new not what to do; for this
last faggot would soon be burnt up, and then what was to be done to
keep the enchanted fire going? He made a careful search inside the
ring, and satisfied himself that there was not so much as another chip
to be found there; and Tom had told him that if he went outside the
ring all would be lost.

However, the last faggot was not gone yet, and in order to make it
last as long as possible Harold took it apart and put only one stick
at a time on the fire; but it was alarming to see how quickly the
flame ate up one after another, and seemed hungrier than ever. After a
while all but the last stick was gone. A little while more and that
had to be put in too. And then Prince Harold sat down quite in despair
and cried with all his might. He was at the end of everything, and at
his wit's end too.

At that moment he heard a voice calling to him; and looking up he saw
an odd little man standing just outside the circle, carrying a great
bundle of faggots on his shoulder. Harold's eyes were so full of tears
that he did not see that this odd little man was Rumpty-Dudget
himself; or else (what is quite as likely) the dwarf had some spell by
means of which he could make himself appear different from what he
was.

'What are you crying for, my poor dear little boy?' asked
Rumpty-Dudget of Prince Harold in his most coaxing voice.

'Because I have used up all my faggots,' he answered.

'Used them all up! But surely there are plenty more in the forest
where those came from?' the dwarf answered in pretended surprise.
'Besides, what harm if the fire does go out? It isn't a cold night,
and the moon will be up presently.'

'But if the fire goes out,' said Harold, 'my poor little brother
Hector cannot be saved.'

'Oh, that is the trouble, is it?' exclaimed the dwarf. 'Well, now, it
is lucky I happened to come along this way; you could not have met
with a better adviser than I am. For I know all about this
Rumpty-Dudget, with whom your brother Hector is staying; and I saw
Hector myself not an hour ago.'

'Oh! did you?' cried Harold in great excitement.

'To be sure I did; and very well he looked, I can tell you. He has
done nothing but eat sugar-candy and blow on a tin whistle ever since
he went there; and he says he wants nothing better than to stay with
Rumpty-Dudget all his life. And, by the way, he asked me to tell you
if I saw you that he hoped you and your sister would come and join;
for that Rumpt