get out of this you'll marry me, won't you? There's no one in
the world like you. Say you will.'

'Of course I will,' said Eliza, still spluttering through the treacle.
'There's no one in the world like you, either.'

'Right! Then, if that's so, you steer and I'll sail, and we'll get the
better of the beast yet,' said Billy.

And he set the sail, and Eliza steered as well as she could in her
treacly state.

About the middle of the channel they caught up with the dragon. Billy
took up his Lee-Metford and fired its eight bullets straight into the
dragon's side. You have no idea how the fire spurted out through the
bullet-holes. But the wind from shore had caught the sails, and the boat
was now going very much faster than the dragon, who found the
bullet-holes annoying, and had slowed up to see what was the matter.

'Good-bye, you dear, brave Eliza,' said Billy the King. '_You're_ all
right, anyhow.'

And, holding his reloaded Lee-Metford rifle high over his head, he
plunged into the treacly sea and swam back towards the dragon. It is
very difficult to shoot straight when you are swimming, especially in
nearly boiling treacle, but His Majesty King Billy managed to do it. He
sent his eight bullets straight into the dragon's heads, and the huge
monster writhed and wriggled and squirmed and squawked, all over the sea
from end to end, till at last it floated lifeless on the surface of the
clear, warm treacle, and stretched its wicked paws out, and shut its
wicked eyes, all four of them, and died. The lizard's eyes shut last.

Then Billy began to swim for dear life towards the shore of
Plurimiregia, and the treacle was so hot that if he hadn't been a King
he would have been boiled. But now that the dreadful dragon was cold in
death there was nothing to keep the treacle sea thin and warm, and it
began to thicken so fast that swimming was very difficult indeed. If you
don't understand this, you need only ask the attendants at your nearest
swimming-baths to fill the baths with treacle instead of water, and you
will very soon comprehend how it was that Billy reached the shore of his
kingdom quite exhausted and almost speechless.

The Prime Minister was there. He had fetched a whole truss of straw when
he thought Billy's plan had failed, and that the dragon would eat him as
the next in rank, and he wanted to do the thing thoroughly; and when he
warmly embraced the treacly King, Billy became so covered with straws
that he h