de you nervous?"

Prince Ferdinand William Otto climbed up the tiles, trying to look as
though tiles were his native habitat. The pirates both regarded him with
admiration, as he dropped beside them.

"How did you happen to come here?" asked the Crown Prince. "Did you lose
your aeroplane up here?"

"We came on business," said the pirate importantly. "Two of the enemy
entered our cave. We were guarding it from the underbrush, and saw them
go in. We trailed them. They must die!"

"Really--die?"

"Of course. Death to those who defy us."

"Death to those who defy us!" repeated the Crown Prince, enjoying
himself hugely, and quite ready for bloodshed.

"Look here, Dick Deadeye," said the larger pirate to the smaller, who
stood gravely at attention, "I think he belongs to our crew. What say,
old pal?"

Dick Deadeye wagged his tail.

Some two minutes later, the Crown Prince of Livonia, having sworn the
pirate oath of no quarter, except to women and children, was on his way
to the pirate cave.

He was not running away. He was not disobedient. He was breaking no
promises. Because, from the moment he saw the two confederates, and
particularly from the moment he swore the delightful oath, his past was
wiped away. There was, in his consciousness, no Palace, no grandfather,
no Miss Braithwaite, even no Nikky. There was only a boy and a dog, and
a pirate den awaiting him.

CHAPTER XXXV. THE PAPER CROWN

Strange that the old Palace roof should, in close succession; have seen
Nikky forgetting his promise to the Chancellor, and Otto forgetting that
he was not to run away. Strange places, roofs, abiding places, since
long ago, of witches.

"How'd you happen to be in that gutter?" Bobby demanded, as they started
down the staircase in the wall. "Watch out, son, it's pretty steep."

"I was getting a ball."

"Is this your house?"

"Well, I live here," temporized Prince Ferdinand William Otto. A
terrible thought came to him. Suppose this American boy, who detested
kings and princes, should learn who he was!

"It looks like a big place. Is it a barracks?"

"No." He hesitated. "But there are a good many soldiers here. I--I never
saw these steps before."

"I should think not," boasted Bobby. "I discovered them. I guess nobody
else in the world knows about them. I put up a flag at the bottom and
took possession. They're mine."

"Really!" said Prince Ferdinand William Otto, quite delighted. He would
never have th