"Ha! Ha!" laughed the King. "No tickling! Come along, Ladies. Let's go and see the dragon. We'll take the children with us."
"Oh, yes. Do!" cried Margaret, feeling that if the children went, too, it must be perfectly safe. "How many children are there?"
"Six, I think," replied the King. "It is six isn't it, Admiral?"
"I believe it is," assented the Admiral. "Though I'm not quite sure whether the carpenter has finished the last one yet."
"The carpenter!" cried both little girls, opening their eyes very wide.
"Certainly," replied the Admiral. "You didn't suppose it was a job for the blacksmith, did you? But it's a long piece of work, even though the last chip was the smallest of the lot. Coco bolo is such tough stuff, you know, and of course the carpenter has to be extra particular in turning out a Prince."
"Oh, so the little Princes are all made of coco bolo, too, are they?" asked Margaret.
"Why, of course, they are," replied the King, rather surprised at the question. "Chips from the old block, you know. There were six chips left after I was finished, and the carpenter has been at work on them ever since; though whether he has completed the last one yet, I don't know. However, we'll soon see."
As he said this, the King popped his fingers into his mouth and blew a shrill whistle. Immediately a door in the palace flew open and out came six plump duchesses, with Roman noses and two corkscrew curls apiece, dressed to look like nurses in mob caps and big white aprons, walking one behind the other and each carrying a covered basket on her arm.