days after this, on a bright and sunny morning when the breeze
blew soft and sweet from the ocean and the trees waved their leaf-laden
branches, the Royal Watchman, whose duty it was to patrol the shore,
came running to the King with news that a strange boat was approaching
the island.

At first the King was sore afraid and made a step toward the hidden
pearls, but the next moment he reflected that one boat, even if filled
with enemies, would be powerless to injure him, so he curbed his fear
and went down to the beach to discover who the strangers might be. Many
of the men of Pingaree assembled there also, and Prince Inga followed
his father. Arriving at the water's edge, they all stood gazing eagerly
at the oncoming boat.

It was quite a big boat, they observed, and covered with a canopy of
purple silk, embroidered with gold. It was rowed by twenty men, ten on
each side. As it came nearer, Inga could see that in the stern, seated
upon a high, cushioned chair of state, was a little man who was so very
fat that he was nearly as broad as he was high This man was dressed in
a loose silken robe of purple that fell in folds to his feet, while
upon his head was a cap of white velvet curiously worked with golden
threads and having a circle of diamonds sewn around the band. At the
opposite end of the boat stood an oddly shaped cage, and several large
boxes of sandalwood were piled near the center of the craft.

As the boat approached the shore the fat little man got upon his feet
and bowed several times in the direction of those who had assembled to
greet him, and as he bowed he flourished his white cap in an energetic
manner. His face was round as an apple and nearly as rosy. When he
stopped bowing he smiled in such a sweet and happy way that Inga
thought he must be a very jolly fellow.

The prow of the boat grounded on the beach, stopping its speed so
suddenly that the little man was caught unawares and nearly toppled
headlong into the sea. But he managed to catch hold of the chair with
one hand and the hair of one of his rowers with the other, and so
steadied himself. Then, again waving his jeweled cap around his head,
he cried in a merry voice:

"Well, here I am at last!"

"So I perceive," responded King Kitticut, bowing with much dignity.

The fat man glanced at all the sober faces before him and burst into a
rollicking laugh. Perhaps I should say it was half laughter and half a
chuckle of merriment, for the sounds