call to inquire on a new
acquaintance,' she said. 'And so you liked our realms, as every sensible
boy does? Well, Tommy, it is in my power to reward you; every night for
a certain time you shall see again the things you liked best. What _did_
you like best?'

'The clown part,' said Tommy, promptly.

For it ought to be said here that he was a boy who had always had a
leaning to the kind of practical fun which he saw carried out by the
clown to a pitch of perfection which at once enchanted and humbled him.
Till that harlequinade, he had thought himself a funny boy in his way,
and it had surprised him that his family had not found him more amusing
than they did; but now he felt all at once that he was only a very
humble beginner, and had never understood what real fun was.

For he had not soared much above hiding behind doors, and popping out
suddenly on a passing servant, causing her to 'jump' delightfully; once,
indeed, he used to be able to 'sell' his family by pretending all
manner of calamities, but they had grown so stupid lately that they
never believed a single word he said.

No, the clown would not own him as a follower: he would despise his
little attempts at practical jokes. 'Still,' thought Tommy, 'I can try
to be more like him; perhaps he will come to hear of me some day!'

For he had never met anyone he admired half so much as that clown, who
was always in a good temper (to be sure he had everything his own
way--but then he deserved to), always quick and ready with his excuses;
and if he did run away in times of danger, it was not because he was
really afraid! Then how deliciously impudent he was to shopkeepers! Who
but he would have dared to cheapen a large fish by making a door mat of
it, or to ask the prices of cheeses on purpose to throw mud at them? Not
that he couldn't be serious when he chose--for once he unfurled a Union
Jack and said something quite noble, which made everybody clap their
hands for two minutes; and he told people the best shops to go to for a
quantity of things, and he could not have been joking _then_, for they
were the same names that were to be seen on all the hoardings.

This will explain how it was natural that Tommy, on being asked which
part of the pantomime he preferred, should say, without the slightest
hesitation, 'Oh, the _clown_ part!'

The fairy seemed less pleased. 'The clown part!' she repeated. 'What,
those shop scenes tacked on right at the end without rhyme or