"Oh, roll up!" said Snip scornfully. "You're only a lot of live hoops anyway. Why should we bow?"
"Leave the park instantly!" roared Rollo, bouncing up and down with rage.
"Let's," said Snip, grinning over at Pajuka.
"I'm ready," agreed the goose, "but where's Mombi?"
"Here!" spluttered the witch, rolling out of a bonnet bush. "Any more nonsense from these creatures and I'll turn them to breakfast rolls and eat them for supper."
"A witch!" whooped the King.
"A witch!" coughed all the others and, seizing their toes, the whole company of them whirled off together and disappeared in a cloud of dust. So without further excitement, the three adventurers reached the other side of the Hoopers' park and, opening a small gate in the fence that surrounded it, found themselves again on the zig-zag pathway. A large sign posted on one of the trees immediately attracted Snip's attention.
"Fifty leaps to the Corners," announced the sign curiously enough.
"Leaps!" gasped Snip, while Mombi pushed back her hat and stood on tip-toe to examine the crooked letters. "Must we leap all the way?"
"Better look before we do," chuckled Pajuka, scratching his head with the third toe of his left foot. "I've been in some pretty tight corners in my time, and prefer to go around the rest of them."