d and said:

"Then we must remain here and fight to the last; and if I am unable to
save you, who are my friends, it will be because I can not save myself."

This speech pleased Prince Marvel greatly. He kissed the little maid's
hand respectfully and said:

"Fear nothing, your Highness. My friend and I are not so helpless as
you think. We consider it our privilege to protect and save you,
instead of your saving us; and we are really able to do this in spite
of the other High Ki and her entire army."

So they remained quietly in the palace the rest of that day, and no one
molested them in the least. In the evening the girl played and sang
for them, and the ancient pair of Ki danced a double-shuffle for their
amusement that nearly convulsed them with laughter. For one danced
exactly like the other, and the old men's legs were still very nimble,
although their wrinkled faces remained anxiously grave throughout their
antics. Nerle also sang a song about the King of Thieves whom Prince
Marvel had conquered, and another about the Red Rogue of Dawna, so that
altogether the evening passed pleasantly enough, and they managed to
forget all their uneasy doubts of the morrow.

When at last they separated for the night, Prince Marvel alone did not
seek his bed; there was still some business he wished to transact. So
he shut himself up in his room and summoned before him, by means of his
fairy knowledge, the Prince of the Knooks, the King of the Ryls and the
Governor of the Goblins. These were all three his especial friends,
and he soon told them the story of the quarrel and separation of the
twin High Ki, and claimed their assistance. Then he told them how they
might aid him, and afterward dismissed them. Having thus accomplished
his task, the fairy prince went to bed and slept peacefully the
remainder of the night.

The next morning the blond Ki-Ki and all the army of Twi, which had
been won to their cause, came climbing up the silver steps and over the
wall to the palace of the green High Ki; but what was their amazement
to find the twin palaces separated by a wall so high that no ladders
nor steps they possessed could reach to the top! It had been built in
a single night, and only Prince Marvel and his fairy friends knew how
the work had been done so quickly.

The yellow High Ki, coming downstairs to breakfast with her friends,
found herself securely shut in from her enemies, and the bald-headed
old Ki were so