long confinement in the well, but I can ride upon Bilbil's back and we
may as well start at once."

Hearing this, Bilbil cast a surly glance at his master but said nothing,
since it was really the goat's business to carry King Rinkitink wherever
he desired to go.

They first searched the ruins of the palace, and where the kitchen had
once been they found a small quantity of food that had been half hidden
by a block of marble. This they carefully placed in a sack to preserve
it for future use, the little fat King having first eaten as much as he
cared for. This consumed some time, for Rinkitink had been exceedingly
hungry and liked to eat in a leisurely manner. When he had finished the
meal he straddled Bilbil's back and set out to explore the island,
Prince Inga walking by his side.

They found on every hand ruin and desolation. The houses of the people
had been pilfered of all valuables and then torn down or burned. Not a
boat had been left upon the shore, nor was there a single person, man or
woman or child, remaining upon the island, save themselves. The only
inhabitants of Pingaree now consisted of a fat little King, a boy and a
goat.

Even Rinkitink, merry hearted as he was, found it hard to laugh in the
face of this mighty disaster. Even the goat, contrary to its usual
habit, refrained from saying anything disagreeable. As for the poor boy
whose home was now a wilderness, the tears came often to his eyes as he
marked the ruin of his dearly loved island.

When, at nightfall, they reached the lower end of Pingaree and found it
swept as bare as the rest, Inga's grief was almost more than he could
bear. Everything had been swept from him--parents, home and country--in
so brief a time that his bewilderment was equal to his sorrow.

[Illustration]

Since no house remained standing, in which they might sleep, the three
wanderers crept beneath the overhanging branches of a cassa tree and
curled themselves up as comfortably as possible. So tired and
exhausted were they by the day's anxieties and griefs that their
troubles soon faded into the mists of dreamland. Beast and King and boy
slumbered peacefully together until wakened by the singing of the birds
which greeted the dawn of a new day.

[Illustration]

The Three Pearls

[Illustration]

CHAPTER 5

When King Rinkitink and Prince Inga had bathed themselves in the sea and
eaten a simple breakfast, they began wondering what they could do to
impro