o it, too; and his lifeless
body shall float down the mill-stream as helpless as a ball of
worsted. I have said, and I will do."

"Well, dear," the hen said; "don't forget that King Crevecoeur is a
powerful big bird."

"King Crevecoeur! Creve _cur_ I call him. Deprive him of his
diphthong, when speaking of him to me, madam, please."

"Well, diphthong, or not diphthong," sang the old hen, picking up a
small pebble, and swallowing it, "he is big, and he wears a pair of
frightfully long spurs."

"And what a charming plume he has on his head!" cried a young hen;
"he looks quite soldierly. Belongs to the dragoons, I suppose."

"Hold your tongue," exclaimed the king; "and go about your business.
Plume, indeed! spurs forsooth! The plume, madam, is an airy nothing;
the spurs have neither strength nor substance. Now, look at me," this
proud king went on, as he flew up on top of an old hurdle, "behold
me well. Am I not as white as the driven snow? Is not my comb as red
and rosy as crimson daisies, or the sunset's glow at dewy eve?"
"Cock-a-doodle--doodle--do--o! Did ever you hear such a crow as that
before?"

"Never," said the old hen.

"Except----" said the young one.

The king looked at her, and she was silent. But just at that moment
came a voice from the other side of the old fence, that fairly
startled every hen in King Albus's household. Shrill, defiant,
terrible!

"Cock-a-doodle--roaro--ro--o!" went the voice.

"That is he!" cried the king. "That is more of his audacity! It is
unbearable. I will stand it no longer. I will instantly give him
battle. Farewell, and if for ever--still for ever, fare-ye-well."

"Stay with us, stay with us, stay--stay--stay," cried all the hens in
cackling chorus.

"Never," cried the king; "while Creve _cur_ lives! Cock-a-doodle--do!
Death or victory!"

He sprang over the fence as he spoke.

[Illustration: "THE KING HAD CROSSED THE RUBICON."]

SITUATION SECOND.

The king had crossed the Rubicon. There was no going back with honour
now. He was fairly over the fence, and in the domains of the rival
king.

King Albus bent his wattles to the ground, and gazed at his rival
with one eye. His rival's back was turned towards him, and he took
not the slightest notice of the king.

"I wonder if he'll fight!" said the king to himself. "For my part I
hope he won't, for I don't feel half so full of courage on this side
of the fence as I did on the other. I daren't go back, though.