Chimborazo felt in his pocket, and took out a queer-looking instrument of shining metal. "Oh, dear!" he said.
"'Oh, dear!' it is!" said the fairy godmother. "Now," she continued, "listen to me, Chimborazo! I am going to put you on an allowance of 'Oh, dears.' This is a self-acting bell-punch, and it will ring whenever you say 'Oh, dear!' How many times do you generally say it in the course of the day?"
"Oh, dear!" said Chimborazo, "I don't know. Oh, _dear_!"
"_Ting! ting!_" the bell-punch rang twice sharply; and looking at it in dismay, he saw two little round holes punched in a long slip of pasteboard which was fastened to the instrument.
"Exactly!" said the fairy. "That is the way it works, and a very pretty way, too. Now, my boy, I am going to make you a very liberal allowance. You may say 'Oh, dear!' forty-five times a day. There's liberality for you!"
"You see!" observed the fairy. "Nothing could be prettier. You have now had three of this day's allowance. It is still some hours before noon, so I advise you to be careful. If you exceed the allowance----" Here she paused, and glowered through her spectacles in a very dreadful manner.
"Oh, dear!" cried Chimborazo. "What will happen then?"
"You will see!" said the fairy godmother, with a nod. "_Something_ will happen, you may be very sure of that. Good-by. Remember, only forty-five!" And away she flew out of the window.
"Oh, dear!" cried Chimborazo, bursting into tears. "I don't want it! I won't have it! Oh, _dear_! oh, dear! oh, dear! oh, dear! oh, DEAR!!!"
"Ting! ting! ting-ting-ting-_ting_!" said the bell-punch; and now there were ten round holes in the strip of pasteboard. Chimborazo was now really frightened. He was silent for some time; and when his mother called him to his lessons he tried very hard not to say the dangerous words. But the habit was so strong that he said them unconsciously. By dinnertime there were twenty-five holes in the cardboard strip; by tea-time there were forty! Poor Chimborazo! he was afraid to open his lips, for whenever he did the words would slip out in spite of him.
"Well, Chimbo," said his father after tea, "I hear you have had a visit from your fairy godmother. What did she say to you, eh?"