“How many ears has she?” growled the woodchuck, in a low tone.
“Twenty-five,” replied the raccoon, in the same tone. “They are invisible to idiots, which is probably the reason why you have never noticed them.”
“‘How did you get that nose-ring?’ asked Joe Brown. ‘You have begun to tell me once or twice, and something has always stopped you. Were there many of them lying around? I shouldn’t mind having that myself.’
“Judge of my feelings when Simeon Plunkett, before replying, pulled out from the breast of his flannel shirt a huge golden ring, set with jewels,—the identical golden nose-ring which had caused the death of my lovely Princess. I shuddered, and came very near falling from the taffrail; but, composing myself, I listened eagerly, and heard Simeon tell the other how, as he and his mates were returning to their boat (he had been with a second exploring party sent out from the ship), they found a well, and stopped to fish in it.”
“To fish in a well?” interrupted Bruin. “What did they do that for?”
“To see what they could catch,” replied the parrot. “What do people fish for in this country?
“The first thing they caught was the body of a young woman, with this golden ring in her nose. Her feet were up, and her head was down; and altogether, Simeon said, it was very evident that, in stooping over either to drink or to admire her beauty in the well, the weight of the ring had overbalanced her, and caused her to fall in.
“When I heard this news I flapped my wings and crowed, to the great astonishment of the two sailors. My enemy was dead, and Polpetti avenged. My joy was great, and I wanted to thank Simeon Plunkett for being the bearer of such good news; so I perched on his knee, and sang him the sweetest song I knew,—a song which had often brought tears to the eyes of my lost husband. But he only said, ‘Princess [they all called me Princess, I should observe], if any other bird made such a row as that, I’d wring its neck.’ The Americans, I find, have absolutely no ear for music.
“We reached America after a pleasant and prosperous voyage.