. But when
notice of death was served on him the following day, he thought better
of the matter, concluding it was wiser to live without the stick, than
to die with it. He, therefore, sent to the king, begging to make a
private communication, and disclosed the secret to him. The king would
not credit his confession; but Little Muck promised a test of the
stick's power, if the king would grant him his life. The king gave him
his word on it, and, unseen by Muck, had some gold buried in the
garden, and then ordered Muck to find it. After a few moments hunt,
Muck's stick struck three times on the ground. This assured the king
that his treasurer had deceived him, and he therefore sent him--as is
customary in the Levant--a silken cord, with which to strangle himself.
But to Little Muck he said: "It is true that I promised to spare your
life, but as I believe that you possess more than one secret in
connection with this stick, you will be imprisoned for life, unless you
confess what connection there is between this stick and your fast
running."

Little Muck, whose experience for a single night in the tower had given
him no desire for a longer imprisonment, acknowledged that his whole
art lay in the slippers; still he did not inform the king about the
three turns on the heel. The king tried on the slippers himself, in
order to test them, and run about the garden like a madman, making many
attempts to stop, but he did not know how to bring the slippers to a
stand-still, and Little Muck, who could not forego this bit of revenge,
let him run around till he fell senseless.

When the king recovered consciousness, he was fearfully enraged at
Little Muck, who had run him out of breath. "I have pledged my word to
give you life and liberty, but if you are within my territory in twelve
hours, I will have you imprisoned!" As for the stick and slippers, he
had them locked up in his treasury.

Poor as at first, Little Muck wandered out into the country, cursing
the folly that had led him to think he could play an important part at
court. The country from which he was driven was fortunately not a large
one, so that in the course of eight hours he had reached the boundary
line; although walking, after having been accustomed to his beloved
slippers, was no pleasant task to him.

As soon as he had crossed the border, he turned off from the highways
in order to reach the most desolate part of the wilderness, where he
might live alone by him