Foster-father he sent to the State prison, which was down a well in the
big courtyard. There were two of these prison-wells, in which the water
was reached by a flight of steep steps, and where dark, underground
cells opened on to the deep silent pool. They were terribly damp, but
here poor Foster-father had to drag out long, miserable days, cut off
even from news of the others. Until one day, just when the sentry was
eating his mid-day meal, he heard a violent barking, and by swinging
himself up by the bars of the tiny shaft of the well he could just get a
glimpse of Tumbu on the steps. Why had he come? Perhaps he had been
sent; if so he would come again at the same time. All that night
Foster-father lay awake, feverishly wondering what Tumbu had meant, and
all the next morning, having no means of telling the time, he waited and
waited anxiously, until, just as he was beginning to give up hope, the
familiar bark echoed down the well, and there was good old Tumbu on the
steps! So he must have been sent by some one; and therefore some one
must be alive and desire him to know the fact.
In truth, both his wife, Foster-mother, and Head-nurse had been racking
their brains how to find out where either the Heir-to-Empire or
Foster-father were imprisoned until little Bija had said, "Tell Tumbu to
seek for them. If you show him Mirak's cap and say, 'Go seek,' he will
go."
And so he did; but it was a long, long time before he found out where
Mirak had hidden himself, for he had gone to the big palace in a litter,
and so had left no trace.
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