Said Rinkitink with a chuckle: "We've really had a peaceful time, Kaliko, although not the pieceful time you expected.

Forgive me if I indulge in a laugh--hoo, hoo, hoo-hee, heek-keek-eek! And now, tell me; aren't you getting tired of trying to injure us ?" "Eh--heh," said the Nome King.

"I see now that your magic can protect you from all my arts.

But is the boy Inga as, well protected as Your Majesty and the goat ?' "Why do you ask ?" inquired Rinkitink, uneasy at the question because he remembered he had not seen the little Prince of Pingaree that morning.
"Because," said Kaliko, "the boy has been undergoing trials far greater and more dangerous than any you have encountered, and it has been hundreds of years since anyone has been able to escape alive from the perils of my Three Trick Caverns." King Rinkitink was much alarmed at hearing this, for although he knew that Inga possessed the Blue Pearl, that would only give to him marvelous strength, and perhaps strength alone would not enable him to escape from danger.

But he would not let Kaliko see the fear he felt for Inga's safety, so he said in a careless way: "You're a mighty poor magician, Kaliko, and I'll give you my crown if Inga hasn't escaped any danger you have threatened him with." "Your whole crown is not worth one of the valuable diamonds in my crown," answered the Nome King, "but I'll take it.