‘Oh no,’ she said; ‘I’m quite able to take care of myself and of other people too; and while I was in the house I heard something of great importance.’ And she proceeded to tell them what she had heard.
But when she had finished, the King laughed even more than his son had done.
‘Why, my dear little girl,’ he said, ‘do you believe all that rigmarole? They were having a joke at your expense. They must have heard you outside the door and wanted to frighten you. Don’t you think of such rubbish. Why, if they tried it on alone they’d get swallowed up in a storm; and I’m sure none of my people would ever help them.’
But the Princess did not feel at all convinced, all the same.
‘You might just as well have them put in prison, and then they couldn’t do anything.’
But the King shook his head.
‘That’s just it, you see; I’ve only just let them go, and I can’t put them into prison unless they’ve committed some fresh crime.’
‘But isn’t it treason to compass the death of the King or his eldest son?’
‘It is; but then it’s such a foolish scheme that no one would believe any one capable of inventing it. So we’d better leave it alone.’
But still the Princess was not at all convinced.