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On the third day Pippity returned, and, as he came flying into the palace, “Pippity, Pippity!” I cried, “I thought you were never coming back.  Have you been to see your old friends?” He hung his head demurely, and said nothing.

Although I had told Pippity, when he had first sought my hospitality, that I would shed no tears over his departure, if at any time he might see fit to leave me, I must confess that I was very glad when he came back.  His society was agreeable.  He was a good listener, and he was by no means an idler, as far as that kind of honorable work is concerned which consists in keeping body and soul together.  For example, strolling through our fertile garden, if I should happen to see some fine fruit high on a tree, Pippity would fly up to it at my bidding, and, cutting its stem with his bill, would quickly bring it to the ground.

“Pippity,” I would say, “do you see that extra fine bunch of bananas up there?  Now, do you go up and cut the stalk, while I stand below and catch the luscious treasure on this soft bed of leaves.”

And, before I would be done speaking, Pippity would already be pretty well advanced with his work.  For getting nuts, and such fruit as it was desirable to take carefully from plants at great heights, his services were invaluable.

It is a remarkable fact that, although we had such an abundance of tropical fruits, as well as a large proportion of temperate productions, on our domain, the cocoa-nut was not one of them.  I remembered that, in coming up from the lake, I had seen large numbers of cocoa-nut trees growing on the small flat at which I first arrived about nine hundred feet below the level of our palace plateau.

It would be an agreeable diversion, I thought, to go down there and get some of those nuts, and it undoubtedly would be quite a treat to Pippity to share them with me.

“So,” said I, “Pippity, I am going down this narrow gorge to the lake; cocoa-nuts grow there, and I mean that you and I shall have some.  Keep house while I am gone.  I shall start with the first peep of dawn, while it is cool, and be back some time in the afternoon.”

I had made some baskets, in which we hung up the fruit we gathered.  One of these I took, and went down the declivity.  I soon filled the basket with good cocoa-nuts, saw plenty of monkeys, and was much amused at their lively antics, and at their astonishment at seeing one so much like them, and yet so different.  I then returned—­not, however, without being obliged to throw away quite a number of the nuts before reaching the top, in order to lessen the burden, which was light enough at first, but which seemed to grow heavier and heavier as I proceeded.

As soon as Pippity saw me, he cried out: 

“Cocoa-nuts!  Cocoa-nuts!”

We relished them so much that I went down after them quite often, always leaving Pippity at home to mind the house.