“The wicked men who had caught Mouk now began to accuse him of having stolen the pot of money, declaring they caught him in the act of burying it in the earth. The king asked the accused what he had to say for himself, and bade him tell how he came by so much money. “Little Mouk, knowing his own innocence, told the king boldly that he had found the pot in the garden and that he had been digging it out, not burying it. “All present laughed loudly at the impudence of the little dwarf in making such a foolish excuse. But the king was furious. ‘You wretched little thief,’ he cried, ‘how dare you lie to me in this barefaced manner, after having robbed me, too.’ Then he asked his treasurer if it were true that a sum such as had been found with the dwarf really were missing from the treasury. “Of course the treasurer declared that not only that sum, but more still had been missing, from time to time, and that he was absolutely certain that it had been stolen. “The king commanded that little Mouk should be heavily chained and shut up in a prison in the tower, and the king bade the treasurer carry the pot of gold away and count it carefully and put it back into the treasury. “The dishonest man carried the pot home and counted out the gold, and when he came to the bottom of the pot he found a paper on which was written:-- “‘An enemy has over-run my land and I am forced to bury my treasures. Whoever finds this must carry it to my son or else the curse of a king will rest upon him--Signed, King Said.’ “This paper the treasurer did _not_ show to his master. “Poor little Mouk was in sad straits and wearied his brain trying to think of a way out of his trouble. “He knew that to rob the king was usually punished by death, and yet he could not make up his mind to tell the secret of his magic slippers and staff, guessing rightly that they would probably be taken from him. His slippers were of no use to him now, for he was chained closely to the wall, and think as he would he could hit upon no plan by means of which he could escape. “The following day, however, he was informed that sentence of death had been passed upon him, and he made up his mind that as the magic staff would certainly be of no benefit to him when he was dead, he might as well sacrifice it to save his head. So he asked to be allowed to speak in private to the king and then told him the secret. “The king had little faith in the story, but he decided to put Mouk to the proof and, unknown to the dwarf, a sum of money was buried in the earth. Mouk was released and shortly afterwards had found the money, for the staff struck the ground three times just over the spot where it was buried. The king knew now that his treasurer had deceived him, and sent him a silken rope, as a hint that if he did not hang himself, he would promptly be seized and led to the gallows, for monarchs in the Eastern countries show their erring servants scant mercy.