"Not in this town," he answered. "There seems to be no place for kings in this free United States. And a Mayor and High Chief is just as good as a king, any day." "I think so, too," answered the girl. "Better!" declared Chubbins. The Mayor smiled, as if pleased. "I see you've been properly brought up," he continued; "and now let me introduce to you some of my fellow-citizens. This," pointing with one little paw to the hole where the mother and her two children were sitting, "is Mrs. Puff-Pudgy and her family--Teenty and Weenty. Mr. Puff-Pudgy, I regret to say, was recently chased out of town for saying his prayers backwards." [Illustration: MR. PUFF-PUDGY WOULD SAY HIS PRAYERS BACKWARD] "How could he?" asked Chubbins, much surprised. "He was always contrary," answered the Mayor, with a sigh, "and wouldn't do things the same way that others did. His good wife, Mrs. Puff-Pudgy, had to scold him all day long; so we finally made him leave the town, and I don't know where he's gone to." "Won't he be sorry not to have his little children any more?" asked Twinkle, regretfully. "I suppose so; but if people are contrary, and won't behave, they must take the consequences. This is Mr. Chuckledorf," continued the Mayor, and a very fat prairie-dog bowed to them most politely; "and here is Mrs. Fuzcum; and Mrs. Chatterby; and Mr. Sneezeley, and Doctor Dosem." All these folks bowed gravely and politely, and Chubbins and Twinkle bobbed their heads in return until their necks ached, for it seemed as if the Mayor would never get through introducing the hundreds of prairie-dogs that were squatting around. "I'll never be able to tell one from the other," whispered the girl; "'cause they all look exactly alike." "Some of 'em 's fatter," observed Chubbins; "but I don't know which." [Illustration] Chapter IV Presto Digi, the Magician "And now, if you like, we will be pleased to have you visit some of our houses," said Mr. Bowko, the Mayor, in a friendly tone. "But we can't!" exclaimed Twinkle. "We're too big," and she got up and sat down upon the bank, to show him how big she really was when compared with the prairie-dogs. "Oh, that doesn't matter in the least," the Mayor replied. "I'll have Presto Digi, our magician, reduce you to our size." [Illustration: MR. BOWKO, THE MAYOR] "Can he?" asked Twinkle, doubtfully. "Our magician can do anything," declared the Mayor. Then he sat up and put both his front paws to his mouth and made a curious sound that was something like a bark and something like a whistle, but not exactly like either one. Then everybody waited in silence until a queer old prairie-dog slowly put his head out of a big mound near the center of the village. "Good morning, Mr. Presto Digi," said the Mayor. "Morning!" answered the magician, blinking his eyes as if he had just awakened from sleep.