alace had been robbed, together with such
food and other plunder as they could lay their hands upon. After this,
the men of Regos and Coregos threw ropes around the marble domes and
towers and hundreds of warriors tugged at these ropes until the domes
and towers toppled and fell in ruins upon the ground. Then the walls
themselves were torn down, till little remained of the beautiful palace
but a vast heap of white marble blocks tumbled and scattered upon the
ground.

Prince Inga wept bitter tears of grief as he watched the ruin of his
home; yet he was powerless to avert the destruction. When the palace
had been demolished, some of the warriors entered their boats and rowed
along the coast of the island, while the others marched in a great body
down the length of the island itself. They were so numerous that they
formed a line stretching from shore to shore and they destroyed every
house they came to and took every inhabitant prisoner.

The pearl fishers who lived at the lower end of the island tried to
escape in their boats, but they were soon overtaken and made prisoners,
like the others. Nor was there any attempt to resist the foe, for the
sharp spears and pikes and swords of the invaders terrified the hearts
of the defenseless people of Pingaree, whose sole weapons were their
oyster rakes.

When night fell the whole of the Island of Pingaree had been conquered
by the men of the North, and all its people were slaves of the
conquerors. Next morning the men of Regos and Coregos, being capable of
no further mischief, departed from the scene of their triumph, carrying
their prisoners with them and taking also every boat to be found upon
the island. Many of the boats they had filled with rich plunder, with
pearls and silks and velvets, with silver and gold ornaments and all
the treasure that had made Pingaree famed as one of the richest
kingdoms in the world. And the hundreds of slaves they had captured
would be set to work in the mines of Regos and the grain fields of
Coregos.

So complete was the victory of the Northmen that it is no wonder the
warriors sang songs of triumph as they hastened back to their homes.
Great rewards were awaiting them when they showed the haughty King of
Regos and the terrible Queen of Coregos the results of their ocean raid
and conquest.

Chapter Four

The Deserted Island

All through that terrible night Prince Inga remained hidden in his
tree. In the morning he watched the g