King Rinkitink was so much pleased with the Island ofPingaree that he continued his stay day after day andweek after week, eating good dinners, talking with KingKitticut and sleeping. Once in a while he would readfrom his scroll. "For," said he, "whenever I returnhome, my subjects will be anxious to know if I havelearned 'How to be Good,' and I must not disappointthem."

The twenty rowers lived on the small end of theisland, with the pearl fishers, and seemed not to carewhether they ever returned to the Kingdom of Rinkitinkor not. Bilbil the goat wandered over the grassyslopes, or among the trees, and passed his days exactlyas he pleased. His master seldom cared to ride him.Bilbil was a rare curiosity to the islanders, but sincethere was little pleasure in talking with the goat theykept away from him. This pleased the creature, whoseemed well satisfied to be left to his own devices.

Once Prince Inga, wishing to be courteous, walked upto the goat and said: "Good morning, Bilbil."

"It isn't a good morning," answered Bilbil grumpily."It is cloudy and damp, and looks like rain."

"I hope you are contented in our kingdom," continuedthe boy, politely ignoring the other's harsh words.

"I'm not," said Bilbil. "I'm never contented; so itdoesn't matter to me whether I'm in your kingdom or insome other kingdom. Go away -- will you?"

"Certainly," answered the Prince, and after thisrebuff he did not again try to make friends withBilbil.

Now that the King, his father, was so much occupiedwith his royal guest, Inga was often left to amusehimself, for a boy could not be allowed to take part inthe conversation of two great monarchs. He devotedhimself to his studies, therefore, and day after day heclimbed into the branches of his favorite tree and satfor hours in his "tree-top rest," reading his father'sprecious manuscripts and thinking upon what he read.

You must not think that Inga was a molly-coddle or aprig, because he was so solemn and studious. Being aKing's son and heir to a throne, he could not play withthe other boys of Pingaree, and he lived so much in thesociety of the King and Queen, and was so surrounded bythe pomp and dignity of a court, that he missed all thejolly times that boys usually have. I have no doubtthat had he been able to live as other boys do, hewould have been much like other boys; as it was, he wassubdued by his surroundings, and more grave andthoughtful than one of his years should be.

Inga was in his tree one morning when, withoutwarning, a great fog enveloped the Island of Pingaree.The boy could scarcely see the tree next to that inwhich he sat, but the leaves above him prevented thedampness from wetting him, so he curled himself up inhis seat and fell fast asleep.

All that forenoon the fog continued. King Kitticut,who sat in his palace talking with his merry visitor,ordered the candles lighted, that they might be able tosee one another. The good Queen, Inga's mother, foundit was too dark to work at her embroidery, so shecalled her maidens together and told them wonderfulstories of bygone days, in order to pass away thedreary hours.

But soon after noon the weather changed. The densefog rolled away like a heavy cloud and suddenly the sunshot his bright rays over the island.

"Very good!" exclaimed King Kitticut. "We shall havea pleasant afternoon, I am sure," and he blew out thecandles.

Then he stood a moment motionless, as if turned tostone, for a terrible cry from without the palacereached his ears -- a cry so full of fear and horrorthat the King's heart almost stopped beating.Immediately there was a scurrying of feet as every onein the palace, filled with dismay, rushed outside tosee what had happened. even fat little Rinkitink sprangfrom his chair and followed his host and the othersthrough the arched vestibule.

After many years the worst fears of King Kitticutwere realized.

Landing upon the beach, which was but a few stepsfrom the palace itself, were hundreds of boats, everyone filled with a throng of fierce warriors. Theysprang upon the land with wild shouts of defiance andrushed to the King's palace, waving aloft their swordsand spears and battleaxes.

King Kitticut, so completely surprised that he wasbewildered, gazed at the approaching host with terrorand grief.

"They are the men of Regos and Coregos!" he groaned."We are, indeed, lost!"

Then he bethought himself, for the first time, of hiswonderful pearls. Turning quickly, he ran back into thepalace and hastened to the hall where the treasureswere hidden. But the leader of the warriors had seenthe King enter the palace and bounded after him,thinking he meant to escape. Just as the King hadstooped to press the secret spring in the tiles, thewarrior seized him from the rear and threw him backwardupon the floor, at the same time shouting to his men tofetch ropes and bind the prisoner. This they did veryquickly and King Kitticut soon found himself helplesslybound and in the power of his enemies. In this sadcondition he was lifted by the warriors and carriedoutside, when the good King looked upon a sorry sight.

The Queen and her maidens, the officers and servantsof the royal household and all who had inhabited thisend of the Island of Pingaree had been seized by theinvaders and bound with ropes. At once they begancarrying their victims to the boats, tossing them in asunceremoniously as if they had been bales ofmerchandise.

The King looked around for his son Inga, but failedto find the boy among the prisoners. Nor was the fatKing, Rinkitink, to be seen anywhere about.

The warriors were swarming over the palace like beesin a hive, seeking anyone who might be in hiding, andafter the search had been prolonged for some time theleader asked impatiently: "Do you find anyone else?"

"No," his men told him. "We have captured them all."

"Then," commanded the leader, "remove everything ofvalue from the palace and tear down its walls andtowers, so that not one stone remains upon another!"

While the warriors were busy with this task we willreturn to the boy Prince, who, when the fog lifted andthe sun came out, wakened from his sleep and began toclimb down from his perch in the tree. But theterrifying cries of the people, mingled with the shoutsof the rude warriors, caused him to pause and listeneagerly.

Then he climbed rapidly up the tree, far above hisplatform, to the topmost swaying branches. This tree,which Inga called his own, was somewhat taller than theother trees that surrounded it, and when he had reachedthe top he pressed aside the leaves and saw a greatfleet of boats upon the shore -- strange boats, withbanners that he had never seen before. Turning to lookupon his father's palace, he found it surrounded by ahorde of enemies. Then Inga knew the truth: that tileisland had been invaded by the barbaric warriors fromthe north. He grew so faint from the terror of it allthat he might have fallen had he not wound his armsaround a limb and clung fast until the dizzy feelingpassed away. Then with his sash he bound himself to thelimb and again ventured to look out through the leaves.

The warriors were now engaged in carrying KingKitticut and Queen Garee and all their other captivesdown to the boats, where they were thrown in andchained one to another. It was a dreadful sight for thePrince to witness, but he sat very still, concealedfrom the sight of anyone below by the bower of leafybranches around him. Inga knew very well that he coulddo nothing to help his beloved parents, and that if hecame down he would only be forced to share their cruelfate.

Now a procession of the Northmen passed between theboats and the palace, bearing the rich furniture,splendid draperies and rare ornaments of which theroyal palace had been robbed, together with such foodand other plunder as they could lay their hands upon.After this, the men of Regos and Coregos threw ropesaround the marble domes and towers and hundreds ofwarriors tugged at these ropes until the domes andtowers toppled and fell in ruins upon the ground. Thenthe walls themselves were torn down, till littleremained of the beautiful palace but a vast heap ofwhite marble blocks tumbled and scattered upon theground.

Prince Inga wept bitter tears of grief as he watchedthe ruin of his home; yet he was powerless to avert thedestruction. When the palace had been demolished, someof the warriors entered their boats and rowed along thecoast of the island, while the others marched in agreat body down the length of the island itself. Theywere so numerous that they formed a line stretchingfrom shore to shore and they destroyed every house theycame to and took every inhabitant prisoner.

The pearl fishers who lived at the lower end of theisland tried to escape in their boats, but they weresoon overtaken and made prisoners, like the others. Norwas there any attempt to resist the foe, for the sharpspears and pikes and swords of the invaders terrifiedthe hearts of the defenseless people of Pingaree, whosesole weapons were their oyster rakes.

When night fell the whole of the Island of Pingareehad been conquered by the men of the North, and all itspeople were slaves of the conquerors. Next morning themen of Regos and Coregos, being capable of no furthermischief, departed from the scene of their triumph,carrying their prisoners with them and taking alsoevery boat to be found upon the island. Many of theboats they had filled with rich plunder, with pearlsand silks and velvets, with silver and gold ornamentsand all the treasure that had made Pingaree famed asone of the richest kingdoms in the world. And thehundreds of slaves they had captured would be set towork in the mines of Regos and the grain fields ofCoregos.

So complete was the victory of the Northmen that itis no wonder the warriors sang songs of triumph as theyhastened back to their homes. Great rewards wereawaiting them when they showed the haughty King ofRegos and the terrible Queen of Coregos the results oftheir ocean raid and conquest.