f
his wonderful fight with mighty Choggenmugger.

"And now, my daughter," said the charcoal-burner, when all his news had
been related for at least the third time, "here is a pretty present I
have brought you from the city."

[Illustration]

With this he drew the shoes from the pocket of his coat and handed them
to Zella, who gave him a dozen kisses in payment and was much pleased
with her gift. The little girl had never worn shoes before, for her
parents were too poor to buy her such luxuries, so now the possession of
these, which were not much worn, filled the child's heart with joy. She
admired the red leather and the graceful curl of the pointed toes. When
she tried them on her feet, they fitted as well as if made for her.

All the afternoon, as she helped her mother with the housework, Zella
thought of her pretty shoes. They seemed more important to her than the
coming to Regos of the conquering Prince of Pingaree, or even the death
of Choggenmugger.

When Zella and her mother were not working in the cabin, cooking or
sewing, they often searched the neighboring forest for honey which the
wild bees cleverly hid in hollow trees. The day after Nikobob's return,
as they were starting out after honey, Zella decided to put on her new
shoes, as they would keep the twigs that covered the ground from hurting
her feet. She was used to the twigs, of course, but what is the use of
having nice, comfortable shoes, if you do not wear them?

So she danced along, very happily, followed by her mother, and presently
they came to a tree in which was a deep hollow. Zella thrust her hand
and arm into the space and found that the tree was full of honey, so
she began to dig it out with a wooden paddle. Her mother, who held the
pail, suddenly cried in warning:

"Look out, Zella; the bees are coming!" and then the good woman ran fast
toward the house to escape.

Zella, however, had no more than time to turn her head when a thick
swarm of bees surrounded her, angry because they had caught her stealing
their honey and intent on stinging the girl as a punishment. She knew
her danger and expected to be badly injured by the multitude of stinging
bees, but to her surprise the little creatures were unable to fly close
enough to her to stick their dart-like stingers into her flesh. They
swarmed about her in a dark cloud, and their angry buzzing was terrible
to hear, yet the little girl remained unharmed.

When she realized this, Zella wa