“Ha! ha!” laughed Wamby. “You have made a mistake, my brave men, but we’ll overlook it this time. You, Smithkin, go and turn on the wind!”
The leader of the soldiers, thus commanded, immediately obeyed.
“Rise!” said Wamby. “Have you food with you?”
Smithkin bowed low, and replied: “We have, most noble possessor of the royal hat-pin.”
“Then hearken,” continued Wamby. “Sit down where you are, and remain seated until we return.” Then, turning to Harry, he grinned and said, “Shove the boat over into the wind.”
“Will they stay here?” whispered Harry.
“Oh! yes; never fear. They wouldn’t dare leave,” answered Wamby, sticking the hat-pin in his belt, and pushing the boat along.
Presently the wind struck the sails, the boat started rapidly forward into the gloom, and Wamby, sitting down in the stern, took the tiller and steered for the little red spot that showed where the Gnomes lived.
CHAPTER IV.
A TRIP TO THE GNOMES.
“Wamby,” said Harry, after they had sailed for some time in silence, “what are we going to the Gnomes for?”