"Why didn't they turn you into anything?" he asked.
"Really, I don't know. Perhaps because I'm too unimportant."
"Yes, that must be it." He began to feel a little brighter. "Obviously, that's it." He caressed a whisker with one of his paws. "They were afraid of me."
He began to look so much happier that Coronel thought it was a favourable moment in which to withdraw.
"Shall I go now, your Royal Highness?"
"Yes, yes, you may leave me."
"And shall I find you here when I come back?"
"You may or you may not, Coronel; you may or you may not. . . . Afraid of me," he murmured to himself. "Obviously."
"And if I don't?"
"Then return to the Palace."