"Oh no, my dear; there will be strict orders against that. But, to return to our expenses, I'm afraid Clarence hasn't been as careful as he might have been, and I shall have to speak to him very----" "No, you will not, Sidney. I won't have you scolding Clarence just when he's doing so well--riding and going out hunting and making himself a social leader. You can give him a hint to be less extravagant if you like--but no more. But the _first_ thing you have to do, is to settle the trouble about those Gnomes. You'd better ask the Marshal if _he_ can suggest anything." The Marshal's solution was simple but practical. There was, it seemed, a marshy tract at a considerable distance from the capital which needed draining and reclaiming--a work which the more able-bodied of the Gnomes could carry out under strict control. So the majority were deported to the Maerchenlands, the remainder being employed in the Royal Kitchens as supernumerary and highly incompetent scullions. Whether a damp climate would suit the Gnomes' constitutions was not a matter of general concern. Most of them had been supplied with jerseys, which, if they made them look more hideous little objects than ever, had been knitted expressly for them by the Queen and her ladies-in-waiting--and what more could they possibly want? The citizens of Eswareinmal witnessed the exodus of the gnomes with profound relief, but without any outburst of gratitude to their Sovereign. It had somehow been allowed to transpire that they owed their deliverance entirely to the statesmanship of the ex-Regent. CHAPTER IX THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE King Sidney's remonstrances to Clarence on his extravagances were put in too mild a form to offend. "Perhaps I _have_ got through rather a lot lately," the Crown Prince admitted. "Not that I spend much on myself--precious little chance in a bally place like this. It mostly goes in tips. You see, the peasants about here think anything under a purse of gold stingy. But it certainly struck me the last time I went to the Counting-house that what sacks there were looked a bit flabby. When do you expect some more in?" "The Lord Treasurer thinks one or two may be delivered in a week or so--but we shall want considerably more than that to pay our way, and I don't see myself where it's to come from." "I suppose," said Clarence, "it wouldn't quite do to have the gates melted down, or the thrones; but there's any amount of other gold furniture knocking about--what's the matter with coining that?" "It _did_ occur to me," confessed King Sidney, "but the Court Chamberlain says they're only silver gilt, and that's no good _here_, you know." "Well," said Clarence, "it's pretty clear that we shall all be in the cart if we can't find some way to raise the wind." A day or two later he burst into the Royal Parlour where his father was sitting disconsolately alone. "I've found it, Guv'nor," he announced triumphantly. "Eh, my boy, found, what?"