“Because they do not look properly after them,” answered the Baron.
“But mine are secured to my heirs,” said the Count.
“Then they cannot run away unless your heirs run also, therefore pray set your mind at rest on that score; and now come along.” The Baron as he spoke took up the two portmanteaus, which were patent Lilliputians, warranted to carry any amount of clothing their owners could put into them, and they set off on their travels.
“In what direction shall we go?” asked the Count.
“That must depend upon circumstances,” answered the Baron. “Wherever the wind blows us.”
“But suppose it should blow one day in one direction and another in the opposite, how shall we ever get to the end of our voyage?” inquired the Count, stopping, and looking his companion in the face.
“That puzzles me, but let us get on board first, and see how things turn out,” observed the Baron. “Ships do go round the world somehow or other, and I suppose if they do not find a fair wind in one place they find it another.”
“But how are they to get to that other place?” asked the Count, who was in an inquisitive mood.
“That’s what we are going to find out,” observed the Baron.
“But must we go by sea?” asked the Count. “Could not we keep on the land, and then we shall be independent of the wind?”