"That's so," answered John, good naturedly; "maybe you'd rather put him in the spring, and keep him for a pet?"
But Toots was thinking of the grief of the Pickerel Family. How would Mother Pickerel be able to get along with both Father and Grandfather Pickerel no more, especially considering the doubtful character of Big Brother Pickerel, with his tendency to overturn the established order of society? When he had thought it all over, he said:
"No, John, I'd rather put him back in the pool, where he can continue to care for the little Pickerels."
And thus the patriarch of the Pickerel Family, wiser than any of his race, before or since, was restored to those who had such grave need of his guidance.
CHAPTER VII
he country of the Menial People lay white and frozen under its blanket of snow when Toots and the Princess next visited it. They stood before the cage of the lion cubs on the morning of the first snowfall of the year.