"You shouldn't be in such a hurry," remarked Jack-in-the-box. "Take things more calmly, and ask the Policeman. Kindly shut up the lid of my box. I can't very well manage it myself, I'm so springy. Close it firmly, please, or I shall be jumping out again, and I don't want to do that. I wish to stay indoors to-day as much as possible, for I have a heavy cold in my head and am sneezing every two minutes." "_That_ didn't do much good," said the Grocer when he had done as he was asked, and closed the lid of Jack's box. "Let us find the Policeman," she said, holding out her hand. "An excellent idea," he replied as he took it. "There he is, just outside that dolls' house. "Constable," he said, "can you direct us to the Well with Truth at the bottom?" "First to the right, second to the left, and keep on till you come to it," the policeman answered, without removing his eyes from the kitchen window. "Not that I ever heard tell of any such Well," he added, putting his head inside and speaking to the Little China Doll within. "Then you're a deceiver," she said severely, as she handed him a joint of beef tightly gummed on to a wooden platter. "You're sure to arrive at anything if you keep on till you get it," he answered carelessly. "So it doesn't really matter if you take the first to the right and the second to the left, or the second to the right and the first to the left. You are bound to get there in time.... This beef is gummed so tightly to the dish that it is a job to get it off...." In the meantime the Grocer and the Farthing Doll were wandering about trying to find the Well. They sought for a long time, but they could not see a sign of it. "We'll never find it," she said in despair. "And I am growing so tired I am beginning to lose all my good looks. All the crimson is wearing off my cheeks." "Come, come, my dear, we won't give up yet," he said. "Console yourself; I believe many others have been in the same plight before us." "I don't mind if they have," she said, tired and impatient. Now the Grocer was a man of quick intellect. His thoughts were not solely given to the selling of raisins, currants, flour, rice and other groceries. As the Farthing Doll spoke, a very clever idea came into his head. "Wait!" he said thoughtfully. "Your last remark has given me a new idea. You mentioned the word _mind_! Mind,--mind,--mind. Yes,--now why should we not give up seeking for truth in a Well, and try to find it in our minds?" "Have we got them?" she asked doubtfully. "I think so," he replied. "Then where are they kept?" He pondered. "In our heads, I imagine," he said. And tapping his forehead to help out his thought he remarked. "Let us begin. Here is my first question: Do you approve of marriages with Grocers?" "Before I answer," said the Farthing Doll cautiously, "I should like to hear if you approve of marriages with Farthing Dolls? Some people don't." "Ladies first. It is your place to reply to me before I reply to you."