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Page 17
Prince Inga now ran back to the well, the goat
following more leisurely.
"Here's Bilbil!" shouted the boy to the King. "The
enemy didn't get him, it seems."
"That's lucky for the enemy," said Rinkitink. "But
it's lucky for me, too, for perhaps the beast can
assist me out of this hole. If you can let a rope down
the well, I am sure that you and Bilbil, pulling
together, will be able to drag me to the earth's
surface."
"Be patient and we will make the attempt," replied
Inga encouragingly, and he ran to search. the ruins for
a rope. Presently he found one that had been used by
the warriors in toppling over the towers, which in
their haste they had neglected to remove, and with some
difficulty he untied the knots and carried the rope to
the mouth of the well.
Bilbil had lain down to sleep and the refrain of a
merry song came in muffled tones from the well, proving
that Rinkitink was making a patient endeavor to amuse
himself.
"I've found a rope!" Inga called down to him; and
then the boy proceeded to make a loop in one end of the
rope, for the King to put his arms through, and the
other end he placed over the drum of the windlass. He
now aroused Bilbil and fastened the rope firmly around
the goat's shoulders.
"Are you ready?" asked the boy, leaning over the
well.
"I am," replied the King.
"And I am not," growled the goat, "for I have not yet
had my nap out. Old Rinki will be safe enough in the
well until I've slept an hour or two longer."
"But it is damp in the well," protested the boy, "and
King Rinkitink may catch the rheumatism, so that he
will have to ride upon your back wherever he goes."
Hearing this, Bilbil jumped up at once.
"Let's get him out," he said earnestly.
"Hold fast!" shouted Inga to the King. Then he seized
the rope and helped Bilbil to pull. They soon found the
task more difficult than they had supposed. Once or
twice the King's weight threatened to drag both the boy
and the goat into the well, to keep Rinkitink company.
But they pulled sturdily, being aware of this danger,
and at last the King popped out of the hole and fell
sprawling full length upon the ground.
For a time he lay panting and breathing hard to get
his breath back, while Inga and Bilbil were likewise
worn out from their long strain at the rope; so the
three rested quietly upon the grass and looked at one
another in silence.
Finally Bilbil said to the King: "I'm surprised at
you. Why were you so foolish as to fall down that well?
Don't you know it's a dangerous thing to do? You might
have broken your neck in the fall, or been drowned in
the water."
"Bilbil," replied the King solemnly, "you're a goat.
Do you imagine I fell down the well on purpose?"
"I imagine nothing," retorted Bilbil. "I only know
you were there."
"There? Heh-heh-heek-keek-eek! To be sure I was
there," laughed Rinkitink. "There in a dark hole, where
there was no light; there in a watery well, where the
wetness soaked me through and through -- keek-eek-eek-
eek! -- through and through!"
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