Presently the King asked: "How did you penetrate to this hidden country?
Did you cross the desert or the mountains ?" "Desert," answered Cap'n Bill, as if the task were too easy to be worth talking about.
"Indeed! No one has ever been able to do that before," said the King.
"Well, it's easy enough, if you know how," asserted Cap'n Bill, so carelessly that it greatly impressed his hearers.

The King shifted in his throne uneasily.

He was more afraid of these strangers than before.
"Do you intend to stay long in Jinxland ?" was his next anxious question.
"Depends on how we like it," said Cap'n Bill.

"Just now I might suggest to your Majesty to order some rooms got ready for us in your dinky little castle here.

And a royal banquet, with some fried onions an' pickled tripe, would set easy on our stomicks an' make us a bit happier than we are now." "Your wishes shall be attended to," said King Krewl, but his eyes flashed from between their slits in a wicked way that made Trot hope the food wouldn't be poisoned.