'' On the other hand , he determined to look at the Firedrake ; for , of course , he had no delicacy about spying on him , the brute . The prince clapped the glass to his eye , stared out of window , and there , sure enough , he saw the Firedrake . He was floating about in a sea of molten lava , on the top of a volcano . There he was , swimming and diving for pleasure , tossing up the flaming waves , and blowing fountains of fire out of his nostrils , like a whale spouting ! -LSB- Illustration : Page 44 -RSB- The prince did not like the looks of him . `` With all my cap of darkness , and my shoes of swiftness , and my sword of sharpness , I never could get near that beast , '' he said ; `` and if I did stalk him , I could not hurt him . Poor little Alphonso ! poor Enrico ! what plucky fellows they were ! I fancied that there was no such thing as a Firedrake : he 's not in the Natural History books ; and I thought the boys were only making fun , and would be back soon , safe and sound . How horrid being too clever makes one ! And now , what am I to do ? '' What was he to do , indeed ? And what would you have done ? Bring the horns and tail he must , or perish in the adventure . Otherwise , how could he meet his lady ? -- why , she would think him a mere braggart . The prince sat down , and thought and thought ; and the day went on , and it was now high noon . At last he jumped up and rushed into the library , a room where nobody ever went except himself and the queen . There he turned the books upside down , in his haste , till he found an old one , by a French gentleman , Monsieur Cyrano de Bergerac .
It was an account of a voyage to the moon , XXXXX which there is a great deal of information about matters not generally known ; for few travellers have been to the moon .
On With as by except if in near that till