“That’s all very well,” said the Lord High Adjudicator, when His Majesty and the Royal Nurse had gone, “but I don’t see how the Public affairs can be attended to while this sort of thing goes on. I can quite see that having a King so young as His Majesty may cause us considerable difficulty in the future.”

“That is very easily remedied, gentlemen,” said a voice from the other end of the Hall, and turning around they beheld an extraordinary-looking old man, in a long, flowing red gown and a high conical hat. His beard, which was very long, was perfectly white, while bushy black eyebrows shaded a pair of very bright, piercing eyes; his hat and gown were both embroidered with a number of mysterious-looking figures and signs. How he had entered the Hall was a mystery, for no one saw him come in, and there was no door near where he was standing.

“That’s very easily remedied, gentlemen,” he repeated, glancing rapidly from one to the other from under his shaggy eyebrows. “I can very soon help you out of the difficulty if you wish, for I am ‘Ohah,’ the Magician. You may have heard of me before.”

CHAPTER VIII.—OH AH, THE MAGICIAN.

[Original]

HE greatest consternation followed this announcement, and the Lord High Adjudicator in particular looked greatly alarmed.