At this there was a great outburst of applause from the audience, which his Majesty acknowledged by bowing and smiling. After it was over he continued-- 'And now tell me, where on earth did you vanish to? I could have sworn you were beside me--when, almost while I was looking at you, you were gone; and in your place was a dirty, impertinent varlet who tried to snatch my crown out of my very hands.' 'Indeed. An audacious fellow, truly!' 'Ah, but he got his deserts. Ha! I flatter myself he will never again try _that_ game. No, by my faith!' 'What did you do to him?' 'I grappled with him, and, after a tremendous struggle, I managed to get him by the throat and bowed him backwards to the earth. I say "to the earth," because the villains who should have upheld my platform had let it fall. Never mind--I had all their heads before supper-time.' 'And the robber?' 'There was not much left of him,' replied his Majesty, with a hearty laugh. 'After I had strangled him I flung his carcass to my retainers, who made mincemeat of it in no time. But all this is by the way. You have not told me what became of you.' Now, Yellow-cap had a good imagination; and seeing that the King had made up a clever story, he resolved to do his best to tell another as good. 'Your Majesty must know,' he said, 'that among my other modest gifts I include that of making myself invisible at pleasure and transporting myself to distant places by the force of a wish. Just at the moment when we were about to exchange hats I happened to remember that I had important business elsewhere; and since I had a long way to go, and very little time to go in, I was obliged to leave your Majesty without ceremony. But, as you see, I have lost no time in again presenting myself before you.' There was a round of applause at this speech, but neither so long nor so loud as at that of the King. 'I hope we may not again be parted,' said his Majesty graciously. 'In fact, I really don't know what I should have done without you.' Here Yellow-cap felt a gentle pull at his sleeve, and looking round he saw that Silvia was holding out to him a small slip of paper. He took it from her, and read the following words which had been written upon it:-- 'A rhyme to King Ormund.' The King had noticed this transaction, and immediately asked-- 'What have you got there?' 'A rhyme to King Ormund,' replied Yellow-cap, repeating the words which he had read without thinking of the effect they might have upon his hearer. But the audience took the point immediately, and the clapping of hands and stamping were this time both loud and long.