126 PRINCE FILDERKIN

mountain, and it was not until he had taken
two steps upward upon this ridge that he
found that there was an enormous chasm in
the side of the mountain, which had been
invisible until he was close upon it. This
chasm, or rather valley, seemed as if it had
been cut out, but if so, it must have been by
mighty and skilful workmen, for its size was
enormous, and at the same time-no one
could ever have suspected its existence until
he had arrived at its very edge. There it
was, however, and in the middle of this
valley stood a building apparently made
entirely of gold, which glittered so that the
Prince could hardly look at it for half a
minute without shutting his eyes or turning
away his head.

But between him and the building, which
he at once guessed to be the palace of the
King of the hump-backed mountebanks,
there were other objects which attracted
Prince Filderkin’s attention. These were
neither: more nor less than a number of
little hump-backed men, scattered all over
the place, engaged in different occupation.
Some were digging, but in a lazy, listless
fashion, which looked as if their heart was