was the Grand
Panjandrum's Chief Cook, and that he had been to gather cabbages to make
an apple pie with."

I was about to ask how this was possible, when I caught Shin Shira's
eye, and I could see by the light in it that he was expecting me to make
some inquiry; but I was determined that he should not again have the
opportunity of remarking upon my ignorance, so I held my tongue and said
nothing, as though gathering cabbages in order to make an apple pie was
the most natural thing in the world to do.

He waited for a moment and then continued--

"I stood talking to the man for some time, and at last I asked what was
the matter with his face.

"'I've the toothache,' he said ruefully, 'and that's why I was singing;
I'm told that it's a capital remedy.'

"'I'll see if I can't find a better one,' said I, taking up this little
book, which I always carry with me." And Shin Shira held out for my
inspection a tiny volume bound in yellow leather, with golden clasps,
which was attached to his girdle by a long golden chain.

"This," he explained, "is a very remarkable book, and has been in our
family for many hundreds of years. It contains directions what to do in
any difficulty whatsoever, with the aid of the fairy power, which, as I
have told you, I inherit from my fairy ancestor.

"The only difficulty is that, as I am partly a mortal, _sometimes_
(owing perhaps to my fairy great-great-great-grandmother being in a bad
temper at the moment) the fairy spell refuses to work, and then I am
left in the lurch.

"This time, however, it worked splendidly, for I had only to turn to the
word 'Toothache' to discover that the fairy remedy was to 'rub the
_other_ side of the face with a stinging nettle, and the pain and
swelling would instantly disappear.'

"Fortunately there were plenty of nettles to be found in a neglected
corner of the garden, and I quickly applied the remedy, which worked, as
the saying is, 'like magic,' for the Grand Panjandrum's Chief Cook's
face resumed its normal size at once, and the pain vanished immediately.

"It is needless to say that he was very grateful, and we were walking
back to the Palace, where he had just promised to regale me with some of
the choicest viands in his larder, when we met, coming towards us, a
most doleful-looking individual, clothed in black and wearing a most
woebegone visage.

"'It's the Court Physician,' said the Cook; 'I wonder why he is looking
so melancholy. May I ven