"Snip gone," groaned Kinda Jolly, clapping his hand to his head and falling back against the flour barrel. "Oh! This is the worst of all. Why he's the brightest boy in Kimbaloo and the best button picker I've got. Cry! Cry some more, cry a lot!" wailed the poor King, shaking the Town Crier by the arm. So he did, and the Town Laugher had to blow his nose hard, to keep from crying himself, for Snip was a great favorite in the palace. As soon as the news got about, all the rest of the Kimbles came tumbling into the kitchen, and the two hundred and forty-nine little button boys began to hug Kinda Jolly, and the two hundred and fifty little flower girls began to hug Rosa Merry. Trippsy, the pet foot stool, who loved Snip almost as much as Kinda Jolly, was so upset he dashed here and there till everyone else was that way, too, especially General Whiffenpuff. Altogether the confusion was terrific. "Wait!" grunted the General, picking himself up for the fifth time. "Wait! I will find them all!" Seizing his gun, and with never a thought of dinner, he plunged boldly out into the night to find Mombi, the goose, Snip and an invisible cook. After that things grew calmer, for the King had great confidence in Whiffenpuff. The boys and girls trooped back to their cottages and the rest sat down to a picnic supper out of the ice box. "Whiffenpuff will find 'em, no fear," whispered Hah Hoh, squeezing Kinda Jolly's hand comfortingly, "and if he doesn't just remember that I also have something up my sleeve!" "What is it?" asked the King mournfully, and as clearly as he could, for he had half a chicken sandwich in the other cheek. "A funny bone," confided the Town Laugher, with so comical and important an expression that Kinda had to be thumped on the back to keep from choking. "A funny bone!" gasped the King, as he recovered his breath. "Let me see it, you rascal." So the Town Laugher showed Kinda Jolly his left elbow and they both roared at the joke. CHAPTER 4 In the Purple Forest Snip thought of a great many things to tell Mombi as he was being dragged along through the forest, but she ran so far and so fast that by the time she stopped he was too bumped about and breathless to say any of them. "Now what?" puffed Pajuka, settling on the lowest branch of a purple pine. "Well, do you expect to find the King under the first tree we come to?" panted the old witch, dropping down on a stump and mopping her forehead with her apron. "Hand over that basket, you!" Before he could comply, Mombi had snatched the basket from Snip and, loosening her hold upon his arm, began rummaging among its contents till she found a small purple scroll. "Keep your eye on the boy," ordered Mombi, snapping the scroll open, "and if he tries to escape nip off his nose, d'ye hear?"