The Prince slipped off his elephant on the other side and ran into the thickest part of the wood. He hoped the dragon could not break through the bushes there, since they were very strong and close. He went crawling on hands and knees in a most un-Prince-like way, and at last, finding a hollow tree, he crept into it. The wood was very still--no crashing of branches and no smell of burning came to alarm the Prince. He drained the silver hunting bottle slung from his shoulder, and stretched his legs in the hollow tree. He never shed a single tear for his poor tame hippopotamuses who had eaten from his hand and followed him faithfully in all the pleasures of the chase for so many years. For he was a false Prince, with a skin like leather and hair like hearth brushes and a heart like a stone. He never shed a tear, but he just went to sleep. When he awoke it was dark. He crept out of the tree and rubbed his eyes. The wood was black about him, but there was a red glow in a dell close by. It was a fire of sticks, and beside it sat a ragged youth with long, yellow hair; all around lay sleeping forms which breathed heavily. "Who are you?" said the Prince. "I'm Elfin, the pig keeper," said the ragged youth. "And who are you?" "I'm Tiresome, the Prince," said the other. "And what are you doing out of your palace at this time of night?" asked the pig keeper, severely. "I've been hunting," said the Prince. The pig keeper laughed. "Oh, it was you I saw, then? A good hunt, wasn't it? My pigs and I were looking on." All the sleeping forms grunted and snored, and the Prince saw that they were pigs: He knew it by their manners. "If you had known as much as I do," Elfin went on, "you might have saved your pack." "What do you mean?" said Tiresome. "Why, the dragon," said Elfin. "You went out at the wrong time of day. The dragon should be hunted at night." "No, thank you," said the Prince, with a shudder. "A daylight hunt is quite good enough for me, you silly pig keeper." "Oh, well," said Elfin, "do as you like about it--the dragon will come and hunt you tomorrow, as likely as not. I don't care if he does, you silly Prince." "You're very rude," said Tiresome. "Oh, no, only truthful," said Elfin. "Well, tell me the truth, then. What is it that, if I had known as much as you do about, I shouldn't have lost my hippopotamuses?" "You don't speak very good English," said Elfin. "But come, what will you give me if I tell you?" "If you tell me what?" said the tiresome Prince. "What you want to know." "I don't want to know anything," said Prince Tiresome. "Then you're more of a silly even than I thought," said Elfin. "Don't you want to know how to settle the dragon before he settles you?" "It might be as well," the Prince admitted. "Well, I haven't much patience at any time," said Elfin, "and now I can assure you that there's very little left. What will you give me if I tell you?"