"It has been unusually damp in my den of late, so that both my family
and myself have suffered much. First my wife became ill, and then I was
afflicted with a bad cold, and in both cases it settled in our throats.
Then my four children, who are all of an age, began to complain of sore
throats, so that my den became a regular hospital.
"We tried all the medicines we knew of, but they did no good at all. My
wife finally begged me to go to consult Doctor Prairiedog, who lives in
a hole in the ground away toward the south. So one morning I said good
by to my family and ran swiftly to where the doctor lives.
"Finding no one outside the hole to whom I might apply for admission I
walked boldly in, and having followed a long, dark tunnel for some
distance, I suddenly came to a door.
"'Come in!' said a voice; so in I walked, and found myself in a very
beautiful room, lighted by forty-eight fireflies, which sat in a row on
a rail running all around the apartment. In the center of the room was
a table, made of clay and painted in bright colors; and seated at this
table, with his spectacles on his nose, was the famous Doctor
Prairiedog, engaged in eating a dish of stewed snails.
"'Good morning,' said the Doctor; 'will you have some breakfast?'
"'No, thank you,' I replied, for the snails were not to my liking; 'I
wish to procure some medicine for my children, who are suffering from
sore throats.'
"' How do you know their throats are sore?' inquired the Doctor.
"'It hurts them to swallow,' I explained.
"'Then tell them not to swallow,' said the Doctor, and went on eating.
"'Sir!' I exclaimed, 'if they did not swallow, they would starve to
death.'
"'That is true,' remarked the Doctor; 'we must think of something
else.' After a moment of silence he cried out: 'Ha! I have it! Go home
and cut off their necks, after which you must turn them inside out and
hang them on the bushes in the sun. When the necks are thoroughly cured
in the sun, turn them right-side-out again and place them on your
children's shoulders. Then they will find it does not hurt them to
swallow.'
"I thanked the great Doctor and returned home, where I did as he had
told me. For the last three days the necks of not only my children but
of my wife and myself, as well, have been hanging on the bushes to be
cured; so we could not possibly have eaten your plum-pudding. Indeed,
it was only an hour ago when I finished putting the neck on the last of
my children, and at that moment your soldiers came and arrested me."
When the Fox ceased speaking the King was silent for a while. Then he
asked:
"Were the necks all cured?"
"Oh, yes," replied the fox; "the sun cured them nicely."
"You see," remarked the King, turning to his Wise Men; "the Fox has
proved his innocence. You were wrong, as usual, in accusing him. I
shall now send him home with six baskets of cherry phosphate, as a
reward for his honesty. If you have not discovered the thief by the
time I return I shall keep my threat and stop your allowance of cake."
Then the Wise Men fell a-trembling, and put their heads together,
counseling with one another.
When the King returned, they said: "Your Majesty, it must have been the
Bullfrog."
So the King sent his soldiers, who captured the Bullfrog and brought
him to the palace.
"Why have you stolen the plum-pudding?" demanded the King, in a stern
voice.
"I! Steal your plum-pudding!" exclaimed the Frog, indignantly. "Surely
you must be mistaken! I am not at all fond of plum-pudding, and,
besides, I have been very busy at home during the past week."
"What have you been doing?" asked the King.
"I will tell you, for then you will know I am innocent of this theft."
So the Bullfrog squatted on a footstool, and, after blinking solemnly
at the King and his Wise Men for a moment, spoke as follows: