So Gud offered to hold the camel's halter while the rich merchant searched the strawstack for the needle. After the merchant had looked in all the straws but one he gave up in despair, for he had not found the needle. "Perseverance, dear, my lord, keeps honor bright," quoth Gud. Greatly encouraged, the rich merchant looked into the last straw and found the needle. In glee he shouted and held up the needle in one hand and the last straw in the other. "I perceive," said Gud, "that you are a prince of industry. But you are also in a dilemma. If you try the last straw first and break the camel's back, then how can the poor beast go through the eye of the needle?" Chapter XXI "Who was that fellow," asked Fidu, "who passed me just now with such a wild, wild look in his eye?" "That fellow," replied Gud, "was an author who just spent a week-end with me." "And what did you do to him?" asked Fidu. "He was as crazy as the nebular hypothesis." "Upon his request I criticized his book, which he insisted on reading to me." "But what did you say about it?" demanded Fidu, "he looked as locoed as a lop-eared logarithm." "I made several criticisms. I told him that his plot was choppy, and that most of it was stale; that the work lacked sadly in originality and there was considerable repetition. I said it was very melodramatic in spots and that it had entirely too many murders, and that many of the biggest murderers seemed to escape without punishment. I also told him that it was full of sordid realism and most unhappy endings, that it was overloaded with action, and worst of all, it utterly lacked any evidence of a distinct moral purpose." "Well no wonder," said Fidu, "that the poor fellow was raving; you made, if I may say so, quite a severe criticism." "I grant that, but his book deserved it--everything I said about it was absolutely true." "What did he call his book?" asked Fidu. "He called it," replied Gud, "'An Outline of History.'" Chapter XXII Presently Gud ran dead against an ivory wall; but being versed in aviation, he flew over it. Having done so he went on walking. Gud perceived that he was walking in a kingdom, and he walked warily, for he was doubtful whether monarchy was an ideal form of government. His doubts increased as he noted the subjects of the kingdom, for they appeared to be full of guile. So when he became tired and sleepy, he durst not enter into an abode, but lay down beneath a friendly tree and fell asleep. When Gud awoke he found that his sandals had been stolen from off his feet. This made him very sorrowful, for his sandals had been well broken to fit his own feet but he was worried lest they might hurt the feet of the thief. So he made a hue and cry. When a subject of the kingdom appeared, Gud demanded to be taken at once to the king.