'Quite quietly,' answered Curdie; 'that is, since the doctor was got rid of.'
'How did you manage that?' inquired Irene; and Curdie had to tell all about it.
'How terrible!' she said. 'Did it not startle the king dreadfully?'
'It did rather. I found him getting out of bed, sword in hand.'
'The brave old man!' cried the princess.
'Not so old!' said Curdie, 'as you will soon see. He went off again in a minute or so; but for a little while he was restless, and once when he lifted his hand it came down on the spikes of his crown, and he half waked.'
'But where is the crown?' cried Irene, in sudden terror.
'I stroked his hands,' answered Curdie, 'and took the crown from them; and ever since he has slept quietly, and again and again smiled in his sleep.'
'I have never seen him do that,' said the princess. 'But what have you done with the crown, Curdie?'
'Look,' said Curdie, moving away from the bedside.