"My young friend," he said, "I see but one way out of the difficulty, and that is for you to walk about on two of your legs until they are worn out. Then, you perceive, you will have, unless my calculations have misled me, exactly two left,--the proper number to enable you legally to marry the Flamingo Princess. You may find this fatiguing,"

he continued, seeing the Prince's look of dismay; "but really I can see nothing else for you to do; and when you reflect that everything is more or less fatiguing, and that I have worn out five complete sets of teeth on this very cheese, you may become reconciled to your lot.

Good-by. I wish you well." And without more ado, he plunged into the cheese once more.

The unhappy Prince uttered one wild howl, and turning away, fled into the savage wilds of the Pongolian forest.

Here Bruin paused, shook his head, and sighed deeply.

"Oh! go on, Bruin," cried Toto eagerly. "How _can_ you stop there? Go on immediately, and tell us the rest!"

Alas! there is little more to tell; for from that moment the Prince of the Poles has never been seen or heard of.

The Flamingo Princess waited long and anxiously for his return; but he never came. I believe she finally married an ostrich, who led her a terrible life.

The Princ.i.p.al Whale called at the coast of Africa on his way back from the Southern seas, and hearing the sad intelligence of the Prince's disappearance, departed in great sadness for his Northern home, to break the news to the Solar-Polarity of the Hypopeppercorns. When that potentate heard of the disappearance of his son, he fell off the North Pole, and broke his neck; and the whole nation a.s.sumed the mourning costume of the polar bears, which consists in tying a sailor's knot in the left ear, and a granny's knot in the right.

And thus ends, in sadness and despair, the story of "The Lost Prince of the Poles."

CHAPTER XI.

One afternoon (it was not a "story" afternoon, for the grandmother was very busy, dyeing some of her homespun yarn) Toto went off to the forest early, intending to have a game of scamper with c.o.o.n and Cracker. As he sauntered along with his hands in his pockets, he met the woodchuck. Master Chucky looked very spruce and neat, and was trotting along with an air of great self-satisfaction.

"Hallo! you Chucky," exclaimed Toto, "where are you going?"

The woodchuck stopped, and glanced around with his sharp little eyes.

"Is any one with you, Toto?" he asked,--"c.o.o.n, or Cracker, or any of those fellows?"

"No," answered Toto in some surprise. "I was just going to find them.

Do you want them?"

"No, indeed!" exclaimed the woodchuck. "You see," and he lowered his voice confidentially, "I am going to a rinktum, and I don't want those fellows to know about it."

"What is a rinktum?" asked Toto. "And why don't you want them to know about it?"

"Why, a rinktum is a rabbit's ball, of course. What else should it be?" answered Chucky. "The rabbits have invited me; but at the last one c.o.o.n ate up all the supper, and bit the rabbits if they tried to get any; so they determined not to invite him again, and asked me not to say anything about it."

"Oh, Chucky," exclaimed Toto, "I wish you would take me! I have never been to a rabbit's ball, and I should like to go _so_ much! and I wouldn't eat anything at all!" he added, seeing that the woodchuck looked doubtful.

Chucky brightened up at the last remark, and said, "Well, after all, I don't see why I shouldn't take you. They are always glad to see people, if they will only behave themselves. So come along, Toto;"

and the fat little creature hurried along, with Toto following him.

"You may have some difficulty," he said as they went along, "in getting into the ball-room, but I think you will be able to squeeze through. It is in the Big Burrow, which is certainly large enough for any reasonable creature. Here we are now at the mouth of the burrow."

They were crossing a rough, uneven meadow, with trees and shrubs thickly scattered over it; and the woodchuck stopped at a large juniper-bush, in front of which sat a black rabbit.

"How do you do, Woodchuck?" inquired the rabbit. "And who is this with you?"

"This is a--a--a boy, in fact," said the woodchuck in some embarra.s.sment.

"He is a great friend of mine, and has never seen a rinktum in his life, so I ventured to bring him. He--he won't eat anything!" he added in a whisper.

The rabbit bowed to Toto by way of reply, and pulling aside the branches of the juniper-bush, disclosed a large hole in the ground.

"Follow me," said the woodchuck; "I will lead the way." And he disappeared through the mouth of the hole.

Toto dropped on his hands and knees, and followed as best he could.

The path was _very_ narrow, and wound about and about in a very inconvenient manner. Several times the boy was stuck so fast that it seemed as if he _could not_ get any farther; but he always managed, by much wriggling, to squeeze through the tight places. It was perfectly dark, but there was no possibility of his losing his way, for obvious reasons. At last he saw a glimmer of light ahead. It grew brighter and brighter; and at last Toto emerged from the pa.s.sage, and found himself in a large cave, which in one part was high enough to allow him to stand upright. He immediately crawled over to this part, and getting on his feet, looked about at the strange scene before him.

The Big Burrow was lighted by the United Company of Glow-worms. These little creatures had arranged themselves in patterns all over the walls and roof of the cave, and were shining with all their might. The effect was truly lovely, and Toto could not help wishing that his grandmother's cottage were lighted in the same way. The floor was crowded with rabbits of every size and color, and they were all dancing. Black rabbits, brown rabbits, white rabbits, big and little rabbits, racing round and round, jumping up and down, shaking their ears, and wiggling their noses. Oh, what a good time they were having!

"Would you like to dance?" asked a very large white rabbit, who seemed to be the master of ceremonies, looking up at Toto.

"Thank you," said Toto. "I do not know the step, and I should only make confusion among the dancers, I fear."

"Oh, you will have no difficulty in learning the step," said the white rabbit. "Nothing could be easier: first you jump up, then wriggle your hind-legs in the air, then turn round three times, rub your nose with your right fore-paw, jump again, rub your nose with your left hind-paw, turn round--"

"But I have only two legs," objected Toto meekly.

[Ill.u.s.tration: "Would you like to dance?"]

"Dear, dear!" said the master of ceremonies. "That does seem to be a difficulty, doesn't it? What a pity! Haven't you ever had any more?"

"No," said Toto. "We are not made that way, you see. But don't mind me," he added, seeing that the hospitable rabbit seemed really distressed. "I only came to look on, and I am enjoying myself very much indeed, I a.s.sure you."

"Pretty sight, isn't it, Toto?" said the woodchuck, bustling up, while the master of ceremonies went off to attend to his duties. "See that young white rabbit with the black nose and tail? She is the belle of the evening, I should say. Lovely creature! I have just danced twice with her."

"What _is_ that brown rabbit doing?" exclaimed Toto. "He has been standing on his head before her, and now he is lying on his back and kicking his feet in the air. I think he is in a fit."

"No, no," said the woodchuck. "Oh, no. He is merely expressing his devotion to her, that is all. He has been in love with her for a long time," he added, "but I don't think it will ever come to anything. He has no whiskers to speak of, and he comes from a very inferior sort of burrow. She ought not to dance with him at all, in point of fact, but she is _so_ amiable!"

"It is a pity they have no music," said Toto. "I don't see how they manage to dance. Would they like me to whistle for them, do you think, Chucky?"

"Oh, _wouldn't_ they!" cried the woodchuck in delight. "What a nice boy you are, Toto! I am _so_ glad I brought you!"

So Toto whistled a merry tune, and the rabbits nearly went mad with delight. They capered, and jumped, and wriggled their hind-legs, and rubbed their noses, till Toto really thought they would dance themselves into small pieces; and when he stopped, they all tumbled down on the ground in little black and white and brown heaps, and lay panting and exhausted.

The master of ceremonies came up to Toto, and after making him nine very polite bows, thanked him warmly for the pleasure he had given them. "This is certainly _the_ rinktum of the season," he said, "and much of its success is owing to your kindness." He then begged Toto to come into the supper-room, and led the way to an adjoining cave.

Toto followed, with a comical glance at the woodchuck, to remind him that he had not forgotten his promise.

The supper was served in superb style, worthy of "_the_ rinktum of the season." There was cabbage-soup and broccoli broth. There were turnips and carrots, celery and beets and onions, in profusion; and in the centre of the room rose a lofty mountain of crisp green lettuce. Ah!

that was a supper to do a rabbit's heart good!

Toto, mindful of his promise, showed great self-denial with regard to the raw vegetables, and even remained firm against the attractions of the cabbage-soup.