e men of Regos were laughing Inga
drove the boat well up onto the sandy beach and leaped out. He also
helped Rinkitink out, and when the goat had unaided sprung to the sands,
the King got upon Bilbil's back, trembling a little internally, but
striving to look as brave as possible.

There was a bunch of coarse hair between the goat's ears, and this Inga
clutched firmly in his left hand. The boy knew the Pink Pearl would
protect not only himself, but all whom he touched, from any harm, and as
Rinkitink was astride the goat and Inga had his hand upon the animal,
the three could not be injured by anything the warriors could do. But
Captain Buzzub did not know this, and the little group of three seemed
so weak and ridiculous that he believed their capture would be easy. So
he turned to his men and with a wave of his hand said:

"Seize the intruders!"

Instantly two or three of the warriors stepped forward to obey, but to
their amazement they could not reach any of the three; their hands were
arrested as if by an invisible wall of iron. Without paying any
attention to these attempts at capture, Inga advanced slowly and the
goat kept pace with him. And when Rinkitink saw that he was safe from
harm he gave one of his big, merry laughs, and it startled the warriors
and made them nervous. Captain Buzzub's eyes grew big with surprise as
the three steadily advanced and forced his men backward; nor was he free
from terror himself at the magic that protected these strange visitors.
As for the warriors, they presently became terror-stricken and fled in a
panic up the slope toward the city, and Buzzub was obliged to chase
after them and shout threats of punishment before he could halt them and
form them into a line of battle.

All the men of Regos bore spears and bows-and-arrows, and some of the
officers had swords and battle-axes; so Buzzub ordered them to stand
their ground and shoot and slay the strangers as they approached. This
they tried to do. Inga being in advance, the warriors sent a flight of
sharp arrows straight at the boy's breast, while others cast their long
spears at him.

It seemed to Rinkitink that the little Prince must surely perish as he
stood facing this hail of murderous missiles; but the power of the Pink
Pearl did not desert him, and when the arrows and spears had reached to
within an inch of his body they bounded back again and fell harmlessly
at his feet. Nor were Rinkitink or Bilbil injured in the least