PALACE OF THE MOUNTEBANKS 135

invisible to those around him. Upon the
whole, he inclined towards the second course,
as the safest, and accordingly shifted his
banjo under his left arm as quick as he
could and calmly awaited the result.

The King of the hump-backed mounte-
banks rubbed his eyes with the back of his
hands, and looked round with a puzzled
expression upon his face.

‘I thought I saw a stranger,’ he presently
said; ‘I was suve I saw a stranger. But I
see no stranger now. Something is wrong.
Bring the weetwohl.’

Immediately, with much care, four dwarfs
took something out of one of the carriages
and brought it with great care to the King.
When they uncovered that something it
proved to be a large tortoise, carefully
wrapped up ina cloth. As soon as the cloth
had been unfolded, the tortoise looked up
at the King with all the wisdom of his race,
which as my readers will know has always
been famed for that valuable quality. In
the language of the hump-backed mounte-
banks this particular turtle was called the
weetwohl, which signifies ‘the perfection
of wisdom,’ and’ in moments of doubt, diffi-