[Illustration]

Thought the Cat, "I ate a basketful of cakes, I ate my friend the
Parrot, I ate the abusive old Woman, I ate the Washerman and his donkey,
and shall I blush to eat a beggarly King?"

No, surely not. The Cat devoured the King, and his procession, and his
elephants too.

Then the Cat went on until she met a pair of Landcrabs. "Run away, run
away, Pussycat!" said the Landcrabs, "or we will nip you!"

"Ha! ha! ha!" laughed the Cat, shaking her sides (fat enough they were
by this time), "I ate a basketful of cakes, I ate my friend the Parrot,
I ate an abusive old Woman, I ate the Washerman and his donkey, I ate
the King and all his elephants, and shall I run away from a Landcrab?
Not so, but I will eat the Landcrab too!" So saying, she pounced upon
the Landcrabs. Gobble, gobble, slip, slop: in two swallows the Landcrabs
went down the Cat's gullet.

But although the Landcrabs slid down the Cat's gullet easily enough, you
must know that they are hard creatures, too hard for a Cat to bite; so
they took no harm at all. They found themselves amongst a crowd of
creatures. There was the King, sitting with his head on his hands, very
unhappy; there was the King's newly-wed bride in a dead faint; there was
a company of soldiers, trying to form fours, but rather muddled in mind;
there was a herd of elephants, trumpeting loudly; there was a donkey
braying and the Washerman beating the donkey with a stick; there was the
Parrot, whetting his beak on his own claws; then there was the old Woman
abusing them all roundly; and last of all, five hundred cakes neatly
piled in a corner. The Landcrabs ran round to see what they could find;
and they found that the inside of the Cat was quite soft. They could not
see anything at all, except by flashes, when the Cat opened her mouth,
but they could feel. So they opened their claws, and nip! nip! nip!

"Miaw!" squealed the Cat.

Then came another nip, and another great Miaw!
The Landcrabs went on nipping, until they had nipped
a big round hole in the side of the Cat. By this time the
Cat was lying down, in great pain; and as the hole was
very big, out walked the Landcrabs, and scuttled away.
Then out walked the King, carrying his bride; and out
walked the elephants, two and two; out walked the
soldiers, who had succeeded in forming fours-right, by
your left, quick march! out walked the