and Bilbil were both fast asleep, Inga
stole quietly through the moonlight to the desolate banquet hall.
There, kneeling down, he touched the secret spring as his father had
instructed him to do and to his joy the tile sank downward and
disclosed the opening. You may imagine how the boy's heart throbbed
with excitement as he slowly thrust his hand into the cavity and felt
around to see if the precious pearls were still there. In a moment his
fingers touched the silken bag and, without pausing to close the
recess, he pressed the treasure against his breast and ran out into the
moonlight to examine it. When he reached a bright place he started to
open the bag, but he observed Bilbil lying asleep upon the grass near
by. So, trembling with the fear of discovery, he ran to another place,
and when he paused he heard Rinkitink snoring lustily. Again he fled
and made his way to the seashore, where he squatted under a bank and
began to untie the cords that fastened the mouth of the bag. But now
another fear assailed him.

"If the pearls should slip from my hand," he thought, "and roll into
the water, they might be lost to me forever. I must find some safer
place."

Here and there he wandered, still clasping the silken bag in both
hands, and finally he went to the grove and climbed into the tall tree
where he had made his platform and seat. But here it was pitch dark, so
he found he must wait patiently until morning before he dared touch the
pearls. During those hours of waiting he had time for reflection and
reproached himself for being so frightened by the possession of his
father's treasures.

"These pearls have belonged to our family for generations," he mused,
"yet no one has ever lost them. If I use ordinary care I am sure I need
have no fears for their safety."

When the dawn came and he could see plainly, Inga opened the bag and
took out the Blue Pearl. There was no possibility of his being observed
by others, so he took time to examine it wonderingly, saying to
himself: "This will give me strength."

Taking off his right shoe he placed the Blue Pearl within it, far up in
the pointed toe. Then he tore a piece from his handkerchief and stuffed
it into the shoe to hold the pearl in place. Inga's shoes were long and
pointed, as were all the shoes worn in Pingaree, and the points curled
upward, so that there was quite a vacant space beyond the place where
the boy's toes reached when the shoe was upon his foot.

After