d of any of the last kind. But of course he is a fairy prince." Then
she bowed again, three times, and said: "Fairy prince, I salute thee."

"Fairy nothing!" grunted Jimmie. "He is no more a fairy than I am."

Then the mud turtle heard them talking, and he stuck his head farther out
of the shell, and he looked around with his snaky neck, and he came a
little more out of the hole, and said:

"Of course I am the fairy prince. Everybody knows that. I've been a fairy
prince for ever and ever so long." And then he sneezed, just to show that,
though he was a fairy prince, he was not proud.

"What shall I do, O fairy prince, to change you back into your own
rightful shape?" asked Alice. "Tell me, and I will do it at once. Dost
thou need three drops of magical water?"

"No," answered the mud turtle, "not any at all, thank you, so much. I am a
fairy prince, but I am satisfied with my shape as I am; and I do not want
to change. I have always been this way, and I always want to stay so.
Please be so kind as to go away. I want to eat my dinner."

So they hurried away, for the gold fish whispered that the mud turtle was
always cross when he ate. Jimmie and Lulu were much disappointed, but
Alice was not, for she insisted that the mud turtle was really wonderful,
and was a fairy prince in disguise. Now what do you think about it? I
leave it to you. But whatever you may think please don't be hasty. Take
plenty of time. Perhaps you had better wait for the story to-morrow night,
which if the cow bell doesn't ring and awaken the doll in the baby
carriage will be about how Grandfather Goosey-Gander got into trouble and
out again.

STORY IX

GRANDFATHER GOOSEY-GANDER IN TROUBLE

On their way home, after having seen the mud turtle fairy prince, Jimmie,
Lulu and Alice Wibblewobble, of course, talked of nothing else. They
wished the prince had done something wonderful, instead of merely sending
them away when he ate his dinner, and they hoped he would perform a
magical feat another time. He really did, as I shall tell you about later,
if I do not forget it. The gold fish swam a little way back with the duck
children, as she said the prince always liked to be alone when he ate.

"Well, how did you like him?" asked Fan Tail of the ducks.

"Not very much," replied Lulu. "I never did care for mud turtles."

"Nor I," added Jimmie.

"I don't believe he was really a mud turtle at all," declared Alice. "He
was a real, truly, fair