This casket, with some of the finest of its jewels, was left by King Abibaal himself.

Since his time every king of the island has upon his death bequeathed to the casket the finest jewel in his possession; and its contents are now therefore of inestimable value.

The circumstance to which I refer is that two days after the disappearance of the king, your father, which spread grief and alarm through all Yaque, it was discovered that the Hereditary Treasure was gone." "Gone!" burst from the lips of the prince's auditors.
"As utterly as if the Fifth Dimension had received it," the prince gravely assured them.

"The loss, as you may imagine, is a grievous one.

The High Council immediately issued a proclamation that if the treasure be not restored by a certain date--now barely two weeks away--a heavy tax will be levied upon the people to make good, in the coin of the realm, this incalculable loss.