indignation--not at her, however, but at
the nimbler and needier persons who had grabbed most of the coins before
he could stoop to pick them up.

Daphne felt rather ashamed of these proceedings, which seemed to her not
merely undignified, but likely to demoralise the public. But she said
nothing.

"We're not doing this out of _ostentation_, Miss Heritage," explained
the Queen, who seemed to have divined something of her sentiments. "It's
policy. You may have noticed that we've not been nearly so well received
lately. _Why_, I don't know, unless there's any ill-feeling about those
detestable little Gnomes."

There was a good deal. The Gnomes, having no employment on the
golf-links, had recently broken out of their compound and found their
way into Eswareinmal, where they made themselves very much at home. They
quartered themselves on several of the householders, and, having
discovered that cooked food was more palatable than earth, they had no
diffidence in helping themselves. In other respects they were
inoffensive and inclined to be sociable, but, even in Maerchenland, the
most harmless and playful Yellow Gnome is not considered a desirable
addition to any respectable family. The citizens one and all regarded
their visitors as intolerable nuisances for which they had to thank
their Sovereigns.

"It was his Majesty's idea to free them," the Queen went on. "I was
always in favour of keeping them in the mine, where they were out of
mischief. And they certainly mustn't be allowed to run about loose any
longer. They ought to learn some sort of discipline. Perhaps the best
thing would be to train them as Boy Scouts.... Have you caught cold,
Miss Heritage? You seem troubled by a most distressing cough."

King Sidney himself had begun to doubt whether the enfranchisement of
the Yellow Gnomes was quite one of his happiest inspirations. Such
Maerchenlanders as had been induced to enter the mine were demanding
wages which left but a small margin for profit, especially when it was
considered that, if their methods of working were more systematic than
their predecessors', they somehow got very much less gold. No sacks at
all had been delivered of late, and the shelves of the Royal
Counting-house were beginning to look ominously bare.

He forced himself to mention this to the Queen after the drive that
afternoon, and point out the necessity for being rather more economical
than they had been hitherto. "I'm sure, Sidney," she