e lap of the
Queen's best morning gown.

Cor sprang from her seat with a scream of anger and poor Rinkitink would
doubtless have been given a terrible beating had not the slave driver
returned at this moment and attracted the woman's attention. The
overseer had brought with him all of the women slaves from Pingaree, who
had been loaded down with chains and were so weak and ill they could
scarcely walk, much less work in the fields.

Prince Inga's eyes were dimmed with sorrowful tears when he discovered
how his poor people had been abused, but his own plight was so helpless
that he was unable to aid them. Fortunately the boy's mother, Queen
Garee, was not among these slaves, for Queen Cor had placed her in the
royal dairy to make butter.

"Why do you refuse to work?" demanded Cor in a harsh voice, as the
slaves from Pingaree stood before her, trembling and with downcast eyes.

"Because we lack strength to perform the tasks your overseers demand,"
answered one of the women.

"Then you shall be whipped until your strength returns!" exclaimed the
Queen, and turning to Inga, she commanded: "Get me the whip with the
seven lashes."

As the boy left the room, wondering how he might manage to save the
unhappy women from their undeserved punishment, he met a girl entering
by the back way, who asked:

"Can you tell me where to find Her Majesty, Queen Cor?"

"She is in the chamber with the red dome, where green dragons are
painted upon the walls," replied Inga; "but she is in an angry and
ungracious mood to-day. Why do you wish to see her?"

"I have honey to sell," answered the girl, who was Zella, just come from
the forest. "The Queen is very fond of my honey."

"You may go to her, if you so desire," said the boy, "but take care not
to anger the cruel Queen, or she may do you a mischief."

"Why should she harm me, who brings her the honey she so dearly loves?"
inquired the child innocently. "But I thank you for your warning; and I
will try not to anger the Queen."

As Zella started to go, Inga's eyes suddenly fell upon her shoes and
instantly he recognized them as his own. For only in Pingaree were shoes
shaped in this manner: high at the heel and pointed at the toes.

"Stop!" he cried in an excited voice, and the girl obeyed, wonderingly.
"Tell me," he continued, more gently, "where did you get those shoes?"

"My father brought them to me from Regos," she answered.

"From Regos!"

"Yes. Are they not pretty?" a