"I begin to understand what is required of me," remarked the Gump; "so I will do my best to please you," and he flew on for a time in silence.
Presently Jack Pumpkinhead became uneasy.
"I wonder if riding through the air is liable to spoil pumpkins," he said.
"Not unless you carelessly drop your head over the side," answered the Woggle-Bug. "In that event your head would no longer be a pumpkin, for it would become a squash."
"Have I not asked you to restrain these unfeeling jokes?" demanded Tip, looking at the Woggle-Bug with a severe expression.
"You have; and I've restrained a good many of them," replied the insect. "But there are opportunities for so many excellent puns in our language that, to an educated person like myself, the temptation to express them is almost irresistible."
"People with more or less education discovered those puns centuries ago," said Tip.
"Are you sure?" asked the Woggle-Bug, with a startled look.
"Of course I am," answered the boy. "An educated Woggle-Bug may be a new thing; but a Woggle-Bug education is as old as the hills, judging from the display you make of it."
The insect seemed much impressed by this remark, and for a time maintained a meek silence.