"Then, when the weather is stormy, everybody has to carry an umbrella
with his name on it in phosphorescent letters. In this way, nobody's
eyes are put out, and no umbrellas are lost. Otherwise, umbrellas
would get so hopelessly mixed up in a dark country like Pokonoket that
it would require a special sitting of Parliament to sort them out
again.

"It may seem rather odd that they should, but the inhabitants of
Pokonoket are, as a general thing, very much attached to their
country, and could not be hired to leave it for any other. It is a
very peaceful place. There are no jails, and no criminals are executed
in its bounds. If occasionally a person commits a crime that would
merit such extreme punishment, he puts out his lantern, and rips off
his phosphorescent buttons, and nobody can find him to punish.

"But commonly, folks in Pokonoket do not commit great crimes, and are
a very peaceful, industrious and happy people.

"They have never had any wars amongst themselves, and their country
has never been invaded by a foreign foe; all that they ever have had
to seriously threaten their peace and safety was the Ogress.

"A terrible ogress once lived in Pokonoket, and devoured everybody she
could catch. Nobody knew when his life was safe, and the worst of it
was, they did not know where she lived, or they would have gone in
a body and disposed of her. She had a habitation somewhere in the
darkness, but nobody knew where--it might be right in their midst.
There are a great many inconveniences about a dark country.

[Illustration: POKONOKET IN STORMY WEATHER.]