THE DANCING PEARL

Upon his vision burst a band of coal-black savages

"Oh," he gasped, "goodness gracious!" Then turning about he started to run away as fast as he could, but when you are surrounded by savages it is not so easy to run away, and presently Frip found himself running around and around the bonfire in the opposite direction to that taken by the Gingerbread Man, each one of them pursued by a towering cannibal. And no one knows how long they might have kept it up if at last the Gingerbread Man had not bumped into him, cracking himself badly and almost knocking the Prince down. And at this the cannibals howled with glee.

"Now," said the Cannibal Chief, as he watched Frip trying to get his breath, "perhaps you'll tell me why you ran so. Was it because we shocked you? I was afraid we would."

"Well," said Frip, "you certainly did sort of shock me. And then—"

"I knew it," said the other. "That's the reason we make ourselves invisible when strangers are about. We hate to shock folks. Listen."

We always try with all our mightTo keep completely out of sightWhen folks like you, got up in style,Come visiting this desert isle.For well we know that we at bestAre far from being overdressed.And so until we get a chanceTo find a way to get some pants,And maybe too, a fancy vestAnd derby hats, and all the rest,All we can do is weave a spellAnd make ourselves invis-i-ble.

We always try with all our mightTo keep completely out of sightWhen folks like you, got up in style,Come visiting this desert isle.For well we know that we at bestAre far from being overdressed.

We always try with all our might

To keep completely out of sight

When folks like you, got up in style,

Come visiting this desert isle.

For well we know that we at best

Are far from being overdressed.

And so until we get a chanceTo find a way to get some pants,And maybe too, a fancy vestAnd derby hats, and all the rest,All we can do is weave a spellAnd make ourselves invis-i-ble.

And so until we get a chance

To find a way to get some pants,

And maybe too, a fancy vest

And derby hats, and all the rest,

All we can do is weave a spell

And make ourselves invis-i-ble.

"That," said the Cannibal Chief, "covers the case completely. In other words, we're the most refined savages you ever met."

"Then," said Frip, "if you're so refined, what do you want to be cannibals for? And why do you wish to eat that poor Gingerbread Man? That's not very refined."

"Not very refined—I admit it," responded the Cannibal Chief, "but very necessary, for meals come before manners. And speaking of meals, I was thinking of asking you to join us at dinner. We'll have the Gingerbread Man for dessert."

"Oh," cried Frip, "I couldn't think of eating the Gingerbread Man, though I must say he smells awfully good when he's warmed up."

"That's all right," said the Cannibal Chief, "you won't have to eat the Gingerbread Man, in fact, you won't be here to do it. We're going to eat you first."

Now if Frip had chanced to sit down on a hornet and the hornet had got mad about it, it would certainly have made him jump, but nothing to what the remarks of the Cannibal Chief did. Indeed they almost froze him stiff and his eyes fairly popped out of his head.

"Eh?" he gasped—"why—what—say—why you—you don't mean to eat—eatme?"

"If you will join us at dinner—yes," said the Cannibal Chief, politely. "But of course if you have another dinner engagement—"

"I have," put in Frip, hastily, "I have a whole lot of 'em. And—and I'm not a bit hungry, so I simplycould notjoin you at dinner."

"Well, supper then, or breakfast," responded the Cannibal Chief. "We'll call it whatever you want. We'll even call it a little side snack, if you wish. You surely can't have engagements for every one of those things."

"Yes, I have," said the Prince, desperately, edging away. "I have engagements for everything, day and night. I haven't a second to spare. And besides, my father, the Emperor of Fizz, is waiting for me to take a walk and if you stop me he'll—he'll put you in prison."

"Pooh," put in the Gingerbread Man, suddenly, "his father isn't here."

"I didn't say he was," replied Frip, "but he's waiting for me at home."

"Oh, at home, eh?" said the Cannibal Chief. "Well, that's quite another matter. Lots of things are waiting at home. No doubt a taxicab is waiting for your father outside his palace. And I dare say there's a woodpile in your backyard waiting for you to do some chopping. And your mother, no doubt, is waiting for you to come back. And the hired girl is probably waiting on the table. But here, nothing waits. So you and your friend, the Gingerbread Man, kindly back up against that real estate sign and let the fire grill you a little. We don't care forcoldmeals."

Well, you can easily imagine in what frame of mind the Prince was when he heard that. Here was a fine ending to his adventure. When he had asked for a desert island he had expected to have an exciting time of it but not this sort.

"My, oh my!" he groaned. "I wish I had stayed at home and played with my regular play-things and not asked for a desert island. This is what comes of wanting something that isn't meant for boys."

"Yes," said the Gingerbread Man, "and this is what comes of landing on something that isn't meant for gingerbread men. I wish now I had stayed on that Christmas tree."

"Well," said Frip, as the cannibals pushed him back to back with the Gingerbread Man, "I'm sorry we quarreled over those building lots."

"Don't mention it," said the Gingerbread Man, "andI'msorry you are going to be eaten ahead of me."

Then they shook hands solemnly, and the Gingerbread Man's hand was so soft and sticky that one of the fingers came off in Frip's clasp. And just for a moment Frip thought of eating it, for he had had no breakfast that morning, and then shocked that he should think of such a thing, he tossed it away.

The next instant one of the cannibals picked it up. "Yum, yum," he exclaimed as he took a bite. Then he passed the morsel on to another of the band, and before the finger had gone half around, the whole group of cannibals were simply wild over the delicious flavor of the Gingerbread Man.

"Ow! Yow!" they shrieked. "Gibblety! Goody!"

Then with another shriek they all rushed at the poor Gingerbread Man and tearing him away from the horror stricken Prince, commenced to gobble him up as fast as they could. And because there was so little of him and so many of them, each one of the cannibals fell to fighting the other in order to get his share of the tempting meal. And long after the last crumb of the Gingerbread Man had disappeared, they were still fighting furiously, until, as cannibals when they start to fight never know how to stop, they killed each other, and Frip was the only person left alive on the beach of the desert island.

And when that happened you may be sure it did not take him long to wade out to his boat and set sail for home, for he had had quite enough ofthatplace.

"Hello," said the royal necromancer, feeling very much annoyed as the Prince landed on the imaginary shore in front of his father's palace, "how on earth did you get back so soon? You should have stayed longer. You've missed seeing a lot of things."

"I don't care if I did," said Frip, "for what Ididsee was quite enough." And when he said that it seemed to him he could still hear the whoops of the invisible cannibals as they scrambled for the crumbs of the Gingerbread Man.

"Oh, ho," said Wist the Wise, smiling cheerily, "then you don't care for imaginary islands, eh?"

"No," said Frip, "I don't. That is, I don't except in story books."

The Dancing Pearl was the name of a beautiful lady, and she danced every evening and Saturday afternoons in the palace of the Viceroy of Chow Chow. That is, she did until the Hermit of Hong carried her off by stealth one night to his cave in the mountains.

Now the Hermit of Hong hated crowds and conversation, but he adored music and dancing, and after he had stolen the Dancing Pearl he just used to sit and bang the cymbals while he smoked his water pipe and watched the Dancing Pearl dance until it made his eyes swim. And he never gave a thought to the way the Viceroy must feel at being deprived of his dancing girl. But if the Hermit did not dwell upon the matter, the Viceroy did, and the minute he found the Dancing Pearl was gone, he went to see the celebrated Mongolian wizard, Hoo Hoo, who had his office on the main street of Chow Chow.

But when he entered the wizard's office he was much disappointed to find that the wizard had just gotten married and that his wife would not let him take any case which had a lady in it.

"I'm awfully sorry," said the wizard to the Viceroy, "but as you are a married man yourself, you can easily understand my position."

"Of course, of course," replied the Viceroy, impatiently, "but that does not get me back my dancing girl, and I must have her back. There is no one like her. She is the poetry of motion and the soul of ecstasy. I'll give half my fortune to get her back."

"Well, in that case," said Hoo Hoo, "I'll have to take the job, for the half of your fortune added to mine will make me a very rich man. But I can only do the work by proxy—that is, my apprentice will have to do it under my direction—for I positively will not hurt my wife's feelings, not even for the half of your fortune."

Then he struck a gong and into the room walked a bright looking boy about eight years old with his pigtail neatly curled about his head.

Floo the wizard at work.

"This," said the wizard, "is my apprentice, Floo. I'll put him on the case."

"Not much," exclaimed the Viceroy. "Why, he is only a boy. You seem to think this affair of mine is mere child's play."

"Oh, no, I don't," said the wizard, "and if you think Floo is a child, you are very much mistaken. He has been taught his trade very, very carefully. Why, he can even tell how many hairs there are in your pigtail. Tell him, Floo."

And Floo, after examining the Viceroy's pigtail for a few moments, told him there were 3,672,491 hairs in it.

"There," said the wizard, proudly, "what do you think of that?"

"But," said the Viceroy, "how do I know he's right?"

"Well," responded the wizard, "how do you know he's wrong? Have you ever counted the hairs in your pigtail, eh?"

"N—o," said the Viceroy, slowly, "but—"

"Then," said the wizard, "the less said the better."

So Floo was picked out to solve the mystery of the disappearance of the Dancing Pearl, and the first thing the wizard did was to give him a list of people in Chow Chow that might have carried off the dancing girl.

"To save time," he said, "you'd better turn 'em all into turnips at once, and then tell 'em you'll turn 'em back again if they'll confess their crime."

But after Floo had turned all the people into turnips and told them he would turn them back if they confessed, he found that every one of them confessed without a moment's hesitation, which made things very confusing, for when you transform a thousand persons and each one says he stole a dancing girl when only one dancing girl was stolen, you do not know what to think. So the wizard told Floo he had better give up that line of investigation.

"Now," continued the wizard, "the next thing is to know what to do? What do you think?"

"Well," said Floo, "I believe it would be a good plan to pick out the person you think would never do such a thing as steal a dancing girl and go after him. And after you find him you'll probably find he did it. That is the way it always happens in the story books I've read."

"All right," said Hoo Hoo, "suppose we try it. But it's going to be a tough job, I'm afraid."

And indeed it was, for Floo and the wizard thought and thought until their heads ached trying to recall a person in Chow Chow who would not care to steal the Viceroy's dancing girl, but at last Floo gave a shout.

"I have it," he cried. "I know of one person nobody would ever suspect, and that is the Hermit of Hong. He hates everybody—ladies most of all—and the only thing he enjoys is being by himself. So if the story books are right he must be the one who carried off the Dancing Pearl. I think I'll go to see him."

"Go ahead, then," said the wizard. Then he handed Floo a book bound in leather. "Here," he said, "are a few simple instructions how to turn things into other things. I would suggest that you turn the Hermit into a lemon if you find it necessary. Good-by and good luck!"

So Floo set off for the Hermit's cave and when he got there he found, as you already know, that the Hermit of Honghadstolen the Dancing Pearl, and was enjoying himself immensely as he watched her whirl about.

He watched her whirl about

"Sir," demanded Floo, sternly, "what do you mean by such behavior? I thought you were a hermit. And besides, don't you know that the Dancing Pearl belongs to the Viceroy of Chow Chow?"

The Hermit of Hong laughed scornfully as he put down his cymbals and laid aside his pipe. "Belongs to the Viceroy of Chow Chow? You mean,didbelong to the Viceroy of Chow Chow. She belongs to me now. And as for you, whoever you are, get out of my cave before I throw a toad at you." Then he clashed his cymbals again and the Dancing Pearl went on with her dancing.

Now you may think that Floo would have been discouraged to meet with such a reception, but such was not the case, for he had not been trained by the celebrated Mongolian wizard for nothing. No sir-ee, it took much more than that to discourage him. So all he did was to take out his book of instructions and look it over. Then he put some figures down on a piece of paper, after which he wiggled his fingers a moment and stamped his foot, and the Hermit of Hong was transformed into a large and very yellow looking lemon. And the moment that happened the Dancing Pearl stopped dancing and rushed up to Floo with a cry of joy.

"Oh," she panted, all out of breath from her late exertions. "I'msoglad you came. I'm completely worn out."

"I should think so," said Floo. "Have you been dancing ever since that old thing carried you off?"

"Yes," said the Dancing Pearl; "not even stopping for meals."

"Well," said Floo, "just you rest yourself and then we'll start back to the Viceroy's palace."

Then he told the Dancing Pearl who he was and why Hoo Hoo had sent him. "Of course," he continued, "the wizard will make much more money than I will out of this job, but I think I'll get my salary raised anyhow. And if I keep on being successful as I have been this time, I shouldn't be surprised if I made a big enough salary after awhile to get married. And if I ever get married I know who I'd like to marry."

And when he said that the Dancing Pearl hung her head and turned very pink. "Oh," she murmured, "I'm much too old for you. I'm almost twelve."

"What of it?" cried Floo, "I'm going on nine."

So the Dancing Pearl and the wizard's apprentice decided to get married as soon as Floo made enough money to support them, and they were so taken up with their planning that they quite forgot the Hermit of Hong who had been turned into a lemon. But if they had forgotten about the Hermit, the Hermit had not forgotten about himself, and the minute Floo turned him into a lemon he began to turn himself into something else. Of course what he would have liked to do best would have been to turn himself back into a hermit, but when you have been transformed into something, you cannot turn yourself back into what you were first unless you have attended a college of magic. And as luck would have it, the Hermit of Hong had never been to college, and what little magic he knew he had picked up himself. Therefore, the only thing he could do was to turn himself into something worse than what he was. And as long as he could not be the Hermit of Hong and have the Dancing Pearl dance for him, he decided he might as well get even by being transformed into something that would stand in the way of Floo having the Dancing Pearl, so he turned himself into a monstrous Grammarsaurus or ancient Iff, for he knew if anything could stand in the way of a person doing something he wanted to, an Iff could, because an Iff not only stood in the way but it had the most disconcerting eyes. Yes, indeed, its eyes made you so dizzy after you had gazed into them a moment you fell down in a heap, whereupon the Grammarsaurus devoured you eagerly. But if you did not look into the creature's eyes you were all right, for the Grammarsaurus could not eat anything unless it was perfectly still. You see he had to keep his eyes shut while he was eating, because if he looked at what he was eating it went around and around, and it is awfully hard to make a meal of anything that is going around and around.

But of course Floo and the Dancing Pearl knew nothing about ancient Iffs and their habits. All they knew was that they adored each other and wanted to get married, and when the Hermit turned himself from a lemon into an immense creature that half filled the cavern, you may be sure they were very much startled.

"Oh," cried the Dancing Pearl, as the Grammarsaurus gave a snort that made the cave tremble, "what's that?"

"What's what?" asked Floo, turning about. And then whenhesaw the ancient Iff you can well believe he said "oh" also.

"My gracious," he gasped, "how did that thing get in here? And—and where is the lemon I made out of the Hermit?"

"That," said the Grammarsaurus, icily, "is a mystery that I can easily solve. I am the hermit, likewise the lemon, and also something else beside as you may observe."

"I should say you were," said the Dancing Pearl. "I never saw such a monster."

And then as she looked into the creature's eyes she felt a slight dizziness coming over her and found herself swaying, but as she was a dancer and accustomed to whirling about, the feeling passed off in a moment and she was as well as ever.

"Huh!" said the ancient Iff disgustedly, "why don't you turn giddy and fall down in a heap so I can eat you? Everybody does that when they look into my eyes."

"Maybe they do," replied the Dancing Pearl, "but I don't. I'm too accustomed to whirling about to get dizzy so easy, so you'll have to make a meal of something else."

"All right," growled the monster, glaring at Floo, "then I'll eat your gentleman friend."

"Well, I guess not," said Floo. "Idon't intend to look into your ugly old eyes, no sir-ee."

"Oh, don't you?" said the ancient Iff. "Indeed!" And with that he began to sing in a voice like a dozen bass drums:

In days of old when knights were boldAnd dragons held their sway,The knights all fought as warriors oughtTo end the dragons' day.And though the dragons spouted flameThe knights they whipped 'em just the same.But in the days before the crazeFor killing dragons flourished,There were no tiffs with ancient IffsFor Iffs were too well nourished.And though some might ignore their size,None could ignore their goo-goo eyes.So have a care—likewise beware,And look at me just so—You have no chance! My flashing glanceWill follow where you go.Gaze in my eyes—get busy,And let yourself grow dizzy.

In days of old when knights were bold

And dragons held their sway,

The knights all fought as warriors ought

To end the dragons' day.

And though the dragons spouted flame

The knights they whipped 'em just the same.

But in the days before the crazeFor killing dragons flourished,There were no tiffs with ancient IffsFor Iffs were too well nourished.And though some might ignore their size,None could ignore their goo-goo eyes.

But in the days before the craze

For killing dragons flourished,

There were no tiffs with ancient Iffs

For Iffs were too well nourished.

And though some might ignore their size,

None could ignore their goo-goo eyes.

So have a care—likewise beware,And look at me just so—You have no chance! My flashing glanceWill follow where you go.Gaze in my eyes—get busy,And let yourself grow dizzy.

So have a care—likewise beware,

And look at me just so—

You have no chance! My flashing glance

Will follow where you go.

Gaze in my eyes—get busy,

And let yourself grow dizzy.

As the Grammarsaurus sang the last verse, Floo, to his horror, found himself looking into the monster's glaring eyes, and the minute he did that he began to feel giddier and giddier.

"Phew!" he cried, "I—I—I feel so wobbly I can hardly keep my feet."

"Ha, ha," chuckled the ancient Iff, "of course you do. And presently you'll feel even more wobbly, and then—"

He turned to the Dancing Pearl. "Here," he remarked, "is where I eat your gentleman friend as I said I would. I guess you wish now he hadn't tried to take you from me when I was a hermit, don't you?"

"Indeed I do not," retorted the Dancing Pearl, "for I am not going to let you eat my gentleman friend. Your eyes may make him dizzy but unless he falls in a heap you cannot eat him. And as I never get giddy I shall hold him up."

And with that she put her arm about Floo's neck and drew his arm about her waist, and though his legs were very, very unsteady she managed to keep him from falling while the Grammarsaurus walked about smacking his lips enviously.

"Now look here," he said to the Dancing Pearl, "you seem to forget this is a private matter between your gentleman friend and myself, and I cannot see why you mix in it, I really cannot."

"Well, maybe you can't," replied the Dancing Pearl, "but I can. So you might as well shoo yourself away."

Then because the ancient Iff's song had so enchanted Floo he could not even close his eyes but simplyhadto keep on looking at the monster, she threw her beautiful hand-embroidered handkerchief over his face, and presently the effect of the Grammarsaurus's stare passed away and Floo felt much better.

"Now," said the Dancing Pearl, "if I were you I'd look in my book of instructions and turn this nasty old thing into something less dangerous."

Floo groaned. "I can't," he replied. "This book only tells how to transform a person or a thingonce. You see, Hoo Hoo did not think I would have to do it more than once."

"But," said the Dancing Pearl, "I don't see why you cannot transform this Grammarsaurus. You never transformed him before."

"Yes, I did," responded Floo. "I turned the Hermit into a lemon, and this monster is only a continuation of the lemon. In other words, the Hermit was first a lemon and now he's a Grammarsaurus, and the book doesn't tell how to transform him again."

Well, you may be sure this tickled the ancient Iff very much. As Floo and the Dancing Pearl conversed he had been listening with all his might, and when he heard Floo confess that he did not know how to transform the monster into anything else the ancient Iff gave a loud cheer and capered about gleefully.

"My, my," he exclaimed, "but I have got you two in a fix. I may not be able to make you so dizzy you'll fall down and I can eat you, but that is no reason why I cannot scrouge you so I'll be able to gobble you up after a while."

And with that he began to crowd them against the walls of the cave something awful. It was just like having a house trying to walk over you, and Floo and the Dancing Pearl had to step lively to keep out of the monster's way.

"If we can only get outside," panted Floo, "I believe I can fix him, for I've thought of a plan."

"All right," said the Dancing Pearl, "I'll run to the back of the cave and when he comes after me you run outside and before he can squash me I'll join you."

"But," said Floo, "are you quite sure you can do it?"

"Yes, indeed," replied the girl. "I'm as light as a feather on my feet. I haven't been a dancer for nothing."

And sure enough, when the Grammarsaurus, puffing and snorting, tried to scrouge her to nothing at the rear of the cave, she sprang swiftly aside, and in a moment was beside Floo outside the entrance. And then, just as the furious creature was galloping toward the door of the cavern to try to crush them outside, Floo, looking in his book, wiggled his fingers and repeated hastily:

Cave, bar the monster's rage—Four, three, two, one.Cave, turn into a cage—Do, do it, doing, done.

Cave, bar the monster's rage—

Four, three, two, one.

Cave, turn into a cage—

Do, do it, doing, done.

Then he stamped his foot, and bing—instead of a rocky cave there stood before them a fine, big, iron cage, strong enough to hold anything, and inside of it was the Grammarsaurus.

"Oh," cried the Dancing Pearl, "what a delightful idea!"

"Yes," said Floo, "I just happened to think that even if I couldn't transform the Grammarsaurus there was no reason why I could not transform the cave. So I did."

"Yes," put in the Grammarsaurus, "I see you did." And after that he would not say another word, but sat and sat, and chewed his tail in vexation.

"Now," said Floo, "let's start for the Viceroy's palace."

So off they went, and when they got there the Viceroy of Chow Chow was beside himself with joy.

"Welcome, poetry of motion and soul of ecstasy!" he cried, swinging the Dancing Pearl high in the air.

And then when he learned how Floo had rescued her and how he wanted to marry her, the Viceroy said he had no objection whatever, provided Floo would let his wife dance at the palace whenever the Viceroy wanted her to. And as for the Grammarsaurus, he would be glad to buy the creature, cage and all, to put in the private zoo he had.

So the Grammarsaurus was brought to Chow Chow and placed on exhibition, and Floo and the Dancing Pearl lived happily ever afterwards on the generous sum that the Viceroy paid for him.

Once there was a little boy named Ting who, as this story opens, was just celebrating his eighth birthday. And you may be sure it was a pretty fine birthday celebration because Ting was the Crown Prince of Pouf and heir to the throne.

"Now, Ting," said his father the King, as they stood at the palace window watching the magnificent parade given in the Prince's honor, "I have another surprise for you. I am going to give you a chance to prove your princely courage by rescuing the Inherited Princess from the enchanted castle."

Then he told Ting that hundreds and hundreds of years ago, this Princess, who was just about Ting's age and quite beautiful, had been carried off by her uncle, a celebrated scoundrel with a magical education, and shut up in an enchanted castle with a twenty-headed Gallopus to guard her.

"My," said the Prince, "she must be quite an old lady by this time."

"No, indeed," said the King, "she is just as young as ever. One never grows old in an enchanted castle. But ifshedidn't grow old the wicked uncle did, so much so that he finally died of it. Then as no one had ever found a way to rescue the Princess, and as her uncle had stated in his will that she was not to be set free until she was rescued, the heirs of the wicked uncle had to let things go on as they were, so the Princess still remains in the castle with the twenty-headed Gallopus on guard."

"But," said Ting, "doesn't a Gallopus ever grow old?"

"Not that I ever heard of," replied the King, "or at least this one does not, for he still sits in the same spot in the castle yard as he did before I was born."

"Phew!" exclaimed Ting, "he must be a terrible creature."

"Well," said the monarch, "he isn't a thing to be trifled with. And that is the reason I think it would be fine for you to celebrate your birthday by fighting him and setting the Princess free. Don't you?"

"H'mm," murmured the Prince, "I don't know. I can think of other things I would much rather do."

"Why, I am surprised," said the King. "I should think you'd begladof the chance. I only wish some one had suggested the idea onmyeighth birthday. Just think how famous you'll be if you conquer the twenty-headed Gallopus."

"Yes," said Ting, "but just think how I'll be if I don't."

"Pooh! Pooh!" remarked the Prime Minister, who sat on the other side of Ting, "that's no way for a prince to talk, especially as we've announced to the public that you are about to rescue the Inherited Princess from the enchanted castle."

"Yes," said the King, "and every one is talking about it, so you can't back out unless you wish to disgrace me."

The minute the parade was over he started off.

And of course, as Ting had no desire to bring disgrace upon his family, he saw he would have to fight the twenty-headed Gallopus whether he liked it or not, though how he was ever going to do it, he could not imagine. However, as the longer he thought about the matter the more discouraged he became, he finally decided to go and have a look at the monster and see what his chances were. So the minute the parade was over, he started off.

Now a twenty-headed Gallopus is shaped like a star with twenty points, and on each point is a head. And each head has two pop eyes, two big ears, a wide mouth with a complete collection of long, sharp teeth, and a turned up nose. And when a twenty-headed Gallopus wishes to show a person that he doesnotcare for his society, he turns slowly about and stares at him fixedly with his forty eyes, which makes a person feelveryuncomfortable. So you can easily imagine how Ting felt when he reached the enchanted castle and confronted the twenty-headed Gallopus in the courtyard.

"Well," cried the twenty-headed Gallopus, speaking with about ten of his heads and making a fearful racket, "what do you want around here?"

Whereupon the Prince told him how he was expected to rescue the Inherited Princess, and had come to see what the Gallopus looked like before he started to work.

"Oh, you did, did you?" roared the monster. "Well, what do you think?"

"I think," said Ting, "that you're the most awful thing I ever saw. You're enough to guard a dozen princesses and it isn't fair to ask a little boy of eight to fight you."

"It's not only not fair," said the Gallopus, "but it's downright mean, not to say ridiculous." Then he laughed with all his heads at once until the ground actually trembled. "Don't you know," he went on, "that I'd have to lose every one of my heads before the Princess could be freed? Even if you chopped off one or two it would be no use. I must loseallof them before the spell is broken."

And with that he burst into a rollicking ditty—

Three rousing cheers for a job like mine,For I must confess it is simply fineTo sit all day and take your easeAnd just do nothing as long as you please.For who would dare to brave my wrath?And who would dare to cross my pathTo try and win this princess fair?Oh, can you tell me who would dare?

Three rousing cheers for a job like mine,

For I must confess it is simply fine

To sit all day and take your ease

And just do nothing as long as you please.

For who would dare to brave my wrath?

And who would dare to cross my path

To try and win this princess fair?

Oh, can you tell me who would dare?

"Well," said the twenty-headed Gallopus, when he had finished, "can you tell me whowoulddare?"

"No," said Ting, "I can't. I thought maybeIwould, but I've changed my mind."

"And quite right, too," said the monster, "you show good sense, for it is certainly foolish to attempt what is impossible. And besides, the Princess is very happy in the castle anyway."

"How do you know?" asked the Prince.

"Well," said the Gallopus, "she has never complained, and even if she did I would be too bashful to listen to her. I don't know what it is, but it makes me dreadfully nervous to talk to girls. I get so confused and everything. Do you?"

"Oh, no," said Ting, "I like to talk to girls."

The twenty-headed Gallopus looked at him admiringly. "Hum," he said, "you're much braver than I thought you were. No wonder you thought you could fight me. And now I think you had better run along back home for I want to take a little nap."

But Ting had no intention of running back home just then, no indeed, for chancing to look up at the castle windows he had seen the Princess peeping out at him. And one sight of her was enough to make him want to stay there forever. So he told the twenty-headed Gallopus not to mind him but to go ahead and take his nap.

"I won't disturb you," he said. "I'll be just as quiet as a mouse."

"Very well," replied the Gallopus, "if you'll promise solemnly not to make any noise or chop off any of my heads, I'll do it, for I need the sleep. One of my heads had a headache last night and it kept all the others awake."

And with that he wobbled into his cave and began to snore like twenty locomotives all starting from the station at once.

"My gracious!" gasped the Prince, "he needn't worry about the noiseImake."

Then he hurried across the courtyard until he came to the window where the Princess was sitting.

"Hello," he shouted at the top of his lungs. "How do you do?"

"Very well, thank you," screamed the Princess, leaning out of the window. "Isn't it dreadful the noise that old Gallopus makes?"

"Terrible," yelled Ting, thinking how lovely she was, all pink in the face from shouting so. "I've come to rescue you."

"Oh, isn't that splendid!" shrieked the Princess, smiling at him. "Do you think you can do it?"

"Sure," bawled Ting, "I'll find out some way. I didn't think I could at first, but since I'veseenyou, I've simplygotto."

And when he said that the Inherited Princess grew pinker than ever and did not seem to know what to say. But even if she had known what to say she probably would not have said it for all of a sudden the snoring stopped and the twenty-headed Gallopus came hurrying out of his cave as mad as could be.

"Didn't you tell me you wouldn't make any noise?" he demanded of Ting, angrily. "You said if I took a nap you'd be as quiet as a mouse, and yet you've made such a rumpus it woke me up. Such a hooting and tooting I never heard."

"That wasn't me," said Ting. "That was you—snoring."

"I—snoring?" howled the monster, furiously. "Oh, that's—that's the worst insult yet. I never snore, sir, never. I—I wouldn't know a snore if I heard one. And even if Ididsnore it would sound like a harp or something like that, and not like a roll of musketry. The idea, telling me I snore!"

Thereupon, with every one of his twenty heads snarling, and his body whirling about like a pin-wheel, the Gallopus started for the Prince. And the minute he started the Prince started also, in the opposite direction.

"Oh," shrieked the Princess, "he'll eat you."

"He'd—he'd better not," cried Ting, running around and around the courtyard as fast as he could.

"Bah!" shouted the Gallopus, "don't tellmewhat I'd better not do. And stop running so. How am I ever going to catch you if you run around so?"

All of which showed what a silly old thing the twenty-headed Gallopus was, for he might have known that Ting wouldnotstop running around. Indeed, he ran so fast that the monster finally stopped and stood panting with his forty cheeks all puffed out. And then it was that the Princess leaned out of the window, extended her hand, and Ting, giving a leap, seized it and jumped in at the casement where she sat.

"Now," he jeered at the monster, "catch me if you can."

"I don't need to catch you," replied the twenty-headed Gallopus, calmly, "the enchanted castle has caught you and that's enough, as you'll soon find out."

"Why, what do you mean?" asked the Prince, in a tone of alarm.

"Oh, nothing much," chuckled the monster, "only that in an hour you will begin to turn into a spider, that's all, but it's enough, I guess. Hee, hee!"

With another shriek the Princess fainted away, and as for Ting, he almost fainted too, at the thought of turning into anything so horrid.

"I don't believe it," he said, glaring at the Gallopus.

"Just as you please," answered the monster, "but when you're a spider you'll believe it. That castle was built to hold the Princess and nobody else. If anybody else goes in they turn into a spider unless they come out in an hour."

Well, you can imagine how Ting felt, and you can also imagine how the Princess felt when she came out of her swoon.

"I like you awfully, Ting," she said, "but really I'm afraid I could not like you as a spider."

"I should say not," replied the boy. "I couldn't like myself that way."

Then he pulled out his watch, looked at it and shuddered. "Only three quarters of an hour left," he groaned.

And there they sat at the window worrying and worrying and worrying, and wondering what to do. And underneath the window sat the twenty-headed Gallopus gloating and gloating and gloating over the way they were worrying. And finally the three-quarters of an hour passed and they knew if Ting stayed in the castle another minute he would turn into a spider.

Underneath the window sat the twenty-headed Gallopus

"Oh, dear," said the boy, "I guess I'll have to go out and be eaten. It's bad enough but I think I'd rather be eaten than be a spider."

"Yes," said the Princess, "and I think I should, too, only Iwouldlike to disappoint that Gallopus. I know he'd much rather eat you than have you turn into a spider."

"Oh, do you think so?" said Ting.

"I'm sure of it," responded the Princess.

"Then," said the boy, "maybe I can make a bargain with him."

So he leaned out of the window and called to the monster: "you might as well go away now. I've decided to become a spider."

"What!" shouted the twenty-headed Gallopus, "why, you must be crazy. Why—why, it's an awful feeling to be a spider. It's much nicer to be eaten. Come on out and I'll swallow you whole and it won't hurt a bit."

"No," said Ting, "I think I prefer to be a spider."

"Oh, go on," said the Gallopus, looking awfully disappointed, "you can't mean it."

"Yes, I do," said the Prince, "although I might change my mind if you let the Princess go free."

"Never," cried the monster, gnashing his teeth.

"Very well, then," said Ting, "you'll not eatme." And he started to draw in his head.

"Wait, wait," shouted the Gallopus, "wait a moment. Let me think." Then after a moment he groaned. "All right, I'll do it, though I ought to be ashamed of myself. But it has been so many years since I tasted a boy I simply cannot resist the temptation. So come out and be eaten and the moment I gulp you down I'll go off to my cave and shut my eyes, and the Princess can come out of the castle."

And the instant the monster said that the Prince jumped out of the window, because he knew if he hesitated the Princess, who had been listening in horrified silence, would never let him be eaten to set her free.

"Ah, ha!" cried the Gallopus, smacking his twenty pairs of lips, when he saw Ting standing before him, "now Ihavegot you." Then he burst into a roar of laughter. "I knew that story about the spider would fetch you. That's the reason I made it up."

"You made it up?" cried Ting. "Do you mean to say it wasn't true?"

With another laugh the Gallopus shook every one of his heads merrily. "Of course it wasn't true, and only a ninny like you would have believed it."

"Is that so!" cried the Princess.

And as she spokeshejumped out of the window and marched right up to the monster. "You wicked, wicked creature," she said, her cheeks flaming and her eyes sparkling like diamonds.

And as she stood there right in front of the Gallopus she looked so lovely Ting felt he would be willing to be eaten a dozen times for her sake. And as for the twenty-headed Gallopus, he blushed scarlet with confusion. Of course he had often seen the Princess at her window, but never before in the sunshine outside the castle where she was ahundred timesas beautiful. So he just stared and stared with all his mouths open, and shuffled his hundred and twenty feet uneasily. And then all of a sudden his heads began to get dizzy, and he felt as though he would sink through the ground with bashfulness. And then—as the Princess, growing more dazzling every minute, advanced still closer—bing—he lost his twenty heads entirely. Bing, bing, bing—each one went off like a balloon when it bursts, and nothing remained of the dreadful Gallopus to worry about.

"Hurrah! Hurrah!" cried the Princess, clapping her hands. "The enchantment is broken. I am free again and you will not be eaten after all, Ting. I wonder what ever made him lose his heads that way?"

"Why," said Ting, taking her hand and liking her more than ever, "don't you know? Because if you don't, just come to the palace and look in a mirror and you will soon find out."

And when he said that the Princess tucked her arm in his and marched him off to the palace as quick as she could.

"Well, well, well," cried the King, jumping off his throne in excitement when he saw them coming in, "if this isn't the great surprise of my life."

Then he patted Ting on the back and called him the bravest boy in the land. "To think of conquering the twenty-headed Gallopus and rescuing the Inherited Princess on your eighth birthday," he said. "I never, never thought you would do it."

"I didn't do it," said Ting. "The Princess did it all herself."

And after the King had learned all that had happened he patted the Princess on the back also, and then he pinched her cheek.

"I don't wonder, my dear," he said, "that the Gallopus lost his heads. And I guess I'll announce that you and Ting did it between you, for it's all in the family, anyway."

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