of that too. As for his six-bladed knife, it wearied him so much
by telling him the same thing six times over that he threw it out of
the window as far as he could. All this was excessively trying to a
boy who had never talked much in the whole of his life; and the worst
of it was that he was prevented by magic from running away; so the four
weeks came to an end, and he had not found a new toy for the Princess
Petulant.

Meanwhile, the little Princess had been waiting, and waiting, and
waiting. In all the eight years of her life she had never waited so
patiently for anything; and the affairs of the country went on quite
smoothly in consequence. When, however, the four weeks were over and
Martin did not return with her new toy, Princess Petulant grew tired of
being good, and, once more, she lay on the nursery floor and sobbed;
and, once more, there was consternation in the royal household. So the
King called another council.

"Haven't you got any more sons?" he demanded crossly of the Prime
Minister. The Prime Minister shook his head, and owned sadly that he
had only one son.

"Then why do you lose him?" said the King, still more crossly. "Does
no one know where the Prime Minister's son has gone?"

The councillors looked helplessly at one another. One thought that
Martin had gone to Fairyland; another said it was to Toyland; and a
third declared he must be with the wymps at the back of the sun. But,
as nobody knew how to get to any of these places, the suggestions of
his councillors only made the King more annoyed than before. At last,
he asked the Queen's advice; and the Queen proposed that the little
Princess should attend the council and explain why she was crying.
However, when they sent up to the royal nursery for the Princess
Petulant, there was no Princess to be seen; and the royal nurses were
rushing everywhere in great confusion, trying to find her.

"It is a most extraordinary thing," cried the King, "that we cannot
keep anybody in the place! What is the use of children who do nothing
but lose themselves? There must be wympcraft in this!"

The Queen only said "Poor children!" and set to work to have the
country searched for the missing pair, and sat down to cry by herself
until they could be found.

What had really happened was quite simple. While the Princess Petulant
was sobbing on the nursery floor, something came through the open
window and dropped with a thud just in front of her. Th