THE CURSE

 

THE WAY OUT 155

slight degree by the feeling that the stranger
could not have obtained entrance to the
palace save by some of those very magic
arts by which he himself was wont to pre-
vent others from doing so.

Prince Filderkin would have regained his
banjo as quickly as possible, but the King
was too sharp for him, for he made an awful
face, which had the effect of keeping the
Prince exactly where he was, and then
pronounced the mystic word ‘ Petrapaulo-
menos,’ which prevented him from stooping
down to recover the instrument. One effort,
however, was nobly made on his behalf,
and that from a quarter whence he had
hardly dared to expect it. The Princess,
with a loud cry, darted forward from the
table by which she had been standing, and,
rushing like lightning towards the spot on
which the Prince stood, hastily picked up
the banjo and placed it in his hands.
Whether her movement confused him or
not I cannot say, or whether, had he wished
it, he would now have been able to become
invisible again by placing the instrument
under his arm. However this might have
been, he made no such attempt, but striking