"How long will it take to get there now?" asked Lulu. "That is a hard question to answer," replied the Enchanted Banjo, "but I will sing a little in order to pass away the time." And so the Banjo sang: THE CRAB AND THE LOBSTER The Lobster and the Crab once met Where all the sand was nice and wet, And bowing nicely, down they sat To have a pleasant, friendly chat. They talked about the weather; next How with their children they were vexed; Then said the Crab: "I often fret About the Rules of Etiquette." "Now I," the Lobster said, "am, too, Disturbed by it the same as you. I do not like these folks who say One should act thus, or talk this way. "My nature is, indeed, mine own; Why, if the King called from his throne For me to go ahead, he'd find That I should quickly drop behind." "I, too," the Crab declared, "am odd, And at some formal laws I nod. In this one thing I take great pride: When I walk straight, I step aside." Oh, children, pray take heed of this-- You, little boy; you, little miss-- The Lobster and the Crab do thus Because they are like most of us. The Crab goes on in sidewise tracks And when the Lobster leads, it backs! They do so, for it is, you know, The only way that each can go. "We are now in a land where things are not measured as they are in your world," said the Banjo. "You saw how easily you got into this small coach, did you not? Its measurement is not the same as that of a coach up there," and it pointed directly above. "In the same way, the time will be much smaller than the same length of time would be where we came from. I don't think the journey will tire you in the least, but it may, perhaps, be a sensible thing for you to curl up on the seats and take a little nap." "That is so," remarked Lulu. "I am feeling rather sleepy." "So am I," said Zuzu. So they both curled up on the seats and went fast asleep. [Illustration] CHAPTER XXIV THE ROYAL AND OFFICIAL COUNCIL In the meantime, as may readily be imagined, there was a sad time at the palace of the King of Gee-Whiz. The Widow Pickle threatened to upset the royal household if her Twins were not brought back before sundown of that day. No trace could be found of the royal shadow, nor could any one tell what had become of the wooden leg of the Royal Army. The Private Secretary was almost frantic over all these difficulties, and the Court Physician was also at his wits' end, seeking for some remedy for the strange disease of the King, which had caused him to lose his shadow, this being a thing which he could not find mentioned in any of the medical works which he habitually consulted.