102 PRINCE FILDERKIN

the air, after the usual custom of angry bulls
——then he gave vent to a bellow which had
anything but a pleasant sound to the ears of
the Prince, towards whom he began to
advance at a slow trot which too plainly
showed hostile intentions. .To fly would
have been useless—to fight would have been
no better, and I do not know what would
have happened, if it had not occurred to the
Prince to try again the experiment which
had proved so successful in the case of the
hedge.

As quickly as he could, therefore, he stood
on his head and shouted out ‘ Gingerbread’
twice, and although the bull had increased
his pace so much that he could not stop
when the word first reached his ears, it had
no sooner been pronounced the second time
than he pulled up short, and to the in-
expressible surprise of the Prince, stood on
his head too for a full minute, and then
scampered away to the other side of the
field. Prince Filderkin immediately rose
and pursued his journey, feeling more than
ever confident that he was protected by a
power which would be able to carry it to a
successful issue. Throughout the rest of