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Page 28
Rinkitink stopped rowing, for by this time he was all
out of breath and his round face was covered with big
drops of perspiration. And when he looked over his
shoulder he found to his dismay that the boat had
scarcely moved a foot from its former position.
Inga said nothing and appeared not to notice the
King's failure. So now Rinkitink, with a serious look
on his fat, red face, took off his purple robe and
rolled up the sleeves of his tunic and tried again.
However, he succeeded no better than before and when
he heard Bilbil give a gruff laugh and saw a smile upon
the boy Prince's face, Rinkitink suddenly dropped the
oars and began shouting with laughter at his own
defeat. As he wiped his brow with a yellow silk
handkerchief he sang in a merry voice:
"A sailor bold am I, I hold,
But boldness will not row a boat.
So I confess I'm in distress
And just as useless as the goat."
"Please leave me out of your verses," said Bilbil
with a snort of anger.
"When I make a fool of myself, Bilbil, I'm a goat,"
replied Rinkitink.
"Not so," insisted Bilbil. "Nothing could make you a
member of my superior race."
"Superior? Why, Bilbil, a goat is but a beast, while
I am a King!"
"I claim that superiority lies in intelligence," said
the goat.
Rinkitink paid no attention to this remark, but
turning to Inga he said:
"We may as well get back to the shore, for the boat
is too heavy to row to Gilgad or anywhere else. Indeed,
it will be hard for us to reach land again."
"Let me take the oars," suggested Inga. "You must not
forget our bargain."
"No, indeed," answered Rinkitink. "If you can row us
to Regos, or to any other place, I will go with you
without protest."
So the King took Inga's place at the stern of the
boat and the boy grasped the oars and commenced to row.
And now, to the great wonder of Rinkitink -- and even
to Inga's surprise -- the oars became light as feathers
as soon as the Prince took hold of them. In an instant
the boat began to glide rapidly through the water and,
seeing this, the boy turned its prow toward the north.
He did not know exactly where Regos and Coregos were
located, but he did know that the islands lay to the
north of Pingaree, so he decided to trust to luck and
the guidance of the pearls to carry him to them.
Gradually the Island of Pingaree became smaller to
their view as the boat sped onward, until at the end of
an hour they had lost sight of it altogether and were
wholly surrounded by the purple waters of the Nonestic
Ocean.
Prince Inga did not tire from the labor of rowing;
indeed, it seemed to him no labor at all. Once he
stopped long enough to place the poles of the canopy in
the holes that had been made for them, in the edges of
the boat, and to spread the canopy of silver over the
poles, for Rinkitink had complained of the sun's heat.
But the canopy shut out the hot rays and rendered the
interior of the boat cool and pleasant.
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