down the ladder, and I see them.” “Well, go on, _go_ on!  What did they do?  How'd they act?” “They didn't do nothing.  And they didn't act anyway much, as fur as I see. They tiptoed away; so I seen, easy enough, that they'd shoved in there to do up your majesty's room, or something, s'posing you was up; and found you _warn't_ up, and so they was hoping to slide out of the way of trouble without waking you up, if they hadn't already waked you up.” “Great guns, _this_ is a go!” says the king; and both of them looked pretty sick and tolerable silly.  They stood there a-thinking and scratching their heads a minute, and the duke he bust into a kind of a little raspy chuckle, and says: “It does beat all how neat the niggers played their hand.  They let on to be _sorry_ they was going out of this region!  And I believed they _was_ sorry, and so did you, and so did everybody.  Don't ever tell _me_ any more that a nigger ain't got any histrionic talent.  Why, the way they played that thing it would fool _anybody_.  In my opinion, there's a fortune in 'em.  If I had capital and a theater, I wouldn't want a better lay-out than that--and here we've gone and sold 'em for a song.  Yes, and ain't privileged to sing the song yet.  Say, where _is_ that song--that draft?” “In the bank for to be collected.  Where _would_ it be?” “Well, _that's_ all right then, thank goodness.” Says I, kind of timid-like: “Is something gone wrong?” The king whirls on me and rips out: “None o' your business!  You keep your head shet, and mind y'r own affairs--if you got any.  Long as you're in this town don't you forgit _that_--you hear?”  Then he says to the duke, “We got to jest swaller it and say noth'n':  mum's the word for _us_.” As they was starting down the ladder the duke he chuckles again, and says: “Quick sales _and_ small profits!  It's a good business--yes.” The king snarls around on him and says: “I was trying to do for the best in sellin' 'em out so quick.  If the profits h