helmet and
breastplate and things--and bring me down a sword you'll find in my room
somewhere. I shouldn't mind tackling even a dragon with that sword," he
added to his mother, as the Courtiers and pages ran into the Palace. "It
goes clean through anything."

But the pages, when they returned with the breastplate and helmet and
riding-boots, reported that the sword was nowhere to be found, so
Clarence had to content himself with a more ordinary weapon. At the last
moment the Queen tried to detain him. "No, Clarence!" she cried, "you
mustn't go. Your life is too valuable to be risked--there are enough
going without _you_! Stay here--if only to protect us!"

"Hang it all, Mater!" he said, "you can't expect me to stay here and
have them saying I shirked!" And he went off to the stables with the
Marshal and other members of the Court.

"It'll be no good!" groaned King Sidney. "It's as likely as not that
beast has eaten the poor girl by this time!"

"I can't believe anything quite so horrible as that has happened,
Sidney," cried the Queen. "It has only delivered her into that wretch's
power--which is quite horrible enough! But there's hope still. The Baron
says Prince Mirliflor is quite near here--and he's sending him to rescue
her. And a real prince like dear Mirliflor _ought_ to be a match for
that miserable Rubenfresser and his dragon too!"

"If he could get at them he might be," said the King lugubriously; "but
that's just what he can't do!"

* * * * *

On finding herself borne swiftly through the air by a dragon, Edna had
done what was the correct thing to do in the circumstances--she had
promptly fainted. She opened her eyes to find that she had been
deposited uninjured, on a truss of straw in a Courtyard. On her right
was the massive front of Castle Drachenstolz; before her were its lofty
walls and the grim towers that flanked its heavy gate; to the left were
the stables, from the windows of which some of the black carriage horses
looked out, their wrinkled lips exposing their long yellow teeth in
ghastly grins. Some distance away the owner of the Castle was caressing
the dragon, which lay with its huge wings compactly folded, giving its
unconscious imitation of a tremendously powerful dynamo. On perceiving
that she had returned to consciousness the Count came towards her,
followed by the ex-Astrologer Royal, who was smirking and rubbing his
hands.

"I couldn't do without you,"