The Stranger then heartily thanked Alfrarmedj for the assistance he had given; and the band, accompanied by a number of Weirds, proceeded to carry the objects of interest to the Queen’s museum.  It was a strange procession.  Half a dozen Weirds carried a stuffed mammoth, followed by others bearing the skeleton of a whale, while the robbers and the rest of their queer helpers were loaded with every thing relating to history, science, and art which ought to be in a really good museum.  When the whole collection had been put in place upon the floors, the shelves, and in the cases, it was nearly morning.  The robbers, with the Hermit’s Pupil, retired to the cave; the Weirds disappeared; while the Stranger betook himself to the Queen’s palace, where, as soon as the proper hour arrived, he requested an audience.

When he saw the Queen, he perceived that she was very pale and that her cheeks bore traces of recent tears.  “You are back in good time,” she said to him, “but it makes very little difference whether you have succeeded in your mission or not.  There is no longer any museum.  There has been a great robbery, and the thieves have carried off the whole of the vast and valuable collection which I have been so long in making.”

“I know of that affair,” said the Stranger, “and I have already placed in your museum-building the collection which I have obtained.  If your Majesty pleases, I shall be glad to have you look at it.  It may, in some degree, compensate for that which has been stolen.”

“Compensate!” cried the Queen.  “Nothing can compensate for it; I do not even wish to see what you have brought.”

“Be that as your Majesty pleases,” said the Stranger; “but I will be so bold as to say that I have great hopes that the collection which I have obtained will interest the people.  Will your Majesty graciously allow them to see it?”

“I have no objection to that,” said the Queen; “and indeed I shall be very glad if they can be made to be interested in the museum.  I will give orders that the prisons be opened, so that everybody can go to see what you have brought; and those who shall be interested in it may return to their homes.  I did not release my obstinate subjects when the museum was robbed, because their fault then was just as great as it was before; and it would not be right that they should profit by my loss.”

The Queen’s proclamation was made, and for several days the museum was crowded with people moving from morning till night through the vast collection of stuffed animals, birds, and fishes; rare and brilliant insects; mineral and vegetable curiosities; beautiful works of art; and all the strange, valuable, and instructive objects which had been brought from the interminable vaults of the magician Alfrarmedj.  The Queen’s officers, who had been sent to observe whether or not the people were interested, were in no doubt upon this point.  Every eye sparkled with delight, for every one found something which was the very thing he wished to see; and in the throng was the Hermit’s Pupil, standing in rapt ecstasy before a large case containing all sorts of fishing-tackle, from the smallest hooks for little minnows to the great irons and spears used in capturing whales.