'Ah, it's very kind of you to think of that,' replied the King, shaking his head; 'but I couldn't be guilty of such inhospitality as to hinder a stranger from carrying out so capital a plot. No--say no more. I see how it is. You have taken a great deal of trouble about this conspiracy, and so far you have managed it very well. I shall not interfere with your triumph for the sake of a selfish whim of my own. Never, my dear boy, never! My spirit is too royal to stoop to such meanness. And I think it unkind of you to expect such a thing of me; and if you don't stop it I shall have to tell the executioner to cut off your head.' 'That last argument of yours is a strong one, and rather than drive you to such extremities I would let you have it your own way,' said Yellow-cap. 'But still I think this affair can be arranged. All I want, you see, is to sit on your throne; to make a rhyme to your name, and to trample you under the feet of the metrical system. Have nothing to do with that. Come, oblige me this once, and I will do as much for you the next time.' The King stroked his long white beard thoughtfully. 'The fact is,' he said at length, 'I am rather in a muddle about the whole business. If it had been a simple pantomime I could have seen through it; but this combination of two rival performances in one is beyond me. Let me consider. Hum! Ha! I have it. Let us draw lots from the donkey!' 'Draw lots from the donkey?' repeated Yellow-cap, puzzled in his turn. 'To be sure--the way we always do it--draw lots of hair, you know, from the donkey's tail,' continued his Majesty, brightening up, and turning back the ruffles from his wrists. 'The way it is done is this: we each of us in turn pull out a handful; and the one that makes the donkey kick first wins the match.' 'Very well,' said Yellow-cap, 'I agree, on condition that you take the first pull.' 'Such courtesy shows the true prince,' replied the King, with a pleased smile. 'I accept the favour as frankly as it was offered. Ho! fellows, back the animal round there--give him plenty of room to kick--so. Now, then, my lords and gentlemen, make a circle round us, and mark his tail with care. And do you, Mr. Chancellor of the Jingle, act as umpire.' Everything having been thus arranged, and amidst a pause of breathless interest, his Transparent Majesty King Ormund, Emperor of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, and Defender of the Faith, advanced on tiptoe towards the donkey, who, not suspecting what was to come, stood with its hind quarters turned to him, its head being held fast by the half-witted driver. When within about two feet of the donkey's heels the monarch stopped, and stretching out his arm, he grasped with his hand the long tuft of hair which grew at the end of the animal's tail. Then by a sudden motion he gave it such a tug as might almost have fetched the tail itself out by the roots.