The King wagged his head from side to side as he repeated this verse: "He's come without reason And quite out of season; I agree with you, Ma'am, He has stolen the jam!" "Put out your tongue!" commanded the Queen, waving a bunch of keys at Notta. This Notta was unable to do, for his bear head had no tongue. "You see!" shrilled the Queen triumphantly, "he is afraid to put out his tongue. Slammer," she called, turning to a huge doorman, who stood behind the throne, "what is the punishment for door jam stealing?" The doorman whisked a little book from his pocket and, after flipping over a number of pages, read in a high nasal voice, "Any one caught stealing the Queen's door jam shall have his knob twisted and every door in the kingdom slammed on him besides." "How fearfully unhealthy," muttered Notta, rising to protest his innocence. But the Queen waved him back, and banging her keys on the arm of her throne called loudly, "Slammer, carry out the sentence!" Slammer immediately blew a sharp whistle and every doorman in the room sprang toward the trembling Notta. "Stop!" cried Bob, doubling up his fists. "He didn't steal your old jam. 'Tisn't a bear at all, it's Notta!" "Notta?" gasped the King, rubbing his watery blue eyes, and leaning forward. "Not a bear!" puffed the clown, hastily snatching off his bear head, just as the first of the doormen grasped him by the shoulders. Chapter 7 The Escape From Doorways "What do you mean by standing there and telling us you're not a bear?" puffed the King, as soon as he had got his breath. "It was a mistake, I see that now," said the clown, hastily stepping out of his disguise. "If your Highness will overlook it this once, it will never occur again." "Shall we overlook it?" asked the King, turning to squarely face the Queen. Adora was staring in amazement at the clown, and being a very curious Queen she decided not to have the intruder slammed till she found out all about him. "We will overlook it for the present," she answered haughtily, waving the doormen back to their places. The King smiled and chanted this couplet: "She'll overlook it for the present; Be seated, please, and both look pleasant!" Bob sat down with a sigh of relief. What queer beings this King and Queen were! Everything was queer, but for some reason or other Bob rather enjoyed it. King Theodore was not nearly so fierce as Mustafa, and his singular habit of breaking into verse simply fascinated the little boy. "This brings us to rule three," confided Notta in a hoarse whisper. "Joke and run, you know!" "When is a door not a door?" asked the Queen, pointing her finger suddenly at the clown. "When it's adorable, like your Majesty," replied Notta with a grin. "Or when it's a jar of door jam, like the one your Highness has just lost!" Before Adora had recovered from her surprise, Notta pointed his finger at the King and shouted, "Why is a tomato like a book?"