“The king commanded that little Mouk should be heavily chained and shut up in a prison in the tower, and the king bade the treasurer carry the pot of gold away and count it carefully and put it back into the treasury.
“The dishonest man carried the pot home and counted out the gold, and when he came to the bottom of the pot he found a paper on which was written:—
“‘An enemy has over-run my land and I am forced to bury my treasures. Whoever finds this must carry it to my son or else the curse of a king will rest upon him—Signed, King Said.’
“This paper the treasurer did not show to his master.
“Poor little Mouk was in sad straits and wearied his brain trying to think of a way out of his trouble.
“He knew that to rob the king was usually punished by death, and yet he could not make up his mind to tell the secret of his magic slippers and staff, guessing rightly that they would probably be taken from him. His slippers were of no use to him now, for he was chained closely to the wall, and think as he would he could hit upon no plan by means of which he could escape.
“The following day, however, he was informed that sentence of death had been passed upon him, and he made up his mind that as the magic staff would certainly be of no benefit to him when he was dead, he might as well sacrifice it to save his head. So he asked to be allowed to speak in private to the king and then told him the secret.
“The king had little faith in the story, but he decided to put Mouk to the proof and, unknown to the dwarf, a sum of money was buried in the earth. Mouk was released and shortly afterwards had found the money, for the staff struck the ground three times just over the spot where it was buried. The king knew now that his treasurer had deceived him, and sent him a silken rope, as a hint that if he did not hang himself, he would promptly be seized and led to the gallows, for monarchs in the Eastern countries show their erring servants scant mercy.
“Now the king had promised to spare Mouk’s life if he could prove his innocence; but having discovered the secret of the staff, he began to suspect that there was some magic connected with the marvellous running powers the little man possessed, and so he declared that, unless Mouk instantly disclosed the secret, though he would spare his life, as he had promised, Mouk would be sent to perpetual imprisonment.
“Little Mouk, who had had enough of prison life during the short time he had been shut up in the tower, confessed that his speed had nothing to do with himself, but was given him by the magic slippers. He did not, however, tell him the secret of turning round on his heel three times.