The little princess, who had been crying, nodded approvingly at the bear, who immediately caught the man in her arms and righted his head to the proper place. Then she laid him on the ground and with one great whack made him a straight man again.
The wicked snake-woman had bent him in making him do her bidding. Now that he was well, he became a convert to the new life, and was added to the company of three. He volunteered to guide them to the house where the Doctor lived.
They started none too soon to look for Mousan, who at that time lay bound in a horrible den some distance off. After the quack had deposited the prince in his own cave, he went in search of his precious stone, which he quickly found. He returned in great glee to the cave. Entering, he sat on a low stool facing the boy, who was bound so that he could not move.
The Doctor then called for his pipe, and a horrid lizard crawled toward him with the pipe in its mouth. Then the man called loudly for his tobacco, and a great turtle crawled forward with it on his back.
Slowly the Doctor filled his pipe and lighted it. At the first puff his mouth was filled with dirt from the foul pipe, and he jumped in the air, yelling loudly. He landed on the turtle and slipped. In his anger, he kicked the lizard and jumped again and again upon the turtle's back, at which the turtle seized him by the leg. It was a grand mix-up for a few minutes. The prince could not help laughing, and once started he laughed till the tears rolled down his face.
Finally the Doctor freed himself from the turtle and rushed to the boy.
"You are laughing, eh!" he exclaimed, shaking his fist at Mousan. "I shall soon have you silenced!"
From his pocket he took his polished stone, which he placed in the prince's mouth. In a few minutes the boy was completely paralyzed. With eyes wide open and his hearing gone, he lay rigid all night.
At break of day the quack came to his side and said: "Young man, I have made up my mind to teach you my art—on one condition. My work on earth is to make all men as miserable as possible. When I see a man at the height of his ambition, I step in and compel him to make a fool of himself, and down and out he goes. Ha! If I cannot ruin him that way, I tell something nasty about him to some deluded soul, who spreads the news to the mob, and presto! my man is done for. Again, I like to throw a microbe into the stomach of a healthy person and watch him squirm. Come, join me and I will teach you the art of the magic stone."