(LIGRARY SAii Ke bear proceeded to uWk across (he pond THE MOON PRINCE AND OTHER NABOBS BY RICHARD KENDALL MUNKITTRICK AUTHOR OK "FARMING" WITH ILLUSTRATIONS NEW YORK HARPER & BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS 1893 Copyright, 1892, by HARPER & BROTHERS All riyhtt rturrtd. TO MALCOLM TURNER MUNKITTRICK MY ONLY SON Dear Sir, 1 thank you for granting me permission to dedicate this little book to you, which I now do as a alight but most sincere testimonial of my admiration and respect. I trust that this well-meant act of mine may not disturb the serenity of our relations, but that they may continue to be as pleasant in the future as during that portion of the past which is covered by the six years that have elapsed since the date of your conquest of and triumphal entry into the State of A'eio Jersey. I have the honor to remain now as always your dutiful parent and obedient slave, R. K. MU.NKITTRICK Mud Knob, Summit, N. J. October 1, 1892 CONTENTS PAGE THE MOON PRINCE 3 A DAT IN WAXLAND 167 THE HURRISHOFFER .-333 OPOPONAX % 275 ILLUSTKATIONS PAGE " THE BEAR PROCEEDED TO WALK ACROSS THE POND " . Frontispiece "AND WHO ARE YOU, PRAY?" 5 THE INCANDESCENT COACHMAN 7 " CAPERED THREE OR FOUR TIMES AROUND THE PUMPKIN " . . 9 THK SQUIRREL RECITES A REMINISCENT POEM 15 "UNPOKER ME NOT TILL I'M COLD" 17 THE OWL GAZING IN AT THE ORIEL 21 " HE WHIPPED A BOTTLE OF HAIR-CURLING FLUID FROM UNDER HIS WING " 25 " THE MOONLIT EARTH WHIRLING AROUND IN INKINKSS " . . 29 " THE HIGGLEDE-PIGGIDDY AND THE SENSITIVE BARABOO " . . 33 " ' WHY DON'T YOU GO AHEAD ?' ASKED THE OWL " .... 35 KLOWERBELL'S RETURN 41 THE LIBRARIAN 44 KING SILVERSMITH AS A RABBIT 48 "ALL THE CABBAGES RAISED THEIR HATS POLITELY" ... 53 PORK AND BEANS 58 THE ROASTED PIG AND HIS WISH-HORSE 61 TUMPTY TUM THE RHYMER 62 THE JUMPING CHECKERS 67 THE HUMMING-TOPS, HUMMING 70 '"l AM NOT MUCH OF A MORALIST,' MURMURED THE ROASTFD PIG" 73 ONE OF THE ELEPHANTS KICKED HIS HIND WHEELS IN THE AIR 75 "THE ROASTED PIG MADE A MOST POLITE AND DIPLOMATIC BOW " 81 X ILLUSTRATIONS PAGE THK PHILOSOPHIC FARMER 84 THK FUNNY MANIKIN 86 THK FRENCH POODLE 89 SILVERSMITH THE TENTH ENJOYING HIMSELF 95 "SUDDENLY THE OWL APPEARED" 99 GRANDMOTHER OF PEARL 107 KING SILVERSMITH'S FEAST 109 THE SORGHUM AND THE TANTAMOUNT 117 THE MANIKIN-MENDER PUTS ON THE DANCE KETTLE .... 129 "THEY DANCED UNTIL THE WATER WAS BOILED AWAY AND THE MUSIC STOPPED" 131 THE TANTAMOUNT AND R. L. SMITH . 139 * FLOCK OF WELSH RABBITS 145 "HE LIFTED THE GREAT WHITE BIRD IN HIS PAWS " . . . 148 "THE PERFORATED CAT BOWED POLITELY" 155 THE OWL WEEPS AT JOHNNY'S DEPARTURE 159 "THEY ALL DANCED ON THE SHORES OF THE LAND OF GREEN CHEESE" 161 "THEY ENTERED, AND THK DOOR CLOSED BEHIND THEM" . .175 "ONE OF THE WAX-WORKERS HAD GOT OVERHEATED" . . . 187 " AN ELEPHANT WAS RIGHT ON HIS TRACK " 203 "A FAIR LITHE SPIRIT IN PEARLY ROBES ALIGHTED" . . . 215 "THEY SAW THE KING RUNNING AS FAST AS HE COULD" . . 227 " HE TOOK HOLD OF THE BRANCHES AND PEERED THROUGH " . 235 "HK STEPPED ASHORE, AND PULLED THE CANOE UP AFTER HIM" 239 "'l AM THE HURRISHOFFER,' REPLIED THE STRANGE ANIMAL" . 243 " PENNY-A- WORDSWORTH DREW HIMSELF UP PROUDLY" . . . 249 TOMMY AND THE HURRISHOFFER AT THE PLUM-PUDDING TREE . 253 THE CANDY ANIMALS EXERCISING 257 "'AND HE MAKES cs ROAR TILL WE BREAK IN HALF WHEN HE SPINS HIS HAT ON HIS TAIL ' " 263 TOMMY AND THE POOH-POOH 269 OPOPONAX # . , . 275 ILLUSTRATIONS XI PAGE "IN HIS RETINUE HE HAD TWO JESTERS ON APPROVAL 1 ' . . 276 '"CONSIDER YOUR SALARY REDUCED 50 PER CENT.!' BROKE IN THE KING, WITH GUEAT FEELING" 279 " THE FIRST JESTER PULLED THE STRING, AND OPOPONAX MADE A VIOLENT EFFORT TO LACGH " 286 " ' IS THAT MAN TEACHING THE PIG TO LAUGH, AS I AM BEING TAUGHT, AND IS THE PIG'S LAUGH A SUCCESS ?' " . . . 289 TIMOTHY HAY'S cow 294 "HEItE THE LAUGHING FARMER SUDDENLY LOST CONTROL OF HIMSELF, AND LAUGHED SO HARD AND WELL THAT THE KING TRIED TO JOIN IN" 295 "THE KING RODE AROUND, WAVING AN ORANGE - COLORED POSTER" 300 " WHEN THEY STOOD UP THE FARMER'S HEAD WAS ON THE KING'S SHOULDERS, AND THE KING'S WAS ON THE FARM- ER'S " 301 " ' MERCY SAKES !' BROKE IN TIMOTHY IIAY'g OLD MOTHER ; ' WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO YOU ?'" 306 "IT WAS VERY AMUSING TO SEE THE KING MILK, AFTER HE HAD FIRST HUNG HIS CROWN ON THE COW'S HORN " . . 308 "THEREUPON THE GIANT TOOK OPOPONAX THE HALF ON HIS BACK AND A JESTER UNDER EACH ARM, AND COMMENCED RUNNING" . 314 "' WHAT, HO, WITHOUT THERE, SIR KNIGHT OF THE SUSPENDER, COME HITHER!'" 319 "EVERY ONE WAS SAWING AWAY FOR DEAR LIFE". . . . 325 "'HOW ARE THINGS AT THE FARM?'" 338 "HE THEREUPON GAVE TIMOTHY HAY A PURSE CONTAINING MORE GOLD THAN HE HAD COME TO ASK FOR HIMSELF " . 337 " THE GIANT TOOK MRS. HAY ON ONE ARM, AND TIMOTHY ON THE OTHER, TO GAIN TIME, AND STARTED FOR THE FARM ON A TROT" 340 THE MOON PEINCE / 1&O-N exclaimed little Johnny, " but I'd like to become acquainted with a real fairy. I have read so much about them in books that I feel they must be very pleasant people. Oh, if I could only be the playmate of a fairy Prince, 1 " " I am a fairy Prince," came suddenly from a thicket near by. " You ? And who are you, pray ?" asked Johnny, looking in vain for the speaker. "As I just remarked, I am a fairy Prince." And then a pretty little squirrel hopped out on the fence, and laughed like a fairy, until Johnny was frightened. u You must not be afraid of me," said the little fairy 4 THE MOON PRINCE Prince, assuringly, "for I am only a temporary squirrel, and I long for a congenial playmate who is not a fairy." " But how long are you going to be a squirrel ?" asked Johnny. "Until to-morrow at 8.13 P.M.," replied the Prince, who broke forth with, "I'm weary of the butternut, The walnut and pecan; The chestnut and the cocoa-nut Unman this little man. The hickory, the hazel-nut, The nut from far Brazil Though Autumn's for the squirrel nuts, I shun them with a will !" " Why, how in the world did you come to be a squirrel, anyhow?" asked Johnny. " In this way : when my sister Roseflake was six- teen, my father, the King, decided to give her a party one that should never be forgotten in all his great domain. It would be impossible for me to give you a description of it, because it was simply dazzling and ravishing in all the details of its loveliness and gran- deur. All the fairy Princes from neighboring countries were there, each one ambitious to win the heart of Roseflake. There were animals made of candy, life- size, and the cakes and jellies were simply poems. Such a feast was never seen before. And Roseflake was so lovely that her very presence filled the air with melody. Her step was as light as the blossom in the wind, and when she danced her feet filled the palace with a symphony that was felt though not heard. " At the feast the Prince who got the piece of cake containing the Brazil-nut was to have the hand of Roseflake. The other nuts were represented in great THE MOON PRINCE variety, but there was only one Brazil-nut. Just before the party I picked all the nuts out of the cake and ate them, believing & - _-_ vi^ that when their loss was discovered it would result in the . , . . King s giving an- other grand party. " AND WHO ARE YOU, PRAY ?" But, to my great horror, he did not. He simply had me turned into a squirrel, an( i ^nt to the earth to feed on nuts for a given period. And that is why you now observe Prince Flowerbell in the form of a squirrel." " You say you were sent to the earth," said Johnny. " Now, where did you come from ?" " From the moon." " Oh, how I should like to go back with you for about a week ! How soon shall you return ?" 6 THE MOON PRINCE " I shall return to-morrow, for at that time the pe- riod of my squirrel servitude, if I may so term it, will have expired. I return to-morrow night as soon as the moon appears, so come along." The Squirrel capered along the fence, and Johnny ran down the road, until the former jumped into a field beside a great pumpkin. " Jump in," exclaimed the Prince, politely. " Jump in where ?" asked Johnny. " In there," said the Prince, tapping the pumpkin. " That is Cinderella's coach." As soon as he touched it, it turned into a beautiful little coach, with two small horses before it, and a coachman on the box. Johnny suddenly found him- self reduced in height to a few inches, sitting beside the Prince, and away they whirled down into a deep green wood, where they could not be observed. As soon as the coach stopped, and Johnny at- tempted to step out, he found himself in a luxurious golden chamber, for the coach had been turned back into a pumpkin, and they were inside of it for the night. As soon as the horses had crouched like sleeping camels, they turned into luxurious divans ; and the coachman was transformed into a tall lamp that shed the softest rays of moonlight all around, his face be- coming incandescent like the moon. As this chastened light filled the chamber, Johnny was enchanted, for to him it seemed a magic pagoda ; all the filmy tapestries of the pumpkin looked like flakes of yellow roses woven together loosely with finest silk, while the seeds glistened like jewels in its tawny folds. " The beauty of this incandescent coachman," said THE MOON PRINCE the Squirrel, " is that it is not necessary to have a lamp on the carriage." All this seemed very strange and novel to Johnny, who fancied that the coachman had a crank by which he could be turned on and off like a gas-jet. And then it seemed so queer to him to be only a few inches high. Even his clothing had been re- duced to fit his anatomy, and his boxwood top was only the size of a small acorn. In his bewilderment he knew not what to say, but finally remarked, " I suppose that as the moon is only a ball of living light at night, there is no school, eh ?" " Oh yes," replied the Squir- rel ; " but only night school. We sleep when your world is light, for then ours is pale and dim ; and when you are sleeping in this world we are at school in ours." " It must be a great place for the study of astron- omy," said Johnny. " I suppose you know all about Cassiopeia's Chair and the Great Bear at your school ?" " I don't know anything about them," replied the Squirrel. " For, being a Prince, I don't have to study. A poor old laboring fairy's son has to do all my study- ing for me, and whatever he learns I know for a day or two, and he immediately forgets. Several of my brothers and sisters have been educated through this poor fairy, who knows nothing. Whenever I am whipped this poor fairy feels the pain. I catch it on the back, and the poor fairy jumps a yard in the air. THE INCANDESCENT COACHMAN. 8 THE MOON PRINCE " One day the teacher came to me, and said he was going to give me twelve blows for turning the stove into a dancing bear, and destroying the dignity of the institution ; but seeing that the poor fairy was sick, and not in condition to withstand the shock, I turned the teacher into a plum-tree, with twelve glowing plums on it. The twelve plums were much more acceptable than the twelve blows, I can assure you. And when the plums were eaten I turned all the teacher's books into hornets' nests, and turned the plum-tree back into the teacher. In fumbling about for the missing books he disturbed one of the hornets' nests, and out popped the hornets, but before they could sting him I turned them all into wild flowers, which fluttered into his glass of water, and filled the air with delightful fragrance. He appreciated the kindness with which I tempered my power, and never again took advantage of his own to deal me a blow that would make the poor fairy dance with pain." " It must indeed be a queer place, this Moonland from which you were sent to assume the form of a squirrel." " It is not half so queer a world as this one in which we now are. Why, if a wild animal chases you here you have to be caught and killed ! Just think of a person not being able to assume the form of a bird at such a time, and escape !" Here the Squirrel laughed so hard at the absurdity of such a situation that one of the couches woke up ; that is, it gradually reassumed its natural horse form, and capered three or four times around the pumpkin, as around a circus ring, with Johnny and the Squirrel upon his back. Then the other couch began to kick and prance, perhaps from sympathy, and it was very curious to see it gradually assume its equine shape. THE MOON PRINCE First the pillow end turned into a head, and began to neigh impatiently for the rest to hurry into the shape of the popular quadruped. Then the casters turned into shoes, and the whole thing stretched and was suddenly a horse. " Do they ever come to in this way in the night and start off on a gallop with their occupants ?" "CAPERED THREE OR FOUR TIMES AROUND THE PUMPKIN." " Nev-er, nev-er, my fri-end, for-when-one-is-a-sleep- on-them-their-slum-ber-can-not-be-bro-ken," replied the Squirrel, the jolting motion of the horse chopping his words into syllables. Suddenly they were both dashed to the ground, but were not in the least hurt. " What does this mean ?" asked Johnny, after he had regained his feet and breath. 10 THE MOON PRINCE " It means," replied the Squirrel, " that their motion has been stopped by their suddenly returning to the couch state." And, sure enough, there were the two horses in the shape of two of the most inviting couches one could wish to see. " They are happiest when they are couches," re- marked the Squirrel. " Sometimes when we are out driving they try to turn into couches in the middle of the road. Have some chestnuts ?" " No, thanks," replied Johnny ; " I had a hearty meal before I met you." " Then excuse me while I eat some." The Squirrel began eating and singing : RESOLVES. "I have been a gray squirrel ever since I rifled that cake in the moon, But I'll be a very frolicsome Prince Of rny father's realm full soon. And if a great cake in many cuts They ever again shall make, Oh, never again I'll touch the nuts, Alone and complete I'll leave the nuts, If I eat the rest of the cake. "I'm a penitent squirrel spry and gray When I sit on the mossy rail, And chatter the weary time away In the shade of my silver tail. In spite of the various ' ifs ' and ' buts ' Put in for argument's sake, If a great big cake they make of nuts, I'll fly for my life from the tempting nuts, If I eat the rest of the cake." "Do you make that sort of thing up as you go along?" asked Johnny. THE MOON PRINCE 11 " Certainly. It is quite easy when so irregular and sing-songy," replied the Squirrel, " when you once be- come accustomed to it. Here is my first production, a counting-out verse to decide who shall be ' it ' in any game : "'Cider, vinegar, nut-brown ale, Seventeen monkeys in a pail ; Fourteen were blown way out to sea, Which left, as a matter of fact, but three.'" " When do you think you'll start for the moon ?" asked Johnny, without commenting upon the verse. "To-morrow night at 8.13." " Well, you must look out that you are not capt- ured to-morrow and put in a cage, to spend the rest of your life running around in a wire wheel for exercise." The Squirrel did not relish this possibility much, and promised to remain in the pumpkin until time to start. " But suppose the pumpkin should be taken by some one and made into a pie with us in it ?" " We are pretty safe," replied the Squirrel, "because we are in a deep wood that no one ventures into, and besides I could turn the pumpkin into a carriage and drive away if I should hear any one coming ; and you know my squirrel sense of hearing is very keen. I can tell you another thing, and that is that it will be sim- ply nuts for me when I am unsquirreled and restored to my fairy princeship. Just look at that green-eyed owl peeping in through the oriel of the coach. Did you ever hear a story called the ' Owl and the Veter- inary Surgeon ' ?" " No, I never did," replied Johnny. " Will you tell me the story ?" 12 THE MOON PRINCE " I don't know it. " " But you just asked me if I ever heard it," replied Johnny. " Now, if you never heard of even the exist- ence of such a story, why did you ask me if I ever heard the story itself ?" " Because I thought if you had ever heard it, you would not object to telling it to me." " Of course I should not object to telling it to you if I knew it," replied Johnny. " Well, that's all I want to know. What's the use of getting angry over it?" " I am not angry ; I am in a good-humor." " Who said you were angry ?" asked the Squirrel. " You did," replied Johnny. " No, I did not ; I said, ' getting angry.' If you arc in a good-humor now, how do you feel when you're angry ?" " I don't know ; but what has that to do with the ' Owl and the Veterinary Surgeon ' ?" " Nothing !" said the Squirrel. " Who said it had ?" asked Johnny. "You intimated as much," replied the Squirrel. " What if I did ?" " Nothing," replied the Squirrel. " Then we had better change the subject." " All right," responded the Squirrel ; " we will change it. Suppose we retire to dream-land, and pre- pare for our approaching trip to the moon ?" " A good idea," replied Johnny. And then the Squirrel sang : "At 8.13 to-morrow night From the home of the wild raccoon, We'll drift away in the soft moonlight To my home in the silver moon!" THE MOON PRINCE 13 Then he hit the coachman's hat and drove it down over his luminous face, and the pumpkin was dark- ened for the night. And very shortly after Johnny and Prince Flowerbell were wandering in sunny mead- ows that seemed steeped in benisons of flowerful balm, through which the myriad dronings of insects floated like a soothing symphony, until all was a pen- sive bower of soft empurpled sleep. n THE Squirrel was as fast asleep as a squirrel can be when the first faint ray of dawn appeared through the oriel of the pumpkin. But at this early hour Johnny was wide awake, wondering if he was not in reality living in a sleeping dream. He could remember many dreams that were not half so wonderful as this ex- perience. When he had read of fairies he never ex- pected to meet one ; and when the nurse had told him him the fascinating story of Cinderella, little did he imagine that he would ever be driven about in her dainty vehicle, and sleep in the magic pumpkin from which it was made. But he was at a loss to know what had become of the other horses that belonged to Cinderella's carriage, and to account for the absence of the footmen. So when the Squirrel awoke and stretched himself Johnny asked, " How is it that you have but two horses and no footmen ?" " When I was doomed to visit the earth, and be a squirrel, and live on nuts, I was not sent away to enjoy myself, and my outfit was made as small as possible. I suppose the horses are gambolling over their beauti- ful moon meadows, regaling their inner horses with the night-blooming cereus (our national flower), and the footmen are being used for various purposes." THE MOON PRINCE 15 " For various purposes ?" asked Johnny. " Why, to what other uses can you put a footman ?" " To a great many," observed the Squirrel. " You know my father can turn one thing into another in a jiffy, and frequently does it to save time. For instance, THE SQUIRREL RECITES A REMINISCENT POEM. if he wants to sharpen a pencil, and his knife is up- stairs, he calls the nearest servant, turns him into a knife, and proceeds with the pencil-sharpening. One day, upon observing a pen-holder in an out-of-the-way place, he remembered that the same was a servant that had been missing six months, and as soon as he was brought out of his pen-holder state he was as happy as the King himself. Would you like me to recite you a little reminiscent poem called ' My Father and the Clown '?" " I should like to hear it very much," said Johnny. Then the Squirrel sat upon his hinder legs, that he might make gestures with his paws, and began : MY FATHER AND THE CLOWN. " My father once sat by his bright blazing grate, Much in need of a raking down ; The poker was missing, I'm sorry to state, So he seized on the palace clown. 16 THE MOON PRINCE "And lie turned him right into a poker slim, And among all the coals red-hot, With a petulant movement he rattled him Until perfectly white he got. "He was whiter with heat than the drifted snow When my father the raking stopped; At a word, from the poker more than aglow, The buffoon in a jiffy popped. jf Then he said, as he jumped with the burning pain, By a fine sense of fun controlled, 'When I'm used for a red-hot poker again, Unpoker me not till I'm cold.'" " That was very funny," said Johnny, clapping his hands with keen delight, " but I feel very sorry for the poor clown. But how did your father treat the clown for the liberty he took in addressing him in such a familiar manner?" u I think he gave him a snuffbox, or something of the kind. You know my father is so fond of a joke that after you have regaled him with a good one you can do almost anything you please with him." " He must be a very nice father. Do you suppose if I got off a good joke in his presence that he would stand against the wall and let me throw a ball at him ?" " In all probability he would ; but if the joke should happen to be lacking in merit, or of ancient origin, he would probably stand you against the wall to be the target. Upon one occasion a person wanted some favor from my father, upon whom he vented an obso- lete joke which he fancied the King had never heard." " What did your father do ?" asked Johnny. " What did he do ?" repeated the Squirrel " what did he do ? Why, before that man was aware of his THE MOON PRINCE 17 blunder he was a pair of nut-crackers. But he was made to retain his sense of feeling. I have often tried to picture to myself that man's sensations when the nut-cracker came together on a shagbark hickory or a common walnut. When he was transformed into his normal shape he hobbled around on crutches for a month, and appeared like one afflicted with incurable rheumatism. He was so sore that he never after perpetrated a joke or laughed at one, although my father gave him a kindly lecture and a bot- tle of liniment when he ceased to be a pair of nut-crackers." " I wish it was a lit- tle lighter," said John- ny, irrelevantly. " Don't you think it a little dark yet?" The Squirrel replied by knocking off the coach- man's hat, which caused the face of that digni- tary to cast forth its soft pearly beams and illuminate the pumpkin like a ball- room. Then Johnny began to make inquiries relative to breakfast. " We don't have to eat, because we never become hungry in this pumpkin or in the coach. Whenever I am outside eating nuts, and the nuts do not satisfy riy appetite, I fly back to the coach and feel as though 1 have just had a hearty meal." ME NOT TILL I'M COLD." 18 THE MOON PRINCE " Come to think of it," said Johnny, " I have a feel- ing of repletion just now myself. I feel as though a nice big plate of golden cakes and maple syrup would not tempt me at all. Besides, 1 imagine that since I have been reduced in size ray capacity for eating has diminished proportionately" " No doubt it has, Johnny," replied the Squirrel ; " but I wish you would use ordinary language in ad- dressing me. Don't talk so much like a school-teacher." " I will try not to," said Johnny. " All right ; try your best, and if you succeed I shall be very happy to take you to the Molasses River when we reach the moon." " I wish you would tell me all about the Molasses River," said Johnny. "You would never be able to gain anything like a fair idea of its saccharine picturesqueness from an or- dinary description. It must be seen to be appreciated. A number of poems have been written upon this won- derful body of molasses. This is the only one that I can recall at present : MOLASSES RIVER. "I rise on Sugar-loaf Mountain, And tenderly flow along, A plaintive saccharine fountain A- singing a dulcet song. " White sugar 's the shining gravel That makes my pleasant shore, And with great delight I travel By many a candy store. "A- glide through the winding channel, The lilies that make me glad Are cocoa-nut cakes, and a flannel Flapjack is each floating pad. THE MOON PRINCE 19 "Maples and sugar-beets breezy Over my sweet tide droop ; Each shell on my shores, 'tis easy To see, is a sugar -scoop. " With rapture along I wrestle, And joyously splash and bob, Till I'm caged in the gray stone vessel That's corked with an old corn-cob." " And will you take me to see this beautiful river ?" asked Johnny. " Certainly ; I shall be only too happy to take you sailing on it when we have our next picnic, which " " Oh, look there !" broke in Johnny. They both looked up at the oriel of the pumpkin, and there was the old owl again, gazing upon them with all the intensity of his burning bottle-green eyes. But he had a pleasant expression rarely seen in an owl, and instead of accosting him rudely, they said : " Good-morning, Mr. Owl. Are not you up rather early this morning ?" " It is rather early for me," replied the Owl. " As the daylight dawns I cannot see, because, you know, darkness is liglit to me. While sitting under yonder tree, groping and feeling my way around in the light, I happened to discern a ribbon of moonshine drifting from this pumpkin, and I thought I would come over and solve the mystery. I trust you will pardon the intrusion, and excuse my seeming rudeness." " Certainly," replied the Squirrel. " Will not you walk or fly into the pumpkin ?" " Are you quite sure you are not engaged in discuss- ing some private matter ?" asked the Owl, politely. " We are sure," replied the Squirrel. 20 THE MOON PRINCE In a moment the oriel increased in size, and in popped the Owl, and perched on one of the couch- horses. He looked all around, and his eyes seemed to grow greener, until he put on a pair of black glasses. " With these glasses," observed the Owl, " I can al- ways discern things more distinctly. They are inval- uable to me in the hunting of field-mice. Is this your home, Mr. Squirrel ?" " It is just at present ; but when I get back to the moon I shall be a Prince." " I see," remarked the Owl ; " you are a moon squirrel. I suppose you run around in the moon as in a wire wheel, and keep the great orb whirling. If you will kindly excuse me for speaking about myself, I will say that my only grievance is that I cannot see in the daytime. Do you think it would be consistent with my feelings of self-respect to offer to lead a crow around at night if the crow would chaperon me during the day ?" " It might," replied the Squirrel. " But the only ob- jection I can see is that neither of you would get the necessary amount of sleep. You say you can only see in the dark ?" " Yes," said the Owl. " Then you ought to be able to see first-rate when you close your eyes." The Owl did not care to try the experiment, for fear he was being chaffed by the Squirrel, and yet he did not feel sufficiently certain that he was being chaffed to justify him in acting as though offended. So he pretended that the observation missed him, and began a volley of questions by asking the Squirrel for an ex- planation of the pumpkin mystery, the coachman-lamp, and, in fact, everything connected with his squirrelship. \ THE MOON PRINCE 23 He was soon acquainted with the history of the Prince's life, and of his melancholy fate in being turned into a squirrel. But no sooner had the Squirrel given an account of himself than he asked the Owl to say some- thing appertaining to his owlship. " I shall be only too happy to furnish the desired information. May I burst into song 2" " Certainly you may," replied the Squirrel. And then by the dim light of the coachman-lamp the bird of wisdom sang : THE SONG OF THE OWL. "I am an owl of orders gray, As happy as can be; The sunny day I dream away Within a hollow tree. But when night comes, with much ado I through the forest flit, Till on some root I rest and hoot Tu woo, tu-woo, tu-woo, tu-woo! Tu-whit, tu-whit, tu-whit! "Unto the minster oft I fly, Where, in my ashen cowl, I hear the winds of summer sigh, The winds of winter howl ; Where blue doves woo and bill and coo, I on the rafter sit, And moping sing Beneath my wing, Tu-woo, tu-woo, tu-woo, tu-woo! Tu-whit, tu-whit, tu-whit!" " A very nice song, to a lively tripping air, and with a sort of choice mediaeval flavor," observed the Squirrel. "Up to this time I always fancied you the most philo- 24 THE MOON PRINCE sophic bird on earth, giving your attention only to seri- ous stubborn facts, and I can assure you I am pleased to find you so richly endowed with the lyric gift. I have a little suggestion to offer, or rather a proposition to make." " Make it !" exclaimed the Owl, rather abruptly. " I would like to take you with me to the moon, for there you will b'e able to see all the time, and will never have to seek the aid of eye-glasses. You may not be aware of the fact, but there is not an owl in the moon, and there has not been one there for centuries. * Do you know why you hoot at night ?" " I never thought there was any special reason," re- plied the Owl. "Well, there is," continued the Squirrel. "When you hoot at night it is an unconscious invocation to the moon. When you madly tear a field-mouse to pieces your feelings are really those of disappointment at not being able to live in the moon ; you are desper- ately in love with the moon, and yet you don't know it. Now, suppose Johnny were fond of pie, and yet unconscious of it, would not you think it a very queer proposition ?" " I certainly should," replied the Owl. " But why do I love the moon ?" " Because your ancestors were originally moon birds, and very merry birds they were, too. They only be- came solemn after they reached the earth. Some of your species still have the white moon face. When in the moon you were always playing tricks and creat- ing merriment. Now, at the downfall of your ances- tors, my great-great-grandfather, Moonshine the Sev- enth, was King. He was as bald as the moon itself appears from the earth. He was so bald that he always THE MOON PRINCE 27 had to wear a fur hat to prevent his taking cold. But he was as fond of a joke as he was bald, and although he could perform all sorts of moon miracles, he could not make hair grow on his head. One day an old owl went to him for the purpose of amusing him with a fresh-laid joke. He said he had been wrecked on the Molasses River, and was so weak from exposure that he had hardly sufficient strength to retain his feathers. He then said he was making a desperate struggle to maintain his family by the sale of a little article, and whipped a bottle of hair-curling fluid from under his wing, and offered it to him for a trifling sum. Instead of the King laughing violently at the absurdity of being offered a curling fluid when he had no hair, as the owl supposed he would, he flew into a towering rage, and ordered all the owls to be driven from the moon. And that is the reason you are all such a thoughtful, melancholy family on the earth. It was then decreed that no owl should ever again live in the moon unless brought there by one of the royal family. At 8.13 to-night the moon will appear, and by that time we must be in readiness." " But how do we go ?" asked the mystified Owl. " That's what I'd like to know, too !" exclaimed Johnny. " How do we go ?" "Wait until 8.13," replied the Squirrel, "and you shall see." Ill THE day was wearing away very slowly for the Squir- rel, Johnny, and the Owl, because they were all so anxious to start on their journey to the moon. The Squirrel ran all over the inside of the pumpkin ; and the Owl, so happy on being able to see in the soft light waves of the coachman-lamp, flapped his wings for exercise with great glee, and hooted in the most rapturous manner. Johnny was full of expectation, and looked forward with wild delight to all the mys- teries of Moonland. The Molasses River and the picnic upon its saccharine shores filled him with the liveliest anticipations of pleasure. Finally the after- noon came, and drifted softly away into a purple dream, in which the leaves rustled like an seolian melody. The Squirrel sat at the edge of the pumpkin oriel, and looked out upon the scene of pulsing calm from which he was shortly to be torn forever. The brook lisped through the murmuring grasses, the trees waved gently to and fro, and the sun, piercing the solitudes of the wood, gilded the dreaming violets, and seemed to set them atremble. At last the sun dropped behind a distant hill, and its reflection dyed the sky a delicate rose that nestled in the dimples of the clouds. And then the rose faded into olive, and the olive into gray, in which a great white star sparkled like a blazing flower. THE MOON PRINCE 29 One by one the trees became more indistinct; the outlines of the landscape melted into darkness, until suddenly a great bil- low of moonlight broke over brook and field, and made the world seem one of pearly splen- dor. " All aboard ! It's 8.13!" ex- claimed the Squirrel. As he uttered these words the pumpkin sud- denly turned not into Cinderella's carriage, but into a beautiful boat of pearl, with an ivory mast and a luxurious crim- son sail of dim- pled silk. " I am not ac- customed to such sudden changes," exclaimed the Owl, " so please excuse my apparent agitation." Johnny could only clap his hands with delight, " THE MOONLIT EARTH WHIRLING AROUND IN INKINESS." 30 THE MOON PRINCE while the Squirrel, in the exuberance of his joy, ran up the rigging like a sailor, and sat upon the top of the mast. The horses were on the deck, acting as pump- kin-colored lounges ; and the coachman, having been unlamped for the occasion, was at the helm steering for by this time the boat of pearl was sailing in the moonlight hundreds of feet above the highest trees. "This boat does not sail on water," said the Squirrel, who had just come down from the mast-head, " only on the moonlight." " If the moon should go behind a cloud, would we drop in the darkness ?" asked Johnny. " Not at all," replied -the Squirrel, much to the satis- faction of Johnny, who was a little nervous. " In that case the boat would only stand still until the reappear- ance of the moon. The boat is drawn by the moon to itself. Do you know how fast we are going?" " No. How fast ?" asked the Owl. " About one hundred miles a minute. We are go- ing so fast that we don't seem to be going at all." " I must confess," said the Owl, " that this is about the queerest experience I have had so far in life. Why, gracious me ! look at that silver ball down there ! What is that ?" " That is the moonlit earth whirling around in ink- iness." " The world also rolls in inkiness during the day," said the Owl. " What kind of inkiness, pray ?" asked the Squirrel. " Gold-inkiness," replied the Owl. " How do you know," asked Johnny, " when you can't see during the day ? I never supposed you knew anything appertaining to the day before the arrival of the evening paper." THE MOON PRINCE 31 The Squirrel chattered, and the Owl enveloped his face as best he could in his feathery bonnet. " It would not be a bad scheme," observed the Owl, over-solicitous to change the subject of conversation," to have a song, a serenade or something of that kind, that would be in harmony with this divinely lovely evening." " Suppose you sing, then," suggested the Squirrel. " I don't know anything ; and, besides, I have a cold." Johnny said he could remember nothing but the rhyme of the cow that jumped over the moon, which they both knew. The Squirrel was so pleased with the allusion to his beloved moon that he volunteered to sing himself, so Johnny and the Owl both listened with attention, while the Squirrel poured forth a little lyric which he called, simply, A LEGEND. "A moonbeam once fell in the bell of a flower Way down by a silvery rill ; 'Twas cradled to sleep in a rapturous liour When all the green forest was still. " That flower, when golden and glad was the morning, Was shrivelled and wilted and thin ; But on the next night, all its chalice adorning, The moonbeam still lingered within. "Since then has that flower been tender and creamy Wherever its petals have blown ; All fragile and pearly and dainty and dreamy Is the night-blooming cereus known." " That is indeed very pretty," observed the Owl when the Squirrel had paused ; " it is indeed a beau- tiful little gem, and I trust that you may not mistake my enthusiastic praise for patronage. I am blest with 32 THE MOON PRINCE a fond poetic soul, and that is why I am capable of appreciating your sweet little song." " It is very kind of you to be so favorably im- pressed," replied the Squirrel, timidly ; " I appreciate your kindly criticism very much." " I greatly prefer funny poems," said Johnny " funny poems about giants and witches and pirates." " They are very good in their way," broke in the Owl, "but I prefer something less evanescent. If we read for amusement, why cannot we be amused by the serious as much as by that which leans to the ludi- crous. Sometimes, you know, a serious thing makes us laugh and a funny thing does not. Now " " There goes the bird of wisdom pouring forth his philosophy on the poetic cult !" exclaimed the Squirrel. " Did you ever play steam poetry ?" "What is steam poetry?" asked Johnny and the Owl. " It's a kind of poetry," replied the Squirrel, " in which you keep up the rhyming as long as you can find a rhyme without stopping to think about the metre, which is generally most effective through any irregularity that has an audacious happy-go-lucky air. Would you like to try a game ?" "Yes, certainly, certainly," they replied together. " Let's begin right away." "All right. Now I'll begin by saying two lines, then Johnny must follow with two lines, and the Owl must add two, and that will make a verse. Then we will keep it up until we can't keep it up any longer, How does this strike you for a title ? ' The Romaunt of the Higglede-piggiddy and the Sensitive Baraboo.' " " First-rate." " All right," said the Squirrel. " Here we go :" THE MOON PRINCE 33 THE SQUIRREL. The Higglede-piggiddy fell in love With the sensitive Baraboo; JOHNNY. He loved her so very intensely that He didn't know what to do THE OWL. Tu-whit, tu-whit, tu-whit, tu-whit! Tu-woo, tu-woo, tu-woo ! 'THE HIGGLEDE-PIGGIDDY AND THE SENSITIVE BARABOO." THE SQUIRREL. The Higglede-piggiddy, all upset, In a vacant dream would sit, JOHNNY. And whether he fell asleep or not, He cared not a single bit THE O\VL. Tu-woo, tu-woo, tu-woo, tu-woo ! Tu-whit, tu-whit, tu-whit! THE SQUIRREL. Oh, silly Higglede-piggiddy, don't Come hither to bill and coo ; JOHNNY. I cnn only your loving sister be,, Said the sensitive Baraboo THE OWL. Tu-whit, tu-whit, tu-whit, tu-whit ! Tu-woo, tu-woo, tu-woo ! THE SQUIRREL. The Higglede-piggiddy then and there A cigarette coolly lit ; 84 THE MOON PRINCE JOHNNY. To-morrow her letters, one and all, Unto her shall I transmit THE OWL. Tu-woo, tu-woo, tu-woo, tu-woo! Tu-whit, tu-whit, tu-whit ! THE SQCIRREL. The Higglede-piggiddy didn't fume Or make a great hullabaloo; JOHNNY. Oh, not in his pocket-handkerchief Did he spill one small boo-hoo THE OWL. Tu-whit, tu-whit, tu-whit, tu-whit! Tu-woo, tu-woo, tu-woo ! THE SQCIRREL. He sang each day in his usual way, As gay as the gay torn-tit ; JOHNNY. He circled about like the swallow spry, Or the goose on the whirling spit THE OWL. Tu-woo, tu-woo, tu-woo, tu-woo ! Tu-whit, tu-whit, tu-whit ! THE SQCIRREL. The Higglede-piggiddy's now forgot, Like the sensitive Baraboo ; JOHNNY. They're a blank from the famous Russian steppes To the village of Kickapoo THE OWL. Tu-whit, tu-whit, tu-whit, tu-whit ! Tu-woo, tu-woo, tu-woo ! THE SQCIRREL. Like them we may all be laid away If we here in the dew-fall sit, JOHNNY. So into the cabin sumptuous I think we had better flit THE OWL. Tu-woo, tu-woo, tu-woo, tu-woo ! Tu-whit, tu-whit, tu-whit ! " Why don't you go ahead ?" asked the Owl. " It is all well enough for you to talk about going ahead, when all you have to do is to tag a ' tu-woo ' and a ' tu-whit ' on the end. I suppose you could keep it up all day long," said the Squirrel, sarcastically. THE MOON PRINCE 35 " There is no necessity for your being vexed," observed the Owl, apologetically. " I would not offend you for the world no, not for the moon itself." As soon as the smile of forgiveness lighted the Squirrel's face, the tear of regret fell from the Owl's green eye, and turned to a lovely purple flower, that took root and grew out of the deck. " I suppose you could weep a garden if you tried," said Johnny ; " but please do not try, unless you can weep strawberries. How long do you think it will take us to reach the moon ?" "We shall be in the moon by 9.27 A.M. to-morrow," replied the Squirrel. " I fancied we were getting near it," said Johnny, " for now the earth, silvered by the moon, looks like a two-grain quinine pill bobbing about there in the darkness." They all looked over, and, sure enough, there was the earth scarcely discernible, and every moment the " ' WHY DON'T YOU GO AHEAD ?' ASKED THE OWL." pearly boat was drifting away from it, the crimson sail idly flapping on the mast of ivory. Whether at that time they were over Africa or China they could not tell, and after some speculation as to their posi- 36 THE MOON PRINCE tion, they thought it prudent to follow the hint given in the final stanza of " The Romaunt of the Higglede- piggiddy and the Sensitive Baraboo." So the three descended to the cabin ; and a most lovely cabin it was. Johnny and the Owl could scarcely believe their eyes when they saw all its beauties un- folded before them. It seemed simply absurd to them to imagine that their beautiful air-ship of pearl could have once been a plain tawny pumpkin, and later a carriage and horses. Although the carriage and horses were beautiful in every respect, they were not to be compared for loveliness to the dainty vessel that was bearing them to Moonland, while it floated through the ripples of the great white orb as gracefully as an iridescent bubble. The furniture of the cabin was made entirely of pearl, and every light was a moon in miniature, and each little moon circled about in a minute orbit just above a fountain that was lovely in a continuous spirtle of stars. Of course the cabin was flooded with the most delicate light, and this light was sifted through the finest of silken draperies draperies so fine that they seemed made of cloud gossamer as they gently swayed in the opalescent glow. " You can now imagine what I have suffered," said the Squirrel, " when you consider what I have to make me happy, and then reflect that for purloining the nuts from a cake I have been compelled to be a squirrel and live on nuts for months. I don't believe I shall ever be able to look upon a cake again without a shudder, and as for essaying to partake of any, I should be so afraid that it might contain a forbidden nut that I should no more think of eating it than I should now think of flying, when I am not a flying-squirrel. Just listen I" THE MOON PRINCE 37 When the Squirrel paused the cabin was filled with gentlest music that floated about as mysteriously as the light itself. When it played an imitation of the wind rippling through the trees in spring, the scent of blossoms filled the air, and the minstrelsy of birds ran through it in the most delightful manner. And then it would play the music of autumn, and permeate the symphony with the delicious wood scents peculiar to that dreamy season. The murmur of the sea lent its subtle influence, and the rustle of reeds was to be dis- tinctly heard ; and it changed from one to the other, and varied the changes until the place was enchanted. And while this dulcet spell was thrown over them, they drifted off to a less beautiful dream-land, out of which they were to awake in the snowy bowers of the moon. IV WHEN the light of morning dawned, the Squirrel, Johnny, and the Owl awoke, feeling greatly refreshed by their night's rest in the luxurious moon ship. But the Owl and Johnny were as greatly surprised as they were refreshed to find that they were not in the boat at all, but back in the Cinderella carriage, being drawn rapidly over a silvery moon road to the palace of the Squirrel's father, King Silversmith the Tenth. The road was snow white, and the dust was like the finest flour. The Squirrel was as happy as a King, though in reality but a Prince. Johnny was not so happy, however, on account of the blinding glare of everything with which his vision came in contact. "Don't you find this glare blinding?" asked Johnny. " Not at all," replied the Owl" not at all. To me it's as soft as a June landscape, because my eyes are green." The Squirrel was greatly amused at this, but Johnny said nothing, and they drove along for some miles, the Squirrel probably being too happy at returning to his home, and Johnny and the Owl being too much over- come by the surrounding marvels and the novelty of all about them to indulge very freely in conversation. Up hill and down dale they went over the pearly roads, until they discerned in the dim distance a great white tower the tower of the magnificent palace of Silver- smith the Tenth. THE MOON PRINCE 39 " There may be no such thing as an Arabian night," said Johnny, " but this truly seems an Arabian day." And the Squirrel involuntarily burst forth : " Silver meadow, silver flower, Silver winding stream, Silver lily on the silver, In a silver dream ; Silver maples, silver birches, In a silver spray, Silver birds sing silver lyrics All the silver day." It was a lovely prospect. As the Squirrel intimated in his song, each object seemed to be of silver and pearl. It was quite as white as the earth is green, and there was not a bit of view along the way that had not some peculiar charm of its own. There was no such thing as monotony, aside from the whiteness that characterized almost everything. On and on they went, and nearer and nearer the palace appeared, until finally, when they least expected it, the little carriage whirled around a sudden bend in the road and shot under a large archway, and in another instant was in front of the palace. Silversmith the Tenth stood at the bottom step of the great edifice, surrounded by Roseflake, the lovely Princess whose cake the Squirrel had rifled of its nuts, and all the courtiers. As soon as the carriage stopped, the Squirrel jumped out upon the palace steps, and when he alighted on the same he was changed back to Flowerbell, the Moon Prince. Johnny and the Owl could scarcely realize that the Prince in the white silk mantle, over which a great mass of shimmering golden 40 THE MOON PRINCE curls fell in wild profusion, was the gray squirrel with whom they had been travelling. Flowerbell rushed to the embrace of Silversmith the Tenth, and vowed that he would never eat nut -cake again. Koseflakc forgave him for having purloined the nuts even the magic Brazil-nut from the great cake that was intended as the crowning triumph of her party. Johnny and the Owl were welcomed, especially the Owl, whose ancestors belonged in the moon, and flour- ished in it until exiled by Moonshine the Seventh, as related in a former chapter. The King never supposed the moon would know another owl, and he was very profuse in his thanks to Flowerbell for having the forethought to invite a specimen to accompany him home. But the fairies could not understand Johnny. He seemed as queer in their eyes as they did in his. Be- fore seeing him they had only read of human beings, but did not believe they really existed. When they became acquainted with him, the fairies taxed him with all kinds of questions relative to what they called earth life, and had him relate various experiences, all of which they enjoyed, but none of which they be- lieved. For instance, they did not believe that it re- quired a whole summer to ripen an apple on earth. They really believed that the earth tree could be touch- ed by a wand like a fairy moon tree, and the apples caused to appear at once fully ripe. At table Johnny was greatly annoyed because the fairies stared at him so much, and regarded him as something supernatural. But when he complained to Flowerbell, that merry little Prince threatened to have them turned into soup- THE MOON PRINCE 43 plates "without being deprived of their sense of feel- ing. When they heard this threat and thought of the hot soup, and the man who had been turned into a pair of nut -crackers, they promised not to regard Johnny as anything more than an ordinary rational fairy. " I will look out for you, Johnny," said Flowerbell. " They probably don't like you because you are my playmate. Would you like to come and see my fa- ther's library ?" " Indeed I should like to very much !" " Well, follow me." Johnny followed, and after passing through various halls they entered the sumptuous library of Silversmith the Tenth. The Librarian was sitting in front of the grandest fireplace Johnny ever saw, smoking ciga- rettes, and blowing the smoke from his eyes in the dreamiest manner. A dog lying on a rug arose, stretched himself, and said, "fionjour /" Then he left the room, and Johnny not knowing what to make of it, Flowerbell said, " That is the French Poodle that cannot speak English." And then the Librarian blew a greater cloud of smoke than before through his eyes and sang : " Ash Bol Bol Car Car Cod Code Dem- Dem Eye Eve Gla Tra, la, la, la, la ! " Gla HorHor Kin- Kin Mag Mag Mot Mot Pal Pal Pri Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha !" 44 THE MOON PRINCE Then he blew another great clond of smoke from his eyes, and laughed with great gusto. " What in the world has he been reciting ?" asked Johnny. " Nothing," answered Flowerbell, in reply to John- ny's question, " but the syllables on the backs of some of the volumes of the encyclopaedia the syllables that indi- cate the contents." The Librarian smiled, and again broke into a violent laugh, at which moment his sombre garments turned into light gay colors, and all over them appeared queer funny charac- ters, something like those on a Japanese fan. " His clothing indi- cates his state of mind," explained Flowerbell. " When he is in a sad, reflective condition, his clothing is black. When he is in a dreamy frame, his garments are lit up by a delicate landscape, with cloud ships in the airy distance, and butterflies tilting on crimson flower bells, etc. But when he is in a funny mood But he is in a funny mood now, and you may see for yourself." THE LIBRARIAN. THE MOON PRINCE 45 Johnny looked, and was greatly astonished to see a Chinese clown running downhill on a barrel, while fanning himself with a flock of doves with one hand, and throwing soap circulars about with the other. Running across from waistcoat -pocket to waistcoat- pocket was a suspended string of sausages. And out of one pocket a little man popped, and ran across on the sausage string and disappeared in the other. " Why does not he come out again ?" asked Johnny. " Because he is asleep," answered the Librarian, curtly. His cigarette went out, and his displeasure caused his garments to resume their usual sombre tone. " What are those little men on the shelf ?" asked Johnny, his curiosity getting the better of him. " Those are the story manikins," replied the Prince. " They serve for books. Instead of reading, as you earth people do, we have little men that tell us stories. Would you like to hear one of them recite a little poem - a favorite of mine ?" Johnny said he would be only too happy to hear the poem. " Let's have Almanac Bland," said the Prince ; " the man that tells the seasons with his whiskers and hair." The Librarian took down one of the little men, and stood him on the table. When the spring by which he was wound up had been touched, he commenced: ALMANAC BLAND. " What a curious mortal is Almanac Bland, E'er so peaceful and calm and Rerene ! In the spring, when the flowers empurple the land, Both his hair and his whiskers are green. 46 THE MOON PRINCE "When the poppy's aflame in the wind-rippled wheat, And the sunflowers gayly unfold, Then his hair and his whiskers grow down to his feet In a tangle of shimmering gold. " When the soft zephyr strays through the corn, yellow turned, And the bee and the robin have fled, Then his whiskers are into a deep russet burned, And his hair to mahogany red. "But whene'er the bleak winter moans over the plain, And the snow scurries on in its flight, Then his hair and his whiskers, transmuted again, Blow a delicate lilyful white." Then the manikin bowed, and was put back in his place. " Now," said the Prince, " let's have ' The Adopted Nephew of the Sage-green Elephant with the Glass Eye.' " " Can't do it, I'm sorry to say," replied the Librarian. " The manikin that tells the story of ' The Adopted Nephew of the Sage-green Elephant with the Glass Eye ' had his main-spring broken yesterday while pro- nouncing the word ' pterodactyl.' He is now being repaired, and the word 'pterodactyl' is going to be eliminated from the story." " I believe," soliloquized Johnny, " that this is all a dream. I think I am now at home in Vermont fast asleep on my corn -husk mattress, and that before I know it I shall wake up and have to go down-stairs and study my lessons." He did not awake, however, but continued to walk about the library with Flowerbell, who promised that on the first rainy day he might hear all the stories that the manikins could tell. There were several hundred THE MOON PRINCE 47 of these manikins classified according to their style of story, so Johnny looked forward with great delight to the first rainy day. Just at this juncture the King, Silversmith the Tenth, rushed violently into the library, and fell into a chair in a great state of fright. " Beat them off ! Beat them off !" shouted the King. " Beat what off ?" asked the Librarian. " The white moon bears !" shouted the King. " Don't you see them ?" " Oh yes !" said the Librarian. And with that he picked up a poker, and commenced beating the air violently. "That is the last of those white moon bears." The King was profuse in his thanks, and as a rec- ognition of the Librarian's services turned his empty pocket-book into one full of coins. " I didn't see any bears," said Johnny. " They're imaginary bears," explained Flowerbell. "The King has a very powerful imagination so power- ful, in fact, that when he imagines a thing it is to him a reality. It would not be well for us if we were to tell him there were no bears. The Librarian knows there was none as well as we ; yet, like a faithful serv- ant, he set to work and went through the act of kill- ing two specimens, just to satisfy the King that he was not laboring under a mistake when he was. In all probability the King was simply thinking that he would like some bear steaks for dinner, when the steaks grew, in his imagination, to bears, who pursued him with a spirit of vengeance. It is a terrible malady, and the only one that tends to make Silversmith the Tenth at all unhappy or dissatisfied with his lot. On one oc casion he imagined he was a rabbit, and insisted on 48 THE MOON PRINCE blinking, and twisting his nose incessantly. He would do this at table, and sometimes make the servants laugh. One servant manifested such a keen apprecia- tion of the humor of the situation that he is now act- ing in the capacity of a kitchen pot. The King makes it a point to have all the rabbits cooked in this pot, and the pot, being endowed with a knowledge of its fate, simply boils at the sight of a rabbit. Not the least painful feature of that hallucination of Silver- smith the Tenth lay in the fact that he insisted upon KING SILVERSMITH AS A RABBIT. being carried about by the ears. Now fancy a couple of servants, each holding an ear, carrying the King about." " Flowerbell," said the King, pleasantly, for the de- struction of the bears made him good-natured, " I can- THE MOON PRINCE 49 not express to you the keen pleasure I feel every time I reflect upon the fact that you have brought the Owl back to the moon. It is many years since the moon has seen an owl, and many of our people regard this bird as a myth. The owl was originally white moon white but the earth turned it brown. The light of the moon is its proper tone, if you can call that a tone. Now to-morrow night I am going to give a ball in honor of the Owl's return, and on that occasion this bird, dear to my heart, as a lover and patriot of the moon, shall assume his original mooney glow " " Mooney is an Irish surname, and might be mis- leading," broke in the Prince. "I think moon -glow sounds better." " Moon-glow it is, then," said Silversmith, smiling. "The Owl shall assume the moon -glow of his ances- tors." " But we must not have a cake with nuts in it !" ex- claimed the Prince. " No," replied the King ; " but one thing we must make an entree of is that tender little musk -sheep down in the meadow, where Oh, oh, the room is full of musk-sheep trying to butt me to death !" roared the King. " Musk-sheep on the piano, under the piano, rushing in the door-way, and jumping down the chim- ney. Kill them ! kill them !" The King ran this way and that, and made desperate lunges and kicks at the musk -sheep that were trying to do him to death. Finally the cooks rushed in with knives, and made motions as though grabbing the sheep and killing them. They worked away for something like twenty minutes, killing off these imaginary sheep, and when they were through, they said : 50 THE MOON PRINCE " We are glad that we arrived just in time." " Take the carcasses out," said the King, " and give all but one bear and one musk-sheep to the poor, and those two serve up in your very best style for the grand ball to be given to-morrow night in honor of the Owl's return to the moon." FLOWERBELL motioned to Johnny to follow him out into the garden, .and when there suggested that they keep away from Silversmith the Tenth for a while, and allow him to get over his fright caused by the imaginary musk-sheep : " Because you cannot tell what might happen. If I had only kept out of his way after taking the nuts from Roseflake's cake, I don't for a moment believe he would have turned me into a squirrel and sent me to the earth for six months. It would be dishearten- ing if he were to serve us in some such fashion just as a grand feast and ball are to be given in honor of the Owl ; so we had better keep a little farther from the palace and avoid danger." Johnny agreed that this would be the best plan to pursue, and they wandered through a mass of shrub- bery until they reached the lower end of the garden. At this part of the garden there was a great bed of cabbages, and each cabbage had on a high white hat. Some of them were red, some were green, and one tall one in the centre was a rich purple. As they ap- proached, all the cabbages raised their hats politely. " That is about the strangest thing I have yet seen in Moonland !" said Johnny, in a startled manner. " What do they mean ?" " They are simply a lot of polite cabbages," replied 52 THE MOON PRINCE Flowerbell; "they always raise their hats. That big purple fellow over there is the Cabbage King, and he is now waiting for me to ask him who he is, in order that he may sing his song in reply. He sings the song, and the other cabbages, his subjects, sing the chorus." " Is it a good song ?" asked Johnny. " The first time you hear it, it is pretty good," re- plied Flowerbell ; " but when you have heard it as frequently as I have it seems to lose its piquancy." " But I have never heard it," said Johnny ; " and as you say it is good the first time, I should like to hear it very much. Can you stand it again ?" " I am not positive," murmured Flowerbell, re- flectively, "but I'll try, if you would hear the song." Then he turned and faced the polite cabbages, every one of which raised its hat and seemed to be en- deavoring to lapse into a pleasant smile. As they raised their hats, Flowerbell looked at the King, and asked, rather sharply, " Who are you anyhow ?" And the Cabbage King raised himself an inch higher and removed his high hat an extra high one, which was his crown and sang : OLD KING CABBAGE. " I'm King of the cabbages green ; I'm King of the cabbages red ; I'm a purple cabbage of royal mien, With a sensible level head. All my subjects I hold most dear, They respect my power and might, And unto all persons that venture near We're considerate and polite. THE MOON PRINCE 55 Chorus " We're a lot of cabbages, one and all ; We're very polite, and that's The reason that we, unto great and small, Prefer to remove our hats Our hats, our hats, our hats, our hats Prefer to remove our hats." "From the nightfall ifnto the morn, By my cabbages green and red, A soothing and sensible hat is worn To prevent a cold in the head ; And through having to wear a hat, That our health may continue right, We raise it to every person that We be known as very polite. Chorus " We're a lot of cabbages, one and all ; We're very polite, and that's The reason that we, unto great and small, Prefer to remove our hats Our hats, our hats, our hats, our hats Prefer to remove our hats." "But I'm filled with a secret grief, And in spite of myself I shout: May I ne'er be boiled with the red corned-beef, Or be made into sauer-kraut; May I not in the form of slaws Any epicure's fork invite. My delicate sorrow is all because I'm so sensitive and polite. Chorus " We're a lot of cabbages, one and all ; We're very polite, and that's The reason that we, unto great and small, Prefer to remove our hats Our hats, our hats, our hats, our hats Prefer to remove our hats." " Indeed that is a very lively song, and I am not a 56 THE MOON PRINCE little surprised to hear anything of the kind from a cabbage," said Johnny, with solemn deliberation. " Yes," responded Flowerbell, not a little overcome at his playmate's expression of wonder ; " it is not so bad for a cabbage, especially when you first hear it ; but I can tell you the Cabbage King is as vain as po- lite. Now I am going to humor him." So Flowerbell looked at the Cabbage King and shouted : " Who are you ? who are you ? Who are you ? who are you, Pray? Who are you ? who are you ? Who are you ? who are you, Eh?" " What does all that mean ?" asked Johnny. " It means," responded Flowerbell, with a smile that made manifest his keen sense of the ridiculous, " that the Cabbage King sings that song every time he is asked who he is, and he enjoys it, too, I can assure you. He can now enjoy himself singing it eight times." This statement struck Johnny as being very funny, and wishing to satisfy himself that Flowerbell was not chaffing him, he watched his chance and looked around, and, sure enough, the cabbages were doffing their hats in the most polite fashion, while the chorus could be distinctly heard where they were standing. The moon garden was a beautiful bower of fragrance and airy rest. It was only a garden in name, how- ever, because it covered several miles of moon. The gradual slopes and the murmurous valleys seemed as though made to wander and dream in, and as Flower- bell and Johnny roved along, the latter said : THE MOON PRINCE 57 " I do miss the Owl so much ! Suppose we go back and hunt him up." " The Owl is all right, Johnny," replied Flowerbell, as he cut the air with a wand and severed a lily from its stem " the Owl is all right. He is being fed on sweetmeats to turn his feathers white and make him like the original moon owl. You will be surprised when you see him at the ball to-morrow night. You will see that instead of being melancholy and wise, he will be melancholy and funny. And after the ball is over, you know the King gives a picnic, in honor of my return, on the banks of the Molasses River." " Look there !" exclaimed Johnny, in great surprise. As they looked, they saw the lily that Flowerbell had cut from its stem floating about in the air like a bird. "That is nothing," Flowerbell explained, with a smile. " It is simply waiting for a stem to grow out of it, and descend and take root in the ground. Do you see those tea-biscuits over there rustling in undu- late beauty ?" " No, I do not," responded Johnny, " and I don't believe that tea-biscuits can rustle, either. I see a field of wheat over in the direction in which you point, but I don't see any tea-biscuits." " The wheat in the moon grows on the potato prin- ciple," Flowerbell explained. "You pull up a few wands of wheat, and you find the tea-biscuits on the roots. See here." Flowerbell then pulled up a handful of wheat, and the roots were full of the most delicious tea-biscuits Johnny ever tasted. It was then made clear to him that a peculiar warmth in the moon mould not only rounded all vegetables to a beautiful perfection, but 58 THE MOON PRINCE afterwards cooked and preserved them. No moon farmer ever dreamed of garnering his crops until they were cooked, and many did not take them in at that time, preferring to allow them to remain until wanted in a state of peerless preservation. "When the asparagus pops out of the ground," said a farmer who overheard the conversation, "it is ready to eat, like an earth apple. We have fields of stewed and fried potatoes, and even our poultry and sheep are cooked for us just before they reach that age when nature toughens them. It is very pleasant to be able to step out and pluck sweet-corn just hot enough to be delicious, and all garnished with butter and pepper and salt. I never feel the independence of the farmer so keenly as at the time I see my roasted ducks swimming about in the gravy pond at the foot of the hill. There is one of my roasted pigs over there hoeing the hills of beans." As the Farmer paused, the pig came closer. He was a polka-dotted specimen, and had on a large straw hat POHK AND BKANS. THE MOON PRINCE 59 and eye-glasses. He hoed away to the time of a live- ly song, which ran as follows : THE AGRICULTURAL PIG. "I'm an agricultural pig, And I love these quiet scenes, Where I frequently dance a jig While hoeing the blooming beans. My heart is as light as a cork Among my favorite greens, For I am the pork, pork, pork, And they are the beans, beans, beans. In all kinds of weather We're happy together, For we are the pork and the beans." Chorus by the beans. "Oh, we are the beans, beans, beans! And he is the pork, pork, pork ! And we have no horror of soup tureens, The spoon or the knife and fork." " I'm a rapturous Roasted Pig, And my rapture simply means I'm contented to hoe and dig Among these delicate beans. Oh, I hop like the slender stork, While my hoe the weedlet gleans ; Oh, I am the pork, pork, pork ! And they are the beans, beans, beans. In all kinds of weather We're happy together, For we are the pork and beans." Chorus by the beans. " Oh, we are the beans, beans, beans ! And he is the pork, pork, pork ! And we have no horror of soup tureens, The spoon or the knife and fork." 60 THE MOON PRINCE " That is a very clever song," said Flowerbell, with a smile. " It is exceedingly clever and well turned, and I think you should be encouraged. Would you like to go to the Owl's ball to-morrow night ?" " Whv, there hasn't been an owl in the moon," re- plied the Roasted Pig, " since Moonshine the Seventh exiled the whole race because a facetious member en- deavored by way of a joke, be it said to sell him a phial of hair-curling fluid, when he, Moonshine the Seventh, had not a hair on his head. You must have read the history of the moon, surely !" " I have," replied the Moon Prince ; " but I recently visited the earth, and met an owl, who, for all I know to the contrary, may be a lineal descendant of the very perpetrator of the hair-curling jest. It was decreed at the time the owls were exiled that no one should " " I know the whole story quite well," broke in the Roasted Pig. "Excuse me for my seeming rudeness in interrupting you, but the incident is set forth at considerable length in Mooney's Moon, Vol. XIV., page 117." " Now, then, I want you to answer my question would you like to go to the Owl's ball to-morrow night?" " Very much indeed thanks," replied the Roasted Pig, removing his hat, and carefully wiping his eye- glasses ; " nothing could afford me higher pleasure." " Why, what a very polite pig !" said Johnny. " I never saw such manners before ; and he has a com- pany voice, too. Was he this way before he was cooked ?" " I presume he must have been," Flowerbell replied, "because I don't think such a style could be ac- quired." THE MOON PRINCE 61 " Why, he is fit to go to dancing-school," suggest- ed Johnny, thoughtfully ; " and speaking of dancing, I wish it were now time for the Owl's ball." THE ROASTED PIG AND HIS WISH-HORSE. Just then Johnny found himself sitting on the back of a beautiful moon horse. " What does this mean ?" he asked. "Simply," replied the Moon Prince, "that in this land, which strikes you as being so queer though it is not in reality as strange as the earth wishes are horses. You wished it time for the Owl's ball, and there's the regulation horse." " Pardon me," said the Roasted Pig, " but I must not neglect my beans. I wish you good-day." As soon 62 THE MOON PRINCE as he concluded with " I wish you good-day," another horse capered away over the farm, with the Roasted Pig on his back. " I suppose I must ride, too ?" said Johnny. " You must," responded the Moon Prince. " But I don't know how to ride. Now how can I ride if I don't know how to ?" " The best way you can," said Flowerbell. " You must learn not to wish. We are all supposed to be so happy here that wishing is superfluous." " I wish that wishes were rocking-horses," Johnny observed, as he clung to the mane of his steed, " for then I should be at least able to stick on. But who is this strange creature walking past those silvery ja- ponicas ?" Before the Moon Prince could tell him that the curious person approaching was Tumpty Turn the Rhymer, Johnny found himself stand- ing on two horses, the second one being his wish that wishes were hobby-horses. "And who is Tumpty Turn the Rhymer ?" "Tumpty Turn the Rhymer," said the Moon Prince, " is our chief oddity. He is a sort of wandering minstrel, who pours out moon legends to any one that will listen to him. Let's get out of his way." TCMPTY TUM THE RHYMER. THE MOON PRINCE 63 So they secreted themselves behind a tree, and Tumpty Turn went by, mumbling a lot of rhyme, and appearing to be greatly carried away by it. As the Moon Prince and Johnny listened, they heard him sing: THE CHECKERS' FROLIC. "Way down in the mead, where the dappled woodpeckers Are drumming away on the tree, I just saw the black and the cardinal checkers A-jumping around in their glee. "They're jumping about like a lot of grasshoppers; I think they are playing leap-frog; A-flash in the air like a shower of coppers, A-joggeddy, joggeddy, jog ! " Oh my, but the checkers enjoy, and most keenly, Their spry little frolicsome vaults; I noticed a king turn, while smiling serenely, A couple of back summersaults. "I know that each checker, like little Jack Horner, When weary will wearily leap Unto the repose of the board's double corner To drift to the valley of sleep." Before Johnny could say anything to express his wonder, Tumpty Turn the Rhymer passed out of sight, and the Moon Prince observed : "That is only an incident of the Toy Garden. I suppose you would like to see that, wouldn't you ?" Johnny of course was only too anxious to see and enjoy the marvels of this magic enclosure, and no sooner had he informed the Moon Prince than the farmer said, " I should like very much to go also." 64 THE MOON PRINCE " And so should I," warbled the Roasted Pig. " I am ahead of time in my work, not a weed mars the pros- perity of my beloved beans, and I should greatly en- joy the wonders of the Toy Garden." The Moon Prince consented, and with Johnny, the farmer, and the Roasted Pig moved in the direction of that bower of joy. The Roasted Pig rested on the arm of the farmer, the Prince walked gracefully alone, and Johnny rode on the two wish-horses. VI As soon as Flowerbell and his companions reached the wicket of the Toy Garden, Johnny learned that he could rid himself of the wish - horses, because, as the Moon Prince explained, they had to remain in the en- closure in which they were wished into existence. It was a great relief to Johnny, because he didn't under- stand the art of riding, and was at a loss to manage the second horse. They had no sooner entered the Toy Garden than they met another horse. " Tell me whose wish you are," demanded Flower- bell. " I am the wish of Silversmith the Tenth," replied the horse, politely. " He was just down here, and wished he could get over the mania of believing to be real the wild fancies that sometimes fill his mind. He just thought he was being pursued by a man who was going to make a circus poodle of him, and when I sprang into existence he made me run at the top of my speed to escape his pursuer. As I was running along he said to himself, ' To have to sit on a barrel and smoke a pipe ; to have to jump through a balloon ; to race up one ladder and down another ; to have to wear a sol- dier's cap made of a newspaper, and walk down an in- clined plane on one's hind-legs on a ball oh my ! oh my ! oh my !' A great fear shook the frame of Silver- smith the Tenth, and at his request I hurried to the 5 66 THE MOON PRINCE wicket, where he dismounted, and ran for dear life to the palace." " We must not venture near him, then," said Flower- bell, cautiously. " I am very glad that the idle ballad of Tumpty Turn the Rhymer suggested to me the beau- tiful idea of coming into the Toy Garden. As a matter of fact, I have not been in this interesting enclosure for six or eight several moons." " How old is the moon, anyhow ?" asked Johnny. " Gracious !" exclaimed the farmer, " did you hear that ridiculous question ?" " You should remember," observed the Roasted Pig, smilingly, " that Johnny is at present the guest and playmate of the Moon Prince, and therefore you should show him more courtesy." The Moon Prince complimented the Roasted Pig on his appreciation of the attention due a guest, and com- mented with great severity on the uncouthness of the farmer, who was so dazed that he was at a loss for an apology, although he fumbled in the crown of his hat as though to find one there. " But how old is the moon, anyhow ?" Johnny re- peated, to turn the conversation, and give the poor disconsolate farmer an opportunity to regain his men- tal equilibrium. " It is never more than a month old," replied Flower- bell. "After it is a month old it becomes a new moon again. That is why we are so fresh and lively. But' let us hurry along to see the checkers jump." So they wended their way through the pearly bowers of the Toy Garden until they reached the little meadow mentioned by Tumpty Turn the Rhymer. Here they .found the checkers having a glorious time. The check- er-board, which was designed to counterfeit a book, had THE MOON PRINCE 67 on the back for a title, Mooney's Moon, L, II. It lay open on the grass, and the checkers were having a most exciting game. The lazy checkers would allow them- selves to be jumped to get out of the game. As soon THE JUMPING CHKCKERS. as a checker was jumped he would stand to one side. It was astonishing to see the kings jump backward when there was a chance to take three men. Finally there was a quarrel as to whose move or jump it was, and the game ended rather abruptly. Then they com- menced jumping over each other without any reference to the game, and when they became fatigued they all began jumping for the open board to secure the double corners for a good rest. When they were all in, the board-~book closed suddenly. Then the kites came out of a thicket, like so many birds, and began flying about in graceful circles, while they wagged their tails affectionately in recognition of the presence of the Moon Prince. The latter was as greatly flattered at this exhibition as Johnny and the Roasted Pig were pleased ; for it was quite as new and 68 THE MOON PRINCE novel to the Roasted Pig as to the happy playmates of the Prince. The farmer said nothing, fearing he might get into trouble. But if he said nothing, he smiled all over with a sort of childish delight. The kites finally retired, and then a humming sound filled the air, becoming louder and louder, until a num- ber of humming-tops appeared in regular columns, like soldiers. As they marched along, the sound changed into softest music, for they were supplied with a new bird song each. They spun for quite a while, much to the delight of all, the Roasted Pig becoming almost hysterical wi.th joy. But after a while the tops began to run down, and as they did so their song became more pensive and dreamy, until, just as they were about to roll over on their sides, they turned into a flock of humming-birds, and flew away into a lot of moon lilies, while their music filled the air as with subtlest in- cense. " Well, well, well !" was all that Johnny could say, as he clapped his hands with delight. " It's about the prettiest thing I ever saw," mur- mured the Roasted Pig, in tones of unfeigned rapt- ure. The farmer was afraid to hazard an opinion, lest he provoke the Prince, who said : " Here comes Tumpty Turn the Rhymer, who perhaps can give us a jingling legend to account for this dainty conceit of nature." " That can I," replied Tumpty Turn, who had over- heard the suggestion of Flowerbell. "It is all owing to what happened to one top many moons ago, and then became a part of the nature of every top of that species. This is the story as well as I can remem- ber : THE MOON PRINCE 69 THE TOP'S DREAM. "Once a top fell asleep while 'twas spinning away, And was charmed by a vision delightful and gay. Oh, it dreamed it played music, the sweetest e'er heard, As it floated about on the wings of a bird. " It was when it awoke in the rose-scented dew That away in the meadow a minstrel it flew; But whene'er into sleep in its spinning 'twould drop It was then the sweet minstrel lapsed into a top. " And to this very day in the moon-flowers deep All the minstrels are tops when they whirl in their sleep, But it's just at the moment the pleasant sleep stops, That a flock of fine birds are the bright humming-tops. " They were gay humming-tops when they spun in our view, They are now humming-birds of the loveliest hue, But they'll soon change from birds in the moon-flower copse To a lot of blue, yellow, and green humming-tops. " When the" " Oh, come, now," remarked the Moon Prince, " we are not so guileless as we may appear, and you must not fancy for a moment that you can entertain us for more than half a day with a set of verses that run on in that style. First the tops fall asleep to wake as humming-birds, then as humming-birds fall asleep and become tops. That is all very well; but when you .come to build verse after verse on that fact it is de- lightful if you are simply doing it to kill time, but when you come to recite these verses for the edification of intelligent creatures, it is pretty fair to assume that the intelligent creatures stand a splendid chance of getting the worst of it." " Horrible ! most horrible !" exclaimed the farmer, 70 THE MOON PRINCE delighted to have an opportunity to agree with the Moon Prince, and efface the impression made by his unhallowed outburst when Johnny inquired after the aere of the moon. o " Do humming-birds sing songs ?" asked Johnny. " They do in the moon," replied Flowerbell. " They are not like your earth humming-birds, that only buzz like bees. The humming-birds of the moon sing songs." " That is all very true," put in the Roasted Pig, " but I yet have my criticism to render upon the 'Top's Dream.' As a Roasted Pig I beg to protest against the infliction of such a creation upon decent people. It jingles all THE HCMMISG-TOPS, HUMMING. right, but is simply a series of repetitions. I can com- pose one like it without thought and on the spot." " Do it," they said" do it !" So the Roasted Pig wiped his eye-glasses, and while fanning himself with his great straw hat, proceeded : THE MOON PRINCE 71 THE CAT OP CHICKADEE. " There was a cat in Chickadee Whose head was large and round; Sometimes she slept way up a tree, Sometimes upon the ground. " When she was happy, slumber-bound Upon the grassy sea, She wasn't sleeping very sound Way up the waving tree. " But when asleep way up the tree That lisping leaves surround, She wasn't alas ! alack ! ah me ! A-sleeping on the ground." At the close the Roasted Pig turned a hand-spring, and tossing his hat and glasses in the air, caught them as they descended the hat upon his head, the glasses upon his nose. " Well done, good Mr. Roasted Pig !" said Johnny. " Please don't mister me," replied the Roasted Pig, in a tone that showed how put out he was. " Just plain Roasted Pig on first acquaintance. When you know me a little better you may simply call me Pig, and if we should ever become intimate friends I shall be happy to have you address me in terms of affection as plain Roasted. But never call me Mr. Roasted Pig, or Roasted Pig, Esquire." Johnny promised to remember this, and to hope for the time when he should call him simply Roasted. They were all happy but Tumpty Turn the Rhymer. He made them feel that he was deeply offended at the gratuitous off-hand manner in which they criticised his attempt to afford them amusement and instruction. 72 THE MOON PRINCE " If you didn't like the song, why did you ask me to sing it ? I didn't come along asking you if you would like to hear the ' Top's Dream,' and requesting you to beg me to recite it. I am sure I have gained nothing by it." " We are all quite certain of that," said the Roasted Pig, " and we did not wish to be rude to you for the sake of causing you mental pain. We simply wanted you to know that you were imposing upon us, though perhaps unconsciously. We will assume that you in- tended no imposition, and drop the matter." " Then I shall feel perfectly justified in keeping upon friendly terms with you," replied Tumpty Turn the Rhymer. " Oh, look at that !" exclaimed Johnny. They all looked, and down the path came the hoops, rolling along as though being driven by children. The sticks would hit them and guide them round the cor- ners in the neatest manner. And then the marbles came out and had a game. The Blue Agate divided the marbles with the Red Agate, and then they commenced to see who could win the bagful. The Red Agate was very avaricious, and didn't seem to be able to win enough. Whenever he lost a marble he would turn redder with feeling than he was naturally. This was very amusing to the Blue Agate, who was not avaricious at all, but played for the fun of it, and intended return- ing his winnings should he be fortunate. One by one the marbles went to the avaricious Red Agate, who was smiling with happiness. Crack ! crack ! went the mar- bles, until every one was in the receptacle of the ava- ricious Red Agate. " Now, then, let me see if I can' win you !" exclaimed the avaricious Red Aerate. O THE MOON PRINCE 73 The Blue Agate set itself up for a mark, and bang went the avaricious Red Agate against it. But the ava- ricious Red Agate was smashed into a thousand pieces and distributed all over the Toy Garden. " What a beautiful moral !" observed the Moon Prince. " It is just what should happen to every one who wants all he sees, and can never be satisfied with a substantial success," said Johnny. " I am not much of a moralist," murmured the Roast- ed Pig, " so I should prefer to be allowed to remain silent, and observe the wonders of the Toy Gar- den at my ease. Just see here ; if I am not mis- taken these are the lead soldiers !" Sure enough, there was a sound of drumming, and down the path came the lead soldiers, not walking, but gliding THE ROASTED PIG. along on the platforms moulded on their feet. The horsemen went ahead, and it was a grand sight. Some of the soldiers were in red and others in blue, and there were a sufficient number of them to stretch almost across the walk and make a beautiful lead military display. " I suppose if a bullet should hit one of them it would become a part of him !" said Johnny. The Moon Prince did not reply, and as the Toy Gar- den was quite new to the Roasted Pig and the farmer, nothing was said, Tumpty Turn the Rhymer not caring to again make himself a general butt of ridicule. As the lead soldiers passed out of sight, along came 74 THE MOON PKINCE the Noah's Ark. It was on four wheels, and moved along as though wound up. Directly in its rear came the elephants, wagging their heads on hinges. Like the other animals, they were upon platforms, and the platforms ran along on wheels. One of the elephants became displeased at some indignity, fancied or real, and illustrated his feelings by kicking his hind wheels in the air. Behind the elephants came the camels, moving dreamily and noiselessly along, as though upon a dreary palm-dotted desert far from a crystal spring. The camels were followed by the bears on their hinder feet, and the bears by the antelopes. " What makes that reindeer look so woe-begone and disconsolate ?" inquired the Roasted Pig, demurely. " I fancy he has had half his face chipped off, and the white pine is shining through his painted skin," re- plied the Moon Prince. " It does make him look rather cast down, I am willing to admit." " He should be thankful," observed Johnny, " that his face is chipped instead of one of his wheels being broken off. What good would his four feet be to him if he had but three wheels to get along on ?" " Such a condition is altogether too sad to contem- plate," put in the Roasted Pig. " W T hat do you say if we refrain from contemplating it ?" " I am perfectly willing if the rest are," said Tumpty Turn the Rhymer. Flowerbell and Johnny said they would be only too happy not to dwell upon such a sad thing. "Now why don't you say something?" demanded the Roasted Pig of the farmer. " Because I have nothing to say," replied the farmer. "Do you always keep still when you have nothing to say ?" THE MOON PRINCE 77 " Always," responded the weary agriculturist, " ex- cept when eating." " Then," they said in chorus, " you are the wisest man we ever met, and we are going to introduce you to Sil- versmith the Tenth as the Philosophic Farmer, and suggest that he make you a Prime-minister. And we shall hereafter treat you with profound respect." The Philosophic Farmer seemed greatly pleased, as he watched the animals of the Noah's Ark pass out of sight around a clump of bushes, and the tin animals appear in their wake. The tin animals were quite as dignified and self-conscious as tin animals could well be as they moved down the path. The spotted horses and the brindled cows made a fine display, as did the various sheep and pigs. " Beautiful animals !" said the Philosophic Farmer, abruptly. " Why don't you say more ?" asked the Moon Prince. " Nothing more to be said !" responded the Philo- sophic Farmer. The Moon Prince then jumped on his foot. " Ouch !" exclaimed the Philosophic Farmer. " Is that all ?" asked Flowerbell. "All that's necessary," responded the Philosophic Farmer, seriously. Then the stuffed birds followed the tin animals down the walk, and soon the whole procession, which was a long and imposing one, wound out of sight around a corner of the silvery moon path, and all was still. " They are rehearsing for the owl's ball," observed the Moon Prince, when the procession moved out of sight. " To - morrow night at this time we shall be there. Suppose we take a little rest under this tree ?" They all seated themselves under the tree. 78 THE MOON PRINCE " Turn it on !" commanded the Moon Prince. The tree was an old black one, and apparently dead. But as soon as Tumpty Turn the Rhymer turned .the crank, similar to one of those on a gas-jet, the whole tree was white with the most fragrant flowers, that rip- pled in the air, and filled all the Toy Garden with the balmy spirit of spring-time. vn THE effect of the old black tree bursting forth into blossom on the turning of the crank was something not easily described. Tumpty Turn the Rhymer knew all about it before, as well as did the Moon Prince. But to the Roasted Pig, Johnny, and the Philosophic Farmer, it was quite new. The Roasted Pig, though raised on a farm, knew little of the agricultural art aside from beans, and even the Philosophic Farmer himself the man with the agricultural gift had never dreamed of anything like it. Occasionally a flock of gayly plumed birds would be attracted by the odorous blossoms and fly to the tree. But just as they were about to alight the Moon Prince would twist the crank and turn the flowers off, much to the disappointment of the poor birds, that would fly away as though under a spell of superstitious awe. The Roasted Pig and the Philosophic Farmer apol- ogized for their unsociability by saying that they al- ways retired for the night early on the farm, and that they could scarcely keep their eyes open. They were told they might fall asleep if they so desired, and in a very few moments they were, no doubt, dreaming of the probable success of the bean crop, and a possible aftermath of something else. And shortly after, the others fell asleep under the white flower-tree, and dreamed away the silvery hours 80 THE MOON PRINCE until it was time to be stirring for another day. Then, at the suggestion of Flowerbell, they proceeded to the palace to be in readiness for the festivities of the evening. It is not necessary to say that their appear- ance created some surprise. Princess Roseflake was frightened when they appeared where she was reading what was to her a fairy tale a tale in an earth book which Johnny happened to have when he met Flower- bell, then a squirrel, on the fence near his father's house. "I am so glad to see you, Flowerbell, and you too, Johnny. But who is the horrid gentleman on your left?" " The Philosophic Farmer, the greatest and most remarkable man in the whole realm of Silversmith the Tenth." " Why is he so wonderful ?" asked pretty little Rose- flake, brushing the amber curls back from the snowiest of snowy foreheads. " Because," replied Flowerbell, " he never speaks when he has nothing to say." " And who is this singular creature with the eye- glasses ?" asked the Moon Princess, eying the Roasted Pig from head to feet. " This is the Roasted Pig !" The Moon Princess withdrew with apparent aversion, and was very much surprised when the Roasted Pig made a most polite and diplomatic bow, and said, no- ticing her coldness : "'Tis true I am but a poor Roasted Pig of little pretension. I am a fair authority on the subject of beans, and am the bean shepherd, if such a term be permissible, of the Philosophic Farmer, who never speaks when he has nothing to say. I have come here \ THE MOON PRINCE 83 with him and Tumpty Turn the Rhymer at the kind invitation of the Prince, your brother, to attend the ball given in honor of the return of the Owl to the moon, and I trust I may have the honor and the pleas- ure of walking through a minuet with you." " You are the most charming pig I ever met," re- plied the Moon Princess, making a slight bow, " and you shall dance with me during the evening." The Roasted Pig bowed gracefully in acknowledg- ment of the delicate consideration of the Moon Prin- cess, while the others were spellbound at his audacity in addressing Roseflake in such a familiar manner. The Philosophic Farmer said nothing, either because he had nothing to say, or because he was too over- come for utterance, but at the bottom of his heart he entertained a deep-seated respect for the Roasted Pig that he had never before felt. Roseflake reported that she had been in the kitchen a short time before, and that some cakes were being made that would astonish them at the feast. Then she went away to attend to some duty, and in walked the Librarian, blowing smoke from his eyes, followed by the French Poodle that could not speak English, which made him at home at court. The Roasted Pig was frightened when he saw the Librarian blowing smoke wreaths from his eyes in such a dreamy manner. " Perhaps," he said to himself, " this is the fellow who smokes pigs, and they have just brought me here under the pretence of taking me to a ball in order to smoke me." " What's the matter ?" asked Flowerbell. " I fear that you have brought me here to smoke me. If you have, I shall surely be ruined, for a pig 84 THE MOON PRINCE should be smoked before roasted, and not roasted be- fore smoked." " Nonsense !" exclaimed the Moon Prince ; which sentiment was echoed by Johnny. " Why don't you say something to set his mind at rest?" they demanded of the Philosophic Farmer. " Nothing to be said," replied the agriculturist. . " It would be difficult to lose you in the fog," said Johnny, wishing to turn the subject of conversation, as he watched the Librarian walking about through the clouds of smoke he emitted. " Impossible," was the reply of the Librarian. " I can read fine type in the densest smoke. But my eyes are a little weak now, as I got some dust in them yesterday while exercising the furniture." The Moon Prince and Tumpty Turn the Rhymer paid no attention to the remark of the Librarian, as the exercising of the furniture was a common weekly occurrence. But to the others its meaning was not clear. Flowerbell noticed this, and probably thought it would be far easier to exercise a table or two than to explain it. So he asked the Librarian if he would treat them to such a performance. The latter said he would be only too happy to comply, as he had a table that was greatly fatigued from holding up a number of heavy scientific books. In fact, one of its legs was defective, and he thought a good run would do it good. THK PHILOSOPHIC FARMER. THE MOON PRINCE 85 So, at a magic word from the Librarian, the table stood up on those members which might be termed the hinder legs, and capered about more gracefully than could have been expected of such a clumsy piece of furniture. Then it ran out ; but ran like a dog on three legs, on account of the defective member. When in the open air it trotted along, and jumped nimbly over anything that happened in its way. The Librarian guided its movements with a wand, and seemed as proud as a ring-master in a country circus. Sometimes it would circle round and round, and occasionally it would take a good swift run, and then slide along on its casters, like a boy on a frozen pool. After it had been running about in this way for some time, the Librarian shouted to his favorite high stool, the one he stood upon to reach books when the step-ladder was not to be found, and out it came, trotting along like a stork. The manner in which it jumped over various objects showed it to be a very active stool. It could run very much faster than the table, on account of the latter's lame leg, and found no trouble in keeping at the front. After a while it wearied of running, and jumped lightly upon the ta- ble, as a circus equestrian would upon a horse, and turned the nimblest summersaults as the table kept upon its way. No matter how the table pranced or changed its motion, the stool maintained its position with the surefootedness of an ibex. After they had been at this kind of exercise for perhaps half an hour, the Librarian said, " Go back to the library." Back ran the table, closely followed by the high stool, and they were soon in their accustomed places. They were followed by Flowerbell, Johnny, and the 86 THE MOON PRINCE rest of the party, all of .whom had something to say on the subject of the furniture circus except the Phil- osophic Farmer, who probably imagined that it didn't require critical remark. Once more in the library, Flowerbell pointed to the manikins the little men that told stories upon their buttons being touched, and saved people the trouble of reading and said to the Librarian, " Please bring down the Funny Manikin that tells the story of the bottle- green step-mother of the blue gander that flew away with the pearl necklace of the cross - eyed Princess with the corpulent pug that couldn't wake up un- til stepped upon." " The manikin that tells that story is out, being duplicated in French that it may be enjoyed by the French Poodle that cannot speak English. There is a moral in the pug part of that story that I would impress upon the French Poodle's mind." "'Then give us 'Catullus Magee and the Musical Tree,' if the manikin is not being oiled to roll off the lines smoothly." The Librarian looked over the row of manikins, and finally found the one he wanted. Taking it down, he stood it upon the table, where it bowed politely when the button was touched, and began : THE FUNNY MANIKIN. THE MOON PRINCE 87 CATULLUS MAGEE AND THE MUSICAL TREE. "There was once a small boy named Catullus Magee, And his father lived under a musical tree That discoursed, when Catullus was hnppy and good, The most beautiful airs at the edge of the wood. "But whenever Catullus was naughty and bad, All the airs of the tree were both doleful and sad. And to learn his son's conduct, old Mr. Magee Would but have to consult the green musical tree. " If the tree gave a woe-begone, sorrowful howl, And they missed from the cupboard a patty of fowl, Then the father would play, with a movement most rare, A quick birchen tattoo on his small son and heir. " If the tree made a moan at the noon of the day, It declared that Catullus from school was away, And without further question, when homeward he came, He would find his anatomy more than aflame. " When Catullus one day was both merry and good, Loud the tree played sad airs at the edge of the wood. All awave in the odorous breezes of June, The melodious branches were all out of tune. " Then said Mr. Magee : ' Oh, no musical tree Hence shall make me believe what I can't plainly see ; Never more sign or symbol shall govern my acts, The next whipping you get shall be founded on facts. " ' I have whipped you, though good, when the music was sad.' ' Yes, indeed, sir, you have,' coincided the lad. For each thrashing apologized Mr. Magee, And the next day he chopped down the musical tree." " I never supposed you had signs and symbols in the moon," observed Johnny. 88 THE MOON PRINCE " Well, we have," replied Flowerbell, " and we have lots of them too, just as you have on the earth." Then turning to the company, he continued : " If an earth farmer sees a woodchuck sitting on a gate-post scratching himself behind the left ear with the right foot, it is a sign that there will be snow inside of three days and a half. And they have many other signs quite as quaint and singular. Would you," he con- tinued, pointing to the Roasted Pig, " mind explaining a few of the signs of the moon ?" "Of course not," responded the Roasted Pig. "To begin with, if you meet a three-legged rabbit waltzing in a potato - patch with a near - sighted partridge, it means that inside of a week there is going to be a shower of white cocoa-nut cakes. When you hear a soprano mud hen singing a love-song in an alto voice to a spectacled Guinea-pig with a rose-cold, it is a sure sign that there is going to be a green-cheese famine in the moon. When a white pig turns black and his black spots white, and he whistles impromptu airs that cause the beans to bake in their pods, it is a sign that the winter will be open if it is not shut. I hardly think, as the Philosophic Farmer would say, that there is anything more to be said on the sub- ject." Just then the French Poodle that couldn't speak English heard some alien footsteps without, and com- menced barking as he stood with his fore-feet upon the library window-sill. They all looked out, and Johnny supposed he saw a number of skeletons out for a walk. Some had on whole suits, others just an overcoat, and some simply a coat and vest. He didn't think it anything wonderful that the French Poodle that couldn't speak English should bark so hard. But THE MOON PRINCE 89 the skeletons paid no attention to it, continuing in their walk, though all were silent. " Who are those skeletons, anyway ?" asked Johnny. "They are not skeletons at all," replied Tumpty Turn the Rhymer ; " they are a lot of clothing - frames out for an airing principally to air the clothes and to ad- vertise the latest styles. Is there anything about it that sur- prises you ?" asked the rhymer, with a smile. " There is," Johnny replied. THE FKENCH POODLE - " It all surprises me." " Well," said Tumpty Turn, " wait until you see the latest bonnet display of the moon." " Here it comes now !" exclaimed the Roasted Pig, as he executed a graceful jig step. " Here it comes now!" They all looked in the direction in which the Roasted Pig pointed, and saw a dim cloud. But as the cloud came nearer it lost its sombre character. It became a mixture of all colors. Here was a little pink, there a little blue, and again some yellow melting into green, and from the green into orange and ecru. Nearer and nearer it came, and the cloud seemed to separate into round objects, which in a little while appeared in their true character of bonnets. " If I had my gun here," said Johnny, " I could bring down a dozen." Nothing was said at this comment, and the bonnets slacked up in their flight, to be seen and enjoyed by the many women about the palace. They fluttered about in the most graceful circles, their flowers trem- 90 THE MOON PRINCE bling in the air, and their ribbons streaming like so many kite tails, and their birds singing : " Who'll buy ? who'll buy ?" but all the time kept out of reach in the most tantalizing, tempting manner, it seemed to those who wanted them most. But with all their flowery charms they at length passed on. And no sooner had they vanished than there was a great clatter on the ground, and along came the latest styles of shoes on a gentle trot. It seemed funny to see the shoes bend at the insteps as they proceeded upon their business journey. The heavy shoes came down in a business- like way, the evening gaiters had an airy, frivolous manner, while the patent-leather pumps moved about in circles as though waltzing. It was a very pretty and novel sight, and it was greatly enjoyed by the on- lookers, but very much more so when the last pair, an honest pair of tramping-shoes, sang what we may not inappropriately call A CALF-SKIN LYRIC. " May we wear for a very long time, May we never be checkered with holes, May we long know our leathery prime, And outwear at least three sets of soles. " May we not stiffly squeak as we go On our journey, but loose may we feel, And throughout our existence, oh ! oh ! May we never run down at the heel. "May our lives like a minuet flee, And unpaired never be our sad lot ; And alas ! oh, may one never be All worn out when the other is not." " Not at all bad for a pair of shoes," said Tumpty THE MOON PRINCE 91 Turn the Rhymer, in a tone which, though patronizing, still had a flavor of professional envy in it. "Those," observed the Moon Prince, with rever- ence, "are not new shoes, and yet they will never be old. They originally belonged to a great moon poet, and like his fame, they cannot die. They are wander- ing about because there isn't a poet in the realm big enough to wear them." There might have T^een a further discussion on the subject of the divine art of poetry, but at that mo- ment an unknown voice was heard singing AN ANNOUNCEMENT. " There will be a grand ball to-night, to-night, The grandest the moon has seen, And again will our long-lost owl be white As the cheese of the moon is green. " All draped with the softest of plumes, of plumes, That the moon with silver soaks, He'll sit 'mid the richest of rich perfumes, While he gurgles with honest jokes. " He'll not be the lonely sad bird, sad bird, He is on the solemn earth ; He'll be just the jolliest ever heard, While he's coruscating with mirth." Then the French Poodle that couldn't speak Eng- lish said, "Quelle heure est-il?" " Why, it's almost eight !" they exclaimed, in cho. rus ; " and it is high time that we were getting ready for the Owl's ball." VIII AT the appointed hour the ball-room was lighted by a miniature moon. This moon first appeared like the bud of a white rose, but when the hour for the ball to begin arrived, this pretty bud softly unfolded itself into a moon that flooded the room with a glory of pearly light. The music, which was soft and dreamy, came from the trumpets of the many flowers set about to beautify the room. The floor was like a sea of un- rippled moonlight. It looked as though it would be made perfect if some boat of pearl should idly float upon its surface, or a lily or two were tossed upon its bosom. Finally the huge silk curtain was held aside at the entrance, and in came the army of lead soldiers, march- ing just as they had been when seen in the Toy Gar- den. After they had marched around the room, they halted and stood in two long columns against one of the walls. Then entered the Noah's Ark, drawn by eight toy elephants, and behind the ark the animals proceeded with a martial solemnity that was very charming, and seldom seen in wooden animals. After them came all the tin animals, and then appeared the stuffed birds and the humming-tops and the checkers. Then came the invited guests, the rear being brought up by the Philosophic Farmer. Tumpty Turn the Rhymer and THE MOON PRINCE 93 the Roasted Pig, Flowerbell, and Johnny were together, and Roseflake was in a silver boat that was drawn through the pearly air by twenty graceful swans. The King sat on a throne at one end of the room, and at that spot persons who desired the honor were presented to him. He was greatly impressed with the Roasted Pig when he noticed the graceful manner in which he danced with Roseflake. In fact, every one envied the Roasted Pig the high honor he was en- joying. " Why, it seems preposterous," remarked Silver- smith the Tenth, " that a Roasted Pig should have the manner of a Prime-minister. I never heard of such a thing before, and I don't believe its parallel is to be found in the whole range of the fairy literature of the moon." Having made such an impression, Flowerbell con- sidered it his duty to present the Roasted Pig, that he might enjoy the benefit of the King's admiration. " To be sure, I am nothing but a simple, unassum- ing Roasted Pig," he said, in reply to the King's com- pliment. " I beg to differ with you, Sir Roasted," said the King, familiarly. " You are such a wonderful creation that I am going to create you Agricultural Minister." The poor Roasted Pig was temporarily delighted, and blushed to the roots of his bristles. The room seemed to swim, so that he could hardly realize where he was. " Who is this curious creature ?" asked the King. " This man," said the Roasted Pig now Sir Roasted " is the Philosophic Farmer, who never speaks when he has nothing to say." Silversmith the Tenth was delighted, and anticipated 94 THE MOOX PRINCE the suggestion of the Moon Prince by creating him a Prime-minister on the spot. " The present Prime-minister must take your place upon the farm, and ascertain for me if the tilling of the soil is conducive 10 the philosophic temperament." Then the King touched them, and the robes of the Prime- minister were upon the Philosophic Farmer, while the patched garments of the latter appeared in all their variegated picturesqueness upon the Prime- minister, who looked daggers, or rather pitchforks, at the newly - created diplomat, who appeared wise, but said nothing. " I would dance in my ineffable joy," murmured the King, " upon finding so valuable a servant ; but as I cannot dance with my crown on, because of its unseemly wobbling all over my head and down on my eyes, I would have you wear it." So he clapped his sparkling crown upon the head of the Philosophic Farmer, and became the liveliest dancer in the room. In fact, his long flowing cloak seemed in the way of his feet as he skipped and pirouetted about. " I tell you," said Silversmith the Tenth, "I never enjoyed myself so much before." "All because the crown was on another's head," remarked the Philosophic Farmer, offering it back. " Take it ; it has given me a headache." The King was greatly pleased until the Philosophic Farmer said, in a supplicating tone : " "Will not you have mercy on Sir Roasted and my- self, and restore us to our original positions on the farm ? We can only be happy and independent there ; and I am sure your old Prime-minister will be as un- happy there as we shall be here." " Please grant our simple request, good Silversmith. THE MOON PRINCE 95 I know nothing of theoretical farming, and am there- fore unfit for the position of Agricultural Minister. " Oh, I am the pork, pork, pork, But where are my beans, beans, beans?" wept the Roasted Pig, bitterly. " You are altogether too valuable here to waste your time on a bean farm," replied the King. " Suppose," said the Philosophic Farmer, " that 1 change my tactics, and go right on talking by the hour when I really have nothing to say, then what ?" SILVERSMITH THE TENTH ENJOYING HIMSELF. 96 THE MOON PRINCE " Then I will turn you into a donkey," replied the King, with just a tinge of feeling, " and have you driven uphill all day before a plough ; that's what !" The Philosophic Farmer thought it best to offer no further suggestions, lest the King put his terrible threat into execution, but to abandon his dream of happiness, and to accept with as good grace as pos- sible the, to him, terrible alternative of remaining Prime-minister. But it made him very sore, as it did the Roasted Pig. They stood apart, and spoke loving- ly of the humble home in which they had been so happy, and of the waving hills and meadows, and thought painfully of the unlucky day when they met the Moon Prince and Johnny. " If we had had but the forethought to conceal our virtues and good qualities, we should still be happy," moaned the Philosophic Farmer, with perhaps a flavor of conceit. " But I, in saying too little, alas ! said too much ; while you, with your graceful manners and flowery compliments, are sadly undone." " Oh, look here !" exclaimed the King, with a laugh. They all looked ; and there stood the French Poodle that could understand but not speak English. He had on a white satin swallow-tail that looked as though made of moonlight, a pair of dainty high-heeled slip- pers, and a delicate pair of gold-rimmed spectacles. " Why do you wear spectacles ?" inquired Tumpty Turn the Rhymer. "Je porte des lunettes parce que fai la vue mauvaise" replied the French Poodle, with a courtly bow. This polite reply threw Silversmith into such con- vulsions of laughter that he had to hold his crown on with his hands, as he would a straw-hat in a high wind. " Don't you think it would be a favorable time to THE MOON PRINCE 97 ask the King to send us back to our dearly beloved farm, now that he shakes with the laughter of inno- cent joy ?" inquired the Roasted Pig. " It would not !" exclaimed Flowerbell, who had just been dancing with Roseflake. " It would have the effect of throwing him into a towering rage, and there is no telling what he might not do. Remember that I, his son and heir, was turned into a squirrel for months because I rifled a cake of its nuts, and then fancy what he would do with an Agricultural Minis- ter, for instance." They at once appreciated the sagacity of the Moon Prince's remarks, and decided to make the best of the unpleasant situation. But they were not left in such a state of quietude as to be able to spend much time in reflection. The bugles of the flowers discoursed a lively march, and from the cheering outside it was evident that the Owl was approaching. The stuffed birds tried to flutter with enthusiasm, several of the lead soldiers twisted their necks out of shape in attempt- ing to cheer, and the dancing-pumps couldn't stand still. The King was delirious with joy, Tumpty Turn was bubbling with rhyme, and the little moon that lit the room had an owl's face in it. Suddenly the Owl ap- peared, amid a tumult of excitement. It was one mass of the whitest, softest feathers, some of which trailed in the air like moon-beams. The long train feathers were held up by other birds birds-in-waiting and the owl was as happy as could be. Having reached the upper end of the room, it came dancing down towards the King in the liveliest manner, and the music had a hard time in accompanying the move- ments of its feet. " You are no longer a solemn bird," said the King, 7 98 THE MOON PRINCE affectionately. "You are now the merry bird that you were originally. Is not this an improvement on roosting in a belfry ?" " Very much," replied the Owl, " when you have a keen sense of humor, such as I now have. My head used to almost split when the man below played chimes on the bell. The chimes were lovely enough in them- selves, but the man was so unskilful that he made them as hideous as himself by missing a note occa- sionally and playing out of time. I used to solace myself by working my imagination until I fancied I was in a boiler factory. Are you fond of chimes?" " When artistically rendered," replied the King. " But have you heard anything funny lately ?" "Yes," replied the owl; "I just heard a chimney- sweep come to the back door and complain of thirst." " What is there funny in that?" demanded the King. " Nothing. The fun was in my suggestion, if you will pardon my seeming vanity, that he be given a large drink of washing-soda." The King humbly apologized for having criticised the Owl's joke before the climax, and promised never to be guilty of such a rudeness again. " As I was walking in the garden this morning I heard a man singing a very funny song. It went something like this : ' When the cotton's softly growing on the sheep.' " " What was the rest of it ?" asked the King, after the Owl had paused. " I don't know," replied the Owl, " for the singer suddenly stopped singing and commenced whistling." "Can you supply the rest of that song, Tumpty Turn ?" THE MOON PRINCE 101 " Was there an allusion to an elephant with vege- table ivory tusks ?" asked the Rhymer. " How should I know," replied the Owl, sarcastically, "when the singer began the whistling? Perhaps he whistled something about an elephant with vegetable ivory tusks, but not understanding whistling, I couldn't say for certain." "What kind of a rhymer are you, anyhow?" de- manded the King. " You are employed to keep track of all the moon songs, and your salary is overdrawn into the bargain. Would you like to be turned into a small green tree, and have a flock of cat-birds sing the same song on your branches all day and all night long for, say, ten or twelve years?" " I would not, sire," responded the rhymer, trem- bling like a short-haired dog on a cold gray day. "Then you must mend your ways. It is nothing but the joyfulness of this festive occasion that pre- vents my making you wish you never were born. I am very sorry that I have heard the beginning of this song, for I shall always suffer to know the rest. Just think of such an opening : " ' When the cotton's softly growing on the sheep !' Please say something to make me forget it," said the- King, in despair. "All right," murmured the Roasted Pig, wishing to help the poor rhymer out of a bad scrape. So, turn- ing to the Owl, he continued, " Do you find it pleas- anter feeling funny than sad ?" " That is a very strange question," replied the Owl. " As a rule, it is pleasanter to feel funny than sad." " But you cannot take anything seriously now, can you?" 102 THE MOON PRINCE "Nothing," replied the Owl, with a laugh ; " not even a dose of medicine." The King laughed with great feeling. Then an attendant stepped up and inquired, " Have you forgotten it yet ?" "Forgotten what?" asked the King, fumbling in his pockets. " Why, that lyric about the cotton softly growing on the sheep ?" " There, you have gone and reminded me of it again refreshed my memory on the subject, if I may so put it and you shall suffer for it !" So the King turned him into a bass drum with a human sense of feeling, and ordered him to be pounded at every hour of the day, to tell the time, for six years. " When a subject reminds me of a thing that I have been struggling for five minutes to forget, and puts me to all the trouble of forgetting it over again, he must be made an example of. I must only be remind- ed of things that I don't want to forget such as um- brellas." Here the officious subject who had been turned into a drum rolled down the steps from the platform upon which he had been standing. The King ordered the drum to be brought back and tightened until it should almost burst. He smiled pleasantly when he fancied the pain the poor drum was suffering, and then order- ed the man who was to strike the hours on it to wax absent-minded now and then, and astonish the moon with the intelligence of the arrival of eighty-six o'clock, on pain of being turned into a foot-ball. "Oh, if I were only back on the old bean -hill!" mused the Philosophic Farmer, or Prime-minister. " Palaces may be very fine," thought the Roasted THE MOON PRINCE 103 Pig, or, rather, Sir Roasted Pig, the Agricultural Minis- ter, " but if comfort, peace, and happiness go to make life enjoyable, then give me every time the humble cabin of the Philosophic Farmer, who never opens his mouth when he has nothing to say except when eating." " Would you like to hear a royal poem, connected with a royal personage?" asked Tumpty Turn the Rhymer, wishing to distract the King's attention, and save themselves from probable disaster. "We would we would !" exclaimed the King. " One day," began Tumpty Turn the Rhymer, "good old King Pearlbeam the Eighty-ninth met Sir Ava- ricious, the greediest man in the moon. Pearlbeam was the most sensitive King that ever sat upon the moon throne, and when Sir Avaricious said ' between you and I,' instead of ' between you and me,' the King was so aggravated and upset that he couldn't eat mushrooms for three days. But perhaps I am in- terfering with your enjoyment of the Owl's ball ?" " Not a bit," said the King ; " we enjoy the ball all the more for the pleasant diversion of your poems." " Thanks, sire !" exclaimed the happy rhymer ; " I will begin at once with THE PUNISHMENT OF SIR AVARICIOUS. " One time Sir Avaricious A strange adventure had Whether a thing was woful, Or whether it was glad, He couldn't tell, which often Made him extremely sad. " One day the King was happy, And feeling at his best, 104 THE MOON PRINCE When for Sir Avaricious He dropped a ' merry jest,' And on the same his judgment Politely did request. "His subject, sorely puzzled, Out of his wonder woke, And then in trembling language Unto the monarch spoke : ' Was it a pearl of wisdom, Or was it but a joke? " ' If 'twas a pearl of wisdom, My praise shall be as cheers; If 'twas a comic sally, My laugh shall split your oars ; If 'twas a fact heart-rending, My heart shall move to tears.' "Then waved the angry monarch His sceptre thin and frail, As the perturbed tiger Lashes his brindled tail When piqued by something or other O'er which he can't prevail. " He rent him not asunder, He put not out his eyes, But in the gentlest manner, Sans ' ifs,' sans ' buts,' sans ' whys,' He led Sir Avaricious, Greatly to his suprise, " Into a bright green valley, To a deep cave of gold, Saying 'The door but open, And riches have untold ; There are as many keys as The largest ring will hold.' THE MOON PRINCE 105 " As in the Christmas window Poor ragged children look At painted pasteboard camel And pretty picture-book, The rich cave door this mortal Into his vision took. "First one key, then another, Sir Avaricious tried, But ne'er the one discovered That this great want supplied There being several thousand, He naturally sighed. "After one key proved useless It mingled with the mass; He never found the right one, Which did his soul harass, With many a woful ' Gracious !' And many a sore ' Alas !' " 'Twas thus he vainly struggled For many a night and day, Until his limbs grew weary, And all his hair was gray ; But seeing, through the key-hole, The gold, his heart was gay. " The door was never opened, And all because the King Made him an object-lesson Prime wisdom wide to fling He never put the right key At all upon the ring. " The whole moon shook with laughter At Pearlbeam's funny deed, Which cured Sir Avaricious Of his exceeding greed, And a fine sense of humor Gave him with lightning speed." IX " CHARMING," said the King " charming, and I shall be only too happy to forgive you for not being able to repeat the poem of the cotton softly growing on the sheep." " But don't you think King Pearlbeam displayed great wisdom in curing Sir Avaricious by laughter, in- stead of by a cruel vengeance ?" " I am not prepared to say on such short notice," re- plied the King. " It is all well enough for you who are not a King to belittle the practice of torture upon those deserving it, but my experience is that it is a very satisfactory diversion, especially on a dull day when there is nothing else in the form of excitement to be had. But to show you that I am not totally de- praved in my tyranny, I shall now bring this chair back to its original self." The chair, when touched, jumped into the air, and came down a thick-set man with a slight Spanish ac- cent. " Thank you very much," exclaimed the happy mor- tal. " Do you know why I turned this baker into a chair ?" asked the King. " No," they replied in chorus. " Because one day he made a caricature of me in gingerbread, and asked me if I didn't think it lifelike." THE MOON PRINCE 107 Here the French Poodle that couldn't speak English came whining to the King. It seems that he was lying on the chair asleep when, in being turned back into a baker, the latter tossed him into the air and hurt his feelings. " Why don't you bite him ?" laughed the Librarian. " II faut aimer tout le monde meme nos ennemis /" replied the Poodle, with a fine sense of what, under the circumstances, might be called heroic kindness and consideration. At this time a queer lit- tle old woman, known as the Grandmother of Pearl, entered the ball-room, and commenced watering the flower bugles to freshen them and enable them to discourse lively music, as they were beginning to wilt. After she had de- parted, Johnny was great- ly astonished at seeing a large table come up through the floor. It was covered with every imag- inable dainty, and it had not been in sight a great while before it was sur- rounded by a most appreciative body of delighted beings. The great cakes had doors in their sides, which swung open, and out ran a lot of little men bearing the mottoes and bonbons they contained to every part of the table. After they had been distributed, the GRANDMOTHER OF PEARL. 108 THE MOON PRINCE little men turned into deliciously cooked birds, and lay down on the plates to be eaten. Another cake, the largest of the lot, turned into a ring that looked like a rainbow. It floated about in the air as though suspended. Into this ring flew the Owl, and perched upon its lower side, and swung happily to and fro all over the room, guiding it gently with its great white plumes, until it seemed to be swimming on the moon- light. The King ate ravenously of the imaginary sheep and moon bears, off plates that in reality were empty, while the French Poodle ate nothing but bonbons, and the Moon Prince carefully avoided anything resem- bling nut-cake. Johnny thought it the loveliest party he ever attended, and secretly wished his little sister there to enjoy it with him. The King was as happy as the Librarian, and the Librarian was as happy as a King as he skipped nimbly about. The Roasted Pig eyed the vegetables with' the glance of love peculiar to an agricultural minister, and the Philosophic Farmer looked on quietly, but uttered not a word. Finally the Librarian gave the table a peculiar magic touch, and it commenced to run around the room, leav- ing the guests in their chairs gazing upon all in mute wonder. " Be not at all disconcerted," said the King, greatly pleased at the unexpected pleasure of a joke ; " the table is only running around to warm the edibles a bit." " Laugh, laugh !" said Tumpty Turn, " or the King will be very angry. Remember the punishment of Sir Avaricious." They thereupon began to laugh as hard as possible, even those who did not hear what the King had said. This greatly pleased the monarch, and put him in suet THE MOON PRINCE 111 a splendid humor that he became absent-minded, and tossed a tea-biscuit in the air, catching it in his teeth as it descended, and then ordered a fresh stock of Christmas-trees to be planted in the Toy Garden, to bear twelve crops of toys every year. This royal order greatly pleased Roseflake's little brothers and sisters, and struck Johnny as being a poetically beautiful idea. By this time the table had returned, and was standing quietly in its accustomed place, when the King suddenly began to run, under the impression that the birds he had been eating were trying to pluck out his eyes. Out of the room he ran pursued by every one, and the table also. When he looked through his fingers and saw the table, he shouted, " Oh, the birds I have eaten would pluck out mine eyes !" " How can they pluck out your eyes if you have eaten them ?" asked the Philosophic Farmer. " Why, of course they couldn't !" acknowledged the King, with a foolish look. " Will you kindly grant us the privilege of laughing at you without disastrous results to ourselves ?" " It is a good joke, .and should therefore be en- joyed, and the only way to enjoy a joke is to laugh heartily." They all laughed, including the King, who joined in to satisfy them that a joke at his expense was quite as delightful as one at another's. " When do we go to Molasses River on that picnic to be given in Johnny's honor ?" sang the Owl, floating about in its beautiful ring, with its soft white plumes trailing in the moonlight. "To-morrow, at 8.37, if possible," said the King. 112 THE MOON PRINCE " And now I think we had better unmoon the room and retire for the night." So the little moon that lighted the room descended, and was put between two tin pie-plates, and secreted in a drawer, the French Poodle baying it as it was being wrapped up. All the wooden animals, lead soldiers, stuffed birds, dancing-pumps, and clothing-frames fol- lowed ; for, of course, all Moonland was light enough for them to find their way. And in less than half an hour after the King had brought the Owl's ball to a close the palace was wrapt in silence, and all was as serene and lovely as a breezy midsummer night. The order of Silversmith the Tenth to have the Cin- derella coaches at the palace door at 8.37 was obeyed to the letter, or rather to the figure. When Sir Roasted Pig, the Agricultural Minister, ob- served the pumpkins being turned into coaches, he was as dumfounded as was the Philosophic Farmer, who thought that all there was to be said on the subject was simply, " Well !" As the coaches came up, the people who were going to the picnic all became small enough to occupy them, just as Johnny had when he took his first drive with his little friend and playmate 4 the Moon Prince. It was a most charming drive to the Molasses River, and the hour it occupied seemed little more than ten minutes. The King cracked jokes with every one, and the French Poodle barked as he looked out of the coach window at the wonders along the way. Before they had proceeded a great distance they saw a funny-looking old fellow sitting under a tree by the way, singing. He seemed to be in a very happy mood as he swung his arms about and kicked his feet as though dancing in the air. THE MOON PRINCE 113 " There he is now. I wonder if he has them mended yet ?" asked the Librarian, with a smile of jy- " There is who ?" asked the King. " And what do you wonder if he has mended yet ?" " That's the man that mends the story manikins," replied the Librarian ; " and I am wondering if he has the ' Adopted Nephew of the Sage-green Elephant with the Glass Eye ' done ?" " Hi, there, my good fellow !" shouted the King ; " have you the ' Adopted Nephew of the Sage-green Elephant with the Glass Eye ' finished yet ?" " Not quite," replied the Mender of the .Story-man- ikins. " He had his main - spring broken in pro- nouncing the word pterodactyl, which word has since been eliminated from the story. I wish to keep the Story -manikin a day or two longer to see how he works." " You have not tampered with the story itself ?" " The story is intact from the ' Once upon a time ' to the final syllable." " The reason I speak on the subject," said the King, " is that your great-grandfather, who was also a Story- Manikin Mender, once purloined a story from a man- ikin, and by so doing broke the set. Since that time we have only the title, and it is impossible to replace the narrative." " How so ?" asked the Manikin Mender. " Because its title, ' Sickle Pickle,' gives no idea upon which to base a story. Now, had it been called 'The Apotheosis of the Apothecary,' it would have been possible to invent a new story." " I can only say," remarked the Story - Manikin Mender, " that you will find the story intact in every 8 114 THE MOON PRINCE manikin returned to your Librarian by me. But what became of my great-grandfather ?" " Your great-grandfather," continued the King, " has been missing since that particular time, and now that lie has been missing some eighty years, it does not strike me as very likely that he will ever gladden us with the light of his countenance again." " It is extremely sad," murmured the Story-manikin Mender ; " but, to change the subject, are you now en route for Molasses River ?" " We are." " Then I would that you would call upon me in my humble abode. I would show you a new invention of mine a story kettle, a song kettle, and a dance kettle." The King promised to call and hear the kettle tell stories, after which he delightedly introduced the Roasted Pig and the Philosophic Farmer. " Here," said the Story-manikin Mender, with a hon- eyed smile, " is the heroic legend of the ' Sorghum and the Tantamount'; the Librarian might as well take it along. The ' Adopted Nephew of the Sage-green Ele- phant with the Glass Eye ' will be sent home to-mor- row, and ' The Barber and the Bald Eagle ' early next week." He bowed and withdrew, and the pretty little Cin- derella coach rolled on. " See if all the verses are in that poem," commanded the King. " I love that Molasses River poem, and wouldn't lose a verse of it for the moon." The Librarian, having some bronchial trouble, whispered that he would count on his fingers, and when the magic button was touched, the manikin began : THE MOON PRINCE 115 THE ROMAUNT OF THE SORGHUM AND THE TANTAMOUNT. " ' We've got to have a river King,' The fairies said one day. ' The Sorghum would be dignified And solemn in his sway, But then the agile Tantamount Would jolly be and gay.' " The Sorghum thought himself the one To rule the syrup fount, He thought his rival as a King Would be of no account. ' Oh, I'm the one the King to be,' Argued the Tantamount. " The feeling soon was running high, And gained on all a hold, Until they met one day, and soon Hard things each other told Sarcastic was the Tantamount ; The Sorghum haughty, cold. " ' Come on !' the Tantamount exclaimed. ' All right !' the Sorghum said. They grappled and they madly fought Until the day was sped, Then took a needed recess, for 'Twas time to go to bed. " Upon the morrow lookers-on A pretty combat saw ; The Tantamount most neatly worked Away with tooth and claw, Until the Sorghum held him down Beneath his massive paw. " ' How feel you now ?' the Sorghum asked. The Tantamount to speak 116 THE MOON PRINCE Refused, but with a hind-foot blow The Sorghum caused to seek The earth, which must have given him An earache for a week. " The Sorghum at the Tantamount Then made an awful roar, And on the sugar banks they fell, And, rolling o'er and o'er, Fought as Sorghum and Tantamount Had never fought before. "But neither an advantage gained When they had fought full half A day, which to the patient judge A brindled old Riffraff Seemed so absurd that all the three Joined in a merry laugh. " The Sorghum then was made the King, To ride the syrup seas ; The Tantamount, his noble foe So valorous, to please, Was then and there created King, To rule the moon's green cheese. " Unto this day the Sorghum's throne Is on the river flats, And still the supple Tantamount The veiy best of cats, Keeps ever from the lily moon's Green cheese the mice and rats." " That's right," said the Librarian, " ten." " What's right ? Ten what ?" asked the King. " I mean," said the Librarian, " that the poem is in- tact, because it has ten verses, and not a stanza is missing." "Excuse me," replied the King, as he wiped the THE MOON PRINCE 119 perspiration from the inside of his crown, " but in my great hilarity I forgot that I asked you to count. Now count your fingers to see if you have ten, that I may be certain there is not a verse missing." The poor Librarian counted his fingers seven times to see that they were all there, and then replied, " Yes ; ten." The King smiled. "But the movement was not properly rendered," said the Librarian, as though communing with him- self. " A musical movement rendered in an unmusical manner is not " "Not what?" exclaimed the King. "Not what? Not what ?" " Not what it should be," moaned the frightened Librarian. " I was about to say " " To say what ?" broke in the King. " To say what ? To say what ?" " That the song manikin did not render the ' Ro- maunt of the Sorghum and the Tantamount ' properly, owing probably to the fact that, through having been recently repaired, he is a little stiff in the jaw, and re- quires oiling." " Then why didn't you say it?" demanded the King. " Because I could not get a chance. I simply want- ed to apologize for the song manikin." " Now that you have had the chance and taken ad- vantage of it, do you feel that you have performed a noble duty that makes you feel better ?" " I do," replied the Librarian, who really didn't know whether he did or not. " Then we all congratulate you upon the rapturous feeling that now thrills your being. But don't forget to oil the song manikin upon your return." 120 THE MOON PRINCE " It shall not be neglected." "And don't allow him to chant the historical -battle of the Sorghum and the Tantamount until he has been properly oiled. I trust his throat is not warped." Upon the assurance of the Librarian that the song manikin was in perfect condition, barring the requisite oiling, the King acted as though he felt his reign to be a great success. By this time they had reached that portion of the moon that is very sugary. The hubs of the Cinderella coaches in which they were being driven touched the fine powdered white sugar that was occasionally wafted by the wind in a fine silvery dust. "These spots upon the moon," observed Tumpty Turn the Rhymer, " are the footprints of the Sorghum. He has evidently been around here looking after his saccharine interests. And that great impression yonder was made by him when he lay down and lost himself in the aromatic mazes of a pleasant gumdrop dream." " What kind of a person is this Mr. Sorghum ?" asked Johnny. " Not Mr. Sorghum," protested the King, pleasant- ly ; " just plain Sorghum. He is a mass of good nat- ure when not annoyed. But you shall shortly see him, and be able to judge for yourself. Do you notice a difference in the air ?" " I do," said Johnny. " This is sugar air from Sugar Sea, into which Mo- lasses River empties." "I trust it is not very injurious to the teeth," said Johnny. THE MOON PRINCE 121 " It is not. But you shall see all you shall see all," exclaimed the King. And a few minutes later the Cinderella coaches drew up on the banks of the river, and were turned back into pumpkins until they should again be needed. As they all walked along the golden sugar shore of Molasses River, leaving the coaches behind shining as only pumpkins can shine, Johnny's feet sank into the sugar almost to his knees, and yet he did not tire. On his remarking this he was informed that no one could become weary or fatigued upon those mellifluous banks. He was dwelling upon the sweetness of such a spot for a play-ground, when the King said : " Where there is no fatigue there can be no rest. That is the reason the Sorghum, even when he lies down, does not sleep, but is always lively and on the alert for his interests." The King would no doubt have said more, but their attention was attracted by these words : " ' White sugar ' rhymes with ' light sugar ' all right, and so does ' maple sugar ' with ' staple sugar.' Now, I might begin with, White sugar, Maple sugar, Light sugar, Staple sugar, Granulated, Pulverized, Tumpty tumpty turn. But, no, I will give it up at least for to-day." " He was not mentioning my name," explained THE MOON PRINCE 123 Turapty Turn. " He was simply trying to do the su- gar Iliad, as he has been trying for years." " Who is he, anyhow ?" asked Johnny, with an ex- pression of the most earnest curiosity. " It's no less a creature than the Sorghum," ex- claimed the rhymer, " and you shall see him directly." They quickened their steps up the river, whose deep golden tide swept sluggishly along. There were the pancakes floating like lily-pads, just as the Moon Prince had told Johnny when they were on their way to the great silver planet. But they soon forgot the river when they turned a bend and came in contact with the sugar king, Sor- ghum. He was a murky, mouse-colored creature, very clumsy, very stout, and perfectly hairless. His skin glistened, and he could scarcely open his eyes. The smile that illuminated his face illuminated his entire body ; he was simply transfigured into one great smile. He was counting his claws, probably to perfect the verse he was making as to feet, for he continued, in a measured whisper : " White sugar, Maple sugar, Light sugar, Staple sugar, Granulated, Pulverized, Tumpty tumpty turn. That seems to be as far as I can get, but as far as it goes it is simply splendid." He then caught sight of King Silversmith and his royal party, and fairly danced with joy in the wildest, maddest circles. 124 THE MOON PRINCE They were all very glad to see him, especially the Owl. "This is the first owl that has been in the moon since the reign of Moonshine the Seventh. You know the story of the banishment of the owl ?" said Flower- bell. " I have read it in Mooney's J/bow," replied the Sor- ghum. He then gave Johnny permission to pick as many chocolate cream-drops as he wanted ; and as they were growing all around like blackberries, it did not take Flowerbell's little playmate long to satisfy his appetite. " You seem to be a very sweet boy," observed the Sorghum. " Thank you very much ; but would you be offended if I should ask you a question ?' " Not at all not at all," replied the Sugar King. " I notice that you smile all over. Now, when you laugh do you laugh all over?" " I do. I laugh from head to foot. One day I got laughing so that I burst one of my boots." " Would you mind telling us what made you laugh so violently ?" " Certainly not," responded the Sorghum. " I was one day walking over yonder in the loaf-sugar, when I heard some one singing a very funny thing. It began like this, if I remember rightly, " ' When the cotton's softly growing on the sheep.' " "That's it that's it," roared King Silversmith "that's it that's it!" and he became helpless with laughter. " Your appreciation is a delicate compliment," said THE MOON PRINCE 125 the Sorghum, "inasmuch as it is an indorsement of my own." " I think I've got it I think I've got it !" exclaimed Silversmith, in a delirium of ecstasy. " Got what ?" asked the Sorghum. " The song." " What song ?" demanded the Sugar King. " Why, the song about the cotton softly growing on the sheep." " Where did you get it ?" asked the Sugar King. " I didn't get it at all," replied Silversmith. " Then why did you just say you thought you got it?" "Did I just say that?" " Certainly that's what you said," protested the Sor- ghum. " I will explain myself," laughed the King of the Moon. " I once heard that line, only to become broken- hearted at not being able to secure the rest of the song. In vain have I tried to possess myself of that master- piece of nonsense, that monument of fun, that must be one of perennial beauty. And when I heard you warble the magic syllables a burden fell from my life and a little bird sang in my heart, for I concluded that you knew the song to the end." " Would that I did !" moaned the Sorghum " would that I did ! Alas, I only know the one matchless line ! When that was uttered the singer began to whistle ; and as I don't understand whistling, and the singer suddenly disappeared, of course it was impossible for me to do anything in the premises." Here the Sorghum burst into tears and wept copi- ously. It was the first time the King, or any of the party, for that matter, had ever seen a creature weep 126 THE MOON PRINCE all over. He (the Sorghum) was like a thunder-cloud that shows not a peaceful, happy spot, and his great grief won for him the sympathy of Silversmith, and caused that monarch to assume a sunny, forgiving mien. After the Sorghum's lamentation had subsided a laughing arc surrounded him like an iris after a storm, and made him as happy as a Sugar King. It was a laugh that could be seen and felt but not heard, and every one that saw it was affected by its potent spell ; and they laughed so hard that they rolled helplessly about on the sugar sward. It was in- deed a funny sight to see the King hang his crown on the branch of a tree that it might not be dented, while he rolled about in a state of bubbling merriment. Suddenly they all stopped, for the laughter arc had disappeared, and there they all sat brushing the sugar off their clothing. The Roasted Pig lost his eye- glasses, but finally discovered that the Philosophic Farmer had picked them up during the rumpus, as he was too serious to be affected by the Sorghum's arc of jy- " Now whither are you all wending and what are you all about to do ?" inquired the Sorghum. "We are all going on a rambling picnic on Molasses River. My son having been unsquirrelled " "Unwhat?" asked the Sorghum, in a tone that showed he suspected he was being chaffed. "Unsquirrelled," repeated the King, solemnly. " When I gave a party not a great while ago in Rose- flake's honor, Flowerbell purloined all the nuts from the cake that was to decide the marital destiny of the sweet little Princess. Then I turned him into a squirrel and sent him to the earth that he might enjoy nuts to his heart's content. If I have not been misin- THE MOON PRINCE 127 formed, he will not banker after nuts for some time to come. When he returned he brought with him a charming little playmate and the great white Owl " " Don't ask me if I remember the story of how the Owl tried to sell Moonshine the Seventh the curling- fluid," laughed the Sorghum. " I know it well from beginning to end." " Well," continued the King, pretending not to no- tice the interruption, which really pleased him, " the Owl is back, and we are now showing it and Johnny what are presumably to them the wonders of the moon. In other words, we are taking a ramble, which we call a picnic only in the sense that it is a tour of pleasure. And now, good Sorghum, wilt accompany us ?" " With pleasure," replied the Sugar King, jumping nimbly from the ground, kicking his boots fifty feet in the air, and catching them on his feet as they descended. So they walked along Molasses River, and watched its sinuous currents and enjoyed its lovely scenery. There were also molasses rapids and molasses falls, and when the molasses boiled over great sugar rocks here and there it seemed to be lashing itself into a fury of molasses candy. Every lily was a white cocoa-nut cake, and the pads being pancakes, as mentioned in the poem, reminded Johnny of the crisp, cold winter mornings that made sausage meat an epicurean delight. " What huge dewdrops !" said Johnny. " Dewdrops ! dewdrops !" repeated the Sorghum, with a laugh. " They're gumdrops, my boy gumdrops that ever gem these lovely sugar flowers. But whither wend we ?" Johnny was disappointed that he was not invited to 128 THE MOON PRIXCE help himself to the guradrops, but attributed it more to the Sorghum's excitement than to a lack of etiquette. " We are now going to the cabin of the queer little Manikin-mender, who has invented a song, dance, and story kettle." " Is not it time for me to say something ?" asked the Roasted Pig. " It is, Sir Roasted, it is," replied the King. " Then what time is it ?" "Dix heuresf" replied the French Poodle that couldn't speak English. So they all hurried on, and, after a short, brisk walk were at the tumble-down abode of the queer little Man- ikin-mender. " What ho there within !" shouted the King, as he rapped upon the door with the butt of his sceptre. " What ho there, good fellow !" shouted the Sor- ghum, as the shining head of the queer little Manikin- mender popped out of the window and replied : "Good -morrow, good -morrow! What wouldst thou ?" " We understand that thou hast a merry song, dance, and story kettle ?" said the Moon King. " Aye, marry that have I," replied the queer little Manikin -mender, with a proud professional smile. " Wouldst hear them discourse ?" " That would we," replied the Sorghum. " Hast finished mending the ' Adopted Nephew of the Sage-green Elephant with the Glass Eye ?' " asked the Librarian. " It has just been sent to the palace," replied the queer little Manikin-mender, who now recognized the party, and, holding three kettles up to view, continued, u This is Song, this is Story, this is Dance." THE MOON PRINCE 129 "A plague on me if I don't fancy this fellow a pur- veyor of spells !" said the Roasted Pig. " What can he mean by ' this is Song, this is Story, this is Dance.' " " That thou mayst not marvel at what strikest thee as a riddle, I will unravel for thee the seeming mystery. This kettle plays music that causes thee to dance in THE MANIKIN-MENDER PCTS ON THE DANCE KETTLE. spite of thyself, this one sings a song that makes thee laugh in spite of thyself, and this one tells a story that interests thee in spite of thyself." They all filed into the odd-looking cabin, and saw many manikin arms and legs lying about, and various other portions of the manikin anatomy. The queer little Manikin - mender having satisfied them that he 9 130 THE MOON PRINCE was not a weaver of spells, they all expressed a desire to see each kettle in operation. No sooner had they made known their wish than the proprietor of the hov- el ran out and gathered some fagots and started a fire, and filled his three kettles with water. " Suppose I put Dance on first ?" said the Manikin- mender. * They all nodded in the affirmative. So the Manikin -mender put Dance on, and they waited patiently for a few minutes, and then, when it began to boil, the liveliest music ever heard issued from the spout. The King listened to it for a mo- ment, and involuntarily arose and commenced to dance as no Moon King ever danced before. The Sorghum followed suit, and so did all 'the others. They danced up and down the cabin, and out through the door and back again. It seemed very strange that so many could dance at once in so small a room. And the longer the kettle boiled the faster the music became, and the faster the music movement the faster the movement of the dancers' feet. "The dance must continue till the music stops," said the Manikin-mender, " and the music won't stop until either the fire or the water is exhausted. Neither of them are " "Neither of 'them is/" screamed the Roasted Pig, grasping at the slightest straw of comfort in his dire extremity. But nothing that they could say or do had any in- fluence on the situation, and they danced until the water was boiled away and the music stopped, at which happy time they sank upon the ground exhausted. " If thou canst " " Hold up, Mr. Manikin-mender," said Tumpty Turn THE MOON PRINCE 133 the Rhymer. " I think it about time we change our pronouns. Let's stick to ' I,' ' my,' ' mine,' ' he,' ' his,' ' him,' etc. ;" and then the rhymer began singing, " Nominative they, possessive their or theirs, objective them." " Can you give me the possessive of ' that' ?" asked the Roasted Pig, following Tumpty Turn's suggestion to change the pronouns. " Certainly I can," replied Tumpty Turn. After a few moments of silence the Roasted Pig said, " Then why don't you ?" " Because you didn't ask me to. You asked me if I could do it, not if I would. I simply replied that I could. I am happy to see by your twinkling eye that what might be regarded as sarcasm on your part is merely an illustration of your love of exactness. Al- though most grammarians leave the possessive of the pronoun ' that ' blank, ' whose ' is correct." " Give me an example," demanded the Roasted Pig. " Certainly. That Amontillado whose great-grand- father sported a peach-pink sciatica in his button-hole to attract the attention of the Memoranda before he could charm and. swallow the fluttering wakerobin." While the Roasted Pig bowed humbly in acknowl- edgment of the correctness of the answer, the King- said, " Never mind the grammar never mind the gram- mar; but go on, good Tumpty Turn, and tell us the rest of the story of ' that Amontillado whose great- grandfather sported a peach-pink sciatica in his button- hole.' " " There is no story," replied Tumpty Turn. " It was just an example to prove the possessive of ' that ' to be ' whose.' " 134 THE MOON PRINCE " Can the kettle tell the Amontillado story ?" " Although there is no such story, yet might the kettle tell it, for you never know what the kettle will tell, as it generally tells a different story. Shall I put Story on ?" "At once, at once," replied the King, " if not sooner." So the queer little Manikin-mender put Story on, and it shortly boiled forth the following pathetic tale of : THE SNOW PRINCESS. " Snowdrop was the beautiful daughter of the great and good Snow King Snowball the First, who reigned over Snowland, a country lying so far north that even its people were made of snow. Snowdrop was so beautiful that every Prince coming from any adjoining snow country fell desperately in love with her. She had so many suitors that she was really at a loss to know whom to accept, and, as a matter of course, was very vain. Besides the Princes of the neighboring countries, there was the son of a poor bellows-mender who loved the Princess so devotedly that when he sat down to an oil dinner which was about the only kind the poorer people of Snowland knew he fancied he was eating nightingales' tongues stuffed with rose- leaves. Being only a poor bellows-mender's son, he was afraid to declare his passion. " Finally, seeing that Snowdrop was pining away, the King said be would give her to the man who would produce the orange-blossom wreath for the wedding, provided he was not a fool. Now there was not an orange blossom in all Snowland, and never had been, but when the King's offer became known, all the young snow men for miles around started for the land of the THE MOON PRINCE 135 olive and the rose for the blossoms for the coveted wreath. Poor Snowdrop was sad at heart, because she was afraid she might have to marry some one for whom she cared naught. Bat the snow men who started southward some on great birds, some in boats, and in every other way they could think of to get there and back first after a few days' journey came in contact with warm weather, and melted away. The Snow King learned this from a snow-bird. " Then the son of the bellows-mender pushed his plate of oil aside, stopped feasting on imaginary night- ingales' tongues stuffed with rose - leaves, presented himself to Snowball the First, and demanded the hand of Snowdrop. " ' Where's your orange wreath ?' asked the King. " ' I have none,' replied the bellows-mender's son. ' I went in quest of none.' " ' Why did you not ?' " ' For the same reason that I now claim Snowdrop's hand.' " ' And what is that, pray ?' " That I am not a fool.' " The King at once appreciated the wisdom and phi- losophy of the poor bellows-mender's son, who shortly after was wedded to the lovely Snow Princess, with whom he led a long and happy life, the sunshine of which was unmarred by a single sullen cloud." XI "AVERT sweet little story, a very sweet little story," repeated the King. " If you will only keep Story boil- ing, and put each tale into a manikin, I will buy them all from you at the palace, five off thirty." The queer little Manikin-mender bowed politely, and the Sorghum said : " A very lovely tale indeed ! But why does not the queer little Manikin-mender put Song on ?" " Put Song on, put Song on quick ! quick !" ex- claimed the King. So Song was put on the fire, which was very low ; and after it had been on about seven minutes, during which the Sorghum regaled Silversmith the Tenth with an official statement relative to the latest sugar deal, it began to make a slight moaning sound, as though say- ing something in a very low tone. As soon as its sounds could be understood, it said, "When the cotton's softly growing on the sheep." It then paused for a moment, and continued by whistling one of those peculiar tunes that take hold of you and accompany your every movement. " Make Song finish it ; make Song " But Silversmith was compelled to stop, because the kettle had whistled the tune just long enough for him to catch it ; and when he did catch it, he held it, or THE MOON PRINCE 137 rather it held him, and he was overcome. All the others caught it in the same way, and the effect was simply ludicrous. When the King moved his sceptre, it could be seen that it was to the time of the horrible tune ; and when the Roasted Pig wiped his eye-glasses, it was to the same movement. The Philosophic Farmer, in his silent reflection, nodded his head in harmony with the crazy melody. " I don't think we can, I don't think we can," ex- claimed the King, in a sort of reverie. " Don't think we can what ?" asked the Librarian. " I feel that we shall never be able to," said the King, more preoccupied than ever. " Able to what ?" asked the Sorghum. " Forget that tune," replied the King, coming quite suddenly to his senses. Just then the kettle stopped whistling, because the fire had gone out, and the cessation of the melody, if such it could be called, was a great relief. But al- though it stopped bubbling from the little spout it continued in their minds, and the King drummed it on the table with his finger, while all the rest kept time by tapping with their boot heels. Suddenly the King jumped up and shouted, " When the cotton's softly growing on the sheep !" "Why don't you continue?" asked Tumpty Turn, sarcastically, when he remembered the King's strictures upon a former occasion. Then the King began to whistle just as the kettle had done, and in spite of himself danced an accompani- ment. After he was through, they all walked out of the cabin of the queer little Manikin-mender to the time of the tune, the influence of which they could not shake off. 138 THE MOON PRINCE "Why didn't you dwarf the Manikin-mender," asked the Librarian, " and boil him in the water of that awful tune ?" " It was not the Manikin-mender's fault," explained the King, in a wise tone that won the admiration of the Philosophic Farmer. " It was the fault of the kettle, over which the queer little Manikin-mender has no control. And, then, who would mend the manikins I Happy indeed would be the moon if manikin-menders were as plentiful as Prime-ministers !" " Would not it be a terrible punishment to be com- pelled to drink tea made of the boiling water that generates that tune ?" asked the Roasted Pig. " It could never become a form of punishment, for the simple reason that there is no crime of sufficient magnitude to warrant its infliction. But let us try to forget it," continued the weary Moon King. " Will not you say something,TumptyTum, to start a new subject?" " Certainly," replied Tumpty Turn. " How far is it to Molasses River Bridge, good Sorghum ?" " Not more than half a mile ; it is just beyond the Maple Syrup Whirlpool." They all proceeded in this direction, led by the Sor- ghum ; but, in spite of themselves, they beat time to the kettle's tune, while the molasses current lisped its crazy numbers, and the sugar-trees moaned it to the four winds. It was, of course, not a great while be- fore they reached the bridge and started to cross it. " Where does this take us to ?" asked Johnny. " Correctly speaking, it takes us nowhere," laughed the Librarian ; " but I comprehend your real meaning. Am I right in conjecturing that you would know where you will be if you cross it ?" " You are," responded Johnny. THE MOON PRINCE 141 " Then you will be in the Land of Green Cheese. Those are the beautiful cheese meadows yonder." Johnny looked across the river, and saw the motley landscape, and was filled with delight. Every shade of cheese or cheese tone was distinctly visible, but the sage green predominated, giving the land its name. There were flowers of orange and yellow cheese, while many of the cheese-trees with rind bark had leaflets of these colors. The grass and clover were, of course, green. " Most little boys become greatly frightened upon first meeting the Tantamount," observed the King ; " but you," he continued, addressing Johnny, " must have no fear of him. Although he is a sort of winged leopard, with fierce glaring eyes, he is as gentle as a dove aye, as gentle as the Sorghum himself. Can you recite for us the poem, founded on fact, of 'Reuben L. Smith and the Tantamount, or Cheese King ?' " " I can," replied Tumpty Turn the Rhymer. After a minute or two of silence the King asked, " Why don't you do it, then ?" " Because you haven't asked me to. You merely asked me if I could do it. Now if you want me to recite the poem, just say so." " So," said the King, with a smile at his real or fancied joke. And then Tumpty Turn the Rhymer laughingly pro- nounced for Johnny's benefit and the amusement of the others, one of the Moon King's favorite comic poems : REUBEN L. SMITH AND THE TANTAMOUNT, OR CHEESE KING. " One time he met the Tantamount Within a Stilton lea, Not far from the molasses fount, And weakened at the knee. 142 THE MOON PRINCE " ' lie trembled in his scared surprise, His teeth all chattered, too ; He held his hands before his eyes, Nor peered his fingers through. "'The Tantamount with anger fumed; From kind his glances far, And Reuben's hirsute quick assumed The perpendicu-lar. " ' His eyeballs burned like living coals That lively sparks out-shoot, And Reuben quivered to his soles As though he'd taken root. ""Tis when the Tantamount becrooks His spine, and glares red-hot, And flaunts his tail with goaded looks, That angry he is not. " ' That time he was not vexed nor mad, But happy through and through ; To meet the boy he was so glad He knew not what to do. " ' As Reuben chattered, while he shook Like jelly on a plate, The Cheese King from his pocket took A box of pills elate. " ' And gave one unto Reuben, who Not knowing what to say, The Tantamount then shouted to, " Good-morrow and good-day !" " ' The Tantamount, polite and proud, Removed his hat forthwith, And in majestic grandeur bowed Adieu to R. L. Smith, THE MOON PRINCE 143 " ' Whose quaking shaking soon was still Upon the green-cheese plains, All owing to one qui-nine pill Of half a dozen grains.' " When Tumpty Turn the Rhymer had finished, Silver- smith the Tenth turned to Johnny, and said : " Do not be alarmed when the Tantamount appears, for he always looks exceedingly fierce and dangerous when he is in the best possible humor; and, on the other hand, he is extremely ferocious and unsociable when he wears the sweetest, serenest, gentlest, and most loving look." " How very singular !" said Johnny. " Is there any particular reason for this ?" " There is," replied the King " there is." " I should think," murmured the Owl, " that some moon poet would give the reason in verse." " There is a poem," replied Tumpty Turn the Rhy- mer, " on this very subject. If it be not too soon after the poem I just recited about the Tantamount, it would afford me genuine happiness to favor you with it." They were all only too anxious to hear it, so Tumpty Turn drew himself up and sang : WHY WHEN HE'S GLAD HE LOOKS MAD, AND WHY HE LOOKS GLAD WHEN HE'S MAD. " ' The reason the Tantamount dances When his eyes blaze a vitreous green, And very ferociously prances At the time he's most coy and serene ; " ' The reason a tender tear drizzles Down his face soothed in gentlest repose, When with anger he frizzles and sizzles From the tip of his tail to his nose 144 THE MOON PRINCE " ' Is that, as a simple diversion, His dominion so lovely of cheese, He may rid, without any exertion, Of the casual rat that he sees. "'The rat notes his caudal's expansion, And he flies, like a ball to the mark, Down the sinuous lane to his mansion, Where he curls himself up in the dark. "'But when the old Tantamount's smiling Doth the rodent come forth in the sun; Then he opens his smile so beguiling, And Sir Rat's gobbled up like a bun.' " " Nature is indeed a wonderful thing," said Johnny, " to provide the Tantamount with such subtle power to prevent his dominion from being devoured. But what are those hills yonder that rise so grandly from the plains?" "Those," murmured the Sorghum, in admiration, "are the Mountains of the Moon, of which you may have heard the- great cheese mountains." He paused as though under a spell, for at that mo- ment a bright light flashed from the top of the highest of the cheese mountain-peaks, and it was soon evident that there was a volcano. It was not long before great waves of flame shot into the air in angry billows, and bathed in a rosy glow every valley in the Land of Green Cheese. Higher and higher the flames climbed, and every moment the scene became grander. "Are the mountains going to be melted into naught?" asked Johnny. " They are not going to be melted into naught," re- plied the Roasted Pig ; " they are going to be melted into Welsh rabbits." THE MOON PRINCE 147 Before he said any more, or before Johnny could comment upon the information, there was a rustle in one of the cheese thickets, and out popped a flock of the prettiest Welsh rabbits Johnny ever saw. And right behind them came the Tantamount, the King of the Land of Green Cheese. From the way he lashed his tail, which cut the grass down like a scythe, and by the blazing of his emerald eyes, and by the great cloud of cheese he kicked up as he moved madly along, it was evident that he was in the best of spirits. " How do you do ?" shouted Silversmith the Tenth. The Tantamount was greatly pleased at meeting the merry party, which he joined with the "Welsh rabbits, all of them skipping about in the liveliest manner. " How are you all ?" he asked. "Very well," they replied, with the exception of the French Poodle that couldn't speak English. He simply said, " Tres bien /" Johnny was not at all frightened at the Tantamount, which greatly pleased Silversmith the Tenth and the Sorghum, his old rival for the Molasses River crown. The Tantamount was greatly pleased at meeting John- ny, for he snapped his tail in the air until it sounded like a pistol-shot, and gnashed his teeth in the most ferocious manner. He was so glad to meet the Owl, and to know that it was back for good, that he lifted the great white bird in his paws, and laid his gleaming teeth against its wings. "I should be so happy to see you all at Cheese- borough House !" observed the Tantamount. "Where is that?" asked Johnny. " It is over on Green Cheese Lake, and is my pal- ace." 148 THE MOON PRINCE " I'll never get over it I'll never get over it !" ex- claimed Silversmith the Tenth. They looked, and saw him dancing. " That awful tune has worked down into my feet, and I must dance for relief." "HE LIFTED THE GREAT WHITE BIRD IN HIS PAWS." " Is it the horrible whistling that follows the line, ' When the cotton's' " " Softly growing on the sheep," broke in Silver- smith the Tenth. " That's it," they all shouted. Where did you hear it for the first time ?" THE MOON PRINCE 149 " I don't remember," murmured the Tantamount, " where I heard it for the first time ; but I would be willing to erect a sumptuous monument on the spot where I shall hear it for the last time." All this time the King was dancing, and whistling the tune, which also attacked the Welsh rabbits, and set them capering about as insanely as were the Phil- osophic Farmer and the rest of the party. But at the suggestion of the Tantamount, who evi- dently believed in the economy of labor, they all danced in the direction of Cheeseborough House, which stood some miles distant, on the picturesque margin of Green Cheese Lake. At length they reached it, and seated themselves beneath a spreading green-cheese tree, where they waited with watering mouths for the waiters to bring on the Welsh rabbits that had been killed and cooked for the occasion, and whose savory fumes they could scent on the breeze that floated from the direction of the culinary depart- ment. XII "!T is a rare treat," said the Tantamount, " when a volcano occurs in one of the Cheese Mountains, for as the cheese melts it is quickly formed into Welsh rab- bits, and upon every such occasion I give a dinner to my friends, known as the Feast of Welsh Rabbits. It is seven years since the last, which occurred upon Mount Camembert, and this eruption of Mount Pot fills me with joy indeed, as you may see by my appar- ent fierceness. "Oui, oui, oui, Fromage de Brie," sang the French Poodle that couldn't speak English. At this moment the waiters appeared with the Welsh rabbits, and it was astonishing to see the Tant- amount carve them. In less than half a minute they were all served, and then the waiters came on with oth- ers, which seemed even more delicious than the first. They were all so hungry that there was little or no conversation until after the meal, when they took a look through Cheeseborough House at the invitation of the hospitable Tantamount. It was built mostly of buff cheese, with green veins running through it in such a way that it bore a very striking resemblance to the kind of marble which is highly esteemed for clocks. THE MOON PRINCE 151 Beautiful cheese boudoirs led between portieres of cheese-cloth to sumptuous cheese stair-ways. There were sofas and divans of the same material, but of different colors, so that the artistic effect was highly satisfactory. " We thank you heartily for so sumptuously enter- taining us," said Silversmith the Tenth. " I don't think I ever before tasted a Welsh rabbit so artistically cooked and served ; and as for Cheeseborough House, it is something of which the moon may proudly boast, even unto the smallest detail of appointment and architecture." The fiery ferocity displayed by the Tantamount was proof positive of his heart -felt appreciation of the Moon King's praises. "But would you like to go with us?" asked the Moon King. " Where ?" asked the Tantamount. " To the Moon-beam Spring." The Tantamount said he would be only too happy to visit this great spring that furnished the moon-beams to light the earth. It was indeed a wonderful curios- ity of nature, was this spring, whose light bubbled up continually from the moon, and, flowing some dis- tance through a hollow, fell in a grand cascade over the rim of the great silver planet, to illuminate the earth. It was therefore with great delight that they started out together in the direction of the Moon-beam Spring. " Have you ever seen the elastic tree ?" asked the Tantamount. " Never, never, never," replied the King, nervously. " There it is," said the Tantamount, who, being very nimble and catlike, pulled a branch down until it was 152 THE MOON PRINCE stretched as thin as a broom handle ; then he sprang off the ground, and when the elastic limb flew back into place, he let go, and was shot a hundred feet into the air. He whirled about like a leaf in the storm, and to the surprise of all, especially the Roasted Pig, whose eye-glasses were covered with tears, he landed on his feet, like the quadruped whose characteristics he possessed. " Be ready, Sorghum, be ready," said Silversmith. " Ready for what ?" asked the Sorghum. " To defend us in case the Tantamount sees fit to attack us." The Roasted Pig just laughed, and the King said, " I'm afraid the Tantamount may seem suf- ficiently aggrieved to assume a hostile front, and eat us up before I can turn him into a tenpenny nail, and drive him into a tree right to the head." " You need have no fear," replied the Sorghum ; " he has a very keen appreciation of the ridiculous, and knows what should be laughed at and what should not. Now this being a funny act on his part, he naturally doesn't expect you to weep. On the con- trary, having performed a dangerous yet queer acro- batic feat for your amusement, he will feel disappointed if he is not properly applauded. Upon arriving at such a conclusion he may feel sufficiently piqued to devour one or two of the party from motives of self- respect. I advise you all to laugh heartily." Following the advice of the Sorghum, they all laughed with might and main, and swayed to and fro in an ecstasy of merriment, which greatly pleased the Tantamount. At this moment the wind began to blow, and the air was full of dust, or rather grated Parmesan. When this cloud whirled by, they were all attracted by the THE MOON PRINCE 153 queer antics of the elastic tree. As it swayed in the wind, it would stretch to about five times its size when in repose, and when the wind subsided, the tree would naturally fly back to its original position. At one time, when it was out-stretched until it could stretch no farther, a pretty little briefinch lit upon one of its branches and began to sing. But when the tree flew back, it did so so suddenly that the poor little brie- finch had its legs snapped off close to the talons, which remained encircling the limb upon which it had been perched. " Being an amphibious bird," said the Tantamount, " it will have to take to the water now." " But how will it paddle ?" asked Flowerbell. " It will not paddle," laughed the Tantamount ; " it will know enough to hold its wings aloft like sails, be- cause it is endowed with aquatic instincts; but its feet will grow on again." Suddenly the King burst forth in the following RHAPSODY. " Oh, what rare luck ! oh, what rare luck ! While his future feet are growing, Just like a duck just like a duck O'er the green lake to be blowing! " How fortunate how fortunate That he can take to the water ! Oh, happy fate ! oh, happy fate ! To be full of joy he oughter! "Oh, sweet briefinch, oh, sweet briefinch, Your beautiful wings of orange My muse I pinch my muse I pinch In vain for a rhyme for ' orange.' " 154 THE MOON PRIXCE " There isn't a rhyme for ' orange,' is there ?" asked the King. " None, sire," replied the authority, Tumpty Turn the Rhymer. " Then what shall I do ?" " Why don't you try ' lemon ' ?" asked the facetious Owl. The King pretended he didn't hear the remark, and the Librarian, fearing there might be trouble, turned the drift of the conversation by asking the distance to the Moon-beam Spring. " Three English cheese miles," responded the Phil- osophic Farmer. " And can you catch fish in this spring ?" asked Johnny. " Silver-fish !" exclaimed the Tantamount in reply. " Oh, look !'' exclaimed Johnny. The King gazed all around up in the air and over the cheese landscape and then, seeing nothing, began to look in his pockets as upon a former occasion. " Oh no, not there," said Johnny. " Where, where, where ?" asked the King, at the same time looking all around. Johnny pointed to a thicket, and from the same ap- peared a very curious-looking animal, wearing the dis- consolate, languid expression peculiar to the barn-yard fowl that has remained without during a cold, rainy night. " Why, that is the Perforated Cat," said the Tanta- mount. It was indeed a curious-looking animal, and but for the timely information of the Tantamount, might have passed itself off on the picnickers for a woodchuck or a Welsh rabbit. On each side of the Perforated Cat THE MOON PRINCE 155 was a dainty landscape embroidered in finest silk, and the foliage always seemed to be moving. " Come, explain yourself for the edification of Silver- smith the Tenth and his merry picknickers," demanded the Tantamount, " or, rather, give us your history." Thereupon the Perforated Cat spoke as follows : "THE PERFORATED CAT BOWED POLITELY." " Originally I was a pleasant woollen cat, with bead eyes, and was used as an ornament in the library. I used to sit by the day and watch the crimson mouse that was used for a red-ink pen-wiper. I was made in a sitting posture, and for that reason could not run or stretch myself out, which made it impossible for me to spring upon the mouse. You will notice in my present peculiar limp the fault of the person that al- lowed the scissors to slip in cutting me out. Had this not happened, it would not have been necessary to gather me in so much in the sewing of my off hind- 156 THE MOON PRINCE leg. I am not a machine-made cat, but this piece of information is perhaps of no interest. At present I have but one bead eye left, and as the thread that holds it in the socket is becoming loose, and my eye is moving about in the wind whichever way it blows, I shall naturally feel anxious until it is properly sewed in, and the question of my possible blindness put be- yond all peradventure." " Don't ramble so much," said the Tantamount ; "go back to where you said, 'which made it impos- sible for me to spring upon the mouse,' and continue in a direct and simple manner until you have explained the beautiful landscape panels that so delicately il- luminate your ribs." The Perforated Cat bowed politely, and continued : "Which made it impossible for me to spring npon the mouse. Not being able to walk, I did my best to coax the mouse within reach, but as he was fastened to a small octagonal piece of cloth, he, too, was unable to move. It made my red silk mouth water to see that mouse lying there with such beautiful indifference. Sometimes the boys in the house would hold me up in the air for the real dog to jump at, and on one oc- casion he caught me in his teeth, and my internal in- juries were excruciating in the extreme. In tossing me back and forth one day, one of the boys failed to catch rae^and I was cast into a tub of water and soaked through. I was dried upon the top of the kitchen stove, and in the process I lost my form, which I have not fully^regained even to this day. Do not I look as though drawn up by rheumatism here on the left ?" "You're wandering again," observed the Tanta- mount. " Now oblige me by going back to ' small THE MOON PRINCE 157 octagonal piece of cloth, he, too, was unable to move.' " The Perforated Cat apologized, and went on : " Small octagonal piece of cloth, he, too, was unable to move. Well, one day the family went away for the summer, and during their absence " "Its absence !" exclaimed the Tantamount, " ' family ' being a collective noun." " Its absence," continued the Perforated Cat, with a mortified air, " the moths got through my cloth epidermis, and devoured the wool with which I was stuffed, and afterwards ate their way out through me. As each moth left a hole, I of course became a perfo- rated cat. Without my wool stuffing I fell down, being quite unable to stand. It was on the return of the family, which is a collective noun, that Lulu re- stuffed me, and then embroidered these landscapes on my sides. I will say that when I breathe the air passes out through these perforations, and keeps the silk leaves and grasses in motion. Do you notice the cat-bird perched on the muscat vine in the lateral valley on my left side ?" They said nothing in reply. " I like your refined manners very much," observed the Perforated Cat, sarcastically, "and I shall now teach you a dancing-lesson." " What ! do you dance ?" asked pretty little Rose- flake. " I do not ; but when I fasten my disconsolate look upon a person, that person has to dance until I take it off." Here the Perforated Cat cast the most peculiar woe- begone expression ever seen upon the picnickers, and the spell was such that before they knew it, they were 158 THE MOON PRINCE all dancing as hard as they did under the influence of Dance, the music - kettle of the queer little Manikin- mender. And the Perforated Cat continued its dis- consolate look so long that when she changed it into her happy expression, they had danced off many pounds of flesh. As suddenly as it appeared, the Perforated Cat van- ished ; and they all commented upon it at great length, and from all stand-points. " I only trust it may not discover Moon-beam Spring, and catch the silver-fish," moaned the Tantamount. " How far is this Moon - beam Spring anyhow ?" groaned Silversmith the Tenth. " We have been walk- ing from one end of the moon to the other, and it doesn't 'appear to be any nearer than when we started." " It is just on the other side of that Gruyere shrub- bery." When the Tantamount had given this information, they all redoubled their steps, and in the course of ten or fifteen minutes they stood upon the margin of this magic body of never - failing moon -beams. Al- though called a spring, it was, properly speaking, a lake. It bubbled as though boiling, so great was the action of the moon-shine in coming up out of the in- terior of the moon. It seemed to flow in an easterly direction, the tide never turning, but continuing down to the edge of the moon, where it flowed over in a silver cascade and lit the earth. The Tantamount ascended the highest tree like a cat, and when at the top dived into the Moon-beam Spring with a shout of joy. When he swam ashore and came out he looked as though covered with pearl, but this he soon wiped off with the piece of magic cheese-cloth he always carried with him to keep off evil. THE MOON PRINCE 159 Suddenly the moon became dark. " How long is this eclipse going to last ?" " Seven minutes and three seconds and one-eighth," replied the Tantamount, with the air of an astronomer. But in the dark the Moon Spring looked even love- lier than before. It was the only part of the moon that was light, and out upon its bosom a boat of pearl suddenly appeared, floating like a swan. " Oh, look at that pretty boat ! Where is it going ?" said Johnny. " Back to the earth, to take you home," replied the King. " We are very sorry to part with you and to break the news so suddenly. Have you ever heard of such a malady as moon -madness?" " I have," replied Johnny, sadly. " Well," continued Silversmith the Tenth, " as you don't belong to the moon that malady would at- tack you inside of an- other day, and although we dearly love to have you with us, as you may observe by the sad ex- pression of Roseflake and the heart-felt tears of our dear Sir Roasted, yet we feel constrained for your own good to send you on what must be your happy journey home." Here there was general weeping, in which the Owl joined. " Think of me whenever you wander about in THE OWL WKEPS AT JOHNNY S DEPARTURE. 160 THE MOON PRINCE Painter's Woods," sobbed the Owl. " Think of me when in the rosy spring-time you gather the trailing arbutus and meek anemone. Think of me in the au- tumn, when the nuts patter on the dry leaves, and the frost silvers the empty nest in Johnson's old persim- mon-tree. Think of me, think " Here the Owl buried its face in its wings, for fear of being considered weak, and when it looked up Johnny stood upon the deck of the beautiful boat of pearl, as it moved down the Moon-beam River. They were fading fast away, even though the eclipse had vanished, but Johnny could see the Roasted Pig wiping his eye-glasses, and could hear them singing together, " When the cotton's softly growing on the sheep." After this the unearthly whistling was started, and while they all danced on the shores of the Land of Green Cheese Johnny himself joined in, and no doubt kept step with the feet he could no longer see. Down the Moon-beam River he went sadly, and after the pearl boat had passed over the falls it descended swiftly, but as gently as a dream. It was the same boat in which he had sailed to the moon, and was quite as luxurious and musical as on that happy occasion. AVhen the earth appeared in sight it looked, as upon his former voyage, very much like a two-grain quinine pill. His great fear that the boat might land him in China was dissipated when he saw objects with which he was familiar, and which grew more numerous, until the boat actually floated into his father's garden and rested upon a bed of white hyacinths, where he stepped out. When he touched the ground he was again his natural THE MOON PRINCE 163 size. He turned to take a last look at the dainty boat of pearl, only to see it dissolve softly into moonlight and vanish. Then, as he wandered up the box-fringed walk, he thought of all the silvery beauties of the moon that would shortly melt, like the magic boat of pearl, in the sunnier beauties of his own beloved home. A DAY IN WAXLAND A DAY IN WAXLAND ITTLE TOMMY HAWK had been out in the woods all day playing Indian. The chief of the tribe, Forty -six Stuffed Crows, had sent him across the small stream of water that ran through the wood behind the school-house, to see if he could discover the trail of the fugitive who had just crossed to make good his escape. Tommy Hawk was so diligent in his search among the bushes, that before he was aware of it he found that it was impossible to retrace his steps. In other words, he was lost ; and in vain did he endeavor to communicate with Forty -six Stuffed Crows and his braves by shouting. He would have wept if he could have done so consistently. But he knew it would be entirely out of place for an Indian to weep especially in the devious tangles of the forest. So he tried to climb a tree to learn his exact whereabouts, for he was completely turned around. On his way up the tree he met a bear, and as the Bear was on the way down, and there was not room for 168 A DAY IN WAXLAN0 them to pass each other, it was necessary for Tommy to show his politeness, and descend in order that the Bear might reach the ground without interference. Of course Tommy was in reality afraid of the Bear, but being in the guise of an Indian, he could not consist- ently show his fear. " Who are you, anyhow ?" asked Tommy, boldly. And the Bear stood on his hinder legs, and with a sunny smile replied : " I'm a jolly old bear, And I haven't a care When I'm dining on cranberry pie. Over hedges I vault With a gay somersault, When the wily fur-hunter is nigh. Oh, my soul's full of song, And I'm happy as long As the wide-blowing forest's my lair. With a ha, ha, ha, ha, And a tra, la, la, la I'm a jolly old cinnamon bear." Then the Bear began to whistle a lively tune, to which he danced in a most graceful manner. " You are certainly a very singular bear," said Tommy. And the Bear replied : " I'm a singular bear, with a spirit sublime, And the cause of my many woes Is that I can only talk in rhyme, And can't say a word in prose." " Do you mean to say that you cannot utter any- thing that does not rhyme ?" asked Tommy. And the Bear said, A DAY IN WAXLAND 169 " I cannot utter a single Sentence that does not jingle." " I think I can teach you to speak in prose," said Tommy. " How, Now ?" asked the Bear. " Let's bear you say just one word ?" "May Day," replied the Bear. " Say a word that does not rhyme ?" said Tommy. " I would If I could," replied the Bear. " How old are you ?" asked Tommy. And the Bear responded, " I'll be seven upon my next birthday, Which occurs on the twenty-fourth of May." Tommy Hawk had seen many bears before. He had seen bears in menagerie cages, and he had seen stuffed bears in front of fur stores, and he had had toy bears carved out of wood, and he had read many stories about bears ; but this chance acquaintance was altogether the queerest bear he had ever seen or heard of. The idea of a bear not only being able to talk, but being able to utter nothing but rhymes as good as any he could find in any of his nursery books ! He could scarcely realize where he was or what he was doing. He went so far as to stick a pin into him- 170 A DAY IN WAXLAND self to make sure that he was not dreaming. Then he said to the Bear : " My name is Tommy Hawk, and I belong to the Suppawnee tribe of Indians. Our chief's name is Forty-six Stuffed Crows. That is not his right name, though. His right name is Willie Kimberley. We are only make-believe Indians, and that is the rea- son I am lost. Don't you think it very sad ?" " The story's sad that you impart ; Indeed it almost breaks my heart." As a matter of fact, Tommy Hawk knew that he had seen men perform in bear-skins at the pantomime, and he was not at all certain that this was a real bear. Perhaps it might be some one with whom he was well acquainted masquerading in the woods, and probably acting as a decoy to attract other bears. One thing was certain : the Bear was a bear of refinement. Tom- my had never heard a bear talk before, but if they all talked with the ease and grace of this particular Bear, he concluded that they must be very desirable com- panions. "Are you really a bear ?" asked Tommy, suddenly. The Bear sang : " If I am not a cinnamon bear From my stub-tail to my cranium, Why, then I simply must declare The geranium's not a geranium." " When are you happiest ?" asked Tommy, who was really at a loss for something to say. This was the bear's response : " I'm happiest when I lightly bound Beneath the hickory-tree ; I'm happiest when my pet cub's found A-climbing upon my knee. A DAY IN WAXLAND 171 But the thing I like such a great big bit, That it makes me smile till I cry, Is videlicet, namely, to wit, As follows: cranberry pie." " It will pretty soon be time for you to lie in a tor- pid state, will not it ?" asked Tommy. " I never lie in a torpid state ; When the weather waxes cool To Waxland I fly at an awful rate I'm the King of Waxland's fool," replied the Bear, executing a lively step. " The King of Waxland's fool ?" repeated Tommy. " The King of Waxland's fool, yes, yes I'm the King of Waxland's fool; His life with merry jests I bless On evenings soft and cool. I make him, when he's in distress, Like a boy let loose from school. I'm the King of Waxland's fool, yes, yes I'm the King of Waxland's fool." " Who is the King of Waxland ?" asked Tommy. "He is the King of Waxland, And not the King of Flaxland." " But where is Waxland ?" asked Tommy. " Just walk a bit down yonder lane, and near a spring you'll see, Some ten feet in diameter, a waving sycamore, And on its trunk you quickly give a rap, and you will be Most astonished when it opens like an ordinary door. " When the portal softly closes, and you find yourself inside, You discover you are standing in a long and narrow aisle; 172 A DAY IN WAXLAND And if you will take the trouble down the same to lightly glide, You will shortly be in Waxland, which I think it's worth your while. " You will see the gay wax tapir spinning lightly on his nose ; You will see the fair wax dolphin on a silver waxen sea ; And, besides, you'll see some wonders which no mortal, I sup- pose, Ever witnessed, if you'll blindly, if you'll kindly, come with me." "Ah, I'll be glad to go with you, good Mr. Bear," said Tommy, " because I am lost, and cannot find my way home, and I am sure I shall feel happy with such a kind, gentlemanly, refined bear as yourself." The Bear smiled, but did not reply, and they walked on together towards the sycamore which the Bear had told Tommy was the entrance to Waxland. The whole thing was so queer to the little Indian brave of the Suppawnee tribe, that he did not know what to say even when he felt it necessary to say something. Fi- nally he felt that he must say something, as he feared that the Bear, if his mind were not diverted by pleas- antries, might become despondent, forget himself, and devour his painted companion. At the same time, he thought that perhaps the whole story of Waxland was a mere ruse of the Bear's to inveigle him into his cave for the purpose of converting him into a dinner. He fancied he could see Mr. Bear sitting at the head of the table carving him, and Mrs. Bear at the other end pouring the tea, and the little bears sitting in their high chairs, with their mouths open, and smiles of happy anticipation dripping down on their pinafores. "Are not you often afraid you will be captured and converted into hair grease ?" A DAY IN WAXLAND 173 " I'll never be bear grease, I'll never be hair grease ; I'll never be bear oil, I'll never be hair oil," replied the Bear, and he forthwith executed a dance with more agility and grace than is usually seen in the ursine race. They were now pretty near the old sycamore, and the Bear was feeling very lively, for he danced as he walked, and even when a butternut dropped and came in contact with his nose, it did not put him in an ill- humor. Turning a bend in the clearing, the sycamore appeared in sight. It was a gnarled old tree that no one would have taken for anything but an ordinary specimen, except that it was one of unusual size. When it came into the Bear's vision he seemed very happy, for he began to sing : \ "Pie, pie, cranberry pie, As red as the harvett-moon up in the sky, As sweet as the flowers that blow in the vale, As rich as the song of the rapt nightingale. I would like to ride daily unto my three meals In a chariot with cranberry pies for the wheels. I would just like to hear the sad wind as it grieves Through a forest with cranberry pies for the leaves. I should feel just as gay as a mouse in a cheese If I lived over yonder among the green trees In a little red palace just fifty feet high, And constructed entirely of cranberry pie. Pie, pie, cranberry pie. You may hunt the world low, you may hunt the world high, But nothing can waken my rapturous sigh In the very brief space that can cranberry pie. Cranberry very " But he was cut short, for in his wild enthusiasm he unconsciously touched the magic spring of the door of 174 A DAY IN WAXLAND Waxland, and it flew open in his face, and struck him on the nose so hard that it gave him a sneezing fit. After it passed away, he sang, " Oh, come with me ! oh, come with me ! Aud merry Waxland you shall see." And when they entered, the door closed behind them. 5 Key entered and CKedoor closed behind flxem. II WHEN the door had closed, the Bear took Tommy by the hand, and they proceeded down a spiral staircase. The light was very dim, but Tommy could see that the staircase was inside a huge stick of candy, the steps running around in the red stripe and the rail in the yellow. It was the greatest stick of candy he had ever seen. It was as large around as a tree, and seemed a great deal higher, and Tommy fancied he would never reach the bottom. The Bear held him affectionately by the hand as they descended, and when finally they got to the bot- tom, he said, " This is the bottom of the stair, As sure as I'm a cinnamon bear." " What do we do next, Mr. Bear ?" asked Tommy. " We cross this pond To the bank beyond, Then we pass through an aisle of gloom, Till we reach the place Where you'll see with grace The gay waxteria bloom." Then the Bear told Tommy to get on his back, which Tommy did. The Bear then proceeded to walk across the pond, which was less than a foot deep. It did 12 178 A DAY IN WAXLAND not take a great while to accomplish this, because the Bear was pretty lively. When he walked up the other bank he forgot about Tommy, and in giving himself a shake shook Tommy off on the ground. The Bear was very sorry, and apologized for his for- getfulness. " Say silver orange ?" asked Tommy. The Bear was at a loss to understand Tommy's meaning. It seemed a queer way of accepting his abject apologies for shaking him off. But the Bear couldn't say silver orange, because nothing would rhyme with those words. It was a neat trick of Tom- my's to see if he could break the Bear of the rhym- ing habit, and teach him to talk in prose. " Oh, there's another bear ?" said Tommy, suddenly. " Is he a cinnamon bear too ?" " Oh yes, that's a cinnamon bear, Who capers around With his nose on the ground While performing a jig over there. He's a bear that can only talk prose. A prosy old bear, Who has never a care From the tip of his tail to his nose." Then the Lyric Bear introduced Tommy to the Prose Bear, and it was very refreshing to Tommy to meet an animal who could pass the time of day with- out dropping into rhyme. " Ah ! I am so glad to meet you," said Tommy, as he shook the Prose Bear by the paw ; " but I didn't catch your name." " Edward Persimmons," repeated the Bear ; " and I am a very matter-of-fact creature, too, I can assure you. Do you know, I can see no more beauty in a tea-rose A DAY IN WAXLAND 179 than I can in a coffee-bean, a sugar-beet, or a milk- weed ?" " You astonish me," replied Tommy, with a tremor. " If you cannot see any beauty in a tea-rose, I fancy I shall have to feel afraid of you. Are you fond of music ?" " I am not," he replied. " How far off is Waxland ?" asked Tommy, when he had recovered from the shock. " Oh," said the Prose Bear, thoughtfully, " it is only a short distance. I generally wait here to accompany the Lyric Bear to the palace. I have to stay here in the dark for ever so long, because when Waxland goes out in the spring and the Lyric Bear leaves, I have to remain here and suck my thumbs and wait for him to return. I tell you I am always so glad to see him that if I were not a prosy, phlegmatic bear, I should prob- ably burst into a song and dance on first observing his pleasant face. Do you know that at the present time I am a mass of wild hilarity subdued by my natural inactivity ? Do you know that I am a smouldering fire of unbounded joy yearning for a means of giving it vent ?" " No," replied Tommy. " How should I know any such thing before being told of it ? Perhaps you will ask me directly if I am aware of the fact that last May your grandmother was turned into a peach pie by a wicked fairy with a green mole on his left ear, and a vest pocketful of lizards singing a Welsh sere- nade." The Prose Bear was nonplussed at this. " Perhaps you will ask me," continued Tommy, " if I know that your grandfather's mother-in-law used to make rolls of jelly-cake in the high hat of the giant 180 A DAY IN WAXLAND whose third wife was turned into a jar of pickled but- ternuts, for feeding guava jelly-fish to the three-cor- nered tomcat with the ultramarine wings." The Prose Bear looked as though he had complete- ly lost his senses through fright, and didn't know what to do. Finally he said : " If you say anything like that again, you will break my heart. I am not accustomed to having such things said to me on the spur of the moment, when I am not on my guard. When you think of any such weird thing again, will you have the kindness to make me aware of the fact that you will say it in ten minutes ?" " Certainly," replied Tommy. " I am only a poor Prose Bear, and cannot, there- fore, pour out the song of gratitude that is at present singing itself in my heart. I would like you to act in this way : Draw forth your watch, and say, ' Mr. Persimmons, I have conceived a horrible fancy, which I desire to express to you in my own peculiar fashion. It is now twenty-five minutes of three ; at ten minutes of three be prepared.' " " That is a very fair proposition," replied Tommy, " and I can promise faithfully to respect it, because I never again intend to disturb your peace of rnind in a like manner." "You are really a nice little boy," said the Prose Bear ; " and if I may presume on a seven-minute ac- quaintance, I would like to make you aware of the fact that you have made a favorable impression on the old Prose Bear's heart. I would like to give you a hug." " Oh, please don't," exclaimed Tommy, in alarm, for he had not read bear stories for nothing. " Well, then, perhaps you will allow me to make a little friendly suggestion ?" A DAY IN WAXLAND 181 " What is it?" asked Tommy. " If I felt sure that it would be accepted in the kindly spirit in which it is offered " " It will be," broke in Tommy. " Well, I would advise you either to wash your face or give it a fresh coat of paint. It is quite out of tone at present." " I only put that on while playing Indian," ex- plained Tommy, as he stooped to a little spring by the way and washed it off ; " but now how am I going to 1 dry my face ?" " Don't dry it at all. It is absurd to put water on your face for the sake of rubbing it off. Would it not be inconsistent with good sense to rush out in the fields with towels to dry the dewy flowers ?" " It would," said Tommy. " Then let the water dry in." " I will not argue with you any further, good Mr. Prose Bear, but will let it dry in. If water cannot hurt the delicate flowers, it cannot injure me, be- cause " Tommy looked suddenly about, and, in great surprise, continued, " Oh, look there !" Both the Prose and Lyric Bears looked about. " Are not those pansies that cover that great meadow ?" " They are," replied the Prose Bear. Tommy looked, and feasted his eyes on the beauti- ful sight. The earth was perfectly blue, and seemed to throb with mellow fragrance. When the wind touched the purple, it waved to and fro like a gently rippled sea, and some white pigeons sitting on it looked like lovely full-blown lilies. "This is the frontier of Waxland," said the Prose Bear. 182 A DAY IN WAXLAND " And what are the pansies for ?" asked Tommy. " They are the eyes for the wax dolls." " And is this where they make wax dolls ?" " This is the place where the wax dolls are made," replied the Prose Bear. " Waxland is pretty much all wax. The streets are wax, the houses are wax, and the gardens are full of wax flowers." " But how do you bears come to be here." " We are the agents of the bees ; we dispose of the beeswax to the King of Waxland. That is the only kind of wax that does not abound here. They have wax string-beans, whose strings are waxed ends ; they have sealing-wax growing in the ground in long red sticks like radishes ; they have wax-candle trees, and cobbler's wax growing right on the cob " " Was that joke on cobbler and cob accidental ?" asked Tommy. "Frankly, it was not," replied the Prose Bear, tear- fully ; " but I was feeling so happy just then over the reillumination of Waxland and the return of the Lyric Bear that I couldn't control myself. But to return to the bees : we are their agents because of our natural fondness for honey. The Lyric Bear is very much of a comic toy-book bear ; and as the King is fond of a joke, he has induced him to become his fool or jester. But it is a great shame to think that he cannot talk in prose. One day the Wax King ordered him to be waylaid by a party of Waxlanders, and beaten with waxteria switches, to see if he would yell any- thing in prose, but he screeched nothing but, ' Ow, ow, ow ! wow, wow, wow !' and the King gave it up." " What is the King's name ?" " Waxem." A DAY IN WAXLAND 183 " Did not I just hear you say something about the reillumination of Waxland ?" " You did," replied the Prose Bear ; " and perhaps I ought to say that Waxland is dark half the time and light the other half. There is only one day in the year, and half of that day is light, and the other half dark. During the light half, the Feast of Wax Candles, the Feast of Waxed Ends, and other celebra- tions take place. During the dark half all Waxland sleeps." " How is Waxland lighted ?" " By wax, of course," replied the Prose Bear. " It was originally lighted by a wax moon, which used to float around about half a mile above Waxland. It was a round body full of burning wax. Its heat used to enable it to draw wax up from Waxland, and that kept it supplied with fuel." " But how would it go out when the darkness came ?" " Of its own accord, I suppose," said the Prose Bear. " It would grow dimmer and dimmer every day, and then people would begin to get under cover for the night. After it went out it kept going around as usual, but of course was invisible, and simply wasted its time." " But how did the wax moon come to stop ?" asked Tommy. " We never knew, but suppose to this day that its draughts or air-box got shifted out of place. For all of a sudden a shower of wax started, and the wax moon began to grow smaller and smaller, until it finally looked like a white gumdrop. And all the wax set- tled in a great wax hollow, and is now known as the Great Wax Sea. During the day this sea is a sea of 184 A DAY IN WAXLAND fire, just as it was when it was a moon, and at night it is an illuminated body." " Any man in it ?" asked Tommy. " No ; only a fish : this fish used to drink the super- fluous fuel it drew up, to keep the moon from slopping over. And now it swims about in the Great Wax Sea." " What is it called ?" asked Tommy. " It is called the Wax Dolphin, because it is really a doll with fin's. It also wears yellow hair and a blue dress, and sometimes walks on the Great Wax Sea, and sometimes swims along its surface as gracefully as the wind." " But how is Waxland lighted now ?" asked Tommy. " That I would rather not tell you, because you shall soon see it lighted before your very eyes. Do you hear that whizzing sound ?" " Yes," replied Tommy. " What is it ?" " That is the Wax Tapir spinning on his nose." " Oh yes," said Tommy, clapping his hands ; " Mr. Lyric Bear told me all about the Wax Tapir, and the Wax Dolphin, too, in a neat little verse just after I met him. How long does he spin ?" "Until Waxland is pretty well lighted. His whir wakes all the people up. Just hear how loud he is going now !" Tommy listened, and sure enough the Wax Tapir's whir became louder and louder, until it sounded like a saw-mill on a moaning sea-shore. Then the Lyric Bear sang : " When the little Wax Tapir begins To whirl all around on his nose, Oh, it's faster and faster he spins As he fashions his course with his toes. A DAY IN WAXLAND 185 Oh, he wakes the Waxlanders from sleep, And they rush from their pleasant repose To observe the old Wax Tapir keep Spinning swiftly around on his nose." " Oh, look, look !" cried Tommy. And as they turned they saw an excited wax popu- lace waving their wax hats in glee against a delicate orange background. The more the Waxlanders waved their wax hands the faster the Wax Tapir kept spinning. He would disappear down one avenue and appear on another. After he had spun through all the streets, he stopped before the palace, and spun and whirred until a wax attendant ran out and told him the King was awake, and that further whirring would be superfluous. So the Wax Tapir jumped lightly from his nose to his feet, and ran over to join the Prose and Lyric Rears. " I should think you would wear your nose right back to your eyes spinning in that fashion," said Tommy, after he had been introduced to the Wax Tapir. " One would naturally draw that inference," replied the Wax Tapir, " but there is no more danger of my wearing my nose out by spinning on it than there is of your wearing your feet off to the ankles by walk- ing on them." Then they proceeded farther into Waxland. When they reached a beautiful wax hill they paused, and Tommy saw the most wonderful sight of his life. All the wax for miles around was dotted with little balls of fire. Tommy noticed that the ones close to him were lighted wax candles. He couldn't imagine how they ever started, and the most curious part of it all 186 A DAY IN WAXLAND was that as the candles continued to burn they grew higher instead of diminishing. When they got six or eight feet high, branches began to shoot from them in every direction. And from these branches other branches sprang, until each candle was a beautiful wax tree, and the flames on the branches all turned into wax flowers of every color. Ill TOMMY watched with astonishment the wonderful sights that were revealed to him as, in company with his two friends, the Prose and the Lyric Bears, he journeyed towards the Great Wax Sea. Suddenly his attention was arrested by a lot of queer-looking figures. " Oh, what are those men doing ? ' he exclaimed. " They are the hands of the wax doll factory going to work." " Sturdy sons of Waxland soil Going to their daily toil," added his poetical friend. " I should like to see the wax doll factory," said Tommy. " If that sight will be a boon, You shall see it pretty soon," replied the Lyric Bear. So they all started away together, and were soon at the wax doll factory. It was very curious to Tom- my to see all the men at work making wax dolls. One man would make a head, and pass it to another who should put the hair on, and he in turn would give it to one who would insert the eyes and paint the pleasant smile. And so the wax doll would go from one to another until it was complete, dress and all. Tommy was not a little astonished when he heard 188 A DAY IN WAXLAND the wax foreman order a lot of his wax inferiors to go forth to the frontier and gather a ton or two of eyes. Of course he alluded to the pansies that Tommy had seen, and which had been explained to him by the kindly old Prose Bear. After they had departed with their baskets on their arms, there was quite a commotion in the eye de- partment of the wax doll factory. One of the wax workers had got overheated, and was melted into a shapeless mass. He was running all over the floor and settling in the cracks. But the commotion did not last long. The wax man was gathered up and put in a vessel and melted. Then the mould of a man was brought out, and the melted wax poured into it. Then it was put in cold water to harden. "Oh, let me out, let me out !" came a voice from within. " I guess he's all right, now," said the foreman. So the mould was taken out of the cold water and opened, when the man stepped forth, apparently as well as ever. One of his ears was wanting, however, but that was owing to the fact that he was not all gathered from the floor. The ear was probably in the crack. Then it was amusing to see the wax man picking the splinters and nails out of himself that had stuck to the wax and been thrown in and boiled with it. Most of them were forced to the surface in the boil- ing process, and he had little difficulty in removing them. " Does this sort of thing happen very often ?" asked Tommy. " Oh yes," replied the Prose Bear ; " it is not an A DAY IN WAXLAND 191 unusual occurrence ; but sometimes curious complica- tions arise. Not long ago a man was melted, and the only mould in the place was one for a man about twice his size. So they threw the melted man into the vessel, and then melted his brother and threw in with him. The two just filled the mould, and came out a giant, and the wives of both men claimed the giant for a husband. Each one insisted so strongly that her claim was more just than that of the other that Waxem ordered the giant to be melted and run into two smaller moulds. This was done, and each woman had her husband back. Sometimes a poor wax family will take four or five sons, melt them, and run them into a large mould, and make a man of them. On the other hand, a man may have an old grandfather depending on him. He is tooth- less and weary, and in his own way and every one else's. So the grandson humanely has the old man melted and run into children's moulds. One ordinary grandfather will make three ten-year-olds. That is the reason that no one ever dies in Waxland. When a man grows old he is melted and remoulded. Some- times for crime a man is melted and left so for a number of years, after which he is restored to his family by the process of the mould." While Tommy listened aghast to the story of people being melted, the Lyrical Bear sang : "All the Prose Bear's said to you Is iu every detail true. Sometimes will a man melt up Like the sugar in your cup; And whenever he is found Lying melted on the ground, He's remelted in -a pot Till he bubbles round red-hot; 192 A DAY IN WAXLAND Then he's poured into a mould, Where he's left until he's cold ; Then the mould is opened wide, When he steps forth in his pride." The Lyric Bear's indorsement of his friend's state- ment convinced Tommy that it was quite true. In fact, he needed no assurance of the truth of what he had witnessed with his own eyes. Here the Prose Bear began pulling sticks of red sealing-wax out of the ground and eating them. After he had eaten several he pulled down the limbs of a wax -candle tree, and commenced eating candles like sticks of candy. And the Lyric Bear followed suit, and, as he did so, sang : " We eat these waxen candles To lighten all our cares ; So please don't dream or fancy That we are Russian bears." So they continued eating for quite a long while. After they had eaten the candles they proceeded to make a dessert of wax flowers, which were blowing all over the ground. " Oh, oh !" said Tommy. " Oh, oh, what ?" asked the Prose Bear. " Oh, oh, How so?" inquired the Lyric Bear. " There's a red man. Have you wax Indians ?" " Oh no," responded the Prose Bear ; " that man is simply made of red wax. We have people here of all colors. Sometimes a man is a mixture of waxes of every color/' A DAY IN WAXLAND 193 " What is that music ?" asked Tommy. " That is the music of the King's footsteps ; when- ever he puts his foot on the ground, the air is filled with music. It is a way he has of announcing his ap- proach to his subjects. The music of his walk can be heard from one end of Waxland to the other, and it is as audible at the extreme boundaries as it is here." Tommy looked around, but could not see the King, but he could hear the music distinctly as it rippled through the air. " Where is the King, anyhow ?" asked Tommy, as he looked about for him in vain. "We cannot tell exactly where he is," responded the Prose Bear ; " he may be a hundred feet off, and he may be several miles distant. When he is close, you know, the music sounds no louder than when he is far away." " But I think I see him," said Tommy, " down there by that wax-match shrubbery." " Ob, here he comes, oh, here he comes, Snapping his fingers and snapping his thumbs," said the Lyric Bear. And sure enough they saw the King of Waxland coming up the hill, about half a mile away. He was waving his hands in the air as though playing on cas- tanets, and swaying his body in time with the tune his feet played as he walked. "Do his feet always play music?" asked Tommy. " Always," replied the Prose Bear, " except when they are in repose. Sometimes he gives a kick in his sleep, and the music wakens him. I have frequently seen him break into a jig a most undignified act for 13 194 A DAY IN WAXLAND one in his position simply to drown some disagree- able noise." " How many tunes are there in him ?" asked Tommy. " There is a tune for every day," replied the Prose Bear, " that his life may not become a burden to him and every one around him." " But why is not the Queen with him ?" asked Tommy. "Simply because she plays a different tune with each foot," replied the Prose Bear, " and when they become mixed with the King's tune it makes it very confusing, not to say annoying." " Don't they ever walk together ?" asked Tommy. " Never," responded the Prose Bear. " If the Queen goes out with the King, she is carried on the shoulders of half a dozen Waxlanders, because then she cannot play those tunes." " But how is she affected when she goes out alone ?" " She is not affected at all then, because, fortunately, she is deaf." By this time the King was sufficiently hear to re- ceive the salutations of the Prose and Lyric Bears, which he duly returned. Tommy felt a little constrained and ill at ease, be- cause he had never before been in the presence of a wax king. But the Wax King was so pleasant that Tommy soon felt pretty well acquainted with him. As he walked along, the music elicited by his feet happened to be a reel, and the Prose and Lyric Bears joined paws, and kept a short distance before him, and danced as they continued on their way. This amused the Wax King very much, and he laughed heartily, and occasionally changed the time of his steps to see if he could throw the bears out of time. A DAY IN WAXLAND 195 But in this he was not successful, the bears seeming to adapt their steps to any measure that he could create. " I caught a couple of conspirators this morning," said the King. " What was their conspiracy ?" asked the Prose Bear. " They were lying in wait to catch and melt me, and leave me in a heap on the ground." " But that would be murder, would not it ?" asked Tommy. " No," replied the King, " it would not be murder : it would be wax annihilation, for I might lie there for- ever, and if they could find the mould I was cast in, one of them could melt the other and run him into it, and Waxland would never know the difference." " And what did you do with them ?" " Had them melted and recast into wax pigs," said the King. " But how far is it to the Great Wax Sea ?" " It is less than a mile To the Great Wax Sea; If you think it worth while Please to follow me," replied the Lyric Bear. " I have never yet," said the King, " heard that Lyric Bear say anything that did not rhyme, and never yet did I hear him utter anything but the bald- est commonplace. I love both these bears dearly, in spite of their clumsiness and brusque manners. They tell me how my other subjects, the bees, are getting along, and as I never see the bees, of course I could get no news from them. If I could only melt them (the bears) and run them into other moulds, I should be only too happy to turn them into pea- 196 A DAY IN WAXLAND cocks or birds, or anything that might strike their fancy." " But bears are often melted into bear grease," re- plied Tommy, " and you might melt them and mix them with wax, leaving just bear grease enough to sustain life. Then you could gradually add wax until there was no bear grease left, and then you could melt them over, and cast them to suit their fancies." " I am afraid the first melting of the bears would be attended by too great pain; and, besides, I don't believe there is any room for improvement in those bears, so they had better be left just as they stand and dance." " There is the Great Wax Sea," said the Prose Bear. " I don't see it," replied Tommy. " You can't see it until after dark," said the Prose Bear, " because it used to be a moon, and it is really to-day a moon on the ground. It is always invisible in daylight; but just wait until the wax flowers begin to droop, and you will see it in all its opalescent beauty." Then the King said, " Screech up the wax amphi- theatre " The Prose Bear began to bellow the wildest gib- berish to Tommy, and the arena came forth from the ground. After the grand ring had appeared above the ground, or rather wax, seats began to appear around the ring. The large high seat was for the King, and there was one beside him for the Queen. The Lyric Bear stood beside the Queen, and the Prose Bear be- side the King during the festivities. It was the custom of Waxland to spend the day at this place. The King only used his palace to sleep in A DAY IN WAXLAND 197 during the long weary six-month night. When the six-month day dawned, he was ready for a six-month day of pleasure. And he often remained here until the Wax Dolphin could be seen swimming on the Great Wax Sea, which was the signal for retiring for the night. The King had already taken his place, and the Prose Bear stood at his side. The Lyric Bear awaited the coming of the Queen. He had not long to wait, for the faithful subjects of the King were bearing her on their shoulders, that she might not touch the ground and disturb the King's peace of mind by play- ing two tunes simultaneously. The only way she could play but one tune was by hopping, but this was a very tiresome method of locomotion, and the Queen pre- ferred being carried. But when her feet touched the ground, both her tunes started up, and as they did so and she walked, she left a trail of lovely flowers be- hind her. IV WHEREVER the Queen's foot touched the ground a flower sprang immediately into bloom. For this rea- son she could never be lost. It would only be neces- sary to follow her trail of flowers. All her robes were made of flowers woven into a dainty fabric, and the flowers retained all their beauty and freshness, and the Queen looked as though she were made of the souls of flowers by the touch of a magician's wand. Notwith- standing her superb beauty and loveliness, the King stuffed his fingers into his ears as she ascended the wax staircase, and took her place beside him. The Lyric Bear stood at her elbow, with a pleasant smile that literally trickled out of his eyes. The other seats about the great ring were filled with delighted Wax- landers. Tommy stood beside the Lyric Bear and held his paw, as he, the Lyric Bear, was his guide. Then two doors opened on one side of the ring, and the Wax Tapir came hopping out on his nose, and com- menced whirling around the ring, and making the same whirring sound that he had made when awaken- ing Waxland. He soon attained such speed that he became invisible. But if he became invisible, he cer- tainly did not become inaudible. He seemed to turn into a circle of sound. " What is the Wax Tapir doing that for ?" " He is waking up the wax animals," replied the A DAY IN WAXLAND 199 King ; " they will perform various acts for our pleas- ure, according to custom, as soon as they are wide awake." " But where is the Wax Tapir now ?" asked Tommy. " He has gone out," replied the King ; " that is, he has spun himself asleep, and will not awake and be- come visible until to-morrow morning six months hence, when it will be time to wake Waxland again. You know the Wax Tapir lets us know when it is time to arise for the day, and the Wax Dolphin when it is time to retire for the night." " But where is the Great Wax Sea ?" asked Tommy. " The Great Wax Sea," said the King, " is situated in the middle of this great ring. There is only a track for the wax animals to run on, about twenty feet wide, extending around the outside of the sea. Of course you cannot see the Great Wax Sea, sometimes called the Moon Sea, because the light of day makes it in- visible. But look !" The doors from which the Wax Tapir had emerged opened again, and about a thousand storks filed out and bowed to the King. Then they began running around the ring as hard as they could go. Around, around they went, increas- ing their speed as much as possible. Each wax stork seemed to be running as if for its life, and yet it was impossible to see which was ahead. " What are they running for ?" asked Tommy, in a mystified way. " They are running to see who is to be the King of the wax storks," replied the King. " But how can they find the King in that way ?" " Very simply ; they are running to melt their legs off. The stork whose legs are melted off first will 200 A DAY IN WAXLAND make known the fact by swimming in the now invis- ible Moon Sea, and as soon as he touches the Moon Sea he will turn into a black swan, and the Wax Dol- phin will touch his head, upon which will blaze a golden crown." Then they turned their attention to the storks, who were still running with might and main to gain the coveted golden crown. Some wobbled sideways, be- cause one leg had melted more than the other. And it was plain to be seen that the storks were not as tall as when they commenced, as their legs had melted off fully a foot; and-they kept getting shorter and shorter, until the storks looked like turkeys with the excep- tion of their bills. Suddenly they all stopped. "The race is over, The King is found ; He's in wax clover Because he's crowned," sang the Lyric Bear. And sure enough, while the unsuccessful storks flapped their wings and screeched in acknowledgment of defeat, a beautiful shining jet-black swan floated across the bosom of the invisible Moon Sea, and when it had swum out a long distance a golden crown sud- denly appeared on its head, and the spectators knew that it had been put there by the hand of the lovely but invisible Wax Dolphin. Then the other storks rose and flew away in a great flock to have their legs renewed. Meanwhile the King Stork floated about as gracefully as a gondola, and seemed greatly pleased with its new position. But in a little while it seemed to tire of the Moon Sea, and to A DAY IN WAXLAND 201 long for the companionship of its old friends, for it rose from the sea, and flew away in the direction that they had taken. When the King Stork was out of sight, Tommy wondered what was going to happen next ; but he had not a great while to wait, for no sooner had the Lyric Bear made a humorous observation that it would be an injustice to him to repeat, than the doors from which the storks had come opened, and a little island, so densely covered with flowers that it seemed sim- ply a heap of blossoms, floated out, and did not be- come stationary until about fifty feet in front of the King. The island seemed to float in the air, and all admired it, even the bears, who dreamed of honey when they saw tke lovely flowers ; for they suggested honey, al- though they were simply wax. " Whose little island is that, Mr. Prose Bear ?" asked Tommy Hawk, with a look of surprise and joy. " That is the flower bower of the Little Wax Day- maker." " What does he do ?" " Why, he makes the days, of course ; not the days of Waxland, but the days of your world." Then the Little Wax Day-maker appeared. He was a very dainty personage, and was black, white, gray, and yellow. The black represented the dark or rainy days ; the white, the snowy days of winter ; the gray, the overcast, doubtful days ; and the yellow, the days of perfect sunshine. Tommy was greatly pleased with the appearance of this little wax fairy, and did not fail to praise him in the warmest terms. Then a white bird flew out of the bank of flowers. 202 A DAY IN WAXLAND " That is a day of snow," said the Prose Bear, as the white bird vanished in the sky. Then a black bird flew out. " That is a day of pattering rain and wailing wind," remarked the Prose Bear. " I hope that is not a Saturday, when there is no school," said Tommy. Then out flew a white bird, followed by a gray one, and so they kept on, until three hundred and sixty- five birds had vanished in the sky. The Prose Bear kept an account, and told Tommy just how many fine and how many rainy days he would have next year. Then a big gold bowl, fringed with lilies and roses, appeared above the flowers. The Little Wax Day-maker sat gracefully on the rim and stirred the flowers within with a long green ladle, that was really a hollyhock. " What is he going to do now, Mr. Prose Bear ?" " He is now the Little Wax Dream-maker," replied the Prose Bear ; "and he is going to make the dreams that the King and Queen are going to have to-night, which is some four or five of your months distant from the present time." "He plucks a flower as white as snow, Up into the air to lightly throw, And when it turns in its flight to fall, It will suddenly burst like a big puff-ball, And pictures will out of that flower stream, And they'll show us our goodly King's next dream," sang the Lyric Bear. When he had ceased, the Little Wax Dream-maker tossed a great shining wax lily into the air, and as it turned to descend, it burst like a rocket, and the King A DAY IN WAXLAND 203 knew the dream he was going to have that night, al- though the night was several months off. He could see himself as the King of the band of Head-cheese wandering over the Head-cheese Mount- ains, hated and despised by all his subjects. He was an unbearable tyrant, and all his subjects detested him, and longed for the time that they could chop him up and make head -cheese of him. Even the beasts hated him, and finally they agreed to put an end to him. The animals all began to chase him. An elephant was right on his track, and the King, out of breath, was making for a narrow passage-way under some trees that the elephant's girth would prevent him from passing through. But the elephant had the power to lose or gain flesh at will, so, by the time ho reached the trees, instead of being a regular thick-set elephant, he was stretched out until he was a hundred feet long and no thicker than an alligator. So he flew right along after the King, whose royal robes lay on the air like a table-cloth. The King thought if he could only run up the mountain, the elephant's weight would tell on him so that he would be obliged to abandon the chase. Of course the King did not know of the elephant's power to lose flesh at will, or he would have pursued a different method. So when he started up the side of the Head-cheese Mountain he felt that he would shortly be out of his pursuer's reach. This thought was quickly dissipated when he looked around and saw the elephant reduced to the proportions of a greyhound, and coming after him like the wind. Finally the King, in his great effort to escape, stumbled, and instead of arising and struggling on, sat perfectly still, so great was his exhaustion. And 204 A DAY IN WAXLAND the elephant stood still, too ; for he had to catch the King flying, or not at all. The elephant could not move unless the King moved, and as soon as the Kino- was aware of that, he continued to sit still until o he could summon assistance. But before he could do so, all the land of Head-cheese came to life ; that is, it was all restored to its original condition of pighood. The pigs all ran around and shrieked, because the pepper and spices of the head-cheese were in their systems, and caused them great pain. So great was this pain that they determined to avenge themselves on the King. But they could go no nearer to him than the ele- phant did ; and, unlike the elephant, they could not sit or lie down, because the spices and peppers k