him to wander wherever he
pleased.

During the dinner Inga divided his attention between admiring the
pretty gifts he had received and listening to the jolly sayings of the
fat King, who laughed when he was not eating and ate when he was not
laughing and seemed to enjoy himself immensely.

"For four days I have lived in that narrow boat," said he, "with no
other amusement than to watch the rowers and quarrel with Bilbil; so I
am very glad to be on land again with such friendly and agreeable
people."

"You do us great honor," said King Kitticut, with a polite bow.

"Not at all--not at all, my brother. This Pingaree must be a wonderful
island, for its pearls are the admiration of all the world; nor will I
deny the fact that my kingdom would be a poor one without the riches
and glory it derives from the trade in your pearls. So I have wished
for many years to come here to see you, but my people said: 'No! Stay
at home and behave yourself, or we'll know the reason why.'"

"Will they not miss Your Majesty from your palace at Gilgad?" inquired
Kitticut.

"I think not," answered Rinkitink. "You see, one of my clever subjects
has written a parchment entitled 'How to be Good,' and I believed it
would benefit me to study it, as I consider the accomplishment of being
good one of the fine arts. I had just scolded severely my Lord High
Chancellor for coming to breakfast without combing his eyebrows, and
was so sad and regretful at having hurt the poor man's feelings that I
decided to shut myself up in my own room and study the scroll until I
knew how to be good--hee, heek, keek, eek, eek!--to be good! Clever
idea, that, wasn't it? Mighty clever! And I issued a decree that no one
should enter my room, under pain of my royal displeasure, until I was
ready to come out. They're awfully afraid of my royal displeasure,
although not a bit afraid of me. Then I put the parchment in my pocket
and escaped through the back door to my boat--and here I am. Oo,
hoo-hoo, keek-eek! Imagine the fuss there would be in Gilgad if my
subjects knew where I am this very minute!"

"I would like to see that parchment," said the solemn-eyed Prince Inga,
"for if it indeed teaches one to be good it must be worth its weight in
pearls."

"Oh, it's a fine essay," said Rinkitink, "and beautifully written with
a goosequill. Listen to this: You'll enjoy it--tee, hee, hee!--enjoy
it."

He took from his pocket a scroll of parchment tied with a black ribbon,