That's the answer!
Dancing is the best possible exercise."
"A dancing master should be found immediately.
He'll give the Three Fat Men ballet lessons."
"Yes, of course," the First Fat Man said, "but...."
It was at this very moment that they heard the old animal keeper screech, as he had just seen a devil in the tree instead of his favourite parrot, Laura.
The ministers raced off towards the zoo.
"Huff!
Puff!" was all you could hear from all sides.
Thirty families of the prettiest brown and orange butterflies left the park in fright.
A sea of torches appeared.
It was a flaming, smouldering forest racing ahead in the darkness.
When there were only about ten yards left to the zoo gate, everyone who was running suddenly stopped short, as if something was blocking their path.
Then they all turned and dashed back, howling and screaming, falling all over each other, darting this way and that in their terror.
Torches dropped to the ground, flames spread, and clouds of black smoke billowed up.
"Oh!"
"Ah!"
"Help!"
The cries echoed through the park.
The flames shot up, casting a red glow on the scene of flight and confusion.
From behind the iron fence that surrounded the zoo a huge man had appeared. He strode forward calmly, with broad, firm steps.
Seen in the glow, the red-headed man with flashing eyes advanced like a terrible nightmare.
In one hand he held a leash made out of a length of chain, with a panther on the other end of it.
The sleek black cat leaped, whined, and struggled like a lion on a knight's pennant, trying to wriggle out of the terrible collar. Its long red tongue darted in and out of its mouth.
Those who dared turn back saw that the man was carrying a girl in a shiny pink dress on his other arm.
The child seemed very frightened by the snarling panther, she tucked her rosebud slippers up under her and pressed close to her friend's shoulder.
"It's Prospero!" the courtiers howled as they fled.
"Prospero!
It's Prospero!"
"Help!"
"It's the doll!"
"The doll!"
And then Prospero let the panther go.
It flicked its tail as it took tremendous leaps after the running men.
Suok jumped down from Prospero's arm.
There were many pistols lying about where they had been dropped by the fleeing men.
Suok picked up three of them.
She gave Prospero two and kept one.
It was nearly half her size.
But she knew how to use the black shiny thing: she had learned to shoot in the circus.
"Come on!" Prospero said.
They had no time to worry about what was going on in the park •or to think of the raging panther.
They had to find the underground tunnel.
They had to escape.
Where was the pot Tibul had spoken of?
Where was the mysterious pot through which the balloon man had escaped?
"Let's go to the kitchen!"
Suok shouted as she ran on, waving her pistol.
They ran on in complete darkness, tearing through the bushes and scaring the sleeping birds.
Oh, what Suok's lovely dress looked like now!