'My mother wants some wood,' replied the man, picking a few branches off
the trees and flinging them idly on the roadside, 'so I am just taking
her some.'

'Will you travel with me?'

'Pardon?'

_'Will you travel with me, my pippy?'
'Oh! Whither away? To Rome or Pompeii?'
'But no; to the far Mississippi:
There's a Queen of great beauty that way,
And there's no one but Cupid to pay.'
'I am yours! And the bounty?'
'Name your price: it shall be as you say.'_

Then the young man took his muffin, and, breaking off a little bit of
it, handed it to the man who carried the trees.

'Keep it,' said he; 'it's a pledge of good faith.'

So they journeyed on together. They were still a long way from the
Mississippi when they came across a man with a mouth large enough to
swallow a river. When the boy, who had become a young man and was now
full grown, set his eyes on him, his beard and moustache began to
sprout.

'Will you travel with me?'

'Pardon?'

_'Come, travel with me, my pippy.
(Sing merry-ton-ton-ta-lay.)
To the land of the far Mississippi
Where the crystalline fountains play;
There's a Queen who will not say me nay.'
'I am yours! But the bounty?'
'We're picking it up on the way.'_

Then the young man took his muffin, and, breaking off a little bit of
it, handed it to the man with the mouth as large as a river.

'Keep it,' said he; 'it's a pledge of good faith.'

So they journeyed on together. On and on they went until at last they
came to a great hill-top, and there, standing on the crest of it, they
looked down into an immense valley where they saw a man engaged in
eating up the whole earth. As soon as he saw this gigantic meal going
on, the boy, who had become a young man and was now full grown with
moustache and beard, appeared like a knight errant. One could see that,
from the spurs which had grown upon his heels.

'Hi! What are you doing there?'

'I am so terribly hungry that nothing less than the whole earth can
appease my appetite.'

'Will you travel with me?'

'Pardon?'

_'Come, travel with me, my pippy.'
'Oh! Whither? Madras or Bombay?'
'But no; to that far Mississippi,
Which flows from the gates of the day;
Where a Queen all in purple array
Waits for me----'
'I am yours! And the bounty?'
'Wouldn't go in a twenty-ton dray!'_

Then the