‘Ah! the eagle brought you here, did he? It’s a little habit he’s got; he’s carried off no end of my kids and young sheep, so I suppose he thought he’d try a change and carry off one of King Turnip—I mean Caret’s. But if he brought you from over the mountains you won’t get back in a hurry, I can tell you; you’d have to jump up a precipice three miles high, and then you’d be eaten by old Kinchof the dragon.’
‘Oh dear! then I shall never get back!’
‘No, I’m afraid you won’t. But don’t begin to cry now—there, there—and I’ll take you to King Mumkie; he’s the king of this country, you know.’
‘What an awful name—Mumkie!’
‘Yes, it is rather unpleasant, isn’t it? And then, he’s a usurper—he drove the last king out and made himself king instead. He used to be a cat’s-meat man, but he got up an army and drove the other off the throne, and now he’s turned into a gardener—his name’s Abbonamento.’
‘Oh, never mind what his name is, only get me down—I’m awfully hungry; for you see I’ve been up here all night.’
‘Oh! all right. But I say, how are you going to get down—you can’t climb, can you?’
‘I don’t know,’ she answered; ‘I’ve never tried.’