"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!"

"How did it happen?" inquired Inga.

"I was running away from the enemy," explained the
King, "and I was carelessly looking over my shoulder at
the same time, to see if they were chasing me. So I did
not see the well, but stepped into it and found myself
tumbling down to the bottom. I struck the water very
neatly and began struggling to keep myself from
drowning, but presently I found that when I stood upon
my feet on the bottom of the well, that my chin was
just above the water. So I stood still and yelled for
help; but no one heard me."

"If the warriors had heard you," said Bilbil, "they
would have pulled you out and carried you away to be a
slave. Then you would have been obliged to work for a
living, and that would be a new experience."

"Work!" exclaimed Rinkitink. "Me work? Hoo, hoo,
heek-keek-eek! How absurd! I'm so stout -- not to say
chubby -- not to say fat -- that I can hardly walk, and
I couldn't earn my salt at hard work. So I'm glad the
enemy did not find me, Bilbil. How many others
escaped?"