“Pull it this way a little.”
When Malicorne had brought the ladder on to the gravel walk, the king began to step its whole length. “Hum!” he said; “you say it is nineteen feet long?”
“Yes, sire.”
“Nineteen feet—that is rather long; I hardly believe it can be so long as that.”
“You cannot judge very correctly with the ladder in that position, sire. If it were upright, against a tree or a wall, for instance, you would be better able to judge, because the comparison would assist you a good deal.”
“Oh! it does not matter, M. Malicorne; but I can hardly believe that the ladder is nineteen feet high.”
“I know how accurate your majesty’s glance is, and yet I would wager.”
The king shook his head. “There is one unanswerable means of verifying it,” said Malicorne.
“What is that?”
“Every one knows, sire, that the ground-floor of the palace is eighteen feet high.”