“And yet you’re a very small man to command so large an army,” said the king.
The lord high general flushed with shame; for, although he was both old and fat, he was so short of stature that he stood but a trifle taller than Bud himself. And, like all short men, he was very sensitive about his height.
“I’m a terrible fighter, your Majesty,” declared Tollydob, earnestly; “and when I’m on horseback my small size is little noticed. Nevertheless,” he added, with a sigh, “it is a good thing to be tall. I wish I were ten feet high.”
No sooner were the words spoken than Bud gave a cry of astonishment; for the general’s head shot suddenly upward until his gorgeous hat struck the ceiling and was jammed down tightly over the startled man’s eyes and nose.
The room was just ten feet high, and Tollydob was now ten feet tall; but for a time the old general could not think what had happened to him, and Bud, observing for the first time that Tollydob wore the magic cloak, began to shriek with laughter at the comical result of the old man’s wish.
Hearing the king laugh, the general tore the hat from his head and looked at himself in mingled terror and admiration.
From being a very small man he had suddenly become a giant, and the change was so great that Tollydob might well be amazed.
“‘I WISH I WERE TEN FEET HIGH.’”
“What has happened, your Majesty?” he asked in a trembling voice.