a hundred and
sixty gardeners.

Even in his dress the poor man was compelled always to be grand and
elegant and uncomfortable. The beloved and battered high hat was put
away in a closet and only looked at secretly. State robes had to be
worn on all occasions. And when the Doctor did once in a while manage to
sneak off for a short, natural-history expedition he never dared to wear
his old clothes, but had to chase his butterflies with a crown upon his
head and a scarlet cloak flying behind him in the wind.

There was no end to the kinds of duties the Doctor had to perform and
the questions he had to decide upon--everything, from settling disputes
about lands and boundaries, to making peace between husband and wife who
had been throwing shoes at one another. In the east wing of the Royal
Palace was the Hall of Justice. And here King Jong sat every morning
from nine to eleven passing judgment on all cases that were brought
before him.

Then in the afternoon he taught school. The sort of things he taught
were not always those you find in ordinary schools. Grown-ups as well as
children came to learn. You see, these Indians were ignorant of many of
the things that quite small white children know--though it is also true
that they knew a lot that white grown-ups never dreamed of.

Bumpo and I helped with the teaching as far as we could--simple
arithmetic, and easy things like that. But the classes in astronomy,
farming science, the proper care of babies, with a host of other
subjects, the Doctor had to teach himself. The Indians were tremendously
keen about the schooling and they came in droves and crowds; so that
even with the open-air classes (a school-house was impossible of
course) the Doctor had to take them in relays and batches of five or six
thousand at a time and used a big megaphone or trumpet to make himself
heard.

The rest of his day was more than filled with road-making, building
water-mills, attending the sick and a million other things.

In spite of his being so unwilling to become a king, John Dolittle made
a very good one--once he got started. He may not have been as dignified
as many kings in history who were always running off to war and getting
themselves into romantic situations; but since I have grown up and seen
something of foreign lands and governments I have often thought that
Popsipetel under the reign of Jong Thinkalot was perhaps the best ruled
state in the history of the world.

The Doct