mission to turn children
into swine.

In going from flower to flower it soon brushed the magic compound
from its legs, so that when the sun began to set and the butterfly
finally remembered its master, the mandarin, it could not have
injured a child had it tried.

But it did not intend to try.

"That horrid old Chinaman," it thought, "hates children and wishes
to destroy them. But I rather like children myself and shall not
harm them. Of course I must return to my master, for he is a
magician, and would seek me out and kill me; but I can deceive him
about this matter easily enough."

When the butterfly flew in at the door of the mandarin's laundry he
asked, eagerly:

"Well, did you meet a child?"

"I did," replied the butterfly, calmly. "It was a pretty,
golden-haired girl--but now 'tis a grunting pig!"

"Good! Good! Good!" cried the mandarin, dancing joyfully about the
room. "You shall have molasses for your supper, and to-morrow you
must change two children into pigs."

The butterfly did not reply, but ate the molasses in silence. Having
no soul it had no conscience, and having no conscience it was able
to lie to the mandarin with great readiness and a certain amount of
enjoyment.

Next morning, by the mandarin's command, the butterfly dipped its
legs in the mixture and flew away in search of children.

When it came to the edge of the town it noticed a pig in a sty, and
alighting upon the rail of the sty it looked down at the creature
and thought.

"If I could change a child into a pig by touching it with the magic
compound, what could I change a pig into, I wonder?"

Being curious to determine this fine point in sorcery the butterfly
fluttered down and touched its front feet to the pig's nose.
Instantly the animal disappeared, and in its place was a
shock-headed, dirty looking boy, which sprang from the sty and ran
down the road uttering load whoops.

"That's funny," said the butterfly to itself. "The mandarin would be
very angry with me if he knew of this, for I have liberated one more
of the creatures that bother him."

It fluttered along after the boy, who had paused to throw stones at
a cat. But pussy escaped by running up a tree, where thick branches
protected her from the stones. Then the boy discovered a
newly-planted garden, and trampled upon the beds until the seeds
were scattered far and wide, and the garden was ruined. Next he
caught up a switch and struck with it a young calf that sto