FURTHER ADVENTURES oe

side of the mountain resumed its former
appearance, and was as quiet as ever.
Encouraged by the favourable result which
had followed this second trial of the powers
of his banjo, the Prince once more advanced,

and had proceeded some twenty yards

further, when from behind a large boulder
there suddenly stepped out a figure which
stood right before him as if to forbid his
further progress.

It was the figure of a little man—-so little,
indeed, that if you had called him a dwarf
to his face he would have had no right to
take offence. His head was large, so was
his nose, and his eyes were keen and pierc-
ing, but apart from his size, the most remark-
able thing about him was the fact that his
body was entirely square from the shoulders
down to the hips, and that between his
shoulders grew a well-developed hump, at
the sight of which the Prince at once felt a sad
and not unnatural sympathy. This feeling,
however, did not seem to be shared by the
little man, who struck the ground sharply
with a staff which he held in his hand, and
demanded in a loud and somewhat haughty
tone of voice: