The Surprising Adventures of the Magical Monarch of Mo and His People | Page 6

accident, to the Valley of Mo.
"My name is Prince," replied the gravely; "and I have come from a
country beyond the mountains and the desert."
"Indeed! are you in truth a prince?" exclaimed the monarch; "then you
will be welcome in my kingdom, where we always treat nobility with
proper respect. But why do you have four feet?"
"Because six would be too many," replied the dog.
"But I have only two," said the King.
"I am sorry," said the dog, who was something of a wag, "because
where I come from it is more fashionable to walk on four feet."
"I like to be in the fashion," remarked the King, thoughtfully; "but what
am I to do, having only two legs?"
"Why, I suppose you could walk on your hands and feet," returned the

dog with a laugh.
"So I will," said the King, being pleased with the idea; "and you shall
come to the palace with me and teach me all the fashions of the country
from whence you came."
The King got down on his hands and knees, and was delighted to find
he could get along in this way very nicely.
"How am I to carry my pail?" he asked.
"In your mouth, of course," replied the dog. This suggestion seeming a
happy one, the King took the pail in his mouth and they started back
toward the palace. But when his Majesty came to the gum-drops and
jackson-balls they hurt his hands and knees, so that he groaned aloud.
But the dog only laughed. Finally they reached a place where it was
quite muddy. Of course the mud was only jelly, but it hadn't dried up
since the last rain. The dog jumped over the place nimbly enough, but
when the King tried to do likewise he failed, and came down into the
jelly with both hands and knees, and stuck fast.
Now the monarch had a very good temper, which he carried in his vest
pocket; but as he passed over the gum-drop pebbles on his hands and
knees this temper dropped out of his pocket, and, having lost it, he
became very angry at the dog for getting him into such a scrape.
So he began to scold, and when he opened his mouth the pail dropped
out and the berries were all spilled. This made the dog laugh more than
ever, at which the King pulled himself out of the jelly, jumped to his
feet, and began to chase the dog as fast as he could. Finally the dog
climbed a tall tree where the King could not reach him, and when safe
among the branches he looked down and said: "See how foolish a man
becomes who tries to be in fashion rather than live as nature intended
he should! You can no more be a dog than I can be a king; so hereafter,
if you are wise, you will be content to walk on two legs."
"There is much truth in what you say," replied the Monarch of Mo.
"Come with me to the palace, and you shall be forgiven; indeed, we

shall have a fine feast in honor of your arrival."
So the dog climbed down from the tree and followed the King to the
palace, where all the courtiers were astonished to see so queer an
animal, and made a great favorite of him.
After dinner the King invited the dog to take a walk around the grounds
of the royal mansion, and they started out merrily enough. But the
King's boots had begun to hurt him again; for, as they did not fit, being
picked green, they had rubbed his toes until he had corns on them. So
when they reached the porch in front of the palace the King asked:
"My friend, what is good for corns?"
"Tight boots," replied the dog, laughing; "but they are not very good for
your feet."
Now the King, not yet having found his lost temper, became
exceedingly angry at this poor jest; so he rushed at the dog and gave it
a tremendous kick.
Up into the air like a ball flew the dog, while the King, having hurt his
toe by the kick, sat down on the door-step and nursed his foot while he
watched the dog go farther and farther up, until it seemed like a tiny
speck against the blue of the sky.
"I must have kicked harder than I thought," said the King, ruefully;
"there he goes, out of sight, and I shall never see him again!"
He now limped away into the back garden, where he picked a new pair
of boots that would not hurt his feet; and while he was gone the dog
began to fall down again. Of course he fell