“Oh, no, brother, _you’re_ the one to tell her.”
“Oh dear no, brother Nibby, _you_ are the one to----”
“I’ll come!” said Merrimeg. “Never mind telling me. Go ahead, and I’ll follow you!”
The two pairs of wooden shoes turned and went out of the open door, and Merrimeg followed them as they went clop-clopping down the street.
They left the village and went into the woods. They found a path which Merrimeg had never seen before, and they walked along this path, under the trees and bushes, and across little streams, for a long, long time; and the woods grew thicker and thicker, so that at last they could not see the sun, and it was very dark; and all the while the two pairs of little shoes went on before, and Merrimeg followed behind.
[Illustration: THE CLOP-CLOP SHOES WENT ON INTO THE WOODS]
“I suppose we’d better tell her the right word now,” said the voice of Malkin, “before we meet old Verbum Sap.”
“Yes, before we meet old Sappy,” said Nibby’s voice.
“Dear me!” said Malkin’s voice. “Blest if I haven’t forgotten the word myself!”
“Oh, mercy on us, whatever will we do now?” said Nibby’s voice.
“Oh dear, oh dear!” said Malkin’s voice. “If I could only remember the word! Isn’t it something like _cat-tails_?”
“Can’t _you_ remember the word, brother Nibby?”
“Oh, _me_? Oh dear yes, brother, I know what the word is. But _you’ve_ forgotten it, brother Malkin! Whatever shall we do now? We’ll never get our bodies back without the word, never, never!”
“But don’t _you_ know what it is, brother Nibby?”
“Oh yes, brother Malkin, but what good will that do, if _you_ don’t know what it is?”
“That’s so, that’s so. I never thought of that. Oh dear me, I’m sure I don’t know what we’re going to do about it.”
Merrimeg very nearly lost all patience at this.
“Why don’t you _tell_ him what it is, then?” she said.
“I do hope she isn’t going to be cross,” said Malkin’s voice. “But anyway, that’s a pretty good idea. Suppose you _tell_ me what the word is? Isn’t it something like _cat-tails_?”
“Nothing like that, brother, nothing like that!”
“Then we’d better tell her now, before old Sappy comes up, so she’ll know the word.”
“I think _you_ should be the one to tell her, brother Nibby----”
“Oh bother!” said Merrimeg. “I _know_ what the word is now. It’s kitten-tails.”