her foot once this month, nor has Mayrie's brother slapped his
sister's face or thrown the puppy into the rain-barrel. Little Weekum
took his bath last night without screaming or struggling, because his
mother had promised he should take his toy cat to bed with him! Such
a condition of affairs is awful for any Awgwa to think of, and the
only way we can direct the naughty actions of children is to take this
person Claus away from them."

"Good! good!" cried the big Awgwas, in a chorus, and they clapped
their hands to applaud the speech of the King.

"But what shall we do with him?" asked one of the creatures.

"I have a plan," replied the wicked King; and what his plan was you
will soon discover.

That night Claus went to bed feeling very happy, for he had completed
no less than four pretty toys during the day, and they were sure, he
thought, to make four little children happy. But while he slept the
band of invisible Awgwas surrounded his bed, bound him with stout
cords, and then flew away with him to the middle of a dark forest in
far off Ethop, where they laid him down and left him.

When morning came Claus found himself thousands of miles from any
human being, a prisoner in the wild jungle of an unknown land.

From the limb of a tree above his head swayed a huge python, one of
those reptiles that are able to crush a man's bones in their coils. A
few yards away crouched a savage panther, its glaring red eyes fixed
full on the helpless Claus. One of those monstrous spotted spiders