stood huddled together. Then they were pulled closer together than
before--closer, and still closer--for the prince and Nerle had
surrounded them with the rope and were tying the two ends together in
a tight knot. The rope cut into the waists of those on the outside,
and they pressed inward against their fellows until there was scarcely
space to stick a knife-blade between any two of them. When the prince
had tied the rope firmly King Terribus, who had been looking on
amazed, saw that his hundred Gray Men were fastened together like a
bundle of kindling-wood, and were unable to stir hand or foot.

And, while he still gazed open-mouthed at the strange sight, Prince
Marvel tilted the bundle of men up on its edge and rolled it out of
the door. It went rolling swiftly through the courtyard and bounded
down the castle steps, where the rope broke and the men fell sprawling
in all directions on the marble walk.

King Terribus sighed, for such treatment of his Gray Men, whom he
dearly loved, made him very unhappy.

But more than ever was he resolved to kill these impudent strangers,
who, in the very heart of his kingdom where thousands bowed to his
will, dared openly defy his power. So, after a moment's thought,
Terribus beckoned to a dwarf who, robed in gay and glittering apparel,
stood near his throne.

"Summon the royal Dart Slingers!" he said, with a scowl.

The little man bowed and hastened away, to return presently with
twenty curiously crooked dwarfs, each armed with a sling and a quiver
full of slender, sharp-pointed darts.