"Well, how did you like him?" asked Fan Tail of the ducks.

"Not very much," replied Lulu. "I never did care for mud turtles."

"Nor I," added Jimmie.

"I don't believe he was really a mud turtle at all," declared Alice. "He
was a real, truly, fairy prince, and he only looked like a mud turtle,
because we did not have the right kind of eyes with which to see him or
else because we had no faith in him. It is always so, in fairy stories.
You must believe, or you can't see the beautiful things."

"Well, I'd rather have some snails to eat," said Jimmie. "You don't care
how they look; it's how they taste. I'm never going to bother with fairies
again."

It was about three days after this that Jimmie and Lulu were walking in
the deep, green woods, under the trees, picking tender leaves and roots to
eat. They were hoping they might meet Johnnie and Billie Bushytail, the
squirrels whom they had not seen for some time. Alice stayed home to curl
her feathers.

All at once, as they were walking along, the little boy and girl duck
heard a funny noise.

"What's that?" cried Jimmie.

"I don't know," answered Lulu. "It sounds like some one calling."

And, sure enough, it was. As they stopped to listen they could hear some