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-kee