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But the hardest part is yet to come: we have to find the Golden Ivy-seed. There is no time to be lost, so jump on my back, and let us be off!
'Yes, said the King kindly, 'you might have searched through all the kingdoms of the earth and air, and yet never have found that precious seed, had not your heart been broken like this field for love of your brother Hector. Keep the Golden Ivy-seed in this hollow pearl; be humble, patient, and gentle, and sooner or later Hector will be free.
Pass between those pillars, and then you will be in the kingdom of the Gnomes. Ask the first Gnome you meet to show you the place where the King ploughs; and when you have found him, ask him where the Golden Ivy-seed is. But be very careful to do everything that he bids you, no matter how strange or disagreeable it may be; for, if you disobey him, your brother Hector cannot be saved.
So Hilda made haste to open the hollow pearl and to put the Golden Ivy-seed in the hole; and the cat spread the earth over it, and then said: 'Now take the crystal phial, Hilda, and pour half the Diamond Waterdrop upon the place where the seed is planted, and the other half upon the enchanted fire; and make haste, for Harold is burning for Hector's sake!
'The first thing to be done, said Tom, looking at the children with his yellow eyes, which burned as brightly as lamps in the gloom of the forest, 'the first thing to be done is, of course, to get the Golden Ivy-seed and the Diamond Waterdrop. After that the rest is easy. 'And where are the Golden Ivy-seed and the Diamond Waterdrop to be found? inquired the two children hopefully.
'The Golden Ivy-seed must be sought in the centre of the earth, where the King of the Gnomes reigns, replied the cat; 'and the Diamond Waterdrop is to be asked for in the kingdom of the Air Spirits, above the clouds. 'But how are we to get up to the Air Spirits and down to the Gnomes? asked the children disconsolately. 'We will see about that, replied the cat.
I am so sorry for my brother Hector that for his sake I will do as you bid me, in the hope that afterwards you will tell me where the Golden Ivy-seed is to be found, so that Hector may be saved from Rumpty-Dudget's tower.
'The Golden Ivy-seed, forsooth! exclaimed the King, with a deep laugh. 'What made you suppose, I should like to know, that there was any Golden Ivy-seed to be got here? The Golden Ivy-seed is not given to people with stiff necks, I can assure you; so get down on all-fours at once, or else go about your business.
The King made no reply whatever, but he harnessed Hilda to the plough, and she dragged it back and forth across the emerald field until the whole of it was ploughed, while the King followed behind with the whip. At last he unharnessed her. 'Now begone about your business! he said roughly. 'But you have not told me where the Golden Ivy-seed is, said Hilda, with a piteous throb in her heart.
'I have no Golden Ivy-seed! returned the King, with his deep laugh. 'Why don't you ask yourself where it is? At this poor Hilda's heart felt as if it were broken, and she sank down on the ground and sobbed out: 'Oh! what shall I do to save my little brother?
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