Nip Plays a Cunning Trick. 85

“ Forward! ever forward! The giant youth saw lakes, and
launched boats on the clear waters, and then he came to the
plains.

“ Forward! ever forward! The Wind daughter led the way
in her chariot of sunset clouds, so that he might hew a path
through the wilderness, and earn the treasures she would scat-
ter broadcast. Through deserts of wormwood, beyond crags
and cliffs mantled in snow, the giant fought his resolute
way, sowing seeds of future growth, finding precious metals,
until he reached the shores of another ocean and the Golden
Gate.

“In the full radiance of the present, behold him! He is a
giant, but he is not at all handsome ; his features are sharp; he
cares nothing about his dress, or the color of his necktie. He
talks through his nose, besides. What name did the West
Wind give him? Not a pretty one, but suited to him —

Vankee.”

“You are a Yankee, yourself,” said Queen Puff, starting her
wheel again.

“IT am proud of being one. You are a Dutchman,” said
Nip.

Queen Puff laughed at being called a Dutchman.

“Tt is true, and I came from Holland in a tile,’ she con-
fessed. |

“JT am tired. Take me to ride around the room, Mousey,”
said Nip.

“T don’t know about that,” said the cat, suspiciously.

“Only a little ride,” urged Nip, looking very roguish all the