"Farewell, oh old one--carry these three to the South corner--and farewell to thee, thou young one--put this fat one on the top of the others in the Western sty--may your shadows never be less--woe is me, it is wrongly done! Empty out all the sties, and begin again!" And the soldier leant upon his sword, and wiped away a tear.
"He is in distress," the Governor explained as they left the court. "Her Radiancy has commanded him to place twenty-four pigs in those four sties, so that, as she goes round the court, she may always find the number in each sty nearer to ten than the number in the last."
"Does she call ten nearer to ten than nine is?" said Norman.
"Surely," said the Governor. "Her Radiancy would admit that ten is nearer to ten than nine is--and also nearer than eleven is."
"Then I think it can be done," said Norman.
The Governor shook his head. "The Commander has been transferring them in vain for four months," he said. "What hope remains? And Her Radiancy has ordered up ten thousand additional----"
"The pigs don't seem to enjoy being transferred," the old man hastily interrupted. He did not like the subject of bamboos.
"They are only _provisionally_ transferred, you know," said the Governor. "In most cases they are immediately carried back again: so they need not mind it. And all is done with the greatest care, under the personal superintendence of the Commander-in-Chief."
"Of course she would only go _once_ round?" said Norman.
"Alas, no!" sighed their conductor. "Round and round. Round and round. These are Her Radiancy's own words. But oh, agony! Here is the outer gate, and we must part!" He sobbed as he shook hands with them, and the next moment was briskly walking away.
"He _might_ have waited to see us off!" said the old man, piteously.
"And he needn't have begun whistling the very _moment_ he left us!" said the young one, severely. "But look sharp--here are two what's-his-names in the act of starting!"
Unluckily, the sea-bound omnibus was full. "Never mind!" said Norman, cheerily. "We'll walk on till the next one overtakes us."
They trudged on in silence, both thinking over the military problem, till they met an omnibus coming from the sea. The elder traveller took out his watch. "Just twelve minutes and a half since we started," he remarked in an absent manner. Suddenly the vacant face brightened; the old man had an idea. "My boy!" he shouted, bringing his hand down upon Norman's shoulder so suddenly as for a moment to transfer his centre of gravity beyond the base of support.