The Blue Pearl will give you strength," was the reply.
+
+"But I may be shipwrecked and drowned, before ever I reach Regos and
+Coregos," protested the boy.
+
+"The Pink Pearl will protect you from harm," murmured the voice, soft
+and low but very distinct.
+
+"Then I shall act as you advise me," declared Inga, speaking firmly
+because this promise gave him courage, and as he removed the pearl from
+his ear it whispered:
+
+"The wise and fearless are sure to win success."
+
+Restoring the White Pearl to the depths of the silken bag, Inga
+fastened it securely around his neck and buttoned his waist above it to
+hide the treasure from all prying eyes. Then he slowly climbed down
+from the tree and returned to the room where King Rinkitink still slept.
+
+The goat was browsing upon the grass but looked cross and surly. When
+the boy said good morning as he passed, Bilbil made no response
+whatever. As Inga entered the room the King awoke and asked:
+
+"What is that mysterious secret of yours? I've been dreaming about it,
+and I haven't got my breath yet from tugging at those heavy blocks.
+Tell me the secret."
+
+"A secret told is no longer a secret," replied Inga, with a laugh.
+"Besides, this is a family secret, which it is proper I should keep to
+myself. But I may tell you one thing, at least: We are going to leave
+this island to-morrow morning."
+
+The King seemed puzzled' by this statement.
+
+"I'm not much of a swimmer," said he, "and, though I'm fat enough to
+float upon the surface of the water, I'd only bob around and get
+nowhere at all."
+
+"We shall not swim, but ride comfortably in a boat," promised Inga.
+
+"There isn't a boat on this island!" declared Rinkitink, looking upon
+the boy with wonder.
+
+"True," said Inga. "But one will come to us in the morning." He spoke
+positively, for he had perfect faith in the promise of the White Pearl;
+but Rinkitink, knowing nothing of the three marvelous jewels, began to
+fear that the little Prince had lost his mind through grief and
+misfortune.
+
+For this reason the King did not question the boy further but tried to
+cheer him by telling him witty stories. He laughed at all the stories
+himself, in his merry, rollicking way, and Inga joined freely in the
+laughter because his heart had been lightened by the prospect of
+rescuing his dear parents. Not since the fierce warriors had descended
+upon Pingaree had the boy been so hopeful and happy.
+
+With Rinkitink riding upon Bilbil's back, the three made a tour of the
+island and found in the central part some bushes and trees bearing ripe
+fruit. They gathered this freely, for--aside from the fish which Inga
+caught--it was the only food they now had, and the less they had, the
+bigger Rinkitink's appetite seemed to grow.
+
+"I am never more happy," said he with a sigh, "than when I am eating."
+
+Toward evening the sky became overcast and soon a great storm began to
+rage. Prince Inga and King Rinkitink took refuge within the shelter of
+the room they had fitted up and there Bilbil joined them. The goat and
+the King were somewhat disturbed by the violence of the storm, but Inga
+did not mind it, being pleased at this evidence that the White Pearl
+might be relied upon.
+
+All night the wind shrieked around the island; thunder rolled,
+lightning flashed and rain came down in torrents. But with morning the
+storm abated and when the sun arose no sign of the tempest remained
+save a few fallen trees.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter Six
+
+The Magic Boat
+
+
+Prince Inga was up with the sun and, accompanied by Bilbil, began
+walking along the shore in search of the boat which the White Pearl had
+promised him. Never for an instant did he doubt that he would find it
+and before he had walked any great distance a dark object at the
+water's edge caught his eye.
+
+"It is the boat, Bilbil!" he cried joyfully, and running down to it he
+found it was, indeed, a large and roomy boat. Although stranded upon
+the beach, it was in perfect order and had suffered in no way from the
+storm.
+
+Inga stood for some moments gazing upon the handsome craft and
+wondering where it could have come from. Certainly it was unlike any
+boat he had ever seen. On the outside it was painted a lustrous black,
+without any other color to relieve it; but all the inside of the boat
+was lined with pure silver, polished so highly that the surface
+resembled a mirror and glinted brilliantly in the rays of the sun. The
+seats had white velvet cushions upon them and the cushions were
+splendidly embroidered with threads of gold. At one end, beneath the
+broad seat, was a small barrel with silver hoops, which the boy found
+was filled with fresh, sweet water. A great chest of sandalwood, bound
+and ornamented with silver, stood in the other end of the boat. Inga
+raised the lid and discovered the chest filled with sea-biscuits,
+cakes, tinned meats and ripe, juicy melons; enough good and wholesome
+food to last the party a long time.
+
+Lying upon the bottom of the boat were two shining oars, and overhead,
+but rolled back now, was a canopy of silver cloth to ward off the heat
+of the sun.
+
+It is no wonder the boy was delighted with the appearance of this
+beautiful boat; but on reflection he feared it was too large for him to
+row any great distance. Unless, indeed, the Blue Pearl gave him unusual
+strength.
+
+While he was considering this matter, King Rinkitink came waddling up
+to him and said:
+
+"Well, well, well, my Prince, your words have come true! Here is the
+boat, for a certainty, yet how it came here--and how you knew it would
+come to us--are puzzles that mystify me. I do not question our good
+fortune, however, and my heart is bubbling with joy, for in this boat I
+will return at once to my City of Gilgad, from which I have remained
+absent altogether too long a time."
+
+"I do not wish to go to Gilgad," said Inga.
+
+"That is too bad, my friend, for you would be very welcome. But you may
+remain upon this island, if you wish," continued Rinkitink, "and when I
+get home I will send some of my people to rescue you."
+
+"It is my boat, Your Majesty," said Inga quietly.
+
+"May be, may be," was the careless answer, "but I am King of a great
+country, while you are a boy Prince without any kingdom to speak of.
+Therefore, being of greater importance than you, it is just and right
+that I take, your boat and return to my own country in it."
+
+"I am sorry to differ from Your Majesty's views," said Inga, "but
+instead of going to Gilgad I consider it of greater importance that we
+go to the islands of Regos and Coregos."
+
+"Hey? What!" cried the astounded King. "To Regos and Coregos! To become
+slaves of the barbarians, like the King, your father? No, no, my boy!
+Your Uncle Rinki may have an empty noddle, as Bilbil claims, but he is
+far too wise to put his head in the lion's mouth. It's no fun to be a
+slave."
+
+"The people of Regos and Coregos will not enslave us," declared Inga.
+"On the contrary, it is my intention to set free my dear parents, as
+well as all my people, and to bring them back again to Pingaree."
+
+"Cheek-eek-eek-eek-eek! How funny!" chuckled Rinkitink, winking at the
+goat, which scowled in return. "Your audacity takes my breath away,
+Inga, but the adventure has its charm, I must, confess. Were I not so
+fat, I'd agree to your plan at once, and could probably conquer that
+horde of fierce warriors without any assistance at all--any at all--eh,
+Bilbil? But I grieve to say that I am fat, and not in good fighting
+trim. As for your determination to do what I admit I can't do, Inga, I
+fear you forget that you are only a boy, and rather small at that."
+
+"No, I do not forget that," was Inga's reply.
+
+"Then please consider that you and I and Bilbil are not strong enough,
+as an army, to conquer a powerful nation of skilled warriors. We could
+attempt it, of course, but you are too young to die, while I am too
+old. Come with me to my City of Gilgad, where you will be greatly
+honored. I'll have my professors teach you how to be good. Eh? What do
+you say?"
+
+Inga was a little embarrassed how to reply to these arguments, which he
+knew King Rinkitink considered were wise; so, after a period of
+thought, he said:
+
+"I will make a bargain with Your Majesty, for I do not wish to fail in
+respect to so worthy a man and so great a King as yourself. This boat
+is mine, as I have said, and in my father's absence you have become my
+guest; therefore I claim that I am entitled to some consideration, as
+well as you."
+
+"No doubt of it," agreed Rinkitink. "What is the bargain you propose,
+Inga?"
+
+"Let us both get into the boat, and you shall first try to row us to
+Gilgad. If you succeed, I will accompany you right willingly; but
+should you fail, I will then row the boat to Regos, and you must come
+with me without further protest."
+
+"A fair and just bargain!" cried the King, highly pleased. "Yet,
+although I am a man of mighty deeds, I do not relish the prospect of
+rowing so big a boat all the way to Gilgad. But I will do my best and
+abide by the result."
+
+The matter being thus peaceably settled, they prepared to embark. A
+further supply of fruits was placed in the boat and Inga also raked up
+a quantity of the delicious oysters that abounded on the coast of
+Pingaree but which he had before been unable to reach for lack of a
+boat. This was done at the suggestion of the ever-hungry Rinkitink, and
+when the oysters had been stowed in their shells behind the water
+barrel and a plentiful supply of grass brought aboard for Bilbil, they
+decided they were ready to start on their voyage.
+
+It proved no easy task to get Bilbil into the boat, for he was a
+remarkably clumsy goat and once, when Rinkitink gave him a push, he
+tumbled into the water and nearly drowned before they could get him out
+again. But there was no thought of leaving the quaint animal behind.
+His power of speech made him seem almost human in the eyes of the boy,
+and the fat King was so accustomed to his surly companion that nothing
+could have induced him to part with him. Finally Bilbil fell sprawling
+into the bottom of the boat, and Inga helped him to get to the front
+end, where there was enough space for him to lie down.
+
+Rinkitink now took his seat in the silver-lined craft and the boy came
+last, pushing off the boat as he sprang aboard, so that it floated
+freely upon the water.
+
+"Well, here we go for Gilgad!" exclaimed the King, picking up the oars
+and placing them in the row-locks. Then he began to row as hard as he
+could, singing at the same time an odd sort of a song that ran like
+this:
+
+  "The way to Gilgad isn't bad
+  For a stout old King and a brave young lad,
+  For a cross old goat with a dripping coat,
+  And a silver boat in which to float.
+  So our hearts are merry, light and glad
+  As we speed away to fair Gilgad!"
+
+
+"Don't, Rinkitink; please don't! It makes me seasick," growled Bilbil.
+
+Rinkitink stopped rowing, for by this time he was all out of breath and
+his round face was covered with big drops of perspiration. And when he
+looked over his shoulder he found to his dismay that the boat had
+scarcely moved a foot from its former position.
+
+Inga said nothing and appeared not to notice the King's failure. So now
+Rinkitink, with a serious look on his fat, red face, took off his
+purple robe and rolled up the sleeves of his tunic and tried again.
+
+However, he succeeded no better than before and when he heard Bilbil
+give a gruff laugh and saw a smile upon the boy Prince's face,
+Rinkitink suddenly dropped the oars and began shouting with laughter at
+his own defeat. As he wiped his brow with a yellow silk handkerchief he
+sang in a merry voice:
+
+  "A sailor bold am I, I hold,
+  But boldness will not row a boat.
+  So I confess I'm in distress
+  And just as useless as the goat."
+
+
+"Please leave me out of your verses," said Bilbil with a snort of anger.
+
+"When I make a fool of myself, Bilbil, I'm a goat," replied Rinkitink.
+
+"Not so," insisted Bilbil. "Nothing could make you a member of my
+superior race."
+
+"Superior? Why, Bilbil, a goat is but a beast, while I am a King!"
+
+"I claim that superiority lies in intelligence," said the goat.
+
+Rinkitink paid no attention to this remark, but turning to Inga he said:
+
+"We may as well get back to the shore, for the boat is too heavy to row
+to Gilgad or anywhere else. Indeed, it will be hard for us to reach
+land again."
+
+"Let me take the oars," suggested Inga. "You must not forget our
+bargain."
+
+"No, indeed," answered Rinkitink. "If you can row us to Regos, or to
+any other place, I will go with you without protest."
+
+So the King took Inga's place at the stern of the boat and the boy
+grasped the oars and commenced to row. And now, to the great wonder of
+Rinkitink--and even to Inga's surprise--the oars became light as
+feathers as soon as the Prince took hold of them. In an instant the
+boat began to glide rapidly through the water and, seeing this, the boy
+turned its prow toward the north. He did not know exactly where Regos
+and Coregos were located, but he did know that the islands lay to the
+north of Pingaree, so he decided to trust to luck and the guidance of
+the pearls to carry him to them.
+
+Gradually the Island of Pingaree became smaller to their view as the
+boat sped onward, until at the end of an hour they had lost sight of it
+altogether and were wholly surrounded by the purple waters of the
+Nonestic Ocean.
+
+Prince Inga did not tire from the labor of rowing; indeed, it seemed to
+him no labor at all. Once he stopped long enough to place the poles of
+the canopy in the holes that had been made for them, in the edges of
+the boat, and to spread the canopy of silver over the poles, for
+Rinkitink had complained of the sun's heat. But the canopy shut out the
+hot rays and rendered the interior of the boat cool and pleasant.
+
+"This is a glorious ride!" cried Rinkitink, as he lay back in the
+shade. "I find it a decided relief to be away from that dismal island
+of Pingaree.
+
+"It may be a relief for a short time," said Bilbil, "but you are going
+to the land of your enemies, who will probably stick your fat body full
+of spears and arrows."
+
+"Oh, I hope not!" exclaimed Inga, distressed at the thought.
+
+"Never mind," said the King calmly, "a man can die but once, you know,
+and when the enemy kills me I shall beg him to kill Bilbil, also, that
+we may remain together in death as in life."
+
+"They may be cannibals, in which case they will roast and eat us,"
+suggested Bilbil, who wished to terrify his master.
+
+"Who knows?" answered Rinkitink, with a shudder. "But cheer up, Bilbil;
+they may not kill us after all, or even capture us; so let us not
+borrow trouble. Do not look so cross, my sprightly quadruped, and I
+will sing to amuse you."
+
+"Your song would make me more cross than ever," grumbled the goat.
+
+"Quite impossible, dear Bilbil. You couldn't be more surly if you
+tried. So here is a famous song for you."
+
+While the boy rowed steadily on and the boat rushed fast over the
+water, the jolly King, who never could be sad or serious for many
+minutes at a time, lay back on his embroidered cushions and sang as
+follows:
+
+  "A merry maiden went to sea--
+  Sing too-ral-oo-ral-i-do!
+  She sat upon the Captain's knee
+  And looked around the sea to see
+  What she could see, but she couldn't see me--
+  Sing too-ral-oo-ral-i-do!
+
+
+"How do you like that, Bilbil?"
+
+"I don't like it," complained the goat. "It reminds me of the alligator
+that tried to whistle."
+
+"Did he succeed, Bilbil?" asked the King.
+
+"He whistled as well as you sing."
+
+"Ha, ha, ha, ha, heek, keek, eek!" chuckled the King. "He must have
+whistled most exquisitely, eh, my friend?"
+
+"I am not your friend," returned the goat, wagging his ears in a surly
+manner.
+
+"I am yours, however," was the King's cheery reply; "and to prove it
+I'll sing you another verse."
+
+"Don't, I beg of you!"
+
+But the King sang as follows:
+
+  "The wind blew off the maiden's shoe--
+    Sing too-ral-oo-ral-i-do!
+  And the shoe flew high to the sky so blue
+  And the maiden knew 'twas a new shoe, too;
+  But she couldn't pursue the shoe, 'tis true--
+    Sing too-ral-oo-ral-i-do!
+
+
+"Isn't that sweet, my pretty goat?"
+
+"Sweet, do you ask?" retorted Bilbil. "I consider it as sweet as candy
+made from mustard and vinegar."
+
+"But not as sweet as your disposition, I admit. Ah, Bilbil, your temper
+would put honey itself to shame."
+
+"Do not quarrel, I beg of you," pleaded Inga. "Are we not sad enough
+already?"
+
+"But this is a jolly quarrel," said the King, "and it is the way Bilbil
+and I often amuse ourselves. Listen, now, to the last verse of all:
+
+  "The maid who shied her shoe now cried--
+    Sing too-ral-oo-ral-i-do!
+  Her tears were fried for the Captain's bride
+  Who ate with pride her sobs, beside,
+  And gently sighed 'I'm satisfied'--
+    Sing to-ral-oo-ral-i-do!"
+
+
+"Worse and worse!" grumbled Bilbil, with much scorn. "I am glad that is
+the last verse, for another of the same kind might cause me to faint."
+
+"I fear you have no ear for music," said the King.
+
+"I have heard no music, as yet," declared the goat. "You must have a
+strong imagination, King Rinkitink, if you consider your songs music.
+Do you remember the story of the bear that hired out for a nursemaid?"
+
+"I do not recall it just now," said Rinkitink, with a wink at Inga.
+
+"Well, the bear tried to sing a lullaby to put the baby to sleep."
+
+"And then?" said the King.
+
+"The bear was highly pleased with its own voice, but the baby was
+nearly frightened to death."
+
+"Heh, heb, heh, heh, whoo, hoo, hoo! You are a merry rogue, Bilbil,"
+laughed the King; "a merry rogue in spite of your gloomy features.
+However, if I have not amused you, I have at least pleased myself, for
+I am exceedingly fond of a good song. So let us say no more about it."
+
+All this time the boy Prince was rowing the boat. He was not in the
+least tired, for the oars he held seemed to move of their own accord.
+He paid little heed to the conversation of Rinkitink and the goat, but
+busied his thoughts with plans of what he should do when he reached the
+islands of Regos and Coregos and confronted his enemies. When the
+others finally became silent, Inga inquired.
+
+"Can you fight, King Rinkitink?"
+
+"I have never tried," was the answer. "In time of danger I have found
+it much easier to run away than to face the foe."
+
+"But could you fight?" asked the boy.
+
+"I might try, if there was no chance to escape by running. Have you a
+proper weapon for me to fight with?"
+
+"I have no weapon at all," confessed Inga.
+
+"Then let us use argument and persuasion instead of fighting. For
+instance, if we could persuade the warriors of Regos to lie down, and
+let me step on them, they would be crushed with ease."
+
+Prince Inga had expected little support from the King, so he was not
+discouraged by this answer. After all, he reflected, a conquest by
+battle would be out of the question, yet the White Pearl would not have
+advised him to go to Regos and Coregos had the mission been a hopeless
+one. It seemed to him, on further reflection, that he must rely upon
+circumstances to determine his actions when he reached the islands of
+the barbarians.
+
+By this time Inga felt perfect confidence in the Magic Pearls. It was
+the White Pearl that had given him the boat, and the Blue Pearl that
+had given him strength to row it. He believed that the Pink Pearl would
+protect him from any danger that might arise; so his anxiety was not
+for himself, but for his companions. King Rinkitink and the goat had no
+magic to protect them, so Inga resolved to do all in his power to keep
+them from harm.
+
+For three days and three nights the boat with the silver lining sped
+swiftly over the ocean. On the morning of the fourth day, so quickly
+had they traveled, Inga saw before him the shores of the two great
+islands of Regos and Coregos.
+
+"The pearls have guided me aright!" he whispered to himself. "Now, if I
+am wise, and cautious, and brave, I believe I shall be able to rescue
+my father and mother and my people."
+
+
+
+
+Chapter Seven
+
+The Twin Islands
+
+
+The Island of Regos was ten miles wide and forty miles long and it was
+ruled by a big and powerful King named Gos. Near to the shores were
+green and fertile fields, but farther back from the sea were rugged
+hills and mountains, so rocky that nothing would grow there. But in
+these mountains were mines of gold and silver, which the slaves of the
+King were forced to work, being confined in dark underground passages
+for that purpose. In the course of time huge caverns had been hollowed
+out by the slaves, in which they lived and slept, never seeing the
+light of day. Cruel overseers with whips stood over these poor people,
+who had been captured in many countries by the raiding parties of King
+Cos, and the overseers were quite willing to lash the slaves with their
+whips if they faltered a moment in their work.
+
+Between the green shores and the mountains were forests of thick,
+tangled trees, between which narrow paths had been cut to lead up to
+the caves of the mines. It was on the level green meadows, not far from
+the ocean, that the great City of Regos had been built, wherein was
+located the palace of the King. This city was inhabited by thousands of
+the fierce warriors of Gos, who frequently took to their boats and
+spread over the sea to the neighboring islands to conquer and pillage,
+as they had done at Pingaree. When they were not absent on one of these
+expeditions, the City of Regos swarmed with them and so became a
+dangerous place for any peaceful person to live in, for the warriors
+were as lawless as their King.
+
+The Island of Coregos lay close beside the Island of Regos; so close,
+indeed, that one might have thrown a stone from one shore to another.
+But Coregos was only half the size of Regos and instead of being
+mountainous it was a rich and pleasant country, covered with fields of
+grain. The fields of Coregos furnished food for the warriors and
+citizens of both countries, while the mines of Regos made them all rich.
+
+Coregos was ruled by Queen Cor, who was wedded to King Gos; but so
+stern and cruel was the nature of this Queen that the people could not
+decide which of their sovereigns they dreaded most.
+
+Queen Cor lived in her own City of Coregos, which lay on that side of
+her island facing Regos, and her slaves, who were mostly women, were
+made to plow the land and to plant and harvest the grain.
+
+From Regos to Coregos stretched a bridge of boats, set close together,
+with planks laid across their edges for people to walk upon. In this
+way it was easy to pass from one island to the other and in times of
+danger the bridge could be quickly removed.
+
+The native inhabitants of Regos and Coregos consisted of the warriors,
+who did nothing but fight and ravage, and the trembling servants who
+waited on them. King Gos and Queen Cor were at war with all the rest of
+the world. Other islanders hated and feared them, for their slaves were
+badly treated and absolutely no mercy was shown to the weak or ill.
+
+When the boats that had gone to Pingaree returned loaded with rich
+plunder and a host of captives, there was much rejoicing in Regos and
+Coregos and the King and Queen gave a fine feast to the warriors who
+had accomplished so great a conquest. This feast was set for the
+warriors in the grounds of King Gos's palace, while with them in the
+great throne room all the captains and leaders of the fighting men were
+assembled with King Gos and Queen Cor, who had come from her island to
+attend the ceremony. Then all the goods that had been stolen from the
+King of Pingaree were divided according to rank, the King and Queen
+taking half, the captains a quarter, and the rest being divided amongst
+the warriors.
+
+The day following the feast King Gos sent King Kitticut and all the men
+of Pingaree to work in his mines under the mountains, having first
+chained them together so they could not escape. The gentle Queen of
+Pingaree and all her women, together with the captured children, were
+given to Queen Cor, who set them to work in her grain fields.
+
+Then the rulers and warriors of these dreadful islands thought they had
+done forever with Pingaree. Despoiled of all its wealth, its houses
+torn down, its boats captured and all its people enslaved, what
+likelihood was there that they might ever again hear of the desolated
+island? So the people of Regos and Coregos were surprised and puzzled
+when one morning they observed approaching their shores from the
+direction of the south a black boat containing a boy, a fat man and a
+goat. The warriors asked one another who these could be, and where they
+had come from? No one ever came to those islands of their own accord,
+that was certain.
+
+Prince Inga guided his boat to the south end of the Island of Regos,
+which was the landing place nearest to the city, and when the warriors
+saw this action they went down to the shore to meet him, being led by a
+big captain named Buzzub.
+
+"Those people surely mean us no good," said Rinkitink uneasily to the
+boy. "Without doubt they intend to capture us and make us their slaves."
+
+"Do not fear, sir," answered Inga, in a calm voice. "Stay quietly in
+the boat with Bilbil until I have spoken with these men."
+
+He stopped the boat a dozen feet from the shore, and standing up in his
+place made a grave bow to the multitude confronting him. Said the big
+Captain Buzzub in a gruff voice:
+
+"Well, little one, who may you be? And how dare you come, uninvited and
+all alone, to the Island of Regos?"
+
+"I am Inga, Prince of Pingaree," returned the boy, "and I have come
+here to free my parents and my people, whom you have wrongfully
+enslaved."
+
+When they heard this bold speech a mighty laugh arose from the band of
+warriors, and when it had subsided the captain said:
+
+"You love to jest, my baby Prince, and the joke is fairly good. But why
+did you willingly thrust your head into the lion's mouth? When you were
+free, why did you not stay free? We did not know we had left a single
+person in Pingaree! But since you managed to escape us then, it is
+really kind of you to come here of your own free will, to be our slave.
+Who is the funny fat person with you?"
+
+"It is His Majesty, King Rinkitink, of the great City of Gilgad. He has
+accompanied me to see that you render full restitution for all you have
+stolen from Pingaree."
+
+"Better yet!" laughed Buzzub. "He will make a fine slave for Queen Cor,
+who loves to tickle fat men, and see them jump."
+
+King Rinkitink was filled with horror when he heard this, but the
+Prince answered as boldly as before, saying:
+
+"We are not to be frightened by bluster, believe me; nor are we so weak
+as you imagine. We have magic powers so great and terrible that no host
+of warriors can possibly withstand us, and therefore I call upon you to
+surrender your city and your island to us, before we crush you with our
+mighty powers."
+
+The boy spoke very gravely and earnestly, but his words only aroused
+another shout of laughter. So while the men of Regos were laughing Inga
+drove the boat we'll up onto the sandy beach and leaped out. He also
+helped Rinkitink out, and when the goat had unaided sprung to the
+sands, the King got upon Bilbil's back, trembling a little internally,
+but striving to look as brave as possible.
+
+There was a bunch of coarse hair between the goat's ears, and this Inga
+clutched firmly in his left hand. The boy knew the Pink Pearl would
+protect not only himself, but all whom he touched, from any harm, and
+as Rinkitink was astride the goat and Inga had his hand upon the
+animal, the three could not be injured by anything the warriors could
+do. But Captain Buzzub did not know this, and the little group of three
+seemed so weak and ridiculous that he believed their capture would be
+easy. So he turned to his men and with a wave of his hand said:
+
+"Seize the intruders!"
+
+Instantly two or three of the warriors stepped forward to obey, but to
+their amazement they could not reach any of the three; their hands were
+arrested as if by an invisible wall of iron. Without paying any
+attention to these attempts at capture, Inga advanced slowly and the
+goat kept pace with him. And when Rinkitink saw that he was safe from
+harm he gave one of his big, merry laughs, and it startled the warriors
+and made them nervous. Captain Buzzub's eyes grew big with surprise as
+the three steadily advanced and forced his men backward; nor was he
+free from terror himself at the magic that protected these strange
+visitors. As for the warriors, they presently became terror-stricken
+and fled in a panic up the slope toward the city, and Buzzub was
+obliged to chase after them and shout threats of punishment before he
+could halt them and form them into a line of battle.
+
+All the men of Regos bore spears and bows-and-arrows, and some of the
+officers had swords and battle-axes; so Buzzub ordered them to stand
+their ground and shoot and slay the strangers as they approached. This
+they tried to do. Inga being in advance, the warriors sent a flight of
+sharp arrows straight at the boy's breast, while others cast their long
+spears at him.
+
+It seemed to Rinkitink that the little Prince must surely perish as he
+stood facing this hail of murderous missiles; but the power of the Pink
+Pearl did not desert him, and when the arrows and spears had reached to
+within an inch of his body they bounded back again and fell harmlessly
+at his feet. Nor were Rinkitink or Bilbil injured in the least,
+although they stood close beside Inga.
+
+Buzzub stood for a moment looking upon the boy in silent wonder. Then,
+recovering himself, he shouted in a loud voice:
+
+"Once again! All together, my men. No one shall ever defy our might and
+live!"
+
+Again a flight of arrows and spears sped toward the three, and since
+many more of the warriors of Regos had by this time joined their
+fellows, the air was for a moment darkened by the deadly shafts. But
+again all fell harmless before the power of the Pink Pearl, and Bilbil,
+who had been growing very angry at the attempts to injure him and his
+party, suddenly made a bolt forward, casting off Inga's hold, and
+butted into the line of warriors, who were standing amazed at their
+failure to conquer.
+
+Taken by surprise at the goat's attack, a dozen big warriors tumbled in
+a heap, yelling with fear, and their comrades, not knowing what had
+happened but imagining that their foes were attacking them, turned
+about and ran to the city as hard as they could go. Bilbil, still
+angry, had just time to catch the big captain as he turned to follow
+his men, and Buzzub first sprawled headlong upon the ground, then
+rolled over two or three times, and finally jumped up and ran yelling
+after his defeated warriors. This butting on the part of the goat was
+very hard upon King Rinkitink, who nearly fell off Bilbil's back at the
+shock of encounter; but the little fat King wound his arms around the
+goat's neck and shut his eyes and clung on with all his might. It was
+not until he heard Inga say triumphantly, "We have won the fight
+without striking a blow!" that Rinkitink dared open his eyes again.
+Then he saw the warriors rushing into the City of Regos and barring the
+heavy gates, and he was very much relieved at the sight.
+
+"Without striking a blow!" said Bilbil indignantly. "That is not quite
+true, Prince Inga. You did not fight, I admit, but I struck a couple of
+times to good purpose, and I claim to have conquered the cowardly
+warriors unaided."
+
+"You and I together, Bilbil," said Rinkitink mildly. "But the next time
+you make a charge, please warn me in time, so that I may dismount and
+give you all the credit for the attack."
+
+There being no one now to oppose their advance, the three walked to the
+gates of the city, which had been closed against them. The gates were
+of iron and heavily barred, and upon the top of the high walls of the
+city a host of the warriors now appeared armed with arrows and spears
+and other weapons. For Buzzub had gone straight to the palace of King
+Cos and reported his defeat, relating the powerful magic of the boy,
+the fat King and the goat, and had asked what to do next.
+
+The big captain still trembled with fear, but King Gos did not believe
+in magic, and called Buzzub a coward and a weakling. At once the King
+took command of his men personally, and he ordered the walls manned
+with warriors and instructed them to shoot to kill if any of the three
+strangers approached the gates.
+
+Of course, neither Rinkitink nor Bilbil knew how they had been
+protected from harm and so at first they were inclined to resent the
+boy's command that the three must always keep together and touch one
+another at all times. But when Inga explained that his magic would not
+otherwise save them from injury, they agreed to obey, for they had now
+seen enough to convince them that the Prince was really protected by
+some invisible power.
+
+As they came before the gates another shower of arrows and spears
+descended upon them, and as before not a single missile touched their
+bodies. King Gos, who was upon the wall, was greatly amazed and
+somewhat worried, but he depended upon the strength of his gates and
+commanded his men to continue shooting until all their weapons were
+gone.
+
+Inga let them shoot as much as they wished, while he stood before the
+great gates and examined them carefully.
+
+"Perhaps Bilbil can batter down the gates, suggested Rinkitink.
+
+"No," replied the goat; "my head is hard, but not harder than iron."
+
+"Then," returned the King, "let us stay outside; especially as we can't
+get in."
+
+But Inga was not at all sure they could not get in. The gates opened
+inward, and three heavy bars were held in place by means of stout
+staples riveted to the sheets of steel. The boy had been told that the
+power of the Blue Pearl would enable him to accomplish any feat of
+strength, and he believed that this was true.
+
+The warriors, under the direction of King Gos, continued to hurl arrows
+and darts and spears and axes and huge stones upon the invaders, all
+without avail. The ground below was thickly covered with weapons, yet
+not one of the three before the gates had been injured in the slightest
+manner. When everything had been cast that was available and not a
+single weapon of any sort remained at hand, the amazed warriors saw the
+boy put his shoulder against the gates and burst asunder the huge
+staples that held the bars in place. A thousand of their men could not
+have accomplished this feat, yet the small, slight boy did it with
+seeming ease. The gates burst open, and Inga advanced into the city
+street and called upon King Gos to surrender.
+
+But Gos was now as badly frightened as were his warriors. He and his
+men were accustomed to war and pillage and they had carried terror into
+many countries, but here was a small boy, a fat man and a goat who
+could not be injured by all his skill in warfare, his numerous army and
+thousands of death-dealing weapons. Moreover, they not only defied King
+Gos's entire army but they had broken in the huge gates of the city--as
+easily as if they had been made of paper--and such an exhibition of
+enormous strength made the wicked King fear for his life. Like all
+bullies and marauders, Gos was a coward at heart, and now a panic
+seized him and he turned and fled before the calm advance of Prince
+Inga of Pingaree. The warriors were like their master, and having
+thrown all their weapons over the wall and being helpless to oppose the
+strangers, they all swarmed after Gos, who abandoned his city and
+crossed the bridge of boats to the Island of Coregos. There was a
+desperate struggle among these cowardly warriors to get over the
+bridge, and many were pushed into the water and obliged to swim; but
+finally every fighting man of Regos had gained the shore of Coregos and
+then they tore away the bridge of boats and drew them up on their own
+side, hoping the stretch of open water would prevent the magic invaders
+from following them.
+
+The humble citizens and serving people of Regos, who had been terrified
+and abused by the rough warriors all their lives, were not only greatly
+astonished by this sudden conquest of their masters but greatly
+delighted. As the King and his army fled to Coregos, the people
+embraced one another and danced for very joy, and then they turned to
+see what the conquerors of Regos were like.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter Eight
+
+Rinkitink Makes a Great Mistake
+
+
+The fat King rode his goat through the streets of the conquered city
+and the boy Prince walked proudly beside him, while all the people bent
+their heads humbly to their new masters, whom they were prepared to
+serve in the same manner they had King Gos.
+
+Not a warrior remained in all Regos to oppose the triumphant three; the
+bridge of boats had been destroyed; Inga and his companions were free
+from danger--for a time, at least.
+
+The jolly little King appreciated this fact and rejoiced that he had
+escaped all injury during the battle. How it had all happened he could
+not tell, nor even guess, but he was content in being safe and free to
+take possession of the enemy's city. So, as they passed through the
+lines of respectful civilians on their way to the palace, the King
+tipped his crown back on his bald head and folded his arms and sang in
+his best voice the following lines:
+
+  "Oh, here comes the army of King Rinkitink!
+  It isn't a big one, perhaps you may think,
+  But it scattered the warriors quicker than wink--
+  Rink-i-tink, tink-i-tink, tink!
+
+  Our Bilbil's a hero and so is his King;
+  Our foemen have vanished like birds on the wing;
+  I guess that as fighters we're quite the real thing--
+  Rink-i-tink, tink-i-tink, tink!"
+
+
+"Why don't you give a little credit to Inga?" inquired the goat. "If I
+remember aright, he did a little of the conquering himself."
+
+"So he did," responded the King, "and that's the reason I'm sounding
+our own praise, Bilbil. Those who do the least, often shout the loudest
+and so get the most glory. Inga did so much that there is danger of his
+becoming more important than we are, and so we'd best say nothing about
+him."
+
+When they reached the palace, which was an immense building, furnished
+throughout in regal splendor, Inga took formal possession and ordered
+the majordomo to show them the finest rooms the building contained.
+There were many pleasant apartments, but Rinkitink proposed to Inga
+that they share one of the largest bedrooms together.
+
+"For," said he, "we are not sure that old Gos will not return and try
+to recapture his city, and you must remember that I have no magic to
+protect me. In any danger, were I alone, I might be easily killed or
+captured, while if you are by my side you can save me from injury."
+
+The boy realized the wisdom of this plan, and selected a fine big
+bedroom on the second floor of the palace, in which he ordered two
+golden beds placed and prepared for King Rinkitink and himself. Bilbil
+was given a suite of rooms on the other side of the palace, where
+servants brought the goat fresh-cut grass to eat and made him a soft
+bed to lie upon.
+
+That evening the boy Prince and the fat King dined in great state in
+the lofty-domed dining hall of the palace, where forty servants waited
+upon them. The royal chef, anxious to win the favor of the conquerors
+of Regos, prepared his finest and most savory dishes for them, which
+Rinkitink ate with much appetite and found so delicious that he ordered
+the royal chef brought into the banquet hall and presented him with a
+gilt button which the King cut from his own jacket.
+
+"You are welcome to it," said he to the chef, "because I have eaten so
+much that I cannot use that lower button at all."
+
+Rinkitink was mightily pleased to live in a comfortable palace again
+and to dine at a well spread table. His joy grew every moment, so that
+he came in time to be as merry and cheery as before Pingaree was
+despoiled. And, although he had been much frightened during Inga's
+defiance of the army of King Gos, he now began to turn the matter into
+a joke.
+
+"Why, my boy," said he, "you whipped the big black-bearded King exactly
+as if he were a schoolboy, even though you used no warlike weapon at
+all upon him. He was cowed through fear of your magic, and that reminds
+me to demand from you an explanation. How did you do it, Inga? And
+where did the wonderful magic come from?"
+
+Perhaps it would have been wise for the Prince to have explained about
+the magic pearls, but at that moment he was not inclined to do so.
+Instead, he replied:
+
+"Be patient, Your Majesty. The secret is not my own, so please do not
+ask me to divulge it. Is it not enough, for the present, that the magic
+saved you from death to-day?"
+
+"Do not think me ungrateful," answered the King earnestly. "A million
+spears fell on me from the wall, and several stones as big as
+mountains, yet none of them hurt me!"
+
+"The stones were not as big as mountains, sire," said the Prince with a
+smile. "They were, indeed, no larger than your head."
+
+"Are you sure about that?" asked Rinkitink.
+
+"Quite sure, Your Majesty."
+
+"How deceptive those things are!" sighed the King. "This argument
+reminds me of the story of Tom Tick, which my father used to tell."
+
+"I have never heard that story," Inga answered.
+
+"Well, as he told it, it ran like this:
+
+  "When Tom walked out, the sky to spy,
+  A naughty gnat flew in his eye;
+  But Tom knew not it was a gnat--
+  He thought, at first, it was a cat.
+
+  "And then, it felt so very big,
+  He thought it surely was a pig
+  Till, standing still to hear it grunt,
+  He cried: 'Why, it's an elephunt!'
+
+  "But--when the gnat flew out again
+  And Tom was free from all his pain,
+  He said: 'There flew into my eye
+  A leetle, teenty-tiny fly.'"
+
+
+"Indeed," said Inga, laughing, "the gnat was much like your stones that
+seemed as big as mountains."
+
+After their dinner they inspected the palace, which was filled with
+valuable goods stolen by King Gos from many nations. But the day's
+events had tired them and they retired early to their big sleeping
+apartment.
+
+"In the morning," said the boy to Rinkitink, as he was undressing for
+bed, "I shall begin the search for my father and mother and the people
+of Pingaree. And, when they are found and rescued, we will all go home
+again, and be as happy as we were before."
+
+They carefully bolted the door of their room, that no one might enter,
+and then got into their beds, where Rinkitink fell asleep in an
+instant. The boy lay awake for a while thinking over the day's
+adventures, but presently he fell sound asleep also, and so weary was
+he that nothing disturbed his slumber until he awakened next morning
+with a ray of sunshine in his eyes, which had crept into the room
+through the open window by King Rinkitink's bed.
+
+Resolving to begin the search for his parents without any unnecessary
+delay, Inga at once got out of bed and began to dress himself, while
+Rinkitink, in the other bed, was still sleeping peacefully. But when
+the boy had put on both his stockings and began looking for his shoes,
+he could find but one of them. The left shoe, that containing the Pink
+Pearl, was missing.
+
+Filled with anxiety at this discovery, Inga searched through the entire
+room, looking underneath the beds and divans and chairs and behind the
+draperies and in the corners and every other possible place a shoe
+might be. He tried the door, and found it still bolted; so, with
+growing uneasiness, the boy was forced to admit that the precious shoe
+was not in the room.
+
+With a throbbing heart he aroused his companion.
+
+"King Rinkitink," said he, "do you know what has become of my left
+shoe?"
+
+"Your shoe!" exclaimed the King, giving a wide yawn and rubbing his
+eyes to get the sleep out of them. "Have you lost a shoe?"
+
+"Yes," said Inga. "I have searched everywhere in the room, and cannot
+find it."
+
+"But why bother me about such a small thing?" inquired Rinkitink. "A
+shoe is only a shoe, and you can easily get another one. But, stay!
+Perhaps it was your shoe which I threw at the cat last night."
+
+"The cat!" cried Inga. "What do you mean?"
+
+"Why, in the night," explained Rinkitink, sitting up and beginning to
+dress himself, "I was wakened by the mewing of a cat that sat upon a
+wall of the palace, just outside my window. As the noise disturbed me,
+I reached out in the dark and caught up something and threw it at the
+cat, to frighten the creature away. I did not know what it was that I
+threw, and I was too sleepy to care; but probably it was your shoe,
+since it is now missing."
+
+"Then," said the boy, in a despairing tone of voice, "your carelessness
+has ruined me, as well as yourself, King Rinkitink, for in that shoe
+was concealed the magic power which protected us from danger."
+
+The King's face became very serious when he heard this and he uttered a
+low whistle of surprise and regret.
+
+"Why on earth did you not warn me of this?" he demanded. "And why did
+you keep such a precious power in an old shoe? And why didn't you put
+the shoe under a pillow? You were very wrong, my lad, in not confiding
+to me, your faithful friend, the secret, for in that case the shoe
+would not now be lost."
+
+To all this Inga had no answer. He sat on the side of his bed, with
+hanging head, utterly disconsolate, and seeing this, Rinkitink had pity
+for his sorrow.
+
+"Come!" cried the King; "let us go out at once and look for the shoe
+which I threw at the cat. It must even now be lying in the yard of the
+palace."
+
+This suggestion roused the boy to action. He at once threw open the
+door and in his stocking feet rushed down the staircase, closely
+followed by Rinkitink. But although they looked on both sides of the
+palace wall and in every possible crack and corner where a shoe might
+lodge, they failed to find it.
+
+After a half hour's careful search the boy said sorrowfully:
+
+"Someone must have passed by, as we slept, and taken the precious shoe,
+not knowing its value. To us, King Rinkitink, this will be a dreadful
+misfortune, for we are surrounded by dangers from which we have now no
+protection. Luckily I have the other shoe left, within which is the
+magic power that gives me strength; so all is not lost."
+
+Then he told Rinkitink, in a few words, the secret of the wonderful
+pearls, and how he had recovered them from the ruins and hidden them in
+his shoes, and how they had enabled him to drive King Gos and his men
+from Regos and to capture the city. The King was much astonished, and
+when the story was concluded he said to Inga:
+
+"What did you do with the other shoe?"
+
+"Why, I left it in our bedroom," replied the boy.
+
+"Then I advise you to get it at once," continued Rinkitink, "for we can
+ill afford to lose the second shoe, as well as the one I threw at the
+cat."
+
+"You are right!" cried Inga, and they hastened back to their bedchamber.
+
+On entering the room they found an old woman sweeping and raising a
+great deal of dust.
+
+"Where is my shoe?" asked the Prince, anxiously.
+
+The old woman stopped sweeping and looked at him in a stupid way, for
+she was not very intelligent.
+
+"Do you mean the one odd shoe that was lying on the floor when I came
+in?" she finally asked.
+
+"Yes--yes!" answered the boy. "Where is it? Tell me where it is!"
+
+"Why, I threw it on the dust-heap, outside the back gate," said she,
+"for, it being but a single shoe, with no mate, it can be of no use to
+anyone."
+
+"Show us the way to the dust-heap--at once!" commanded the boy,
+sternly, for he was greatly frightened by this new misfortune which
+threatened him.
+
+The old woman hobbled away and they followed her, constantly urging her
+to hasten; but when they reached the dust-heap no shoe was to be seen.
+
+"This is terrible!" wailed the young Prince, ready to weep at his loss.
+"We are now absolutely ruined, and at the mercy of our enemies. Nor
+shall I be able to liberate my dear father and mother."
+
+"Well," replied Rinkitink, leaning against an old barrel and looking
+quite solemn, "the thing is certainly unlucky, any way we look at it. I
+suppose someone has passed along here and, seeing the shoe upon the
+dust-heap, has carried it away. But no one could know the magic power
+the shoe contains and so will not use it against us. I believe, Inga,
+we must now depend upon our wits to get us out of the scrape we are in."
+
+With saddened hearts they returned to the palace, and entering a small
+room where no one could observe them or overhear them, the boy took the
+White Pearl from its silken bag and held it to his ear, asking:
+
+"What shall I do now?"
+
+"Tell no one of your loss," answered the Voice of the Pearl. "If your
+enemies do not know that you are powerless, they will fear you as much
+as ever. Keep your secret, be patient, and fear not!"
+
+Inga heeded this advice and also warned Rinkitink to say nothing to
+anyone of the loss of the shoes and the powers they contained. He sent
+for the shoemaker of King Gos, who soon brought him a new pair of red
+leather shoes that fitted him quite well. When these had been put upon
+his feet, the Prince, accompanied by the King, started to walk through
+the city.
+
+Wherever they went the people bowed low to the conqueror, although a
+few, remembering Inga's terrible strength, ran away in fear and
+trembling. They had been used to severe masters and did not yet know
+how they would be treated by King Gos's successor. There being no
+occasion for the boy to exercise the powers he had displayed the
+previous day, his present helplessness was not suspected by any of the
+citizens of Regos, who still considered him a wonderful magician.
+
+Inga did not dare to fight his way to the mines, at present, nor could
+he try to conquer the Island of Coregos, where his mother was enslaved;
+so he set about the regulation of the City of Regos, and having
+established himself with great state in the royal palace he began to
+govern the people by kindness, having consideration for the most humble.
+
+The King of Regos and his followers sent spies across to the island
+they had abandoned in their flight, and these spies returned with the
+news that the terrible boy conqueror was still occupying the city.
+Therefore none of them ventured to go back to Regos but continued to
+live upon the neighboring island of Coregos, where they passed the days
+in fear and trembling and sought to plot and plan ways how they might
+overcome the Prince of Pingaree and the fat King of Gilgad.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter Nine
+
+A Present for Zella
+
+
+Now it so happened that on the morning of that same day when the Prince
+of Pingaree suffered the loss of his priceless shoes, there chanced to
+pass along the road that wound beside the royal palace a poor
+charcoal-burner named Nikobob, who was about to return to his home in
+the forest.
+
+Nikobob carried an ax and a bundle of torches over his shoulder and he
+walked with his eyes to the ground, being deep in thought as to the
+strange manner in which the powerful King Gos and his city had been
+conquered by a boy Prince who had come from Pingaree.
+
+Suddenly the charcoal-burner espied a shoe lying upon the ground, just
+beyond the high wall of the palace and directly in his path. He picked
+it up and, seeing it was a pretty shoe, although much too small for his
+own foot, he put it in his pocket.
+
+Soon after, on turning a corner of the wall, Nikobob came to a
+dust-heap where, lying amidst a mass of rubbish, was another shoe--the
+mate to the one he had before found. This also he placed in his pocket,
+saying to himself:
+
+"I have now a fine pair of shoes for my daughter Zella, who will be
+much pleased to find I have brought her a present from the city."
+
+And while the charcoal-burner turned into the forest and trudged along
+the path toward his home, Inga and Rinkitink were still searching for
+the missing shoes. Of course, they could not know that Nikobob had
+found them, nor did the honest man think he had taken anything more
+than a pair of cast-off shoes which nobody wanted.
+
+Nikobob had several miles to travel through the forest before he could
+reach the little log cabin where his wife, as well as his little
+daughter Zella, awaited his return, but he was used to long walks and
+tramped along the path whistling cheerfully to beguile the time.
+
+Few people, as I said before, ever passed through the dark and tangled
+forests of Regos, except to go to the mines in the mountain beyond, for
+many dangerous creatures lurked in the wild jungles, and King Gos never
+knew, when he sent a messenger to the mines, whether he would reach
+there safely or not.
+
+The charcoal-burner, however, knew the wild forest well, and especially
+this part of it lying between the city and his home. It was the
+favorite haunt of the ferocious beast Choggenmugger, dreaded by every
+dweller in the Island of Regos. Choggenmugger was so old that everyone
+thought it must have been there since the world was made, and each year
+of its life the huge scales that covered its body grew thicker and
+harder and its jaws grew wider and its teeth grew sharper and its
+appetite grew more keen than ever.
+
+In former ages there had been many dragons in Regos, but Choggenmugger
+was so fond of dragons that he had eaten all of them long ago. There
+had also been great serpents and crocodiles in the forest marshes, but
+all had gone to feed the hunger of Choggenmugger. The people of Regos
+knew well there was no use opposing the Great Beast, so when one
+unfortunately met with it he gave himself up for lost.
+
+All this Nikobob knew well, but fortune had always favored him in his
+journey through the forest, and although he had at times met many
+savage beasts and fought them with his sharp ax, he had never to this
+day encountered the terrible Choggenmugger. Indeed, he was not thinking
+of the Great Beast at all as he walked along, but suddenly he heard a
+crashing of broken trees and felt a trembling of the earth and saw the
+immense jaws of Choggenmugger opening before him. Then Nikobob gave
+himself up for lost and his heart almost ceased to beat.
+
+He believed there was no way of escape. No one ever dared oppose
+Choggenmugger. But Nikobob hated to die without showing the monster, in
+some way, that he was eaten only under protest. So he raised his ax and
+brought it down upon the red, protruding tongue of the monster--and cut
+it clean off!
+
+For a moment the charcoal-burner scarcely believed what his eyes saw,
+for he knew nothing of the pearls he carried in his pocket or the magic
+power they lent his arm. His success, however, encouraged him to strike
+again, and this time the huge scaly jaw of Choggenmugger was severed in
+twain and the beast howled in terrified rage.
+
+Nikobob took off his coat, to give himself more freedom of action, and
+then he earnestly renewed the attack. But now the ax seemed blunted by
+the hard scales and made no impression upon them whatever. The creature
+advanced with glaring, wicked eyes, and Nikobob seized his coat under
+his arm and turned to flee.
+
+That was foolish, for Choggenmugger could run like the wind. In a
+moment it overtook the charcoal-burner and snapped its four rows of
+sharp teeth together. But they did not touch Nikobob, because he still
+held the coat in his grasp, close to his body, and in the coat pocket
+were Inga's shoes, and in the points of the shoes were the magic
+pearls. Finding himself uninjured, Nikobob put on his coat, again
+seized his ax, and in a short time had chopped Choggenmugger into many
+small pieces--a task that proved not only easy but very agreeable.
+
+"I must be the strongest man in all the world!" thought the
+charcoal-burner, as he proudly resumed his way, "for Choggenmugger has
+been the terror of Regos since the world began, and I alone have been
+able to destroy the beast. Yet it is singular' that never before did I
+discover how powerful a man I am."
+
+He met no further adventure and at midday reached a little clearing in
+the forest where stood his humble cabin.
+
+"Great news! I have great news for you," he shouted, as his wife and
+little daughter came to greet him. "King Gos has been conquered by a
+boy Prince from the far island of Pingaree, and I have this
+day--unaided--destroyed Choggenmugger by the might of my strong arm."
+
+This was, indeed, great news. They brought Nikobob into the house and
+set him in an easy chair and made him tell everything he knew about the
+Prince of Pingaree and the fat King of Gilgad, as well as the details
+of his wonderful fight with mighty Choggenmugger.
+
+"And now, my daughter," said the charcoalburner, when all his news had
+been related for at least the third time, "here is a pretty present I
+have brought you from the city."
+
+With this he drew the shoes from the pocket of his coat and handed them
+to Zella, who gave him a dozen kisses in payment and was much pleased
+with her gift. The little girl had never worn shoes before, for her
+parents were too poor to buy her such luxuries, so now the possession
+of these, which were not much worn, filled the child's heart with joy.
+She admired the red leather and the graceful curl of the pointed toes.
+When she tried them on her feet, they fitted as well as if made for her.
+
+All the afternoon, as she helped her mother with the housework, Zella
+thought of her pretty shoes. They seemed more important to her than the
+coming to Regos of the conquering Prince of Pingaree, or even the death
+of Choggenmugger.
+
+When Zella and her mother were not working in the cabin, cooking or
+sewing, they often searched the neighboring forest for honey which the
+wild bees cleverly hid in hollow trees. The day after Nikobob's return,
+as they were starting out after honey, Zella decided to put on her new
+shoes, as they would keep the twigs that covered the ground from
+hurting her feet. She was used to the twigs, of course, but what is the
+use of having nice, comfortable shoes, if you do not wear them?
+
+So she danced along, very happily, followed by her mother, and
+presently they came to a tree in which was a deep hollow. Zella thrust
+her hand and arm into the space and found that the tree was full of
+honey, so she began to dig it out with a wooden paddle. Her mother, who
+held the pail, suddenly cried in warning:
+
+"Look out, Zella; the bees are coming!" and then the good woman ran
+fast toward the house to escape.
+
+Zella, however, had no more than time to turn her head when a thick
+swarm of bees surrounded her, angry because they had caught her
+stealing their honey and intent on stinging the girl as a punishment.
+She knew her danger and expected to be badly injured by the multitude
+of stinging bees, but to her surprise the little creatures were unable
+to fly close enough to her to stick their dart-like stingers into her
+flesh. They swarmed about her in a dark cloud, and their angry buzzing
+was terrible to hear, yet the little girl remained unharmed.
+
+When she realized this, Zella was no longer afraid but continued to
+ladle out the honey until she had secured all that was in the tree.
+Then she returned to the cabin, where her mother was weeping and
+bemoaning the fate of her darling child, and the good woman was greatly
+astonished to find Zella had escaped injury.
+
+Again they went to the woods to search for honey, and although the
+mother always ran away whenever the bees came near them, Zella paid no
+attention to the creatures but kept at her work, so that before supper
+time came the pails were again filled to overflowing with delicious
+honey.
+
+"With such good fortune as we have had this day," said her mother, "we
+shall soon gather enough honey for you to carry to Queen Cor." For it
+seems the wicked Queen was very fond of honey and it had been Zella's
+custom to go, once every year, to the City of Coregos, to carry the
+Queen a supply of sweet honey for her table. Usually she had but one
+pail.
+
+"But now," said Zella, "I shall be able to carry two pailsful to the
+Queen, who will, I am sure, give me a good price for it."
+
+"True," answered her mother, "and, as the boy Prince may take it into
+his head to conquer Coregos, as well as Regos, I think it best for you
+to start on your journey to Queen Cor tomorrow morning. Do you not
+agree with me, Nikobob?" she added, turning to her husband, the
+charcoal-burner, who was eating his supper.
+
+"I agree with you," he replied. "If Zella must go to the City of
+Coregos, she may as well start to-morrow morning."
+
+
+
+
+Chapter Ten
+
+The Cunning of Queen Cor
+
+
+You may be sure the Queen of Coregos was not well pleased to have King
+Gos and all his warriors living in her city after they had fled from
+their own. They were savage natured and quarrelsome men at all times,
+and their tempers had not improved since their conquest by the Prince
+of Pingaree. Moreover, they were eating up Queen Cor's provisions and
+crowding the houses of her own people, who grumbled and complained
+until their Queen was heartily tired.
+
+"Shame on you!" she said to her husband, King Gos, "to be driven out of
+your city by a boy, a roly-poly King and a billy goat! Why do you not
+go back and fight them?"
+
+"No human can fight against the powers of magic," returned the King in
+a surly voice. "That boy is either a fairy or under the protection of
+fairies. We escaped with our lives only because we were quick to run
+away; but, should we return to Regos, the same terrible power that
+burst open the city gates would crush us all to atoms."
+
+"Bah! you are a coward," cried the Queen, tauntingly.
+
+"I am not a coward," said the big King. "I have killed in battle scores
+of my enemies; by the might of my sword and my good right arm I have
+conquered many nations; all my life people have feared me. But no one
+would dare face the tremendous power of the Prince of Pingaree, boy
+though he is. It would not be courage, it would be folly, to attempt
+it."
+
+"Then meet his power with cunning," suggested the Queen. "Take my
+advice, and steal over to Regos at night, when it is dark, and capture
+or destroy the boy while he sleeps."
+
+"No weapon can touch his body," was the answer. "He bears a charmed
+life and cannot be injured."
+
+"Does the fat King possess magic powers, or the goat?" inquired Cor.
+
+"I think not," said Gos. "We could not injure them, indeed, any more
+than we could the boy, but they did not seem to have any unusual
+strength, although the goat's head is harder than a battering-ram."
+
+"Well," mused the Queen, "there is surely some way to conquer that
+slight boy. If you are afraid to undertake the job, I shall go myself.
+By some stratagem I shall manage to make him my prisoner. He will not
+dare to defy a Queen, and no magic can stand against a woman's cunning."
+
+"Go ahead, if you like," replied the King, with an evil grin, "and if
+you are hung up by the thumbs or cast into a dungeon, it will serve you
+right for thinking you can succeed where a skilled warrior dares not
+make the attempt."
+
+"I'm not afraid," answered the Queen. "It is only soldiers and bullies
+who are cowards."
+
+In spite of this assertion, Queen Cor was not so brave as she was
+cunning. For several days she thought over this plan and that, and
+tried to decide which was most likely to succeed. She had never seen
+the boy Prince but had heard so many tales of him from the defeated
+warriors, and especially from Captain Buzzub, that she had learned to
+respect his power.
+
+Spurred on by the knowledge that she would never get rid of her
+unwelcome guests until Prince Inga was overcome and Regos regained for
+King Gos, the Queen of Coregos finally decided to trust to luck and her
+native wit to defeat a simple-minded boy, however powerful he might be.
+Inga could not suspect what she was going to do, because she did not
+know herself. She intended to act boldly and trust to chance to win.
+
+It is evident that had the cunning Queen known that Inga had lost all
+his magic, she would not have devoted so much time to the simple matter
+of capturing him, but like all others she was impressed by the
+marvelous exhibition of power he had shown in capturing Regos, and had
+no reason to believe the boy was less powerful now.
+
+One morning Queen Cor boldly entered a boat, and, taking four men with
+her as an escort and bodyguard, was rowed across the narrow channel to
+Regos. Prince Inga was sitting in the palace playing checkers with King
+Rinkitink when a servant came to him, saying that Queen Cor had arrived
+and desired an audience with him.
+
+With many misgivings lest the wicked Queen discover that he had now
+lost his magic powers, the boy ordered her to be admitted, and she soon
+entered the room and bowed low before him, in mock respect.
+
+Cor was a big woman, almost as tall as King Gos. She had flashing black
+eyes and the dark complexion you see on gypsies. Her temper, when
+irritated, was something dreadful, and her face wore an evil expression
+which she tried to cover by smiling sweetly--often when she meant the
+most mischief.
+
+"I have come," said she in a low voice, "to render homage to the noble
+Prince of Pingaree. I am told that Your Highness is the strongest
+person in the world, and invincible in battle, and therefore I wish you
+to become my friend, rather than my enemy."
+
+Now Inga did not know how to reply to this speech. He disliked the
+appearance of the woman and was afraid of her and he was unused to
+deception and did not know how to mask his real feelings. So he took
+time to think over his answer, which he finally made in these words:
+
+"I have no quarrel with Your Majesty, and my only reason for coming
+here is to liberate my father and mother, and my people, whom you and
+your husband have made your slaves, and to recover the goods King Gos
+has plundered from the Island of Pingaree. This I hope soon to
+accomplish, and if you really wish to be my friend, you can assist me
+greatly."
+
+While he was speaking Queen Cor had been studying the boy's face
+stealthily, from the corners of her eyes, and she said to herself: "He
+is so small and innocent that I believe I can capture him alone, and
+with ease. He does not seem very terrible and I suspect that King Gos
+and his warriors were frightened at nothing."
+
+Then, aloud, she said to Inga:
+
+"I wish to invite you, mighty Prince, and your friend, the great King
+of Gilgad, to visit my poor palace at Coregos, where all my people
+shall do you honor. Will you come?"
+
+"At present," replied Inga, uneasily, "I must refuse your kind
+invitation."
+
+"There will be feasting, and dancing girls, and games and fireworks,"
+said the Queen, speaking as if eager to entice him and at each word
+coming a step nearer to where he stood.
+
+"I could not enjoy them while my poor parents are slaves," said the
+boy, sadly.
+
+"Are you sure of that?" asked Queen Cor, and by that time she was close
+beside Inga. Suddenly she leaned forward and threw both of her long
+arms around Inga's body, holding him in a grasp that was like a vise.
+
+Now Rinkitink sprang forward to rescue his friend, but Cor kicked out
+viciously with her foot and struck the King squarely on his stomach--a
+very tender place to be kicked, especially if one is fat. Then, still
+hugging Inga tightly, the Queen called aloud:
+
+"I've got him! Bring in the ropes."
+
+Instantly the four men she had brought with her sprang into the room
+and bound the boy hand and foot. Next they seized Rinkitink, who was
+still rubbing his stomach, and bound him likewise.
+
+With a laugh of wicked triumph, Queen Cor now led her captives down to
+the boat and returned with them to Coregos.
+
+Great was the astonishment of King Gos and his warriors when they saw
+that the mighty Prince of Pingaree, who had put them all to flight, had
+been captured by a woman. Cowards as they were, they now crowded around
+the boy and jeered at him, and some of them would have struck him had
+not the Queen cried out:
+
+"Hands off! He is my prisoner, remember not yours."
+
+"Well, Cor, what are you going to do with him?" inquired King Gos.
+
+"I shall make him my slave, that he may amuse my idle hours. For he is
+a pretty boy, and gentle, although he did frighten all of you big
+warriors so terribly."
+
+The King scowled at this speech, not liking to be ridiculed, but he
+said nothing more. He and his men returned that same day to Regos,
+after restoring the bridge of boats. And they held a wild carnival of
+rejoicing, both in the King's palace and in the city, although the poor
+people of Regos who were not warriors were all sorry that the kind
+young Prince had been captured by his enemies and could rule them no
+longer.
+
+When her unwelcome guests had all gone back to Regos and the Queen was
+alone in her palace, she ordered Inga and Rinkitink brought before her
+and their bonds removed. They came sadly enough, knowing they were in
+serious straits and at the mercy of a cruel mistress. Inga had taken
+counsel of the White Pearl, which had advised him to bear up bravely
+under his misfortune, promising a change for the better very soon. With
+this promise to comfort him, Inga faced the Queen with a dignified
+bearing that indicated both pride and courage.
+
+"Well, youngster," said she, in a cheerful tone because she was pleased
+with her success, "you played a clever trick on my poor husband and
+frightened him badly, but for that prank I am inclined to forgive you.
+Hereafter I intend you to be my page, which means that you must fetch
+and carry for me at my will. And let me advise you to obey my every
+whim without question or delay, for when I am angry I become ugly, and
+when I am ugly someone is sure to feel the lash. Do you understand me?"
+
+Inga bowed, but made no answer. Then she turned to Rinkitink and said:
+
+"As for you, I cannot decide how to make you useful to me, as you are
+altogether too fat and awkward to work in the fields. It may be,
+however, that I can use you as a pincushion.
+
+"What!" cried Rinkitink in horror, "would you stick pins into the King
+of Gilgad?"
+
+"Why not?" returned Queen Cor. "You are as fat as a pincushion, as you
+must yourself admit, and whenever I needed a pin I could call you to
+me." Then she laughed at his frightened look and asked: "By the way,
+are you ticklish?"
+
+This was the question Rinkitink had been dreading. He gave a moan of
+despair and shook his head.
+
+"I should love to tickle the bottom of your feet with a feather,"
+continued the cruel woman. "Please take off your shoes."
+
+"Oh, your Majesty!" pleaded poor Rinkitink, "I beg you to allow me to
+amuse you in some other way. I can dance, or I can sing you a song."
+
+"Well," she answered, shaking with laughter, "you may sing a song--if
+it be a merry one. But you do not seem in a merry mood."
+
+"I feel merry--indeed, Your Majesty, I do!" protested Rinkitink,
+anxious to escape the tickling. But even as he professed to "feel
+merry" his round, red face wore an expression of horror and anxiety
+that was really comical.
+
+"Sing, then!" commanded Queen Cor, who was greatly amused.
+
+Rinkitink gave a sigh of relief and after clearing his throat and
+trying to repress his sobs he began to sing this song-gently, at first,
+but finally roaring it out at the top of his voice:
+
+  "Oh!
+  There was a Baby Tiger lived in a men-ag-er-ie--
+  Fizzy-fezzy-fuzzy--they wouldn't set him free;
+  And ev'rybody thought that he was gentle as could be--
+  Fizzy-fezzy-fuzzy--Ba-by Ti-ger!
+
+  "Oh!
+  They patted him upon his head and shook him by the paw--
+  Fizzy-fezzy-fuzzy--he had a bone to gnaw;
+  But soon he grew the biggest Tiger that you ever saw--
+  Fizzy-fezzy-fuzzy--what a Ti-ger!
+
+  "Oh!
+  One day they came to pet the brute and he began to fight--
+  Fizzy-fezzy-fuzzy-how he did scratch and bite!
+  He broke the cage and in a rage he darted out of sight--
+  Fizzy-fezzy-fuzzy was a Ti-ger!"
+
+
+"And is there a moral to the song?" asked Queen Cor, when King
+Rinkitink had finished his song with great spirit.
+
+"If there is," replied Rinkitink, "it is a warning not to fool with
+tigers."
+
+The little Prince could not help smiling at this shrewd answer, but
+Queen Cor frowned and gave the King a sharp look.
+
+"Oh," said she; "I think I know the difference between a tiger and a
+lapdog. But I'll bear the warning in mind, just the same."
+
+For, after all her success in capturing them, she was a little afraid
+of these people who had once displayed such extraordinary powers.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter Eleven
+
+Zella Goes to Coregos
+
+
+The forest in which Nikobob lived with his wife and daughter stood
+between the mountains and the City of Regos, and a well-beaten path
+wound among the trees, leading from the city to the mines. This path
+was used by the King's messengers, and captured prisoners were also
+sent by this way from Regos to work in the underground caverns.
+
+Nikobob had built his cabin more than a mile away from this path, that
+he might not be molested by the wild and lawless soldiers of King Gos,
+but the family of the charcoal-burner was surrounded by many creatures
+scarcely less dangerous to encounter, and often in the night they could
+hear savage animals growling and prowling about the cabin. Because
+Nikobob minded his own business and never hunted the wild creatures to
+injure them, the beasts had come to regard him as one of the natural
+dwellers in the forest and did not molest him or his family. Still
+Zella and her mother seldom wandered far from home, except on such
+errands as carrying honey to Coregos, and at these times Nikobob
+cautioned them to be very careful.
+
+So when Zella set out on her journey to Queen Cor, with the two pails
+of honey in her hands, she was undertaking a dangerous adventure and
+there was no certainty that she would return safely to her loving
+parents. But they were poor, and Queen Cor's money, which they expected
+to receive for the honey, would enable them to purchase many things
+that were needed; so it was deemed best that Zella should go. She was a
+brave little girl and poor people are often obliged to take chances
+that rich ones are spared.
+
+A passing woodchopper had brought news to Nikobob's cabin that Queen
+Cor had made a prisoner of the conquering Prince of Pingaree and that
+Gos and his warriors were again back in their city of Regos; but these
+struggles and conquests were matters which, however interesting, did
+not concern the poor charcoal-burner or his family. They were more
+anxious over the report that the warriors had become more reckless than
+ever before, and delighted in annoying all the common people; so Zella
+was told to keep away from the beaten path as much as possible, that
+she might not encounter any of the King's soldiers.
+
+"When it is necessary to choose between the warriors and the wild
+beasts," said Nikobob, "the beasts will be found the more merciful."
+
+The little girl had put on her best attire for the journey and her
+mother threw a blue silk shawl over her head and shoulders. Upon her
+feet were the pretty red shoes her father had brought her from Regos.
+Thus prepared, she kissed her parents good-bye and started out with a
+light heart, carrying the pails of honey in either hand.
+
+It was necessary for Zella to cross the path that led from the mines to
+the city, but once on the other side she was not likely to meet with
+anyone, for she had resolved to cut through the forest and so reach the
+bridge of boats without entering the City of Regos, where she might be
+interrupted. For an hour or two she found the walking easy enough, but
+then the forest, which in this part was unknown to her, became badly
+tangled. The trees were thicker and creeping vines intertwined between
+them. She had to turn this way and that to get through at all, and
+finally she came to a place where a network of vines and branches
+effectually barred her farther progress.
+
+Zella was dismayed, at first, when she encountered this obstacle, but
+setting down her pails she made an endeavor to push the branches aside.
+At her touch they parted as if by magic, breaking asunder like dried
+twigs, and she found she could pass freely. At another place a great
+log had fallen across her way, but the little girl lifted it easily and
+cast it aside, although six ordinary men could scarcely have moved it.
+
+The child was somewhat worried at this evidence of a strength she had
+heretofore been ignorant that she possessed. In order to satisfy
+herself that it was no delusion, she tested her new-found power in many
+ways, finding that nothing was too big nor too heavy for her to lift.
+And, naturally enough, the girl gained courage from these experiments
+and became confident that she could protect herself in any emergency.
+When, presently, a wild boar ran toward her, grunting horribly and
+threatening her with its great tusks, she did not climb a tree to
+escape, as she had always done before on meeting such creatures, but
+stood still and faced the boar. When it had come quite close and Zella
+saw that it could not injure her--a fact that astonished both the beast
+and the girl--she suddenly reached down and seizing it by one ear threw
+the great beast far off amongst the trees, where it fell headlong to
+the earth, grunting louder than ever with surprise and fear.
+
+The girl laughed merrily at this incident and, picking up her pails,
+resumed her journey through the forest. It is not recorded whether the
+wild boar told his adventure to the other beasts or they had happened
+to witness his defeat, but certain it is that Zella was not again
+molested. A brown bear watched her pass without making any movement in
+her direction and a great puma--a beast much dreaded by all men--crept
+out of her path as she approached, and disappeared among the trees.
+
+Thus everything favored the girl's journey and she made such good speed
+that by noon she emerged from the forest's edge and found she was quite
+near to the bridge of boats that led to Coregos. This she crossed
+safely and without meeting any of the rude warriors she so greatly
+feared, and five minutes later the daughter of the charcoal-burner was
+seeking admittance at the back door of Queen Cor's palace.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter Twelve
+
+The Excitement of Bilbil the Goat
+
+
+Our story must now return to one of our characters whom  we have been
+forced to neglect. The temper of Bilbil the goat was not sweet under
+any circumstances, and whenever he had a grievance he was inclined to
+be quite grumpy. So, when his master settled down in the palace of King
+Gos for a quiet life with the boy Prince, and passed his time in
+playing checkers and eating and otherwise enjoying himself, he had no
+use whatever for Bilbil, and shut the goat in an upstairs room to
+prevent his wandering through the city and quarreling with the
+citizens. But this Bilbil did not like at all. He became very cross and
+disagreeable at being left alone and he did not speak nicely to the
+servants who came to bring him food; therefore those people decided not
+to wait upon him any more, resenting his conversation and not liking to
+be scolded by a lean, scraggly goat, even though it belonged to a
+conqueror. The servants kept away from the room and Bilbil grew more
+hungry and more angry every hour. He tried to eat the rugs and
+ornaments, but found them not at all nourishing. There was no grass to
+be had unless he escaped from the palace.
+
+When Queen Cor came to capture Inga and Rinkitink, both the prisoners
+were so filled with despair at their own misfortune that they gave no
+thought whatever to the goat, who was left in his room. Nor did Bilbil
+know anything of the changed fortunes of his comrades until he heard
+shouts and boisterous laughter in the courtyard below. Looking out of a
+window, with the intention of rebuking those who dared thus to disturb
+him, Bilbil saw the courtyard quite filled with warriors and knew from
+this that the palace had in some way again fallen into the hands of the
+enemy.
+
+Now, although Bilbil was often exceedingly disagreeable to King
+Rinkitink, as well as to the Prince, and sometimes used harsh words in
+addressing them, he was intelligent enough to know them to be his
+friends, and to know that King Gos and his people were his foes. In
+sudden anger, provoked by the sight of the warriors and the knowledge
+that he was in the power of the dangerous men of Regos, Bilbil butted
+his head against the door of his room and burst it open. Then he ran to
+the head of the staircase and saw King Gos coming up the stairs
+followed by a long line of his chief captains and warriors.
+
+The goat lowered his head, trembling with rage and excitement, and just
+as the King reached the top stair the animal dashed forward and butted
+His Majesty so fiercely that the big and powerful King, who did not
+expect an attack, doubled up and tumbled backward. His great weight
+knocked over the man just behind him and he in turn struck the next
+warrior and upset him, so that in an instant the whole line of Bilbil's
+foes was tumbling heels over head to the bottom of the stairs, where
+they piled up in a heap, struggling and shouting and in the mixup
+hitting one another with their fists, until every man of them was
+bruised and sore.
+
+Finally King Gos scrambled out of the heap and rushed up the stairs
+again, very angry indeed. Bilbil was ready for him and a second time
+butted the King down the stairs; but now the goat also lost his balance
+and followed the King, landing full upon the confused heap of soldiers.
+Then he kicked out so viciously with his heels that he soon freed
+himself and dashed out of the doorway of the palace.
+
+"Stop him!" cried King Gos, running after.
+
+But the goat was now so wild and excited that it was not safe for
+anyone to stand in his way. None of the men were armed and when one or
+two tried to head off the goat, Bilbil sent them sprawling upon the
+ground. Most of the warriors, however, were wise enough not to attempt
+to interfere with his flight.
+
+Coursing down the street, Bilbil found himself approaching the bridge
+of boats and without pausing to think where it might lead him he
+crossed over and proceeded on his way. A few moments later a great
+stone building blocked his path. It was the palace of Queen Cor, and
+seeing the gates of the courtyard standing wide open, Bilbil rushed
+through them without slackening his speed.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter Thirteen
+
+Zella Saves the Prince
+
+
+The wicked Queen of Coregos was in a very bad humor this morning, for
+one of her slave drivers had come from the fields to say that a number
+of slaves had rebelled and would not work.
+
+"Bring them here to me!" she cried savagely. "A good whipping may make
+them change their minds."
+
+So the slave driver went to fetch the rebellious ones and Queen Cor sat
+down to eat her breakfast, an ugly look on her face.
+
+Prince Inga had been ordered to stand behind his new mistress with a
+big fan of peacock's feathers, but he was so unused to such service
+that he awkwardly brushed her ear with the fan. At once she flew into a
+terrible rage and slapped the Prince twice with her hand-blows that
+tingled, too, for her hand was big and hard and she was not inclined to
+be gentle. Inga took the blows without shrinking or uttering a cry,
+although they stung his pride far more than his body. But King
+Rinkitink, who was acting as the queen's butler and had just brought in
+her coffee, was so startled at seeing the young Prince punished that he
+tipped over the urn and the hot coffee streamed across the lap of the
+Queen's best morning gown.
+
+Cor sprang from her seat with a scream of anger and poor Rinkitink
+would doubtless have been given a terrible beating had not the slave
+driver returned at this moment and attracted the woman's attention. The
+overseer had brought with him all of the women slaves from Pingaree,
+who had been loaded down with chains and were so weak and ill they
+could scarcely walk, much less work in the fields.
+
+Prince Inga's eyes were dimmed with sorrowful tears when he discovered
+how his poor people had been abused, but his own plight was so helpless
+that he was unable to aid them. Fortunately the boy's mother, Queen
+Garee, was not among these slaves, for Queen Cor had placed her in the
+royal dairy to make butter.
+
+"Why do you refuse to work?" demanded Cor in a harsh voice, as the
+slaves from Pingaree stood before her, trembling and with downcast eyes.
+
+"Because we lack strength to perform the tasks your overseers demand,"
+answered one of the women.
+
+"Then you shall be whipped until your strength returns!" exclaimed the
+Queen, and turning to Inga, she commanded: "Get me the whip with the
+seven lashes."
+
+As the boy left the room, wondering how he might manage to save the
+unhappy women from their undeserved punishment, he met a girl entering
+by the back way, who asked:
+
+"Can you tell me where to find Her Majesty, Queen Cor?"
+
+"She is in the chamber with the red dome, where green dragons are
+painted upon the walls," replied Inga; "but she is in an angry and
+ungracious mood to-day. Why do you wish to see her?"
+
+"I have honey to sell," answered the girl, who was Zella, just come
+from the forest. "The Queen is very fond of my honey."
+
+"You may go to her, if you so desire," said the boy, "but take care not
+to anger the cruel Queen, or she may do you a mischief."
+
+"Why should she harm me, who brings her the honey she so dearly loves?"
+inquired the child innocently. "But I thank you for your warning; and I
+will try not to anger the Queen."
+
+As Zella started to go, Inga's eyes suddenly fell upon her shoes and
+instantly he recognized them as his own. For only in Pingaree were
+shoes shaped in this manner: high at the heel and pointed at the toes.
+
+"Stop!" he cried in an excited voice, and the girl obeyed, wonderingly.
+"Tell me," he continued, more gently, "where did you get those shoes?"
+
+"My father brought them to me from Regos," she answered.
+
+"From Regos!"
+
+"Yes. Are they not pretty?" asked Zella, looking down at her feet to
+admire them. "One of them my father found by the palace wall, and the
+other on an ash-heap. So he brought them to me and they fit me
+perfectly."
+
+By this time Inga was trembling with eager joy, which of course the
+girl could not understand.
+
+"What is your name, little maid?" he asked.
+
+"I am called Zella, and my father is Nikobob, the charcoal-burner."
+
+"Zella is a pretty name. I am Inga, Prince of Pingaree," said he, "and
+the shoes you are now wearing, Zella, belong to me. They were not cast
+away, as your father supposed, but were lost. Will you let me have them
+again?"
+
+Zella's eyes filled with tears.
+
+"Must I give up my pretty shoes, then?" she asked. "They are the only
+ones I have ever owned."
+
+Inga was sorry for the poor child, but he knew how important it was
+that he regain possession of the Magic Pearls. So he said, pleadingly:
+
+"Please let me have them, Zella. See! I will exchange for them the
+shoes I now have on, which are newer and prettier than the others."
+
+The girl hesitated. She wanted to please the boy Prince, yet she hated
+to exchange the shoes which her father had brought her as a present.
+
+"If you will give me the shoes," continued the boy, anxiously, "I will
+promise to make you and your father and mother rich and prosperous.
+Indeed, I will promise to grant any favors you may ask of me," and he
+sat down upon the floor and drew off the shoes he was wearing and held
+them toward the girl.
+
+"I'll see if they will fit me," said Zella, taking off her left
+shoe--the one that contained the Pink Pearl--and beginning to put on
+one of Inga's.
+
+Just then Queen Cor, angry at being made to wait for her whip with the
+seven lashes, rushed into the room to find Inga. Seeing the boy sitting
+upon the floor beside Zella, the woman sprang toward him to beat him
+with her clenched fists; but Inga had now slipped on the shoe and the
+Queen's blows could not reach his body.
+
+Then Cor espied the whip lying beside Inga and snatching it up she
+tried to lash him with it--all to no avail.
+
+While Zella sat horrified by this scene, the Prince, who realized he
+had no time to waste, reached out and pulled the right shoe from the
+girl's foot, quickly placing it upon his own. Then he stood up and,
+facing the furious but astonished Queen, said to her in a quiet voice:
+
+"Madam, please give me that whip."
+
+"I won't!" answered Cor. "I'm going to lash those Pingaree women with
+it."
+
+The boy seized hold of the whip and with irresistible strength drew it
+from the Queen's hand. But she drew from her bosom a sharp dagger and
+with the swiftness of lightning aimed a blow at Inga's heart. He merely
+stood still and smiled, for the blade rebounded and fell clattering to
+the floor.
+
+Then, at last, Queen Cor understood the magic power that had terrified
+her husband but which she had ridiculed in her ignorance, not believing
+in it. She did not know that Inga's power had been lost, and found
+again, but she realized the boy was no common foe and that unless she
+could still manage to outwit him her reign in the Island of Coregos was
+ended. To gain time, she went back to the red-domed chamber and seated
+herself in her throne, before which were grouped the weeping slaves
+from Pingaree.
+
+Inga had taken Zella's hand and assisted her to put on the shoes he had
+given her in exchange for his own. She found them quite comfortable and
+did not know she had lost anything by the transfer.
+
+"Come with me," then said the boy Prince, and led her into the presence
+of Queen Cor, who was giving Rinkitink a scolding. To the overseer Inga
+said.
+
+"Give me the keys which unlock these chains, that I may set these poor
+women at liberty."
+
+"Don't you do it!" screamed Queen Cor.
+
+"If you interfere, madam," said the boy, "I will put you into a
+dungeon."
+
+By this Rinkitink knew that Inga had recovered his Magic Pearls and the
+little fat King was so overjoyed that he danced and capered all around
+the room. But the Queen was alarmed at the threat and the slave driver,
+fearing the conqueror of Regos, tremblingly gave up the keys.
+
+Inga quickly removed all the shackles from the women of his country and
+comforted them, telling them they should work no more but would soon be
+restored to their homes in Pingaree. Then he commanded the slave driver
+to go and get all the children who had been made slaves, and to bring
+them to their mothers. The man obeyed and left at once to perform his
+errand, while Queen Cor, growing more and more uneasy, suddenly sprang
+from her throne and before Inga could stop her had rushed through the
+room and out into the courtyard of the palace, meaning to make her
+escape. Rinkitink followed her, running as fast as he could go.
+
+It was at this moment that Bilbil, in his mad dash from Regos, turned
+in at the gates of the courtyard, and as he was coming one way and
+Queen Cor was going the other they bumped into each other with great
+force. The woman sailed through the air, over Bilbil's head, and landed
+on the ground outside the gates, where her crown rolled into a ditch
+and she picked herself up, half dazed, and continued her flight. Bilbil
+was also somewhat dazed by the unexpected encounter, but he continued
+his rush rather blindly and so struck poor Rinkitink, who was chasing
+after Queen Cor. They rolled over one another a few times and then
+Rinkitink sat up and Bilbil sat up and they looked at each other in
+amazement.
+
+"Bilbil," said the King, "I'm astonished at you!"
+
+"Your Majesty," said Bilbil, "I expected kinder treatment at your
+hands."
+
+"You interrupted me," said Rinkitink.
+
+"There was plenty of room without your taking my path," declared the
+goat.
+
+And then Inga came running out and said. "Where is the Queen?"
+
+"Gone," replied Rinkitink, "but she cannot go far, as this is an
+island. However, I have found Bilbil, and our party is again reunited.
+You have recovered your magic powers, and again we are masters of the
+situation. So let us be thankful."
+
+Saying this, the good little King got upon his feet and limped back
+into the throne room to help comfort the women.
+
+Presently the children of Pingaree, who had been gathered together by
+the overseer, were brought in and restored to their mothers, and there
+was great rejoicing among them, you may be sure.
+
+"But where is Queen Garee, my dear mother?" questioned Inga; but the
+women did not know and it was some time before the overseer remembered
+that one of the slaves from Pingaree had been placed in the royal
+dairy. Perhaps this was the woman the boy was seeking.
+
+Inga at once commanded him to lead the way to the butter house, but
+when they arrived there Queen Garee was nowhere in the place, although
+the boy found a silk scarf which he recognized as one that his mother
+used to wear. Then they began a search throughout the island of
+Coregos, but could not find Inga's mother anywhere.
+
+When they returned to the palace of Queen Cor, Rinkitink discovered
+that the bridge of boats had again been removed, separating them from
+Regos, and from this they suspected that Queen Cor had fled to her
+husband's island and had taken Queen Garee with her. Inga was much
+perplexed what to do and returned with his friends to the palace to
+talk the matter over.
+
+Zella was now crying because she had not sold her honey and was unable
+to return to her parents on the island of Regos, but the boy prince
+comforted her and promised she should be protected until she could be
+restored to her home. Rinkitink found Queen Cor's purse, which she had
+had no time to take with her, and gave Zella several gold pieces for
+the honey. Then Inga ordered the palace servants to prepare a feast for
+all the women and children of Pingaree and to prepare for them beds in
+the great palace, which was large enough to accommodate them all.
+
+Then the boy and the goat and Rinkitink and Zella went into a private
+room to consider what should be done next.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter Fourteen
+
+The Escape
+
+
+"Our fault," said Rinkitink, "is that we conquer only one of these twin
+islands at a time. When  we conquered Regos, our foes all came to
+Coregos, and now that we have conquered Coregos, the Queen has fled to
+Regos. And each time they removed the bridge of boats, so that we could
+not follow them."
+
+"What has become of our own boat, in which we came from Pingaree?"
+asked Bilbil.
+
+"We left it on the shore of Regos," replied the Prince, "but I wonder
+if we could not get it again."
+
+"Why don't you ask the White Pearl?" suggested Rinkitink.
+
+"That is a good idea," returned the boy, and at once he drew the White
+Pearl from its silken bag and held it to his ear. Then he asked: "How
+may I regain our boat?"
+
+The Voice of the Pearl replied: "Go to the south end of the Island of
+Coregos, and clap your hands three times and the boat will come to you.
+
+"Very good!" cried Inga, and then he turned to his companions and said:
+"We shall be able to get our boat whenever we please; but what then
+shall we do?"
+
+"Take me home in it!" pleaded Zella.
+
+"Come with me to my City of Gilgad," said the King, "where you will be
+very welcome to remain forever."
+
+"No," answered Inga, "I must rescue my father and mother, as well as my
+people. Already I have the women and children of Pingaree, but the men
+are with my father in the mines of Regos, and my dear mother has been
+taken away by Queen Cor. Not until all are rescued will I consent to
+leave these islands."
+
+"Quite right!" exclaimed Bilbil.
+
+"On second thought," said Rinkitink, "I agree with you. If you are
+careful to sleep in your shoes, and never take them off again, I
+believe you will be able to perform the task you have undertaken."
+
+They counseled together for a long time as to their mode of action and
+it was finally considered best to make the attempt to liberate King
+Kitticut first of all, and with him the men from Pingaree. This would
+give them an army to assist them and afterward they could march to
+Regos and compel Queen Cor to give up the Queen of Pingaree. Zella told
+them that they could go in their boat along the shore of Regos to a
+point opposite the mines, thus avoiding any conflict with the warriors
+of King Gos.
+
+This being considered the best course to pursue, they resolved to start
+on the following morning, as night was even now approaching. The
+servants being all busy in caring for the women and children, Zella
+undertook to get a dinner for Inga and Rinkitink and herself and soon
+prepared a fine meal in the palace kitchen, for she was a good little
+cook and had often helped her mother. The dinner was served in a small
+room overlooking the gardens and Rinkitink thought the best part of it
+was the sweet honey, which he spread upon the biscuits that Zella had
+made. As for Bilbil, he wandered through the palace grounds and found
+some grass that made him a good dinner.
+
+During the evening Inga talked with the women and cheered them,
+promising soon to reunite them with their husbands who were working in
+the mines and to send them back to their own island of Pingaree.
+
+Next morning the boy rose bright and early and found that Zella had
+already prepared a nice breakfast. And after the meal they went to the
+most southern point of the island, which was not very far away,
+Rinkitink riding upon Bilbil's back and Inga and Zella following behind
+them, hand in hand.
+
+When they reached the water's edge the boy advanced and clapped his
+hands together three times, as the White Pearl had told him to do. And
+in a few moments they saw in the distance the black boat with the
+silver lining, coming swiftly toward them from the sea. Presently it
+grounded on the beach and they all got into it.
+
+Zella was delighted with the boat, which was the most beautiful she had
+ever seen, and the marvel of its coming to them through the water
+without anyone to row it, made her a little afraid of the fairy craft.
+But Inga picked up the oars and began to row and at once the boat shot
+swiftly in the direction of Regos. They rounded the point of that
+island where the city was built and noticed that the shore was lined
+with warriors who had discovered their boat but seemed undecided
+whether to pursue it or not. This was probably because they had
+received no commands what to do, or perhaps they had learned to fear
+the magic powers of these adventurers from Pingaree and were unwilling
+to attack them unless their King ordered them to.
+
+The coast on the western side of the Island of Regos was very uneven
+and Zella, who knew fairly well the location of the mines from the
+inland forest path, was puzzled to decide which mountain they now
+viewed from the sea was the one where the entrance to the underground
+caverns was located. First she thought it was this peak, and then she
+guessed it was that; so considerable time was lost through her
+uncertainty.
+
+They finally decided to land and explore the country, to see where they
+were, so Inga ran the boat into a little rocky cove where they all
+disembarked. For an hour they searched for the path without finding any
+trace of it and now Zella believed they had gone too far to the north
+and must return to another mountain that was nearer to the city.
+
+Once again they entered the boat and followed the winding coast south
+until they thought they had reached the right place. By this time,
+however, it was growing dark, for the entire day had been spent in the
+search for the entrance to the mines, and Zella warned them that it
+would be safer to spend the night in the boat than on the land, where
+wild beasts were sure to disturb them. None of them realized at this
+time how fatal this day of search had been to their plans and perhaps
+if Inga had realized what was going on he would have landed and fought
+all the wild beasts in the forest rather than quietly remain in the
+boat until morning.
+
+However, knowing nothing of the cunning plans of Queen Cor and King
+Gos, they anchored their boat in a little bay and cheerfully ate their
+dinner, finding plenty of food and drink in the boat's lockers. In the
+evening the stars came out in the sky and tipped the waves around their
+boat with silver. All around them was delightfully still save for the
+occasional snarl of a beast on the neighboring shore.
+
+They talked together quietly of their adventures and their future plans
+and Zella told them her simple history and how hard her poor father was
+obliged to work, burning charcoal to sell for enough money to support
+his wife and child. Nikobob might be the humblest man in all Regos, but
+Zella declared he was a good man, and honest, and it was not his fault
+that his country was ruled by so wicked a King.
+
+Then Rinkitink, to amuse them, offered to sing a song, and although
+Bilbil protested in his gruff way, claiming that his master's voice was
+cracked and disagreeable, the little King was encouraged by the others
+to sing his song, which he did.
+
+  "A red-headed man named Ned was dead;
+  Sing fiddle-cum-faddle-cum-fi-do!
+  In battle he had lost his head;
+  Sing fiddle-cum-faddl-cum-fi-do!
+  'Alas, poor Ned,' to him I said,
+  'How did you lose your head so red?'
+  Sing fiddle-cum-faddle-cum-fi-do!
+
+  "Said Ned: 'I for my country bled,'
+  Sing fiddle-cum-faddle-cum-fi-do!
+  'Instead of dying safe in bed',
+  Sing fiddle-cum-faddle-cum-fi-do!
+  'If I had only fled, instead,
+  I then had been a head ahead.'
+  Sing fiddle-cum-faddle-cum-fi-do!
+
+  "I said to Ned--"
+
+
+"Do stop, Your Majesty!" pleaded Bilbil. "You're making my head ache."
+
+"But the song isn't finished," replied Rinkitink, "and as for your head
+aching, think of poor Ned, who hadn't any head at all!"
+
+"I can think of nothing but your dismal singing," retorted Bilbil. "Why
+didn't you choose a cheerful subject, instead of telling how a man who
+was dead lost his red head? Really, Rinkitink, I'm surprised at you.
+
+"I know a splendid song about a live man, said the King.
+
+"Then don't sing it," begged Bilbil.
+
+Zella was both astonished and grieved by the disrespectful words of the
+goat, for she had quite enjoyed Rinkitink's singing and had been taught
+a proper respect for Kings and those high in authority. But as it was
+now getting late they decided to go to sleep, that they might rise
+early the following morning, so they all reclined upon the bottom of
+the big boat and covered themselves with blankets which they found
+stored underneath the seats for just such occasions. They were not long
+in falling asleep and did not waken until daybreak.
+
+After a hurried breakfast, for Inga was eager to liberate his father,
+the boy rowed the boat ashore and they all landed and began searching
+for the path. Zella found it within the next half hour and declared
+they must be very close to the entrance to the mines; so they followed
+the path toward the north, Inga going first, and then Zella following
+him, while Rinkitink brought up the rear riding upon Bilbil's back.
+
+Before long they saw a great wall of rock towering before them, in
+which was a low arched entrance, and on either side of this entrance
+stood a guard, armed with a sword and a spear. The guards of the mines
+were not so fierce as the warriors of King Gos, their duty being to
+make the slaves work at their tasks and guard them from escaping; but
+they were as cruel as their cruel master wished them to be, and as
+cowardly as they were cruel.
+
+Inga walked up to the two men at the entrance and said:
+
+"Does this opening lead to the mines of King Gos?"
+
+"It does," replied one of the guards, "but no one is allowed to pass
+out who once goes in."
+
+"Nevertheless," said the boy, "we intend to go in and we shall come out
+whenever it pleases us to do so. I am the Prince of Pingaree, and I
+have come to liberate my people, whom King Gos has enslaved."
+
+Now when the two guards heard this speech they looked at one another
+and laughed, and one of them said: "The King was right, for he said the
+boy was likely to come here and that he would try to set his people
+free. Also the King commanded that we must keep the little Prince in
+the mines, and set him to work, together with his companions."
+
+"Then let us obey the King," replied the other man.
+
+Inga was surprised at hearing this, and asked:
+
+"When did King Gos give you this order?"
+
+"His Majesty was here in person last night," replied the man, "and went
+away again but an hour ago. He suspected you were coming here and told
+us to capture you if we could."
+
+This report made the boy very anxious, not for himself but for his
+father, for he feared the King was up to some mischief. So he hastened
+to enter the mines and the guards did nothing to oppose him or his
+companions, their orders being to allow him to go in but not to come
+out.
+
+The little group of adventurers passed through a long rocky corridor
+and reached a low, wide cavern where they found a dozen guards and a
+hundred slaves, the latter being hard at work with picks and shovels
+digging for gold, while the guards stood over them with long whips.
+
+Inga found many of the men from Pingaree among these slaves, but King
+Kitticut was not in this cavern; so they passed through it and entered
+another corridor that led to a second cavern. Here also hundreds of men
+were working, but the boy did not find his father amongst them, and so
+went on to a third cavern.
+
+The corridors all slanted downward, so that the farther they went the
+lower into the earth they descended, and now they found the air hot and
+close and difficult to breathe. Flaming torches were stuck into the
+walls to give light to the workers, and these added to the oppressive
+heat.
+
+The third and lowest cavern was the last in the mines, and here were
+many scores of slaves and many guards to keep them at work. So far,
+none of the guards had paid any attention to Inga's party, but allowed
+them to proceed as they would, and while the slaves cast curious
+glances at the boy and girl and man and goat, they dared say nothing.
+But now the boy walked up to some of the men of Pingaree and asked news
+of his father, telling them not to fear the guards as he would protect
+them from the whips.
+
+Then he Teamed that King Kitticut had indeed been working in this very
+cavern until the evening before, when King Gos had come and taken him
+away--still loaded with chains.
+
+"Seems to me," said King Rinkitink, when he heard this report, "that
+Gos has carried your father away to Regos, to prevent us from rescuing
+him. He may hide poor Kitticut in a dungeon, where we cannot find him."
+
+"Perhaps you are right," answered the boy, "but I am determined to find
+him, wherever he may be."
+
+Inga spoke firmly and with courage, but he was greatly disappointed to
+find that King Gos had been before him at the mines and had taken his
+father away. However, he tried not to feel disheartened, believing he
+would succeed in the end, in spite of all opposition. Turning to the
+guards, he said:
+
+"Remove the chains from these slaves and set them free."
+
+The guards laughed at this order, and one of them brought forward a
+handful of chains, saying: "His Majesty has commanded us to make you,
+also, a slave, for you are never to leave these caverns again."
+
+Then he attempted to place the chains on Inga, but the boy indignantly
+seized them and broke them apart as easily as if they had been cotton
+cords. When a dozen or more of the guards made a dash to capture him,
+the Prince swung the end of the chain like a whip and drove them into a
+corner, where they cowered and begged for mercy.
+
+Stories of the marvelous strength of the boy Prince had already spread
+to the mines of Regos, and although King Gos had told them that Inga
+had been deprived of all his magic power, the guards now saw this was
+not true, so they deemed it wise not to attempt to oppose him.
+
+The chains of the slaves had all been riveted fast to their ankles and
+wrists, but Inga broke the bonds of steel with his hands and set the
+poor men free--not only those from Pingaree but all who had been
+captured in the many wars and raids of King Gos. They were very
+grateful, as you may suppose, and agreed to support Prince Inga in
+whatever action he commanded.
+
+He led them to the middle cavern, where all the guards and overseers
+fled in terror at his approach, and soon he had broken apart the chains
+of the slaves who had been working in that part of the mines. Then they
+approached the first cavern and liberated all there.
+
+The slaves had been treated so cruelly by the servants of King Gos that
+they were eager to pursue and slay them, in revenge; but Inga held them
+back and formed them into companies, each company having its own
+leader. Then he called the leaders together and instructed them to
+march in good order along the path to the City of Regos, where he would
+meet them and tell them what to do next.
+
+They readily agreed to obey him, and, arming themselves with iron bars
+and pick-axes which they brought from the mines, the slaves began their
+march to the city.
+
+Zella at first wished to be left behind, that she might make her way to
+her home, but neither Rinkitink nor Inga thought it was safe for her to
+wander alone through the forest, so they induced her to return with
+them to the city.
+
+The boy beached his boat this time at the same place as when he first
+landed at Regos, and while many of the warriors stood on the shore and
+before the walls of the city, not one of them attempted to interfere
+with the boy in any way. Indeed, they seemed uneasy and anxious, and
+when Inga met Captain Buzzub the boy asked if anything had happened in
+his absence.
+
+"A great deal has happened," replied Buzzub. "Our King and Queen have
+run away and left us, and we don't know what to do."
+
+"Run away!" exclaimed Inga. "Where did they go to?"
+
+"Who knows?" said the man, shaking his head despondently. "They
+departed together a few hours ago, in a boat with forty rowers, and
+they took with them the King and Queen of Pingaree!"
+
+
+
+
+Chapter Fifteen
+
+The Flight of the Rulers
+
+
+Now it seems that when Queen Cor fled from her island to Regos, she had
+wit enough, although greatly frightened, to make a stop at the royal
+dairy, which was near to the bridge, and to drag poor Queen Garee from
+the butter-house and across to Regos with her. The warriors of King Gos
+had never before seen the terrible Queen Cor frightened, and therefore
+when she came running across the bridge of boats, dragging the Queen of
+Pingaree after her by one arm, the woman's great fright had the effect
+of terrifying the waiting warriors.
+
+"Quick!" cried Cor. "Destroy the bridge, or we are lost."
+
+While the men were tearing away the bridge of boats the Queen ran up to
+the palace of Gos, where she met her husband.
+
+"That boy is a wizard!" she gasped. "There is no standing against him."
+
+"Oh, have you discovered his magic at last?" replied Gos, laughing in
+her face. "Who, now, is the coward?"
+
+"Don't laugh!" cried Queen Cor. "It is no laughing matter. Both our
+islands are as good as conquered, this very minute. What shall we do,
+Gos?"
+
+"Come in," he said, growing serious, "and let us talk it over."
+
+So they went into a room of the palace and talked long and earnestly.
+
+"The boy intends to liberate his father and mother, and all the people
+of Pingaree, and to take them back to their island," said Cor. "He may
+also destroy our palaces and make us his slaves. I can see but one way,
+Gos, to prevent him from doing all this, and whatever else he pleases
+to do."
+
+"What way is that?" asked King Gos.
+
+"We must take the boy's parents away from here as quickly as possible.
+I have with me the Queen of Pingaree, and you can run up to the mines
+and get the King. Then we will carry them away in a boat and hide them
+where the boy cannot find them, with all his magic. We will use the
+King and Queen of Pingaree as hostages, and send word to the boy wizard
+that if he does not go away from our islands and allow us to rule them
+undisturbed, in our own way, we will put his father and mother to
+death. Also we will say that as long as we are let alone his parents
+will be safe, although still safely hidden. I believe, Gos, that in
+this way we can compel Prince Ingato obey us, for he seems very fond of
+his parents."
+
+"It isn't a bad idea," said Gos, reflectively; "but where can we hide
+the King and Queen, so that the boy cannot find them?"
+
+"In the country of the Nome King, on the mainland away at the south,"
+she replied. "The nomes are our friends, and they possess magic powers
+that will enable them to protect the prisoners from discovery. If we
+can manage to get the King and Queen of Pingaree to the Nome Kingdom
+before the boy knows what we are doing, I am sure our plot will
+succeed."
+
+Gos gave the plan considerable thought in the next five minutes, and
+the more he thought about it the more clever and reasonable it seemed.
+So he agreed to do as Queen Cor suggested and at once hurried away to
+the mines, where he arrived before Prince Inga did. The next morning he
+carried King Kitticut back to Regos.
+
+While Gos was gone, Queen Cor busied herself in preparing a large and
+swift boat for the journey. She placed in it several bags of gold and
+jewels with which to bribe the nomes, and selected forty of the
+strongest oarsmen in Regos to row the boat. The instant King Gos
+returned with his royal prisoner all was ready for departure. They
+quickly entered the boat with their two important captives and without
+a word of explanation to any of their people they commanded the oarsmen
+to start, and were soon out of sight upon the broad expanse of the
+Nonestic Ocean.
+
+Inga arrived at the city some hours later and was much distressed when
+he learned that his father and mother had been spirited away from the
+islands.
+
+"I shall follow them, of course," said the boy to Rinkitink, "and if I
+cannot overtake them on the ocean I will search the world over until I
+find them. But before I leave here I must arrange to send our people
+back to Pingaree."
+
+
+
+
+Chapter Sixteen
+
+Nikobob Refuses a Crown
+
+
+Almost the first persons that Zella saw when she landed from the
+silver-lined boat at Regos were her father and mother. Nikobob and his
+wife had been greatly worried when their little daughter failed to
+return from Coregos, so they had set out to discover what had become of
+her. When they reached the City of Regos, that very morning, they were
+astonished to hear news of all the strange events that had taken place;
+still, they found comfort when told that Zella had been seen in the
+boat of Prince Inga, which had gone to the north. Then, while they
+wondered what this could mean, the silver-lined boat appeared again,
+with their daughter in it, and they ran down to the shore to give her a
+welcome and many joyful kisses.
+
+Inga invited the good people to the palace of King Gos, where he
+conferred with them, as well as with Rinkitink and Bilbil.
+
+"Now that the King and Queen of Regos and Coregos have run away," he
+said, "there is no one to rule these islands. So it is my duty to
+appoint a new ruler, and as Nikobob, Zella's father, is an honest and
+worthy man, I shall make him the King of the Twin Islands."
+
+"Me?" cried Nikobob, astounded by this speech. "I beg Your Highness, on
+my bended knees, not to do so cruel a thing as to make me King!"
+
+"Why not?" inquired Rinkitink. "I'm a King, and I know how it feels. I
+assure you, good Nikobob, that I quite enjoy my high rank, although a
+jeweled crown is rather heavy to wear in hot weather."
+
+"With you, noble sir, it is different," said Nikobob, "for you are far
+from your kingdom and its trials and worries and may do as you please.
+But to remain in Regos, as King over these fierce and unruly warriors,
+would be to live in constant anxiety and peril, and the chances are
+that they would murder me within a month. As I have done no harm to
+anyone and have tried to be a good and upright man, I do not think that
+I should be condemned to such a dreadful fate."
+
+"Very well," replied Inga, "we will say no more about your being King.
+I merely wanted to make you rich and prosperous, as I had promised
+Zella."
+
+"Please forget that promise," pleaded the charcoal-burner, earnestly;
+"I have been safe from molestation for many years, because I was poor
+and possessed nothing that anyone else could envy. But if you make me
+rich and prosperous I shall at once become the prey of thieves and
+marauders and probably will lose my life in the attempt to protect my
+fortune."
+
+Inga looked at the man in surprise.
+
+"What, then, can I do to please you?" he inquired.
+
+"Nothing more than to allow me to go home to my poor cabin," said
+Nikobob.
+
+"Perhaps," remarked King Rinkitink, "the charcoal-burner has more
+wisdom concealed in that hard head of his than we gave him credit for.
+But let us use that wisdom, for the present, to counsel us what to do
+in this emergency."
+
+"What you call my wisdom," said Nikobob, "is merely common sense. I
+have noticed that some men become rich, and are scorned by some and
+robbed by others. Other men become famous, and are mocked at and
+derided by their fellows. But the poor and humble man who lives
+unnoticed and unknown escapes all these troubles and is the only one
+who can appreciate the joy of living."
+
+"If I had a hand, instead of a cloven hoof, I'd like to shake hands
+with you, Nikobob," said Bilbil the goat. "But the poor man must not
+have a cruel master, or he is undone."
+
+During the council they found, indeed, that the advice of the
+charcoal-burner was both shrewd and sensible, and they profited much by
+his words.
+
+Inga gave Captain Buzzub the command of the warriors and made him
+promise to keep his men quiet and orderly--if he could. Then the boy
+allowed all of King Gos's former slaves, except those who came from
+Pingaree, to choose what boats they required and to stock them with
+provisions and row away to their own countries. When these had
+departed, with grateful thanks and many blessings showered upon the boy
+Prince who had set them free, Inga made preparations to send his own
+people home, where they were told to rebuild their houses and then
+erect a new royal palace. They were then to await patiently the coming
+of King Kitticut or Prince Inga.
+
+"My greatest worry," said the boy to his friends, "is to know whom to
+appoint to take charge of this work of restoring Pingaree to its former
+condition. My men are all pearl fishers, and although willing and
+honest, have no talent for directing others how to work."
+
+While the preparations for departure were being made, Nikobob offered
+to direct the men of Pingaree, and did so in a very capable manner. As
+the island had been despoiled of all its valuable furniture and
+draperies and rich cloths and paintings and statuary and the like, as
+well as gold and silver and ornaments, Inga thought it no more than
+just that they be replaced by the spoilers. So he directed his people
+to search through the storehouses of King Gos and to regain all their
+goods and chattels that could be found. Also he instructed them to take
+as much else as they required to make their new homes comfortable, so
+that many boats were loaded full of goods that would enable the people
+to restore Pingaree to its former state of comfort.
+
+For his father's new palace the boy plundered the palaces of both Queen
+Cor and King Gos, sending enough wares away with his people to make
+King Kitticut's new residence as handsomely fitted and furnished as had
+been the one which the ruthless invaders from Regos had destroyed.
+
+It was a great fleet of boats that set out one bright, sunny morning on
+the voyage to Pingaree, carrying all the men, women and children and
+all the goods for refitting their homes. As he saw the fleet depart,
+Prince Inga felt that he had already successfully accomplished a part
+of his mission, but he vowed he would never return to Pingaree in
+person until he could take his father and mother there with him;
+unless, indeed, King Gos wickedly destroyed his beloved parents, in
+which case Inga would become the King of Pingaree and it would be his
+duty to go to his people and rule over them.
+
+It was while the last of the boats were preparing to sail for Pingaree
+that Nikobob, who had been of great service in getting them ready, came
+to Inga in a thoughtful mood and said:
+
+"Your Highness, my wife and my daughter Zella have been urging me to
+leave Regos and settle down in your island, in a new home. From what
+your people have told me, Pingaree is a better place to live than
+Regos, and there are no cruel warriors or savage beasts there to keep
+one in constant fear for the safety of those he loves. Therefore, I
+have come to ask to go with my family in one of the boats."
+
+Inga was much pleased with this proposal and not only granted Nikobob
+permission to go to Pingaree to live, but instructed him to take with
+him sufficient goods to furnish his new home in a comfortable manner.
+In addition to this, he appointed Nikobob general manager of the
+buildings and of the pearl fisheries, until his father or he himself
+arrived, and the people approved this order because they liked Nikobob
+and knew him to be just and honest.
+
+Soon as the last boat of the great flotilla had disappeared from the
+view of those left at Regos, Inga and Rinkitink prepared to leave the
+island themselves. The boy was anxious to overtake the boat of King
+Gos, if possible, and Rinkitink had no desire to remain in Regos.
+
+Buzzub and the warriors stood silently on the shore and watched the
+black boat with its silver lining depart, and I am sure they were as
+glad to be rid of their unwelcome visitors as Inga and Rinkitink and
+Bilbil were to leave.
+
+The boy asked the White Pearl what direction the boat of King Gos had
+taken and then he followed after it, rowing hard and steadily for eight
+days without becoming at all weary. But, although the black boat moved
+very swiftly, it failed to overtake the barge which was rowed by Queen
+Cor's forty picked oarsmen.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter Seventeen
+
+The Nome King
+
+
+The Kingdom of the Nomes does not border on the Nonestic Ocean, from
+which it is separated by the Kingdom of Rinkitink and the Country of
+the Wheelers, which is a part of the Land of Ev. Rinkitink's country is
+separated from the country of the Nomes by a row of high and steep
+mountains, from which it extends to the sea. The Country of the
+Wheelers is a sandy waste that is open on one side to the Nonestic
+Ocean and on the other side has no barrier to separate it from the Nome
+Country, therefore it was on the coast of the Wheelers that King Cos
+landed--in a spot quite deserted by any of the curious inhabitants of
+that country.
+
+The Nome Country is very large in extent, and is only separated from
+the Land of Oz, on its eastern borders, by a Deadly Desert that can not
+be crossed by mortals, unless they are aided by the fairies or by magic.
+
+The nomes are a numerous and mischievous people, living in underground
+caverns of wide extent, connected one with another by arches and
+passages. The word "nome" means "one who knows," and these people are
+so called because they know where all the gold and silver and precious
+stones are hidden in the earth--a knowledge that no other living
+creatures share with them. The nomes are busy people, constantly
+digging up gold in one place and taking it to another place, where they
+secretly bury it, and perhaps this is the reason they alone know where
+to find it. The nomes were ruled, at the time of which I write, by a
+King named Kaliko.
+
+King Gos had expected to be pursued by Inga in his magic boat, so he
+made all the haste possible, urging his forty rowers to their best
+efforts night and day. To his joy he was not overtaken but landed on
+the sandy beach of the Wheelers on the morning of the eighth day.
+
+The forty rowers were left with the boat, while Queen Cor and King Cos,
+with their royal prisoners, who were still chained, began the journey
+to the Nome King.
+
+It was not long before they passed the sands and reached the rocky
+country belonging to the nomes, but they were still a long way from the
+entrance to the underground caverns in which lived the Nome King. There
+was a dim path, winding between stones and boulders, over which the
+walking was quite difficult, especially as the path led up hills that
+were small mountains, and then down steep and abrupt slopes where any
+misstep might mean a broken leg. Therefore it was the second day of
+their journey before they climbed halfway up a rugged mountain and
+found themselves at the entrance of the Nome King's caverns.
+
+On their arrival, the entrance seemed free and unguarded, but Gos and
+Cor had been there before, and they were too wise to attempt to enter
+without announcing themselves, for the passage to the caves was full of
+traps and pitfalls. So King Gos stood still and shouted, and in an
+instant they were surrounded by a group of crooked nomes, who seemed to
+have sprung from the ground.
+
+One of these had very long ears and was called The Long-Eared Hearer.
+He said: "I heard you coming early this morning."
+
+Another had eyes that looked in different directions at the same time
+and were curiously bright and penetrating. He could look over a hill or
+around a corner and was called The Lookout. Said he: "I saw you coming
+yesterday."
+
+"Then," said King Gos, "perhaps King Kaliko is expecting us."
+
+"It is true," replied another nome, who wore a gold collar around his
+neck and carried a bunch of golden keys. "The mighty Nome King expects
+you, and bids you follow me to his presence."
+
+With this he led the way into the caverns and Gos and Cor followed,
+dragging their weary prisoners with them, for poor King Kitticut and
+his gentle Queen had been obliged to carry, all through the tedious
+journey, the bags of gold and jewels which were to bribe the Nome King
+to accept them as slaves.
+
+Through several long passages the guide led them and at last they
+entered a small cavern which was beautifully decorated and set with
+rare jewels that flashed from every part of the wall, floor and
+ceiling. This was a waiting-room for visitors, and there their guide
+left them while he went to inform King Kaliko of their arrival.
+
+Before long they were ushered into a great domed chamber, cut from the
+solid rock and so magnificent that all of them--the King and Queen of
+Pingaree and the King and Queen of Regos and Coregos--drew long breaths
+of astonishment and opened their eyes as wide as they could.
+
+In an ivory throne sat a little round man who had a pointed beard and
+hair that rose to a tall curl on top of his head. He was dressed in
+silken robes, richly embroidered, which had large buttons of cut
+rubies. On his head was a diamond crown and in his hand he held a
+golden sceptre with a big jeweled ball at one end of it. This was
+Kaliko, the King and ruler of all the nomes. He nodded pleasantly
+enough to his visitors and said in a cheery voice:
+
+"Well, Your Majesties, what can I do for you?"
+
+"It is my desire," answered King Gos, respectfully, "to place in your
+care two prisoners, whom you now see before you. They must be carefully
+guarded, to prevent them from escaping, for they have the cunning of
+foxes and are not to be trusted. In return for the favor I am asking
+you to grant, I have brought Your Majesty valuable presents of gold and
+precious gems."
+
+He then commanded Kitticut and Garee to lay before the Nome King the
+bags of gold and jewels, and they obeyed, being helpless.
+
+"Very good," said King Kaliko, nodding approval, for like all the nomes
+he loved treasures of gold and jewels. "But who are the prisoners you
+have brought here, and why do you place them in my charge instead of
+guarding them, yourself? They seem gentle enough, I'm sure."
+
+"The prisoners," returned King Gos, "are the King and Queen of
+Pingaree, a small island north of here. They are very evil people and
+came to our islands of Regos and Coregos to conquer them and slay our
+poor people. Also they intended to plunder us of all our riches, but by
+good fortune we were able to defeat and capture them. However, they
+have a son who is a terrible wizard and who by magic art is trying to
+find this awful King and Queen of Pingaree, and to set them free, that
+they may continue their wicked deeds. Therefore, as we have no magic to
+defend ourselves with, we have brought the prisoners to you for safe
+keeping."
+
+"Your Majesty," spoke up King Kitticut, addressing the Nome King with
+great indignation, "do not believe this tale, I implore you. It is all
+a lie!"
+
+"I know it," said Kaliko. "I consider it a clever lie, though, because
+it is woven without a thread of truth. However, that is none of my
+business. The fact remains that my good friend King Gos wishes to put
+you in my underground caverns, so that you will be unable to escape.
+And why should I not please him in this little matter? Gos is a mighty
+King and a great warrior, while your island of Pingaree is desolated
+and your people scattered. In my heart, King Kitticut, I sympathize
+with you, but as a matter of business policy we powerful Kings must
+stand together and trample the weaker ones under our feet."
+
+King Kitticut was surprised to find the King of the nomes so candid and
+so well informed, and he tried to argue that he and his gentle wife did
+not deserve their cruel fate and that it would be wiser for Kaliko to
+side with them than with the evil King of Regos. But Kaliko only shook
+his head and smiled, saying:
+
+"The fact that you are a prisoner, my poor Kitticut, is evidence that
+you are weaker than King Cos, and I prefer to deal with the strong. By
+the way," he added, turning to the King of Regos, "have these prisoners
+any connection with the Land of Oz?"
+
+"Why do you ask?" said Gos.
+
+"Because I dare not offend the Oz people," was the reply. "I am very
+powerful, as you know, but Ozma of Oz is far more powerful than I;
+therefore, if this King and Queen of Pingaree happened to be under
+Ozma's protection, I would have nothing to do with them."
+
+"I assure Your Majesty that the prisoners have nothing to do with the
+Oz people," Gos hastened to say. And Kitticut, being questioned,
+admitted that this was true.
+
+"But how about that wizard you mentioned?" asked the Nome King.
+
+"Oh, he is merely a boy; but he is very ferocious and obstinate and he
+is assisted by a little fat sorcerer called Rinkitink and a talking
+goat."
+
+"Oho! A talking goat, do you say? That certainly sounds like magic; and
+it also sounds like the Land of Oz, where all the animals talk," said
+Kaliko, with a doubtful expression.
+
+But King Gos assured him the talking goat had never been to Oz.
+
+"As for Rinkitink, whom you call a sorcerer," continued the Nome King,
+"he is a neighbor of mine, you must know, but as we are cut off from
+each other by high mountains beneath which a powerful river runs, I
+have never yet met King Rinkitink. But I have heard of him, and from
+all reports he is a jolly rogue, and perfectly harmless. However, in
+spite of your false statements and misrepresentations, I will earn the
+treasure you have brought me, by keeping your prisoners safe in my
+caverns.
+
+"Make them work," advised Queen Cor. "They are rather delicate, and to
+make them work will make them suffer delightfully."
+
+"I'll do as I please about that," said the Nome King sternly. "Be
+content that I agree to keep them safe."
+
+The bargain being thus made and concluded, Kaliko first examined the
+gold and jewels and then sent it away to his royal storehouse, which
+was well filled with like treasure. Next the captives were sent away in
+charge of the nome with the golden collar and keys, whose name was
+Klik, and he escorted them to a small cavern and gave them a good
+supper.
+
+"I shall lock your door," said Klik, "so there is no need of your
+wearing those heavy chains any longer." He therefore removed the chains
+and left King Kitticut and his Queen alone. This was the first time
+since the Northmen had carried them away from Pingaree that the good
+King and Queen had been alone together and free of all bonds, and as
+they embraced lovingly and mingled their tears over their sad fate they
+were also grateful that they had passed from the control of the
+heartless King Gos into the more considerate care of King Kaliko. They
+were still captives but they believed they would be happier in the
+underground caverns of the nomes than in Regos and Coregos.
+
+Meantime, in the King's royal cavern a great feast had been spread.
+King Gos and Queen Cor, having triumphed in their plot, were so well
+pleased that they held high revelry with the jolly Nome King until a
+late hour that night. And the next morning, having cautioned Kaliko not
+to release the prisoners under any consideration without their orders,
+the King and Queen of Regos and Coregos left the caverns of the nomes
+to return to the shore of the ocean where they had left their boat.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter Eighteen
+
+Inga Parts with his Pink Pearl
+
+
+The White Pearl guided Inga truly in his pursuit of the boat of King
+Gos, but the boy had been so delayed in sending his people home to
+Pingaree that it was a full day after Gos and Cor landed on the shore
+of the Wheeler Country that Inga's boat arrived at the same place.
+
+There he found the forty rowers guarding the barge of Queen Cor, and
+although they would not or could not tell the boy where the King and
+Queen had taken his father and mother, the White Pearl advised him to
+follow the path to the country and the caverns of the nomes.
+
+Rinkitink didn't like to undertake the rocky and mountainous journey,
+even with Bilbil to carry him, but he would not desert Inga, even
+though his own kingdom lay just beyond a range of mountains which could
+be seen towering southwest of them. So the King bravely mounted the
+goat, who always grumbled but always obeyed his master, and the three
+set off at once for the caverns of the nomes.
+
+They traveled just as slowly as Queen Cor and King Gos had done, so
+when they were about halfway they discovered the King and Queen coming
+back to their boat. The fact that Gos and Cor were now alone proved
+that they had left Inga's father and mother behind them; so, at the
+suggestion of Rinkitink, the three hid behind a high rock until the
+King of Regos and the Queen of Coregos, who had not observed them, had
+passed them by. Then they continued their journey, glad that they had
+not again been forced to fight or quarrel with their wicked enemies.
+
+"We might have asked them, however, what they had done with your poor
+parents," said Rinkitink.
+
+"Never mind," answered Inga. "I am sure the White Pearl will guide us
+aright."
+
+For a time they proceeded in silence and then Rinkitink began to
+chuckle with laughter in the pleasant way he was wont to do before his
+misfortunes came upon him.
+
+"What amuses Your Majesty?" inquired the boy.
+
+"The thought of how surprised my dear subjects would be if they
+realized how near to them I am, and yet how far away. I have always
+wanted to visit the Nome Country, which is full of mystery and magic
+and all sorts of adventures, but my devoted subjects forbade me to
+think of such a thing, fearing I would get hurt or enchanted."
+
+"Are you afraid, now that you are here?" asked Inga.
+
+"A little, but not much, for they say the new Nome King is not as
+wicked as the old King used to be. Still, we are undertaking a
+dangerous journey and I think you ought to protect me by lending me one
+of your pearls."
+
+Inga thought this over and it seemed a reasonable request.
+
+"Which pearl would you like to have?" asked the boy.
+
+"Well, let us see," returned Rinkitink; "you may need strength to
+liberate your captive parents, so you must keep the Blue Pearl. And you
+will need the advice of the White Pearl, so you had best keep that
+also. But in case we should be separated I would have nothing to
+protect me from harm, so you ought to lend me the Pink Pearl."
+
+"Very well," agreed Inga, and sitting down upon a rock he removed his
+right shoe and after withdrawing the cloth from the pointed toe took
+out the Pink Pearl--the one which protected from any harm the person
+who carried it.
+
+"Where can you put it, to keep it safely?" he asked.
+
+"In my vest pocket," replied the King. "The pocket has a flap to it and
+I can pin it down in such a way that the pearl cannot get out and
+become lost. As for robbery, no one with evil intent can touch my
+person while I have the pearl."
+
+So Inga gave Rinkitink the Pink Pearl and the little King placed it in
+the pocket of his red-and-green brocaded velvet vest, pinning the flap
+of the pocket down tightly.
+
+They now resumed their journey and finally reached the entrance to the
+Nome King's caverns. Placing the White Pearl to his ear, Inga asked:
+"What shall I do now?" and the Voice of the Pearl replied: "Clap your
+hands together four times and call aloud the word 'Klik.' Then allow
+yourselves to be conducted to the Nome King, who is now holding your
+father and mother captive."
+
+Inga followed these instructions and when Klik appeared in answer to
+his summons the boy requested an audience of the Nome King. So Klik led
+them into the presence of King Kaliko, who was suffering from a severe
+headache, due to his revelry the night before, and therefore was
+unusually cross and grumpy.
+
+"I know what you've come for," said he, before Inga could speak. "You
+want to get the captives from Regos away from me; but you can't do it,
+so you'd best go away again."
+
+"The captives are my father and mother, and I intend to liberate them,"
+said the boy firmly.
+
+The King stared hard at Inga, wondering at his audacity. Then he turned
+to look at King Rinkitink and said:
+
+"I suppose you are the King of Gilgad, which is in the Kingdom of
+Rinkitink."
+
+"You've guessed it the first time," replied Rinkitink.
+
+"How round and fat you are!" exclaimed Kaliko.
+
+"I was just thinking how fat and round you are," said Rinkitink.
+"Really, King Kaliko, we ought to be friends, we're so much alike in
+everything but disposition and intelligence."
+
+Then he began to chuckle, while Kaliko stared hard at him, not knowing
+whether to accept his speech as a compliment or not. And now the nome's
+eyes wandered to Bilbil, and he asked:
+
+"Is that your talking goat?"
+
+Bilbil met the Nome King's glowering look with a gaze equally surly and
+defiant, while Rinkitink answered: "It is, Your Majesty."
+
+"Can he really talk?" asked Kaliko, curiously.
+
+"He can. But the best thing he does is to scold. Talk to His Majesty,
+Bilbil."
+
+But Bilbil remained silent and would not speak.
+
+"Do you always ride upon his back?" continued Kaliko, questioning
+Rinkitink.
+
+"Yes," was the answer, "because it is difficult for a fat man to walk
+far, as perhaps you know from experience.
+
+"That is true," said Kaliko. "Get off the goat's back and let me ride
+him a while, to see how I like it. Perhaps I'll take him away from you,
+to ride through my caverns."
+
+Rinkitink chuckled softly as he heard this, but at once got off
+Bilbil's back and let Kaliko get on. The Nome King was a little
+awkward, but when he was firmly astride the saddle he called in a loud
+voice: "Giddap!"
+
+When Bilbil paid no attention to the command and refused to stir,
+Kaliko kicked his heels viciously against the goat's body, and then
+Bilbil made a sudden start. He ran swiftly across the great cavern,
+until he had almost reached the opposite wall, when he stopped so
+abruptly that King Kaliko sailed over his head and bumped against the
+jeweled wall. He bumped so hard that the points of his crown were all
+mashed out of shape and his head was driven far into the
+diamond-studded band of the crown, so that it covered one eye and a
+part of his nose. Perhaps this saved Kaliko's head from being cracked
+against the rock wall, but it was hard on the crown.
+
+Bilbil was highly pleased at the success of his feat and Rinkitink
+laughed merrily at the Nome King's comical appearance; but Kaliko was
+muttering and growling as he picked himself up and struggled to pull
+the battered crown from his head, and it was evident that he was not in
+the least amused. Indeed, Inga could see that the King was very angry,
+and the boy knew that the incident was likely to turn Kaliko against
+the entire party.
+
+The Nome King sent Klik for another crown and ordered his workmen to
+repair the one that was damaged. While he waited for the new crown he
+sat regarding his visitors with a scowling face, and this made Inga
+more uneasy than ever. Finally, when the new crown was placed upon his
+head, King Kaliko said: "Follow me, strangers!" and led the way to a
+small door at one end of the cavern.
+
+Inga and Rinkitink followed him through the doorway and found
+themselves standing on a balcony that overlooked an enormous domed
+cave--so extensive that it seemed miles to the other side of it. All
+around this circular cave, which was brilliantly lighted from an
+unknown source, were arches connected with other caverns.
+
+Kaliko took a gold whistle from his pocket and blew a shrill note that
+echoed through every part of the cave. Instantly nomes began to pour in
+through the side arches in great numbers, until the immense space was
+packed with them as far as the eye could reach. All were armed with
+glittering weapons of polished silver and gold, and Inga was amazed
+that any King could command so great an army.
+
+They began marching and countermarching in very orderly array until
+another blast of the gold whistle sent them scurrying away as quickly
+as they had appeared. And as soon as the great cave was again empty
+Kaliko returned with his visitors to his own royal chamber, where he
+once more seated himself upon his ivory throne.
+
+"I have shown you," said he to Inga, "a part of my bodyguard. The royal
+armies, of which this is only a part, are as numerous as the sands of
+the ocean, and live in many thousands of my underground caverns. You
+have come here thinking to force me to give up the captives of King Gos
+and Queen Cor, and I wanted to convince you that my power is too mighty
+for anyone to oppose. I am told that you are a wizard, and depend upon
+magic to aid you; but you must know that the nomes are not mortals, and
+understand magic pretty well themselves, so if we are obliged to fight
+magic with magic the chances are that we are a hundred times more
+powerful than you can be. Think this over carefully, my boy, and try to
+realize that you are in my power. I do not believe you can force me to
+liberate King Kitticut and Queen Garee, and I know that you cannot coax
+me to do so, for I have given my promise to King Gos. Therefore, as I
+do not wish to hurt you, I ask you to go away peaceably and let me
+alone."
+
+"Forgive me if I do not agree with you, King Kaliko," answered the boy.
+"However difficult and dangerous my task may be, I cannot leave your
+dominions until every effort to release my parents has failed and left
+me completely discouraged."
+
+"Very well," said the King, evidently displeased. "I have warned you,
+and now if evil overtakes you it is your own fault. I've a headache
+to-day, so I cannot entertain you properly, according to your rank; but
+Klik will attend you to my guest chambers and to-morrow I will talk
+with you again."
+
+This seemed a fair and courteous way to treat one's declared enemies,
+so they politely expressed the wish that Kaliko's headache would be
+better, and followed their guide, Klik, down a well-lighted passage and
+through several archways until they finally reached three nicely
+furnished bedchambers which were cut from solid gray rock and well
+lighted and aired by some mysterious method known to the nomes.
+
+The first of these rooms was given King Rinkitink, the second was
+Inga's and the third was assigned to Bilbil the goat. There was a
+swinging rock door between the third and second rooms and another
+between the second and first, which also had a door that opened upon
+the passage. Rinkitink's room was the largest, so it was here that an
+excellent dinner was spread by some of the nome servants, who, in spite
+of their crooked shapes, proved to be well trained and competent.
+
+"You are not prisoners, you know," said Klik; "neither are you welcome
+guests, having declared your purpose to oppose our mighty King and all
+his hosts. But we bear you no ill will, and you are to be well fed and
+cared for as long as you remain in our caverns. Eat hearty, sleep
+tight, and pleasant dreams to you."
+
+Saying this, he left them alone and at once Rinkitink and Inga began to
+counsel together as to the best means to liberate King Kitticut and
+Queen Garee. The White Pearl's advice was rather unsatisfactory to the
+boy, just now, for all that the Voice said in answer to his questions
+was: "Be patient, brave and determined."
+
+Rinkitink suggested that they try to discover in what part of the
+series of underground caverns Inga's parents had been confined, as that
+knowledge was necessary before they could take any action; so together
+they started out, leaving Bilbil asleep in his room, and made their way
+unopposed through many corridors and caverns. In some places were great
+furnaces, where gold dust was being melted into bricks. In other rooms
+workmen were fashioning the gold into various articles and ornaments.
+In one cavern immense wheels revolved which polished precious gems, and
+they found many caverns used as storerooms, where treasure of every
+sort was piled high. Also they came to the barracks of the army and the
+great kitchens.
+
+There were nomes everywhere--countless thousands of them--but none paid
+the slightest heed to the visitors from the earth's surface. Yet,
+although Inga and Rinkitink walked until they were weary, they were
+unable to locate the place where the boy's father and mother had been
+confined, and when they tried to return to their own rooms they found
+that they had hopelessly lost themselves amid the labyrinth of
+passages. However, Klik presently came to them, laughing at their
+discomfiture, and led them back to their bedchambers.
+
+Before they went to sleep they carefully barred the door from
+Rinkitink's room to the corridor, but the doors that connected the
+three rooms one with another were left wide open.
+
+In the night Inga was awakened by a soft grating sound that filled him
+with anxiety because he could not account for it. It was dark in his
+room, the light having disappeared as soon as he got into bed, but he
+managed to feel his way to the door that led to Rinkitink's room and
+found it tightly closed and immovable. Then he made his way to the
+opposite door, leading to Bilbil's room, to discover that also had been
+closed and fastened.
+
+The boy had a curious sensation that all of his room--the walls, floor
+and ceiling--was slowly whirling as if on a pivot, and it was such an
+uncomfortable feeling that he got into bed again, not knowing what else
+to do. And as the grating noise had ceased and the room now seemed
+stationary, he soon fell asleep again.
+
+When the boy wakened, after many hours, he found the room again light.
+So he dressed himself and discovered that a small table, containing a
+breakfast that was smoking hot, had suddenly appeared in the center of
+his room. He tried the two doors, but finding that he could not open
+them he ate some breakfast, thoughtfully wondering who had locked him
+in and why he had been made a prisoner. Then he again went to the door
+which he thought led to Rinkitink's chamber and to his surprise the
+latch lifted easily and the door swung open.
+
+Before him was a rude corridor hewn in the rock and dimly lighted. It
+did not look inviting, so Inga closed the door, puzzled to know what
+had become of Rinkitink's room and the King, and went to the opposite
+door. Opening this, he found a solid wall of rock confronting him,
+which effectually prevented his escape in that direction.
+
+The boy now realized that King Kaliko had tricked him, and while
+professing to receive him as a guest had plotted to separate him from
+his comrades. One way had been left, however, by which he might escape
+and he decided to see where it led to.
+
+So, going to the first door, he opened it and ventured slowly into the
+dimly lighted corridor. When he had advanced a few steps he heard the
+door of his room slam shut behind him. He ran back at once, but the
+door of rock fitted so closely into the wall that he found it
+impossible to open it again. That did not matter so much, however, for
+the room was a prison and the only way of escape seemed ahead of him.
+
+Along the corridor he crept until, turning a corner, he found himself
+in a large domed cavern that was empty and deserted. Here also was a
+dim light that permitted him to see another corridor at the opposite
+side; so he crossed the rocky floor of the cavern and entered a second
+corridor. This one twisted and turned in every direction but was not
+very long, so soon the boy reached a second cavern, not so large as the
+first. This he found vacant also, but it had another corridor leading
+out of it, so Inga entered that. It was straight and short and beyond
+was a third cavern, which differed little from the others except that
+it had a strong iron grating at one side of it.
+
+All three of these caverns had been roughly hewn from the rock and it
+seemed they had never been put to use, as had all the other caverns of
+the nomes he had visited. Standing in the third cavern, Inga saw what
+he thought was still another corridor at its farther side, so he walked
+toward it. This opening was dark, and that fact, and the solemn silence
+all around him, made him hesitate for a while to enter it. Upon
+reflection, however, he realized that unless he explored the place to
+the very end he could not hope to escape from it, so he boldly entered
+the dark corridor and felt his way cautiously as he moved forward.
+
+Scarcely had he taken two paces when a crash resounded back of him and
+a heavy sheet of steel closed the opening into the cavern from which he
+had just come. He paused a moment, but it still seemed best to proceed,
+and as Inga advanced in the dark, holding his hands outstretched before
+him to feel his way, handcuffs fell upon his wrists and locked
+themselves with a sharp click, and an instant later he found he was
+chained to a stout iron post set firmly in the rock floor.
+
+The chains were long enough to permit him to move a yard or so in any
+direction and by feeling the walls he found he was in a small circular
+room that had no outlet except the passage by which he had entered, and
+that was now closed by the door of steel. This was the end of the
+series of caverns and corridors.
+
+It was now that the horror of his situation occurred to the boy with
+full force. But he resolved not to submit to his fate without a
+struggle, and realizing that he possessed the Blue Pearl, which gave
+him marvelous strength, he quickly broke the chains and set himself
+free of the handcuffs. Next he twisted the steel door from its hinges,
+and creeping along the short passage, found himself in the third cave.
+
+But now the dim light, which had before guided him, had vanished; yet
+on peering into the gloom of the cave he saw what appeared to be two
+round disks of flame, which cast a subdued glow over the floor and
+walls. By this dull glow he made out the form of an enormous man,
+seated in the center of the cave, and he saw that the iron grating had
+been removed, permitting the man to enter.
+
+The giant was unclothed and its limbs were thickly covered with coarse
+red hair. The round disks of flame were its two eyes and when it opened
+its mouth to yawn Inga saw that its jaws were wide enough to crush a
+dozen men between the great rows of teeth.
+
+Presently the giant looked up and perceived the boy crouching at the
+other side of the cavern, so he called out in a hoarse, rude voice:
+
+"Come hither, my pretty one. We will wrestle together, you and I, and
+if you succeed in throwing me I will let you pass through my cave."
+
+The boy made no reply to the challenge. He realized he was in dire
+peril and regretted that he had lent the Pink Pearl to King Rinkitink.
+But it was now too late for vain regrets, although he feared that even
+his great strength would avail him little against this hairy monster.
+For his arms were not long enough to span a fourth of the giant's huge
+body, while the monster's powerful limbs would be likely to crush out
+Inga's life before he could gain the mastery.
+
+Therefore the Prince resolved to employ other means to combat this foe,
+who had doubtless been placed there to bar his return. Retreating
+through the passage he reached the room where he had been chained and
+wrenched the iron post from its socket. It was a foot thick and four
+feet long, and being of solid iron was so heavy that three ordinary men
+would have found it hard to lift.
+
+Returning to the cavern, the boy swung the great bar above his head and
+dashed it with mighty force full at the giant. The end of the bar
+struck the monster upon its forehead, and with a single groan it fell
+full length upon the floor and lay still.
+
+When the giant fell, the glow from its eyes faded away, and all was
+dark. Cautiously, for Inga was not sure the giant was dead, the boy
+felt his way toward the opening that led to the middle cavern. The
+entrance was narrow and the darkness was intense, but, feeling braver
+now, the boy stepped boldly forward. Instantly the floor began to sink
+beneath him and in great alarm he turned and made a leap that enabled
+him to grasp the rocky sides of the wall and regain a footing in the
+passage through which he had just come.
+
+Scarcely had he obtained this place of refuge when a mighty crash
+resounded throughout the cavern and the sound of a rushing torrent came
+from far below. Inga felt in his pocket and found several matches, one
+of which he lighted and held before him. While it flickered he saw that
+the entire floor of the cavern had fallen away, and knew that had he
+not instantly regained his footing in the passage he would have plunged
+into the abyss that lay beneath him.
+
+By the light of another match he saw the opening at the other side of
+the cave and the thought came to him that possibly he might leap across
+the gulf. Of course, this could never be accomplished without the
+marvelous strength lent him by the Blue Pearl, but Inga had the feeling
+that one powerful spring might carry him over the chasm into safety. He
+could not stay where he was, that was certain, so he resolved to make
+the attempt.
+
+He took a long run through the first cave and the short corridor; then,
+exerting all his strength, he launched himself over the black gulf of
+the second cave. Swiftly he flew and, although his heart stood still
+with fear, only a few seconds elapsed before his feet touched the ledge
+of the opposite passageway and he knew he had safely accomplished the
+wonderful feat.
+
+Only pausing to draw one long breath of relief, Inga quickly traversed
+the crooked corridor that led to the last cavern of the three. But when
+he came in sight of it he paused abruptly, his eyes nearly blinded by a
+glare of strong light which burst upon them. Covering his face with his
+hands, Inga retreated behind a projecting corner of rock and by
+gradually getting his eyes used to the light he was finally able to
+gaze without blinking upon the strange glare that had so quickly
+changed the condition of the cavern. When he had passed through this
+vault it had been entirely empty. Now the flat floor of rock was
+covered everywhere with a bed of glowing coals, which shot up little
+tongues of red and white flames. Indeed, the entire cave was one
+monster furnace and the heat that came from it was fearful.
+
+Inga's heart sank within him as he realized the terrible obstacle
+placed by the cunning Nome King between him and the safety of the other
+caverns. There was no turning back, for it would be impossible for him
+again to leap over the gulf of the second cave, the corridor at this
+side being so crooked that he could get no run before he jumped.
+Neither could he leap over the glowing coals of the cavern that faced
+him, for it was much larger than the middle cavern. In this dilemma he
+feared his great strength would avail him nothing and he bitterly
+reproached himself for parting with the Pink Pearl, which would have
+preserved him from injury.
+
+However, it was not in the nature of Prince Inga to despair for long,
+his past adventures having taught him confidence and courage, sharpened
+his wits and given him the genius of invention. He sat down and thought
+earnestly on the means of escape from his danger and at last a clever
+idea came to his mind. This is the way to get ideas: never to let
+adverse circumstances discourage you, but to believe there is a way out
+of every difficulty, which may be found by earnest thought.
+
+There were many points and projections of rock in the walls of the
+crooked corridor in which Inga stood and some of these rocks had become
+cracked and loosened, although still clinging to their places. The boy
+picked out one large piece, and, exerting all his strength, tore it
+away from the wall. He then carried it to the cavern and tossed it upon
+the burning coals, about ten feet away from the end of the passage.
+Then he returned for another fragment of rock, and wrenching it free
+from its place, he threw it ten feet beyond the first one, toward the
+opposite side of the cave. The boy continued this work until he had
+made a series of stepping-stones reaching straight across the cavern to
+the dark passageway beyond, which he hoped would lead him back to
+safety if not to liberty.
+
+When his work had been completed, Inga did not long hesitate to take
+advantage of his stepping-stones, for he knew his best chance of escape
+lay in his crossing the bed of coals before the rocks became so heated
+that they would burn his feet. So he leaped to the first rock and from
+there began jumping from one to the other in quick succession. A
+withering wave of heat at once enveloped him, and for a time he feared
+he would suffocate before he could cross the cavern; but he held his
+breath, to keep the hot air from his lungs, and maintained his leaps
+with desperate resolve.
+
+Then, before he realized it, his feet were pressing the cooler rocks of
+the passage beyond and he rolled helpless upon the floor, gasping for
+breath. His skin was so red that it resembled the shell of a boiled
+lobster, but his swift motion had prevented his being burned, and his
+shoes had thick soles, which saved his feet.
+
+After resting a few minutes, the boy felt strong enough to go on. He
+went to the end of the passage and found that the rock door by which he
+had left his room was still closed, so he returned to about the middle
+of the corridor and was thinking what he should do next, when suddenly
+the solid rock before him began to move and an opening appeared through
+which shone a brilliant light. Shielding his eyes, which were somewhat
+dazzled, Inga sprang through the opening and found himself in one of
+the Nome King's inhabited caverns, where before him stood King Kaliko,
+with a broad grin upon his features, and Klik, the King's chamberlain,
+who looked surprised, and King Rinkitink seated astride Bilbil the
+goat, both of whom seemed pleased that Inga had rejoined them.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter Nineteen
+
+Rinkitink Chuckles
+
+
+We will now relate what happened to Rinkitink and Bilbil that morning,
+while Inga was undergoing his trying experience in escaping the fearful
+dangers of the three caverns.
+
+The King of Gilgad wakened to find the door of Inga's room fast shut
+and locked, but he had no trouble in opening his own door into the
+corridor, for it seems that the boy's room, which was the middle one,
+whirled around on a pivot, while the adjoining rooms occupied by Bilbil
+and Rinkitink remained stationary. The little King also found a
+breakfast magically served in his room, and while he was eating it,
+Klik came to him and stated that His Majesty, King Kaliko, desired his
+presence in the royal cavern.
+
+So Rinkitink, having first made sure that the Pink Pearl was still in
+his vest pocket, willingly followed Klik, who ran on some distance
+ahead. But no sooner had Rinkitink set foot in the passage than a great
+rock, weighing at least a ton, became dislodged and dropped from the
+roof directly over his head. Of course, it could not harm him,
+protected as he was by the Pink Pearl, and it bounded aside and crashed
+upon the floor, where it was shattered by its own weight.
+
+"How careless!" exclaimed the little King, and waddled after Klik, who
+seemed amazed at his escape.
+
+Presently another rock above Rinkitink plunged downward, and then
+another, but none touched his body. Klik seemed much perplexed at these
+continued escapes and certainly Kaliko was surprised when Rinkitink,
+safe and sound, entered the royal cavern.
+
+"Good morning," said the King of Gilgad. "Your rocks are getting loose,
+Kaliko, and you'd better have them glued in place before they hurt
+someone." Then he began to chuckle: "Hoo, hoo, hoo-hee, hee-heek, keek,
+eek!" and Kaliko sat and frowned because he realized that the little
+fat King was poking fun at him.
+
+"I asked Your Majesty to come here," said the Nome King, "to show you a
+curious skein of golden thread which my workmen have made. If it
+pleases you, I will make you a present of it."
+
+With this he held out a small skein of glittering gold twine, which was
+really pretty and curious. Rinkitink took it in his hand and at once
+the golden thread began to unwind--so swiftly that the eye could not
+follow its motion. And, as it unwound, it coiled itself around
+Rinkitink's body, at the same time weaving itself into a net, until it
+had enveloped the little King from head to foot and placed him in a
+prison of gold.
+
+"Aha!" cried Kaliko; "this magic worked all right, it seems.
+
+"Oh, did it?" replied Rinkitink, and stepping forward he walked right
+through the golden net, which fell to the floor in a tangled mass.
+
+Kaliko rubbed his chin thoughtfully and stared hard at Rinkitink.
+
+"I understand a good bit of magic," said he, "but Your Majesty has a
+sort of magic that greatly puzzles me, because it is unlike anything of
+the sort that I ever met with before."
+
+"Now, see here, Kaliko," said Rinkitink; "if you are trying to harm me
+or my companions, give it up, for you will never succeed. We're
+harm-proof, so to speak, and you are merely wasting your time trying to
+injure us.
+
+"You may be right, and I hope I am not so impolite as to argue with a
+guest," returned the Nome King. "But you will pardon me if I am not yet
+satisfied that you are stronger than my famous magic. However, I beg
+you to believe that I bear you no ill will, King Rinkitink; but it is
+my duty to destroy you, if possible, because you and that insignificant
+boy Prince have openly threatened to take away my captives and have
+positively refused to go back to the earth's surface and let me alone.
+I'm very tender-hearted, as a matter of fact, and I like you immensely,
+and would enjoy having you as a friend, but--" Here he pressed a button
+on the arm of his throne chair and the section of the floor where
+Rinkitink stood suddenly opened and disclosed a black pit beneath,
+which was a part of 'the terrible Bottomless Gulf.
+
+But Rinkitink did not fall into the pit; his body remained suspended in
+the air until he put out his foot and stepped to the solid floor, when
+the opening suddenly closed again.
+
+"I appreciate Your Majesty's friendship," remarked Rinkitink, as calmly
+as if nothing had happened, "but I am getting tired with standing. Will
+you kindly send for my goat, Bilbil, that I may sit upon his back to
+rest?"
+
+"Indeed I will!" promised Kaliko. "I have not yet completed my test of
+your magic, and as I owe that goat a slight grudge for bumping my head
+and smashing my second-best crown, I will be glad to discover if the
+beast can also escape my delightful little sorceries."
+
+So Klik was sent to fetch Bilbil and presently returned with the goat,
+which was very cross this morning because it had not slept well in the
+underground caverns.
+
+Rinkitink lost no time in getting upon the red velvet saddle which the
+goat constantly wore, for he feared the Nome King would try to destroy
+Bilbil and knew that as long as his body touched that of the goat the
+Pink Pearl would protect them both; whereas, if Bilbil stood alone,
+there was no magic to save him.
+
+Bilbil glared wickedly at King Kaliko, who moved uneasily in his ivory
+throne. Then the Nome King whispered a moment in the ear of Klik, who
+nodded and left the room.
+
+"Please make yourselves at home here for a few minutes, while I attend
+to an errand," said the Nome King, getting up from the throne. "I shall
+return pretty soon, when I hope to find you pieceful--ha, ha,
+ha!--that's a joke you can't appreciate now but will later. Be
+pieceful--that's the idea. Ho, ho, ho! How funny." Then he waddled from
+the cavern, closing the door behind him.
+
+"Well, why didn't you laugh when Kaliko laughed?" demanded the goat,
+when they were left alone in the cavern.
+
+"Because he means mischief of some sort," replied Rinkitink, "and we'll
+laugh after the danger is over, Bilbil. There's an old adage that says:
+'He laughs best who laughs last,' and the only way to laugh last is to
+give the other fellow a chance. Where did that knife come from, I
+wonder."
+
+For a long, sharp knife suddenly appeared in the air near them,
+twisting and turning from side to side and darting here and there in a
+dangerous manner, without any support whatever. Then another knife
+became visible--and another and another--until all the space in the
+royal cavern seemed filled with them. Their sharp points and edges
+darted toward Rinkitink and Bilbil perpetually and nothing could have
+saved them from being cut to pieces except the protecting power of the
+Pink Pearl. As it was, not a knife touched them and even Bilbil gave a
+gruff laugh at the failure of Kaliko's clever magic.
+
+The goat wandered here and there in the cavern, carrying Rinkitink upon
+his back, and neither of them paid the slightest heed to the knives,
+although the glitter of the hundreds of polished blades was rather
+trying to their eyes. Perhaps for ten minutes the knives darted about
+them in bewildering fury; then they disappeared as suddenly as they had
+appeared.
+
+Kaliko cautiously stuck his head through the doorway and found the goat
+chewing the embroidery of his royal cloak, which he had left lying over
+the throne, while Rinkitink was reading his manuscript on "How to be
+Good" and chuckling over its advice. The Nome King seemed greatly
+disappointed as he came in and resumed his seat on the throne. Said
+Rinkitink with a chuckle:
+
+"We've really had a peaceful time, Kaliko, although not the pieceful
+time you expected. Forgive me if I indulge in a laugh--hoo, hoo,
+hoo-hee, heek-keek-eek! And now, tell me; aren't you getting tired of
+trying to injure us?"
+
+"Eh--heh," said the Nome King. "I see now that your magic can protect
+you from all my arts. But is the boy Inga as, well protected as Your
+Majesty and the goat?'
+
+"Why do you ask?" inquired Rinkitink, uneasy at the question because he
+remembered he had not seen the little Prince of Pingaree that morning.
+
+"Because," said Kaliko, "the boy has been undergoing trials far greater
+and more dangerous than any you have encountered, and it has been
+hundreds of years since anyone has been able to escape alive from the
+perils of my Three Trick Caverns."
+
+King Rinkitink was much alarmed at hearing this, for although he knew
+that Inga possessed the Blue Pearl, that would only give to him
+marvelous strength, and perhaps strength alone would not enable him to
+escape from danger. But he would not let Kaliko see the fear he felt
+for Inga's safety, so he said in a careless way:
+
+"You're a mighty poor magician, Kaliko, and I'll give you my crown if
+Inga hasn't escaped any danger you have threatened him with."
+
+"Your whole crown is not worth one of the valuable diamonds in my
+crown," answered the Nome King, "but I'll take it. Let us go at once,
+therefore, and see what has become of the boy Prince, for if he is not
+destroyed by this time I will admit he cannot be injured by any of the
+magic arts which I have at my command."
+
+He left the room, accompanied by Klik, who had now rejoined his master,
+and by Rinkitink riding upon Bilbil. After traversing several of the
+huge caverns they entered one that was somewhat more bright and
+cheerful than the others, where the Nome King paused before a wall of
+rock. Then Klik pressed a secret spring and a section of the wall
+opened and disclosed the corridor where Prince Inga stood facing them.
+
+"Tarts and tadpoles!" cried Kaliko in surprise. "The boy is still
+alive!"
+
+
+
+
+Chapter Twenty
+
+Dorothy to the Rescue
+
+
+One day when Princess Dorothy of Oz was visiting Glinda the Good, who
+is Ozma's Royal Sorceress, she was looking through Glinda's Great Book
+of Records--wherein is inscribed all important events that happen in
+every part of the world--when she came upon the record of the
+destruction of Pingaree, the capture of King Kitticut and Queen Garee
+and all their people, and the curious escape of Inga, the boy Prince,
+and of King Rinkitink and the talking goat. Turning over some of the
+following pages, Dorothy read how Inga had found the Magic Pearls and
+was rowing the silver-lined boat to Regos to try to rescue his parents.
+
+The little girl was much interested to know how well Inga succeeded,
+but she returned to the palace of Ozma at the Emerald City of Oz the
+next day and other events made her forget the boy Prince of Pingaree
+for a time. However, she was one day idly looking at Ozma's Magic
+Picture, which shows any scene you may wish to see, when the girl
+thought of Inga and commanded the Magic Picture to show what the boy
+was doing at that moment.
+
+It was the time when Inga and Rinkitink had followed the King of Regos
+and Queen of Coregos to the Nome King's country and she saw them hiding
+behind the rock as Cor and Gos passed them by after having placed the
+King and Queen of Pingaree in the keeping of the Nome King. From that
+time Dorothy followed, by means of the Magic Picture, the adventures of
+Inga and his friend in the Nome King's caverns, and the danger and
+helplessness of the poor boy aroused the little girl's pity and
+indignation.
+
+So she went to Ozma and told the lovely girl Ruler of Oz all about Inga
+and Rinkitink.
+
+"I think Kaliko is treating them dreadfully mean," declared Dorothy,
+"and I wish you'd let me go to the Nome Country and help them out of
+their troubles."
+
+"Go, my dear, if you wish to," replied Ozma, "but I think it would be
+best for you to take the Wizard with you."
+
+"Oh, I'm not afraid of the nomes," said Dorothy, "but I'll be glad to
+take the Wizard, for company. And may we use your Magic Carpet, Ozma?"
+
+"Of course. Put the Magic Carpet in the Red Wagon and have the Sawhorse
+take you and the Wizard to the edge of the desert. While you are gone,
+Dorothy, I'll watch you in the Magic Picture, and if any danger
+threatens you I'll see you are not harmed."
+
+Dorothy thanked the Ruler of Oz and kissed her good-bye, for she was
+determined to start at once. She found the Wizard of Oz, who was
+planting shoetrees in the garden, and when she told him Inga's story he
+willingly agreed to accompany the little girl to the Nome King's
+caverns. They had both been there before and had conquered the nomes
+with ease, so they were not at all afraid.
+
+The Wizard, who was a cheery little man with a bald head and a winning
+smile, harnessed the Wooden Sawhorse to the Red Wagon and loaded on
+Ozma's Magic Carpet. Then he and Dorothy climbed to the seat and the
+Sawhorse started off and carried them swiftly through the beautiful
+Land of Oz to the edge of the Deadly Desert that separated their
+fairyland from the Nome Country.
+
+Even Dorothy and the clever Wizard would not have dared to cross this
+desert without the aid of the Magic Carpet, for it would have quickly
+destroyed them; but when the roll of carpet had been placed upon the
+edge of the sands, leaving just enough lying flat for them to stand
+upon, the carpet straightway began to unroll before them and as they
+walked on it continued to unroll, until they had safely passed over the
+stretch of Deadly Desert and were on the border of the Nome King's
+dominions.
+
+This journey had been accomplished in a few minutes, although such a
+distance would have required several days travel had they not been
+walking on the Magic Carpet. On arriving they at once walked toward the
+entrance to the caverns of the nomes.
+
+The Wizard carried a little black bag containing his tools of wizardry,
+while Dorothy carried over her arm a covered basket in which she had
+placed a dozen eggs, with which to conquer the nomes if she had any
+trouble with them.
+
+Eggs may seem to you to be a queer weapon with which to fight, but the
+little girl well knew their value. The nomes are immortal; that is,
+they do not perish, as mortals do, unless they happen to come in
+contact with an egg. If an egg touches them--either the outer shell or
+the inside of the egg--the nomes lose their charm of perpetual life and
+thereafter are liable to die through accident or old age, just as all
+humans are.
+
+For this reason the sight of an egg fills a nome with terror and he
+will do anything to prevent an egg from touching him, even for an
+instant. So, when Dorothy took her basket of eggs with her, she knew
+that she was more powerfully armed than if she had a regiment of
+soldiers at her back.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter Twenty-One
+
+The Wizard Finds an Enchantment
+
+
+After Kaliko had failed in his attempts to destroy his guests, as has
+been related, the Nome King did nothing more to injure them but treated
+them in a friendly manner. He refused, however, to permit Inga to see
+or to speak with his father and mother, or even to know in what part of
+the underground caverns they were confined.
+
+"You are able to protect your lives and persons, I freely admit," said
+Kaliko; "but I firmly believe you have no power, either of magic or
+otherwise, to take from me the captives I have agreed to keep for King
+Gos."
+
+Inga would not agree to this. He determined not to leave the caverns
+until he had liberated his father and mother, although he did not then
+know how that could be accomplished. As for Rinkitink, the jolly King
+was well fed and had a good bed to sleep upon, so he was not worrying
+about anything and seemed in no hurry to go away.
+
+Kaliko and Rinkitink were engaged in pitching a game with solid gold
+quoits, on the floor of the royal chamber, and Inga and Bilbil were
+watching them, when Klik came running in, his hair standing on end with
+excitement, and cried out that the Wizard of Oz and Dorothy were
+approaching.
+
+Kaliko turned pale on hearing this unwelcome news and, abandoning his
+game, went to sit in his ivory throne and try to think what had brought
+these fearful visitors to his domain.
+
+"Who is Dorothy?" asked Inga.
+
+"She is a little girl who once lived in Kansas," replied Klik, with a
+shudder, "but she now lives in Ozma's palace at the Emerald City and is
+a Princess of Oz--which means that she is a terrible foe to deal with."
+
+"Doesn't she like the nomes?" inquired the boy.
+
+"It isn't that," said King Kaliko, with a groan, "but she insists on
+the nomes being goody-goody, which is contrary to their natures.
+Dorothy gets angry if I do the least thing that is wicked, and tries to
+make me stop it, and that naturally makes me downhearted. I can't
+imagine why she has come here just now, for I've been behaving very
+well lately. As for that Wizard of Oz, he's chock-full of magic that I
+can't overcome, for he learned it from Glinda, who is the most powerful
+sorceress in the world. Woe is me! Why didn't Dorothy and the Wizard
+stay in Oz, where they belong?"
+
+Inga and Rinkitink listened to this with much joy, for at once the idea
+came to them both to plead with Dorothy to help them. Even Bilbil
+pricked up his ears when he heard the Wizard of Oz mentioned, and the
+goat seemed much less surly, and more thoughtful than usual.
+
+A few minutes later a nome came to say that Dorothy and the Wizard had
+arrived and demanded admittance, so Klik was sent to usher them into
+the royal presence of the Nome King.
+
+As soon as she came in the little girl ran up to the boy Prince and
+seized both his hands.
+
+"Oh, Inga!" she exclaimed, "I'm so glad to find you alive and well."
+
+Inga was astonished at so warm a greeting. Making a low bow he said:
+
+"I don't think we have met before, Princess."
+
+"No, indeed," replied Dorothy, "but I know all about you and I've come
+to help you and King Rinkitink out of your troubles." Then she turned
+to the Nome King and continued: "You ought to be ashamed of yourself,
+King Kaliko, to treat an honest Prince and an honest King so badly."
+
+"I haven't done anything to them," whined Kaliko, trembling as her eyes
+flashed upon him.
+
+"No; but you tried to, an' that's just as bad, if not worse," said
+Dorothy, who was very indignant. "And now I want you to send for the
+King and Queen of Pingaree and have them brought here immejitly!"
+
+"I won't," said Kaliko.
+
+"Yes, you will!" cried Dorothy, stamping her foot at him. "I won't have
+those poor people made unhappy any longer, or separated from their
+little boy. Why, it's dreadful, Kaliko, an' I'm su'prised at you. You
+must be more wicked than I thought you were."
+
+"I can't do it, Dorothy," said the Nome King, almost weeping with
+despair. "I promised King Gos I'd keep them captives. You wouldn't ask
+me to break my promise, would you?"
+
+"King Gos was a robber and an outlaw," she said, "and p'r'aps you don't
+know that a storm at sea wrecked his boat, while he was going back to
+Regos, and that he and Queen Cor were both drowned."
+
+"Dear me!" exclaimed Kaliko. "Is that so?"
+
+"I saw it in Glinda's Record Book," said Dorothy. "So now you trot out
+the King and Queen of Pingaree as quick as you can."
+
+"No," persisted the contrary Nome King, shaking his head. "I won't do
+it. Ask me anything else and I'll try to please you, but I can't allow
+these friendly enemies to triumph over me.
+
+"In that case," said Dorothy, beginning to remove the cover from her
+basket, "I'll show you some eggs."
+
+"Eggs!" screamed the Nome King in horror. "Have you eggs in that
+basket?"
+
+"A dozen of 'em," replied Dorothy.
+
+"Then keep them there--I beg--I implore you!--and I'll do anything you
+say," pleaded Kaliko, his teeth chattering so that he could hardly
+speak.
+
+"Send for the King and Queen of Pingaree," said Dorothy.
+
+"Go, Klik," commanded the Nome King, and Klik ran away in great haste,
+for he was almost as much frightened as his master.
+
+It was an affecting scene when the unfortunate King and Queen of
+Pingaree entered the chamber and with sobs and tears of joy embraced
+their brave and adventurous son. All the others stood silent until
+greetings and kisses had been exchanged and Inga had told his parents
+in a few words of his vain struggles to rescue them and how Princess
+Dorothy had finally come to his assistance.
+
+Then King Kitticut shook the hands of his friend King Rinkitink and
+thanked him for so loyally supporting his son Inga, and Queen Garee
+kissed little Dorothy's forehead and blessed her for restoring her
+husband and herself to freedom.
+
+The Wizard had been standing near Bilbil the goat and now he was
+surprised to hear the animal say:
+
+"Joyful reunion, isn't it? But it makes me tired to see grown people
+cry like children."
+
+"Oho!" exclaimed the Wizard. "How does it happen, Mr. Goat, that you,
+who have never been to the Land of Oz, are able to talk?"
+
+"That's my business," returned Bilbil in a surly tone.
+
+The Wizard stooped down and gazed fixedly into the animal's eyes. Then
+he said, with a pitying sigh: "I see; you are under an enchantment.
+Indeed, I believe you to be Prince Bobo of Boboland."
+
+Bilbil made no reply but dropped his head as if ashamed.
+
+"This is a great discovery," said the Wizard, addressing Dorothy and
+the others of the party. "A good many years ago a cruel magician
+transformed the gallant Prince of Boboland into a talking goat, and
+this goat, being ashamed of his condition, ran away and was never after
+seen in Boboland, which is a country far to the south of here but
+bordering on the Deadly Desert, opposite the Land of Oz. I heard of
+this story long ago and know that a diligent search has been made for
+the enchanted Prince, without result. But I am well assured that, in
+the animal you call Bilbil, I have discovered the unhappy Prince of
+Boboland."
+
+"Dear me, Bilbil," said Rinkitink, "why have you never told me this?"
+
+"What would be the use?" asked Bilbil in a low voice and still refusing
+to look up.
+
+"The use?" repeated Rinkitink, puzzled.
+
+"Yes, that's the trouble," said the Wizard. "It is one of the most
+powerful enchantments ever accomplished, and the magician is now dead
+and the secret of the anti-charm lost. Even I, with all my skill,
+cannot restore Prince Bobo to his proper form. But I think Glinda might
+be able to do so and if you will all return with Dorothy and me to the
+Land of Oz, where Ozma will make you welcome, I will ask Glinda to try
+to break this enchantment."
+
+This was willingly agreed to, for they all welcomed the chance to visit
+the famous Land of Oz. So they bade good-bye to King Kaliko, whom
+Dorothy warned not to be wicked any more if he could help it, and the
+entire party returned over the Magic Carpet to the Land of Oz. They
+filled the Red Wagon, which was still waiting for them, pretty full;
+but the Sawhorse didn't mind that and with wonderful speed carried them
+safely to the Emerald City.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter Twenty Two
+
+Ozma's Banquet
+
+
+Ozma had seen in her Magic Picture the liberation of Inga's parents and
+the departure of the entire party for the Emerald City, so with her
+usual hospitality she ordered a splendid banquet prepared and invited
+all her quaint friends who were then in the Emerald City to be present
+that evening to meet the strangers who were to become her guests.
+
+Glinda, also, in her wonderful Record Book had learned of the events
+that had taken place in the caverns of the Nome King and she became
+especially interested in the enchantment of the Prince of Boboland. So
+she hastily prepared several of her most powerful charms and then
+summoned her flock of sixteen white storks, which swiftly bore her to
+Ozma's palace. She arrived there before the Red Wagon did and was
+warmly greeted by the girl Ruler.
+
+Realizing that the costume of Queen Garee of Pingaree must have become
+sadly worn and frayed, owing to her hardships and adventures, Ozma
+ordered a royal outfit prepared for the good Queen and had it laid in
+her chamber ready for her to put on as soon as she arrived, so she
+would not be shamed at the banquet. New costumes were also provided for
+King Kitticut and King Rinkitink and Prince Inga, all cut and made and
+embellished in the elaborate and becoming style then prevalent in the
+Land of Oz, and as soon as the party arrived at the palace Ozma's
+guests were escorted by her servants to their rooms, that they might
+bathe and dress themselves.
+
+Glinda the Sorceress and the Wizard of Oz took charge of Bilbil the
+goat and went to a private room where they were not likely to be
+interrupted. Glinda first questioned Bilbil long and earnestly about
+the manner of his enchantment and the ceremony that had been used by
+the magician who enchanted him. At first Bilbil protested that he did
+not want to be restored to his natural shape, saying that he had been
+forever disgraced in the eyes of his people and of the entire world by
+being obliged to exist as a scrawny, scraggly goat. But Glinda pointed
+out that any person who incurred the enmity of a wicked magician was
+liable to suffer a similar fate, and assured him that his misfortune
+would make him better beloved by his subjects when he returned to them
+freed from his dire enchantment.
+
+Bilbil was finally convinced of the truth of this assertion and agreed
+to submit to the experiments of Glinda and the Wizard, who knew they
+had a hard task before them and were not at all sure they could
+succeed. We know that Glinda is the most complete mistress of magic who
+has ever existed, and she was wise enough to guess that the clever but
+evil magician who had enchanted Prince Bobo had used a spell that would
+puzzle any ordinary wizard or sorcerer to break; therefore she had
+given the matter much shrewd thought and hoped she had conceived a plan
+that would succeed. But because she was not positive of success she
+would have no one present at the incantation except her assistant, the
+Wizard of Oz.
+
+First she transformed Bilbil the goat into a lamb, and this was done
+quite easily. Next she transformed the lamb into an ostrich, giving it
+two legs and feet instead of four. Then she tried to transform the
+ostrich into the original Prince Bobo, but this incantation was an
+utter failure. Glinda was not discouraged, however, but by a powerful
+spell transformed the ostrich into a tottenhot--which is a lower form
+of a man. Then the tottenhot was transformed into a mifket, which was a
+great step in advance and, finally, Glinda transformed the mifket into
+a handsome young man, tall and shapely, who fell on his knees before
+the great Sorceress and gratefully kissed her hand, admitting that he
+had now recovered his proper shape and was indeed Prince Bobo of
+Boboland.
+
+This process of magic, successful though it was in the end, had
+required so much time that the banquet was now awaiting their presence.
+Bobo was already dressed in princely raiment and although he seemed
+very much humbled by his recent lowly condition, they finally persuaded
+him to join the festivities.
+
+When Rinkitink saw that his goat had now become a Prince, he did not
+know whether to be sorry or glad, for he felt that he would miss the
+companionship of the quarrelsome animal he had so long been accustomed
+to ride upon, while at the same time he rejoiced that poor Bilbil had
+come to his own again.
+
+Prince Bobo humbly begged Rinkitink's forgiveness for having been so
+disagreeable to him, at times, saying that the nature of a goat had
+influenced him and the surly disposition he had shown was a part of his
+enchantment. But the jolly King assured the Prince that he had really
+enjoyed Bilbil's grumpy speeches and forgave him readily. Indeed, they
+all discovered the young Prince Bobo to be an exceedingly courteous and
+pleasant person, although he was somewhat reserved and dignified.
+
+Ah, but it was a great feast that Ozma served in her gorgeous banquet
+hall that night and everyone was as happy as could be. The Shaggy Man
+was there, and so was Jack Pumpkinhead and the Tin Woodman and Cap'n
+Bill. Beside Princess Dorothy sat Tiny Trot and Betsy Bobbin, and the
+three little girls were almost as sweet to look upon as was Ozma, who
+sat at the head of her table and outshone all her guests in loveliness.
+
+King Rinkitink was delighted with the quaint people of Oz and laughed
+and joked with the tin man and the pumpkin-headed man and found Cap'n
+Bill a very agreeable companion. But what amused the jolly King most
+were the animal guests, which Ozma always invited to her banquets and
+seated at a table by themselves, where they talked and chatted together
+as people do but were served the sort of food their natures required.
+The Hungry Tiger and Cowardly Lion and the Glass Cat were much admired
+by Rinkitink, but when he met a mule named Hank, which Betsy Bobbin had
+brought to Oz, the King found the creature so comical that he laughed
+and chuckled until his friends thought he would choke. Then while the
+banquet was still in progress, Rinkitink composed and sang a song to
+the mule and they all joined in the chorus, which was something like
+this:
+
+  "It's very queer how big an ear
+    Is worn by Mr. Donkey;
+  And yet I fear he could not hear
+    If it were on a monkey.
+
+  'Tis thick and strong and broad and long
+    And also very hairy;
+  It's quite becoming to our Hank
+    But might disgrace a fairy!"
+
+
+This song was received with so much enthusiasm that Rinkitink was
+prevailed upon to sing another. They gave him a little time to compose
+the rhyme, which he declared would be better if he could devote a month
+or two to its composition, but the sentiment he expressed was so
+admirable that no one criticized the song or the manner in which the
+jolly little King sang it.
+
+Dorothy wrote down the words on a piece of paper, and here they are:
+
+  "We're merry comrades all, to-night,
+  Because we've won a gallant fight
+    And conquered all our foes.
+  We're not afraid of anything,
+  So let us gayly laugh and sing
+    Until we seek repose.
+
+  "We've all our grateful hearts can wish;
+  King Gos has gone to feed the fish,
+    Queen Cor has gone, as well;
+  King Kitticut has found his own,
+  Prince Bobo soon will have a throne
+    Relieved of magic spell.
+
+  "So let's forget the horrid strife
+  That fell upon our peaceful life
+    And caused distress and pain;
+  For very soon across the sea
+  We'll all be sailing merrily
+    To Pingaree again."
+
+
+
+
+Chapter Twenty Three
+
+The Pearl Kingdom
+
+
+It was unfortunate that the famous Scarecrow--the most popular person
+in all Oz, next to Ozma--was absent at the time of the banquet, for he
+happened just then to be making one of his trips through the country;
+but the Scarecrow had a chance later to meet Rinkitink and Inga and the
+King and Queen of Pingaree and Prince Bobo, for the party remained
+several weeks at the Emerald City, where they were royally entertained,
+and where both the gentle Queen Garee and the noble King Kitticut
+recovered much of their good spirits and composure and tried to forget
+their dreadful experiences.
+
+At last, however, the King and Queen desired to return to their own
+Pingaree, as they longed to be with their people again and see how well
+they had rebuilt their homes. Inga also was anxious to return, although
+he had been very happy in Oz, and King Rinkitink, who was happy
+anywhere except at Gilgad, decided to go with his former friends to
+Pingaree. As for prince Bobo, he had become so greatly attached to King
+Rinkitink that he was loth to leave him.
+
+On a certain day they all bade good-bye to Ozma and Dorothy and Glinda
+and the Wizard and all their good friends in Oz, and were driven in the
+Red Wagon to the edge of the Deadly Desert, which they crossed safely
+on the Magic Carpet. They then made their way across the Nome Kingdom
+and the Wheeler Country, where no one molested them, to the shores of
+the Nonestic Ocean. There they found the boat with the silver lining
+still lying undisturbed on the beach.
+
+There were no important adventures during the trip and on their arrival
+at the pearl kingdom they were amazed at the beautiful appearance of
+the island they had left in ruins. All the houses of the people had
+been rebuilt and were prettier than before, with green lawns before
+them and flower gardens in the back yards. The marble towers of King
+Kitticut's new palace were very striking and impressive, while the
+palace itself proved far more magnificent than it had been before the
+warriors from Regos destroyed it.
+
+Nikobob had been very active and skillful in directing all this work,
+and he had also built a pretty cottage for himself, not far from the
+King's palace, and there Inga found Zella, who was living very happy
+and contented in her new home. Not only had Nikobob accomplished all
+this in a comparatively brief space of time, but he had started the
+pearl fisheries again and when King Kitticut returned to Pingaree he
+found a quantity of fine pearls already in the royal treasury.
+
+So pleased was Kitticut with the good judgment, industry and honesty of
+the former charcoal-burner of Regos, that he made Nikobob his Lord High
+Chamberlain and put him in charge of the pearl fisheries and all the
+business matters of the island kingdom.
+
+They all settled down very comfortably in the new palace and the Queen
+gathered her maids about her once more and set them to work
+embroidering new draperies for the royal throne. Inga placed the three
+Magic Pearls in their silken bag and again deposited them in the secret
+cavity under the tiled flooring of the banquet hall, where they could
+be quickly secured if danger ever threatened the now prosperous island.
+
+King Rinkitink occupied a royal guest chamber built especially for his
+use and seemed in no hurry to leave his friends in Pingaree. The fat
+little King had to walk wherever he went and so missed Bilbil more and
+more; but he seldom walked far and he was so fond of Prince BoBo that
+he never regretted Bilbil's disenchantment.
+
+Indeed, the jolly monarch was welcome to remain forever in Pingaree, if
+he wished to, for his merry disposition set smiles on the faces of all
+his friends and made everyone near him as jolly as he was himself. When
+King Kitticut was not too busy with affairs of state he loved to join
+his guest and listen to his brother monarch's songs and stories. For he
+found Rinkitink to be, with all his careless disposition, a shrewd
+philosopher, and in talking over their adventures one day the King of
+Gilgad said:
+
+"The beauty of life is its sudden changes. No one knows what is going
+to happen next, and so we are constantly being surprised and
+entertained. The many ups and downs should not discourage us, for if we
+are down, we know that a change is coming and we will go up again;
+while those who are up are almost certain to go down. My grandfather
+had a song which well expresses this and if you will listen I will sing
+it."
+
+"Of course I will listen to your song," returned Kitticut, "for it
+would be impolite not to."
+
+So Rinkitink sang his grandfather's song:
+
+  "A mighty King once ruled the land--
+    But now he's baking pies.
+  A pauper, on the other hand,
+    Is ruling, strong and wise.
+
+  A tiger once in jungles raged--
+    But now he's in a zoo;
+  A lion, captive-born and caged,
+    Now roams the forest through.
+
+  A man once slapped a poor boy's pate
+    And made him weep and wail.
+  The boy became a magistrate
+    And put the man in jail.
+
+  A sunny day succeeds the night;
+    It's summer--then it snows!
+  Right oft goes wrong and wrong comes right,
+    As ev'ry wise man knows."
+
+
+
+
+Chapter Twenty-Four
+
+The Captive King
+
+
+One morning, just as the royal party was finishing breakfast, a servant
+came running to say that a great fleet of boats was approaching the
+island from the south. King Kitticut sprang up at once, in great alarm,
+for he had much cause to fear strange boats. The others quickly
+followed him to the shore to see what invasion might be coming upon
+them.
+
+Inga was there with the first, and Nikobob and Zella soon joined the
+watchers. And presently, while all were gazing eagerly at the
+approaching fleet, King Rinkitink suddenly cried out:
+
+"Get your pearls, Prince Inga--get them quick!"
+
+"Are these our enemies, then?" asked the boy, looking with surprise
+upon the fat little King, who had begun to tremble violently.
+
+"They are my people of Gilgad!" answered Rinkitink, wiping a tear from
+his eye. "I recognize my royal standards flying from the boats. So,
+please, dear Inga, get out your pearls to protect me!"
+
+"What can you fear at the hands of your own subjects?" asked Kitticut,
+astonished.
+
+But before his frightened guest could answer the question Prince Bobo,
+who was standing beside his friend, gave an amused laugh and said:
+
+"You are caught at last, dear Rinkitink. Your people will take you home
+again and oblige you to reign as King."
+
+Rinkitink groaned aloud and clasped his hands together with a gesture
+of despair, an attitude so comical that the others could scarcely
+forbear laughing.
+
+But now the boats were landing upon the beach. They were fifty in
+number, beautifully decorated and upholstered and rowed by men clad in
+the gay uniforms of the King of Gilgad. One splendid boat had a throne
+of gold in the center, over which was draped the King's royal robe of
+purple velvet, embroidered with gold buttercups.
+
+Rinkitink shuddered when he saw this throne; but now a tall man,
+handsomely dressed, approached and knelt upon the grass before his
+King, while all the other occupants of the boats shouted joyfully and
+waved their plumed hats in the air.
+
+"Thanks to our good fortune," said the man who kneeled, "we have found
+Your Majesty at last!"
+
+"Pinkerbloo," answered Rinkitink sternly, "I must have you hanged, for
+thus finding me against my will."
+
+"You think so now, Your Majesty, but you will never do it," returned
+Pinkerbloo, rising and kissing the King's hand.
+
+"Why won't I?" asked Rinkitink.
+
+"Because you are much too tender-hearted, Your Majesty."
+
+"It may be--it may be," agreed Rinkitink, sadly. "It is one of my
+greatest failings. But what chance brought you here, my Lord
+Pinkerbloo?"
+
+"We have searched for you everywhere, sire, and all the people of
+Gilgad have been in despair since you so mysteriously disappeared. We
+could not appoint a new King, because we did not know but that you
+still lived; so we set out to find you, dead or alive. After visiting
+many islands of the Nonestic Ocean we at last thought of Pingaree, from
+where come the precious pearls; and now our faithful quest has been
+rewarded."
+
+"And what now?" asked Rinkitink.
+
+"Now, Your Majesty, you must come home with us, like a good and dutiful
+King, and rule over your people," declared the man in a firm voice.
+
+"I will not."
+
+"But you must--begging Your Majesty's pardon for the contradiction."
+
+"Kitticut," cried poor Rinkitink, "you must save me from being captured
+by these, my subjects. What! must I return to Gilgad and be forced to
+reign in splendid state when I much prefer to eat and sleep and sing in
+my own quiet way? They will make me sit in a throne three hours a day
+and listen to dry and tedious affairs of state; and I must stand up for
+hours at the court receptions, till I get corns on my heels; and
+forever must I listen to tiresome speeches and endless petitions and
+complaints!"
+
+"But someone must do this, Your Majesty," said Pinkerbloo respectfully,
+"and since you were born to be our King you cannot escape your duty."
+
+"'Tis a horrid fate!" moaned Rinkitink. "I would die willingly, rather
+than be a King--if it did not hurt so terribly to die."
+
+"You will find it much more comfortable to reign than to die, although
+I fully appreciate Your Majesty's difficult position and am truly sorry
+for you," said Pinkerbloo.
+
+King Kitticut had listened to this conversation thoughtfully, so now he
+said to his friend:
+
+"The man is right, dear Rinkitink. It is your duty to reign, since fate
+has made you a King, and I see no honorable escape for you. I shall
+grieve to lose your companionship, but I feel the separation cannot be
+avoided."
+
+Rinkitink sighed.
+
+"Then," said he, turning to Lord Pinkerbloo, "in three days I will
+depart with you for Gilgad; but during those three days I propose to
+feast and make merry with my good friend King Kitticut."
+
+Then all the people of Gilgad shouted with delight and eagerly
+scrambled ashore to take their part in the festival.
+
+Those three days were long remembered in Pingaree, for never--before
+nor since--has such feasting and jollity been known upon that island.
+Rinkitink made the most of his time and everyone laughed and sang with
+him by day and by night.
+
+Then, at last, the hour of parting arrived and the King of Gilgad and
+Ruler of the Dominion of Rinkitink was escorted by a grand procession
+to his boat and seated upon his golden throne. The rowers of the fifty
+boats paused, with their glittering oars pointed into the air like
+gigantic uplifted sabres, while the people of Pingaree--men, women and
+children--stood upon the shore shouting a royal farewell to the jolly
+King.
+
+Then came a sudden hush, while Rinkitink stood up and, with a bow to
+those assembled to witness his departure, sang the following song,
+which he had just composed for the occasion.
+
+  "Farewell, dear Isle of Pingaree--
+  The fairest land in all the sea!
+  No living mortals, kings or churls,
+  Would scorn to wear thy precious pearls.
+
+  "King Kitticut, 'tis with regret
+  I'm forced to say farewell; and yet
+  Abroad no longer can I roam
+  When fifty boats would drag me home.
+
+  "Good-bye, my Prince of Pingaree;
+  A noble King some time you'll be
+  And long and wisely may you reign
+  And never face a foe again!"
+
+
+They cheered him from the shore; they cheered him from the boats; and
+then all the oars of the fifty boats swept downward with a single
+motion and dipped their blades into the purple-hued waters of the
+Nonestic Ocean.
+
+As the boats shot swiftly over the ripples of the sea Rinkitink turned
+to Prince Bobo, who had decided not to desert his former master and his
+present friend, and asked anxiously:
+
+"How did you like that song, Bilbil--I mean Bobo? Is it a masterpiece,
+do you think?"
+
+And Bobo replied with a smile:
+
+"Like all your songs, dear Rinkitink, the sentiment far excels the
+poetry."
+
+
+
+
+
+The Wonderful Oz Books
+
+by L. Frank Baum
+
+   1 The Wizard of Oz
+   2 The Land of Oz
+   3 Ozma of Oz
+   4 Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz
+   5 The Road to Oz
+   6 The Emerald City of Oz
+   7 The Patchwork Girl of Oz
+   8 Tik-Tok of Oz
+   9 The Scarecrow of Oz
+  10 Rinkitink in Oz
+  11 The Lost Princess of Oz
+  12 The Tin Woodman of Oz
+  13 The Magic of Oz
+  14 Glinda of Oz
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Rinkitink in Oz, by L. Frank Baum
+
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