"Hush, Lal," said Ridgwell, "don't get excited. Christine will soon get out of the habit and call you Lal, directly she knows how pleasant you are." "You haven't answered my question, Lal," objected Christine. "Well, little Christine, it is like this," and the Lion pondered deeply for awhile. "If you walked _next_ to me and rested your hand upon my mane as you are doing now, anybody who saw us might take us for Una and the Lion, otherwise Beauty and the Beast, and oh! my dear child," implored the Lion, "you surely could not wish me ever to be called a _beast_." "Of course not," said Christine; "we wouldn't hurt your feelings for worlds. So, Ridgie, you walk next to Lal, and I will walk the other side of you." "A most reasonable child," muttered the Lion, "really quite reasonable." "Did you bring the sulphur tablets?" asked the Lion mysteriously. "Yes, here they are. Christine has them wrapped up in a packet," explained Ridgwell; "but, Lal, what can you want with sulphur tablets? You promised me we should both be asked to the party, but sulphur tablets do seem such an odd thing to want as a start. I have thought over it, and Christine has thought over it, and we cannot really think what they can be for." The Lion chuckled his most pleasant chuckle. "Give it up?" "Yes," nodded Ridgwell. "So would any one else," grinned the Lion, "except me. Have you ever thought how the thick yellow London fogs come?" inquired the Lion insinuatingly. "Do you know what causes them?" "No," said Ridgwell. "I don't think anybody knows that." "I do," replied the Lion. "What causes them, then?" asked Ridgwell. "The yellow fogs are caused solely by the habit the other three lions have of sucking sulphur tablets whilst they are asleep," declared the Lion. "They are always sleeping, and directly two sulphur tablets are placed in the corner of each one's mouth they go on sleeping and breathing, sleeping and breathing. The result is a thick yellow fog." "I never knew that was the cause of London fogs," mused Ridgwell. "One of them," sighed the Lion; "and who can wonder at it? Just look at the size of their mouths." "But your mouth is as large as theirs, is it not?" debated Christine. "Yes," said the Lion, "but there is a particular reason for my mouth being large." "Why?" asked the children. "On account of all the wisdom I utter," replied the Lion loftily. "Anyway," said Ridgwell, "it does seem a horrid preparation for a party to start with a fog. Surely nobody would see what was going on." "Hush, hush, my children," remonstrated the Pleasant-Faced Lion. "Just gather round and listen, and do not interrupt. You will be amazed at all the things you are about to see and hear, for you are going to be present to-night for a few minutes at the most wonderful party ever given in the whole world." "That will be lovely," said Ridgwell and Christine. "And oh! Lal, really we have looked forward to it so much."