ped to
his feet and nervously tried to run away. The chains, however, by which
the Dodo was attached to his girdle, prevented him from doing so.

The bird, with his beak in the air, and his gloves extended in a most
grotesque attitude, was immovable and rigid as stone. Not a muscle
moved, and the Little Panjandrum, after staring at him a moment, called
out, angrily--

"Olla--balloo--calle--gablob?"

There was not the slightest movement on the part of the bird, and just
then the Ambassador returned.

"Hullo! What's the trouble?" he cried, staring at the Dodo.

"Gablobbee--balloo--olla--wobble!" said the Little Panjandrum,
excitedly.

"What!" exclaimed the Ambassador, "something gone wrong with the Dodo?
Here, what's the matter with you?" he continued, giving the bird a
shake.

The Dodo didn't budge an inch, but continued in the same position, his
eyes fixed in a stony stare.

"I can't think what's wrong with him," declared the Ambassador, with a
puzzled expression on his face.

"Perhaps he's turned into stone, like the others," suggested Dick,
mischievously.

"Ah!" said the Ambassador, clapping his hand to his forehead in a
dramatic manner; "_that's_ what it is, depend upon it. Good gracious!
_how_ unfortunate. Let's see, what did I say when pronouncing the
spell?"

"Why, after mentioning most of the creatures' names, you said, 'and all
other prehistoric wretches.' I remember quite well," said Marjorie,
"because I thought at the time it was rather rude of you to call them
wretches."

"H'm! Then _he_ must have been a prehistoric wretch," said the
Ambassador, absently. "Dear me! I always knew he was extinct, but I had
no idea he was antediluvian as well. That accounts for a lot of things.
No wonder he was eccentric." And he gazed at the Dodo quite sorrowfully.

"Well, well," he resumed, "it can't be helped now. We must make the best
of a bad matter; all the talking in the world won't restore him to life
again." And he turned to the Little Panjandrum and entered into a lengthy
conversation with him in their native language, which the children could
not understand in the least.

[Illustration: The Dodo was rigid, motionless.]

The Little Panjandrum seemed greatly distressed at the disaster which
had befallen the Dodo, and, it appeared, insisted upon a monument being
erected to his memory. Thereupon the Ambassador, by a brilliant
inspiration, thought of the novel plan of making the bird act as his own
st