L L Frank Baum (4 page)

"I want a cent for chewing gum," said the Girl Weasel.

"Get it from the Guinea-Pig; you have my assent. And what does my dear
boy want?"

"Pop," went the Weasel, "our billy-goat has swallowed the hare you gave
me to play with."

"Dear me," sighed the King, "how often I find a hair in the butter!
Whenever I reign people carry umbrellas; and my son, although quite
polished, indulges only in monkey-shines! Uneasy lies the head that
wears a crown! but if one is scalped, the loss of the crown renders the
head still more uneasy."

"Couldn't they find a better king than you?" enquired the Woggle-Bug,
curiously, as the children left the bower.

"Yes; but no worse," answered the Weasel; "and here in the jungle
honors are conferred only upon the unworthy. For if a truly great
animal is honored he gets a swelled head, and that renders him
unbearable. They now regard the King of the Jungle with contempt, and
that makes all my subjects self-respecting."

"There is wisdom in that," declared the Woggle-Bug, approvingly; "a
single glance at you makes me content with being so excellent a bug."

"True," murmured the King, yawning. "But you tire me, good stranger.
Miss Chim, will you kindly get the gasoline can? It's high time to
eradicate this insect."

"With pleasure," said Miss Chim, moving away with a smile.

But the Woggle-Bug did not linger to be eradicated. With one wild bound
he cleared the door of the palace and sprinted up the entrance of the
Jungle. The bear soldiers saw him running away, and took careful aim
and fired. But the gold-plated muskets would not shoot straight, and
now the Woggle-Bug was far distant, and still running with all his
might.

Nor did he pause until he had emerged from the forest and crossed the
plains, and reached at last the city from whence he had escaped in the
balloon. And, once again in his old lodgings, he looked at himself in
the mirror and said:

"After all, this necktie is my love—and my love is now mine
forevermore! Why should I not be happy and content?"