hen the little man chuckled to himself, for he wanted every one
to know that the Back of the North Wind Country was not so uncivilized
as people supposed.

In a corner she found a delightful group of seafaring folks. Dr. Lemuel
Gulliver was telling the story of one of his voyages. He was such a
matter-of-fact person, and so accurate about the latitude and longitude,
that Miss Muffet had the greatest confidence in him, and felt that,
though he might be mistaken in regard to the main points, all the
details happened exactly as he said. His story reminded Sindbad the
Sailor of something that had happened to him. He told his story in a
charming oriental way, but without a touch of exaggeration.

"That would have spoiled it," said Miss Muffet to Baron Munchausen, who
was standing by. "Don't you like simplicity, Baron?"

The Baron bowed in a courtly, old-fashioned way, and said that he was
inordinately fond of it. Miss Muffet heard a rippling, liquid sound
which she at first mistook for laughter, but the Baron assured her that
it was only the frozen truth beginning to thaw. This reminded him of a
little incident which was wonderful to hear. Everybody was astonished
except the Three Wise Men of Gotham. They remarked that if they were at
liberty to tell their adventures, as seafaring men, the stories that had
been told would seem quite tame; but they didn't feel at liberty, and
only looked at each other so wisely that Miss Muffet wondered whether
any persons could really be as wise as they looked.

[Illustration: _Aladdin explains the virtues of his lamp_]

A sturdy, round-faced man stood just behind the group, but took no part
in the conversation. Whenever Sindbad was talking he became so excited
that his eyes seemed almost to pop out of his head, but he quieted down
as soon as any one else began. After a time Sindbad came over to him,
and taking out his purse, gave him a handful of gold pieces.

"A hundred sequins?" asked Miss Muffet.

[Illustration: "_Listening . . . is hard on the eyes_"]

"Yes," said the round-faced man, "that's my regular wages."

"It must be a very large amount."

He said he had no complaint to make, though a sequin didn't go so far in
Bagdad as it once did, and he had to spend a great deal in clothes.

"I knew the minute I saw you that you must be Hindbad the Porter."

"I used to be a porter before I became a professional listener.
Listening isn't so hard on the back as portering, but it req