princesses. But it is not much use being a prince in Mo, because the
King can not die; therefore a prince is a prince to the end of his
days, and his days never end.

Strange things occur in this strange land, as you may imagine; and
while I relate some of these you will learn more of the peculiar
features of the Beautiful Valley.



_The Second Surprise_

THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF THE KING'S HEAD


A good many years ago, the Magical Monarch of Mo became annoyed by the
Purple Dragon, which came down from the mountains and ate up a patch of
his best chocolate caramels just as they were getting ripe.

So the King went out to the sword-tree and picked a long, sharp sword,
and tied it to his belt and went away to the mountains to fight the
Purple Dragon.

The people all applauded him, saying one to another:

"Our King is a good King. He will destroy this naughty Purple Dragon
and we shall be able to eat the caramels ourselves."

But the Dragon was not alone naughty; it was big, and fierce, and
strong, and did not want to be destroyed at all.