GROGNIO R. `` H 'm , '' said the prince ; `` I did not think his majesty wrote so well ; '' and he would have liked to say , `` Do n't you think we might join the ladies . '' `` But , sir , '' said the ambassador , `` the streets are lined with soldiers ; and I know not how you have escaped them . Here , under my roof , you are safe for the moment ; but a prolonged stay -- excuse my inhospitality -- could not but strain the harmonious relations which prevail between the Government of Pantouflia and that which I have the honour to represent . '' `` We do n't want to fight ; and no more , I think , do you , '' said the prince , smiling . `` Then how does your royal highness mean to treat the proclamations ? '' `` Why , by winning these ten thousand purses . I can tell you 1,000,000 pounds is worth having , '' said the prince . `` I 'll deliver up the said prince , alive , at Falkenstein this very night ; also the horns and tail of the said Firedrake . But I do n't want to marry my Cousin Molly . '' `` May I remind your royal highness that Falkenstein is three hundred miles away ? Moreover , my head butler , Benson , disappeared from the house before dinner , and I fear he went to warn Captain Kopzoffski that you are here ! '' `` That is nothing , '' said the prince ; `` but , my dear Lord Kelso , may I not have the pleasure of presenting Lady Rosalind with a little gift , a Philippine which I lost to her last night , merely the head and tail of a Firedrake which I stalked this morning ? '' The ambassador was so astonished that he ran straight upstairs , forgetting his manners , and crying : `` Linda ! Linda ! come down at once ; here 's a surprise for you ! '' Lady Rosalind came sweeping down , with a smile on her kind face . She guessed what it was , though the prince had said nothing about it at dinner . `` Lead the way , your royal highness ! '' cried the ambassador ; and the prince , offering Lady Rosalind his arm , went out into the hall , where he saw neither his carpet nor the horns and tail of the Firedrake ! He turned quite pale , and said : `` Will you kindly ask the servants where the little Persian prayer-rug and the parcel which I brought with me have been placed ? ''
Lord Kelso rang the bell , and in came all the servants , XXXXX William , the under-butler , at their head .
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