"Spare my life!" he whined, with his teeth clicking against each other like castenets. "Oh, please, sir, spare my life! Ask me anything you like, and I will answer you. Yes, and though it is very hard for me to do so, I will speak the truth. Let me be your slave, and fan you, and black your boots!"
"Yes, we know that already. Where has he gone?"
The Demon Usher looked around timidly as though to assure himself that neither Dragonfel nor any of his followers was within hearing, and then said, with an air of great cunning:
"Yes," said King Stanislaus. "I give you my promise."
"Then I will tell you," said the Demon Usher. "He has flown with his captives to his mine."
"Have you not heard of it?" asked the Demon Usher in great surprise. "Why, it is the most wonderful mine in all the world. Every jewel known to a lapidary is there."
"Lead us to it," broke in Florimel eagerly.
"Come with me," said the Demon Usher. "I will show you the secret passage-way through which Dragonfel and the rest entered."
Florimel made an impatient start to be off, and the Brownies showed their willingness to follow him through all dangers, but King Stanislaus, more careful, raised his hand to call a halt.
"Stay!" he cautioned. "This may only be a ruse to trap us. How do we know this is the truth?"
"It is the truth," averred the Demon Usher. "Follow me and I will soon prove it to you."
He moved off with his queer half-skip and half-jump, cocking his eye behind at them as if he feared they would try to stop him. But no one made any attempt to do so, and he appeared very much relieved.
Close at his heels came Florimel and the Brownies, with King Stanislaus among them, but the monarch looked ill at ease, as though he suspected treachery of some kind.
The Demon Usher led them to a slight rise where there was a rocky formation, and stopped before a boulder so huge that it would have required the strength of many men to move it.
Searching with his long, thin fingers for a certain place, he found it at length, and pressed against it as hard as he could.
To the surprise of all the rest, the boulder began to slide easily away, disclosing the entrance to a dark, subterranean passage.
"Follow the passage," cried the Demon Usher triumphantly, "and it will lead you to Dragonfel and his captives!"