"What an ugly old fellow he is!" whispered Bevis, who had never before seen him. "Look at his ragged tail!"
"Hush!" said the squirrel, "Te-te is too near."
"Are they all here?" asked the king, after he had looked round and received the bows and lowly obeisance of his subjects.
"They are all here," said the owl, sitting in his porch. "They are all here—at least, I think; no, they are not, your majesty."
"Who is absent?" said Kapchack, frowning, and all the assembly cowered.
"It is the weasel," said the owl. "The weasel is not here."
Kapchack frowned and looked as black as thunder, and a dead silence fell upon the council.
"If it please your majesty," said the humble-bee, presently coming to the front. "If it please your majesty, the weasel——"
"It does not please me," said Kapchack.
But the humble-bee began again: "If it please your majesty——"