there. The servants went about on tip-toe, looking fearfully over their shoulders for the first signs of disappearance. As it grew darker the gates and windows were securely barred and not a candle was lighted. "The less the castle shows, the less likely it is to disappear," reasoned the King.
The darkness suited Kabumpo. He waited until everyone in the palace had retired, and a full hour longer. Then he stepped softly down the passage to the Prince's apartment. Pompadore, without undressing, had flung himself upon a couch and fallen into an uneasy slumber.
Without making a sound, Kabumpo took the Prince's crown from a dressing cabinet, slipped it carefully into the pocket of his robe, and then carefully lifted the sleeping Prince in his curling trunk and started cautiously down the great hall. Setting him gently on the floor as he reached the palace doors, he pushed back the golden bolts and stepped out into the garden.
The voices of the watchmen calling to each other from the great wall came faintly through the darkness, but the Elegant Elephant hurried to a secret unguard entrance known only to himself and Pompadore and passed like a great shadow through the swinging gates. Once outside he swung the sleeping
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