climb up and ask some of them; and if any one tells
you, will you get us all out?"

"Yes," said the pigwidgeon who had spoken before. "We will do that,
for we are very anxious to know how to divide five-sevenths by six.
We have been working at it for four or five days, and there won't be
any thing worth dividing if we wait much longer."

The pigwidgeons now began to descend the vine; but one of them
lingering a little, the Truant, who had a great deal of curiosity,
asked him what it was they had to divide.

"There were eight of us," the pigwidgeon answered, "who helped a
farmer's wife, and she gave us a pound of butter. She did not count
us properly, and divided the butter into seven parts. We did not
notice this at first, and two of the party, who were obliged to go
away to a distance, took their portions and departed, and now we can
not divide among six the five-sevenths that remain."

"That is a pretty hard thing," said the Truant, "but I am sure some
of the boys can tell you how to do it."

The pigwidgeons visited the next four cells, which were occupied by
four boys, but not one of them could tell how to divide five-sevenths
by six. The Prince was questioned, but he did not know; and neither
did the course-marker, nor the map-maker. It was not until they came
to the cell of the oldest girl that they received an answer. She was
good at mental arithmetic; and, after a minute's thought, she said,
"It would be five forty-seconds."

"Good!" cried the pigwidgeons. "We will divide the butter into
forty-two parts, and each take five. And now let us go to work and
cut these bars."

Three of the six pigwidgeons were workers in iron, and they had their
little files and saws in pouches by their sides. They went to work
manfully, and the others helped them, and before morning one bar was
cut in each of the seventeen windows. The cells were all on the
ground floor, and it was quite easy for the prisoners to clamber out.
That is, it was easy for all but the Jolly-cum-pop. He had laughed so
much in his life that he had grown quite fat, and he found it
impossible to squeeze himself through the opening made by the removal
of one iron bar. The sixteen other prisoners had all departed; the
pigwidgeons had hurried away to divide their butter into forty-two
parts, and the Jolly-cum-pop still remained in his cell, convulsed
with laughter at the idea of being caught in such a curious
predicament.

"It is the most ridiculous th