After the band marched the double Ki-Ki
and the double Ki, their four bodies side by side in a straight line.
The Ki-Ki had left their musical instruments in the palace, and now
wore yellow gloves with green stitching down the backs and swung
gold-headed canes jauntily as they walked. The Ki stooped their aged
shoulders and shuffled along with their hands in their pockets, and
only once did they speak, and that was to roar "Great Kika-koo!" when
the Ki-Ki jabbed their canes down on the Ki's toes.
Following the Ki-Ki and the Ki came the prince and Nerle, escorted by
the twin captains, and then there were files of twin soldiers bringing
up the rear.
Crowds of twin people, with many twin children amongst them, turned
out to watch the unusual display, and many pairs of twin dogs barked
together in unison and snapped at the heels of the marching twin soldiers.
By and by they reached the great wall surrounding the High Ki's
palace, and, sure enough, there was never a gate in the wall by which
any might enter. But when the Ki and the Ki-Ki had blown a shrill
signal upon two pairs of whistles, they all beheld two flights of
silver steps begin to descend from the top of the wall, and these came
nearer and nearer the ground until at last they rested at the feet of
the Ki.
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