“‘Wait!’ he cried, ‘let’s see what the trouble is! Who are you?’ he inquired, turning to the old man with the long beard.
“‘My name is Stuff,’ he replied, ‘and I am king of this country which you are passing through. I’m not going to allow any one to abuse me in my own kingdom. You may go free, but mind you go straight back the way you came.’
“The son thought the matter over a little while, and then turned on his heel and went back the way he had come, and, as he walked, he whistled all the lively tunes he could think of. For a time he was glad that his father was no longer with him to quarrel and complain; but finally he grew lonely, and then he began to think how his father had raised him up from a little child. The more he thought about this, the sorrier he was that he had given his father any trouble. He sat down on a log by the side of the road and thought it all over, and presently he began to cry.
A QUEER-LOOKING LITTLE MAN CAME JOGGING ALONG THE ROAD
“While he was sitting there with his head between his hands, crying over the fate of his father, a queer-looking little man came jogging along the road. He had bushy hair and a beard that grew all over his face, except right around his eyes and lips and the tip-end of his nose. His beard was not long, but it was very thick, and it stood out around his face like the spokes in a buggy-wheel. He seemed to be in a big hurry, but when he saw the young man sitting on the log crying, he stopped, and stared at him.
“‘Tut, tut!’ he cried. ‘What’s all this? Who has hurt your feelings?’
“If the young man had not been so sorrowful, he would have been surprised to see the queer-looking little man standing by him. But, as it was, he didn’t seem to be surprised at all. He just looked at the stranger with red eyes.
“‘My name is Mum,’ said the stranger, ‘and I’m the Man in the Moon. Tell me your troubles. Maybe I can help you. I’m in a great hurry, because the Moon must change day after to-morrow, and I must be there to lend a hand; but I’ll not allow my hurry to prevent me from hearing your troubles and helping you if I can.’
“So then and there the young man told his story, and the Man in the Moon sighed heavily when he heard it.