“‘Take this, your majesty,’ said Smat, handing him the bundle.
“No sooner had the king’s hands touched the bundle than there was a rumbling noise in the air, the building began to shake and totter and crumble away. In the midst of it all some one cried out in a loud voice:—
‘Wherever you go, and whatever you do,
Beware of the man that makes but one shoe!’
“In the twinkling of an eye, King Stuff and his army and his palace had disappeared from sight. At the same time the darkness had cleared away, and Smat saw his father and his brother standing near, dazed and frightened, and not far away was the beautiful girl. The father and the brother were very much astonished when they found that Smat had been the means of their rescue. They talked about it until night fell, and then the Man in the Moon, with his tiny lantern-bearers, came and escorted them to their own country.
“Now it happened that the beautiful girl was a princess, the daughter of the king. It fell to the lot of Smat to take the princess home. Not long after that the king gave a great festival, to celebrate the return of his daughter. Smat’s father and brother got close enough to the palace to see him standing in a large room, where there was a large crowd of people and music and flowers. They saw, too, that he was holding the princess by the hand.
“And so,” said little Mr. Thimblefinger, wiping the perspiration from his forehead, “the story ended.”
XX.
THE WOOG AND THE WEEZE.
“Phew!” exclaimed Mr. Rabbit, when he was sure that little Mr. Thimblefinger had finished. “That beats anything I ever heard.”