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Page 16
"I hadn't time," said Inga, sorrowfully.
"Well, I'm not suffering from thirst," declared the
King, "for there's enough water inside me to float all
the boats of Regos and Coregos or at least it feels
that way. But never mind! So long as I'm not actually
drowned, what does it matter?"
"What shall we do next?" asked the boy anxiously.
"Call someone to help you," was the reply.
"There is no one on the island but myself," said the
boy; "-- excepting you," he added, as an afterthought.
"I'm not on it -- more's the pity! -- but in it,"
responded Rinkitink. "Are the warriors all gone?"
"Yes," said Inga, "and they have taken my father and
mother, and all our people, to be their slaves," he
added, trying in vain to repress a sob.
"So -- so!" said Rinkitink softly; and then he paused
a moment, as if in thought. Finally he said: "There are
worse things than slavery, but I never imagined a well
could be one of them. Tell me, Inga, could you let down
some food to me? I'm nearly starved, and if you could
manage to send me down some food I'd be well fed --
hoo, hoo, heek, keek, eek! -- well fed. Do you see the
joke, Inga?"
"Do not ask me to enjoy a joke just now, Your
Majesty," begged Inga in a sad voice; "but if you will
be patient I will try to find something for you to
eat."
He ran back to the ruins of the palace and began
searching for bits of food with which to satisfy the
hunger of the King, when to his surprise he observed
the goat, Bilbil, wandering among the marble blocks.
"What!" cried Inga. "Didn't the warriors get you,
either?"
"If they had," calmly replied Bilbil, "I shouldn't be
here."
"But how did you escape?" asked the boy.
"Easily enough. I kept my mouth shut and stayed away
from the rascals," said the goat. "I knew that the
soldiers would not care for a skinny old beast like me,
for to the eye of a stranger I seem good for nothing.
Had they known I could talk, and that my head contained
more wisdom than a hundred of their own noddles, I
might not have escaped so easily."
"Perhaps you are right," said the boy.
"I suppose they got the old man?" carelessly remarked
Bilbil.
"What old man?"
"Rinkitink."
"Oh, no! His Majesty is at the bottom of the well,"
said Inga, "and I don't know how to get him out again."
"Then let him stay there," suggested the goat.
"That would be cruel. I am sure, Bilbil, that you are
fond of the good King, your master, and do not mean
what you say. Together, let us find some way to save
poor King Rinkitink. He is a very jolly companion, and
has a heart exceedingly kind and gentle."
"Oh, well; the old boy isn't so bad, taken
altogether," admitted Bilbil, speaking in a more
friendly tone. "But his bad jokes and fat laughter tire
me dreadfully, at times."
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