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Page 44
"No weapon can touch his body," was the answer. "He
bears a charmed life and cannot be injured."
"Does the fat King possess magic powers, or the
goat?" inquired Cor.
"I think not," said Gos. "We could not injure them,
indeed, any more than we could the boy, but they did
not seem to have any unusual strength, although the
goat's head is harder than a battering-ram."
"Well," mused the Queen, "there is surely some way to
conquer that slight boy. If you are afraid to undertake
the job, I shall go myself. By some stratagem I shall
manage to make him my prisoner. He will not dare to
defy a Queen, and no magic can stand against a woman's
cunning."
"Go ahead, if you like," replied the King, with an
evil grin, "and if you are hung up by the thumbs or
cast into a dungeon, it will serve you right for
thinking you can succeed where a skilled warrior dares
not make the attempt."
"I'm not afraid," answered the Queen. "It is only
soldiers and bullies who are cowards."
In spite of this assertion, Queen Cor was not so
brave as she was cunning. For several days she thought
over this plan and that, and tried to decide which was
most likely to succeed. She had never seen the boy
Prince but had heard so many tales of him from the
defeated warriors, and especially from Captain Buzzub,
that she had learned to respect his power.
Spurred on by the knowledge that she would never get
rid of her unwelcome guests until Prince Inga was
overcome and Regos regained for King Gos, the Queen of
Coregos finally decided to trust to luck and her native
wit to defeat a simple-minded boy, however powerful he
might be. Inga could not suspect what she was going to
do, because she did not know herself. She intended to
act boldly and trust to chance to win.
It is evident that had the cunning Queen known that
Inga had lost all his magic, she would not have devoted
so much time to the simple matter of capturing him, but
like all others she was impressed by the marvelous
exhibition of power he had shown in capturing Regos,
and had no reason to believe the boy was less powerful
now.
One morning Queen Cor boldly entered a boat, and,
taking four men with her as an escort and bodyguard,
was rowed across the narrow channel to Regos. Prince
Inga was sitting in the palace playing checkers with
King Rinkitink when a servant came to him, saying that
Queen Cor had arrived and desired an audience with him.
With many misgivings lest the wicked Queen discover
that he had now lost his magic powers, the boy ordered
her to be admitted, and she soon entered the room and
bowed low before him, in mock respect.
Cor was a big woman, almost as tall as King Gos. She
had flashing black eyes and the dark complexion you see
on gypsies. Her temper, when irritated, was something
dreadful, and her face wore an evil expression which
she tried to cover by smiling sweetly -- often when she
meant the most mischief.
"I have come," said she in a low voice, "to render
homage to the noble Prince of Pingaree. I am told that
Your Highness is the strongest person in the world, and
invincible in battle, and therefore I wish you to
become my friend, rather than my enemy."
Now Inga did not know how to reply to this speech. He
disliked the appearance of the woman and was afraid of
her and he was unused to deception and did not know how
to mask his real feelings. So he took time to think
over his answer, which he finally made in these words:
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