heard him shout; and a moment later he charged
straight at a large stone and half a brick which lay in the middle of
the roadway.

Poor Wallypug! The sudden impact threw him right over the handle-bars,
and he landed in a huddled heap on his hands and knees in the gutter.
The machine flew in half, and the front portion careered madly away
by itself till stopped by the kerb.

We hurried up to his Majesty to discover if he was much hurt, but,
with the exception of a few scratches on his hands and knees and a
thorough shaking, he seemed to have come off pretty well.

[Illustration: THE FINISH]

"I suppose we can't stick it together again?" he inquired, gazing
ruefully at the broken bicycle, and I was obliged to tell him that
there was not much chance of our doing so. The boy to whom it belonged
bravely made the best of the matter, especially when I told him that
the next half-holiday he had I would take him to Holborn to choose
another one in its place.

And when I discovered that he had a half-holiday that very afternoon,
it was arranged that General Mary Jane should order a carriage at the
livery stable, and that we should all drive to the city after
luncheon.

The Wallypug, after a good wash and a hearty breakfast, went to his
room to lie down for an hour or two to recover from the effects of his
accident, and I was just answering my morning letters when there was a
knock at the study door, and the Rhymester entered.

[Illustration: HIPPETY-HOPPETY-PLOP]

"I sat up most of the night writing poetry," he remarked, "and I have
just brought you one or two specimens. The first one is called 'The
Ode of a Toad.' Perhaps I had better read it to you. My writing is
rather peculiar," and he began as follows:

THE ODE OF A TOAD.

There was once an old toad who lived under a tree,
Hippety hop--Flippety flop,
And his head was as bald as bald could be,
He was deaf as a post and could hardly see,
But a giddy and frivolous toad was he,
With his hippety-hoppety-plop.

And he gambolled and danced on the village green,
Hippety hop--Flippety flop,
In a way that had never before been seen,
Tho' he wasn't so young as once he had been,
And the people all wondered whate'er he could mean,
With his hippety-hoppety-plop.

But the old chap kept bobbing about just the same,
Hippety hop--Flippety flop,
Till everyone thought he _m