‘I shall die then, so I shall keep the crown until I die. Besides, I shall have your head cut off instead, for I’ll call out the soldiers.’
‘That’s no good. They’re all on my side,’ answered the Prince.
‘Then it’s all up with me. As Julius Cæsar says—let’s see, what did he say, now?—ah yes!’ and he began to roar ‘A horse! a horse! my kingdom for a horse!’
‘You’ll make yourself hoarse if you go on roaring like that. Besides, your share of the kingdom isn’t worth a horse—it’s not even worth a horse-chestnut.’
‘That’s rather old,’ said the King. ‘However, what are you going to do with me?’
‘I’m going to turn you into what you wanted to turn my father into. You shall have his cottage and all the live-stock and implements thereto appertaining.’
‘What does that mean?’ asked the astonished Mumkie.
‘Oh, find out,’ said the Prince. And he found out eventually.
The Prince now gave orders that he should be taken to the coal-cellar and locked in there for fear of escape. And so the poor old man was led off, muttering to himself, ‘Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown.’