"'La!' said the magpie, 'and what is that tremendous long word, my dear Mr. Reynard?'
"'The amoronthologosphorus is a beast that lives on the top of the North Pole, fifteen miles from any water, and the same distance from any land; it has nine legs, and on the ninth leg are three hairs, and whoever has those three hairs can be young and beautiful for ever.'"
"Dear me," said Willie, "I wish I could get those three hairs for my dear grandma."
"So do I," answered his mother, "and the magpie wanted them, too, for she exclaimed: 'Bless me, I wish you would let me see them,' and she poked out her claw for the three hairs.
"'Really, ma'am, I would oblige you with pleasure,' said the wicked fellow, who had no hairs, and never heard of the animal with the long name, 'but it is as much as my life is worth to show them to any but the lady I marry. But you'll be sure not to mention it.'
"'A magpie gossip, indeed!' cried the old tell-tale.
"The fox then wished the magpie good-night, and retired to a hole to sleep off the fatigues of the day, as he meant to present himself to the beautiful cat as fine as a Broadway dandy.
"The very next morning (nobody knew how) it was all over the place that Reynard had been banished from the lion's court, who, to console him, had made him a present of three hairs, that would magically convert the one that he married, even if she was a perfect scarecrow, into a young and beautiful lady for ever."
"It was the magpie that told, wasn't it?" asked Willie.
"I suspect it was," answered his mother, "and the cat was the very first to learn the news, and she was perfectly crazy to see so interesting a stranger, with three such wonderful hairs. 'I tell you what!' she said to her maid, 'I'll have those three hairs before I am three days older.'