On the return journey they were silent and preoccupied, and half an hour later the King was home in his nursery with Perez the Mouse, who again put the tip of his tail into Bubi’s nose and made him sneeze. All at once he found himself safely back again in his own warm little cot, with the Queen’s arms round him, who woke him, as she always did, with a kiss.
The Order of the Golden Fleece
At first he thought it had all been a dream; but when he looked for the letter he had put under his pillow, he found it was gone, and in its place was a case with the Order
of the Golden Fleece in diamonds, a magnificent present from the generous Perez the Mouse in exchange for his first tooth.
(Perhaps I had better explain to English children that in King Bubi’s country the Order of the Golden Fleece is like our Order of the Garter, the greatest honour the King can give.)