"I thanked the great Doctor and returned home, where I did as he had
told me. For the last three days the necks of not only my children but
of my wife and myself, as well, have been hanging on the bushes to be
cured; so we could not possibly have eaten your plum-pudding. Indeed,
it was only an hour ago when I finished putting the neck on the last of
my children, and at that moment your soldiers came and arrested me."

When the Fox ceased speaking the King was silent for a while. Then he
asked:

"Were the necks all cured?"

"Oh, yes," replied the fox; "the sun cured them nicely."

"You see," remarked the King, turning to his Wise Men; "the Fox has
proved his innocence. You were wrong, as usual, in accusing him. I
shall now send him home with six baskets of cherry phosphate, as a
reward for his honesty. If you have not discovered the thief by the
time I return I shall keep my threat and stop your allowance of cake."

Then the Wise Men fell a-trembling, and put their heads together,
counseling with one another.

When the King returned, they said: "Your Majesty, it must have been the
Bullfrog."

So the King sent his soldiers, who captured the Bullfrog and brought
him to the palace.

"Why have you stolen the plum-pudding?" demanded the King, in a stern