"Not at all," replied His Majesty, very graciously, as he rubbed his nose with the back of his hand; and then, slapping down the lid again, he suddenly burst out laughing.
"Ha! Ha!" he cried, kicking up his feet. "Here's a game! Come here, Admiral! Just come here and smell this box! Any gentleman who can tell by the smell what is inside the box shall be allowed to fasten up his stockings with brass-headed tacks."
All the gentlemen-courtiers crowded round at once, eager to compete for the honor, when the Admiral, who had the first turn, stooped over the box to smell it. This was the moment the King was waiting for. He pressed the spring and whack came the lid under the Admiral's nose, causing him to jump into the air and turn a back-somersault right over the heads of the courtiers—a pretty good jump for an admiral, especially with one hand on his nose.
Margaret and Frances of course supposed that the courtiers, seeing what had happened to the Admiral, would decline to smell the box. But, not a bit of it: they did not take warning at all. They all came crowding round, elbowing each other for the next turn, and one after another they stooped to smell the box; one after another they received a crack on the nose; and one after another they jumped backwards—the fat ones about ten feet and the thin ones a foot or two further—and there they all stood in a group holding their noses and gazing fixedly at the Court Crier.
"Caddy! Caddy!" shouted the Court Crier.
Where he came from the children did not observe, but in an instant there was the caddy, box and all. The Court Crier immediately opened the caddy-box, took out a clean handkerchief and clapped it over his face.
"Boo-hoo!" he cried, just once, and then peeped round the edge of the handkerchief to see if that was enough. Apparently, it was not quite enough, for he covered his eyes again and boo-hooed once more, when, perceiving that the Admiral and the courtiers had all let go their noses again and were smiling away as usual, he threw the handkerchief into the box, and holding out the skirts of his long cloak with a finger and thumb of each hand, he went skipping round in a circle, the bell about his neck going clink-clank at every step.
"Good!" cried the King, clapping his hands. "Jump for joy!"
Thereupon all the courtiers took hands and jumped up and down and back and forth, coming so close up to the throne that Margaret and Frances and the King had to tuck up their feet for fear of having their toes trodden on.
"Oh, bother!" exclaimed His Majesty. "I wish they wouldn't crowd so"; and so saying, he jumped up into the seat of his throne and shouted as loud as he possibly could: