he 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 boat looked at him with an expression of scorn. Said he:

"One would think you are but four years old, Rinkit