“And how can you possibly know that I have told a lie?”

“Lies, my dear boy, are found out immediately, because they are of two sorts.  There are lies that have short legs, and lies that have long noses.  Your lie, as it happens, is one of those that have a long nose.”

Pinocchio, not knowing where to hide himself for shame, tried to run out of the room; but he did not succeed, for his nose had increased so much that it could no longer pass through the door.

[Illustration:  Splash!  Splash!  They fell into the very middle of the ditch]

[Illustration]

CHAPTER XVIII

PINOCCHIO AGAIN MEETS THE FOX AND THE CAT

The Fairy allowed the puppet to cry for a good half-hour over his nose, which could no longer pass through the door of the room.  This she did to give him a severe lesson, and to correct him of the disgraceful fault of telling lies—­the most disgraceful fault that a boy can have.  But when she saw him quite disfigured and his eyes swollen out of his head from weeping, she felt full of compassion for him.  She therefore beat her hands together and at that signal a thousand large birds called Woodpeckers flew in at the window.  They immediately perched on Pinocchio’s nose and began to peck at it with such zeal that in a few minutes his enormous and ridiculous nose was reduced to its usual dimensions.

“What a good Fairy you are,” said the puppet, drying his eyes, “and how much I love you!”

“I love you also,” answered the Fairy; “and if you will remain with me you shall be my little brother and I will be your good little sister.”

“I would remain willingly if it were not for my poor papa.”

“I have thought of everything.  I have already let your father know, and he will be here tonight.”

“Really?” shouted Pinocchio, jumping for joy.  “Then, little Fairy, if you consent, I should like to go and meet him.  I am so anxious to give a kiss to that poor old man, who has suffered so much on my account, that I am counting the minutes.”

“Go, then, but be careful not to lose yourself.  Take the road through the wood and I am sure that you will meet him.”

Pinocchio set out, and as soon as he was in the wood he began to run like a kid.  But when he had reached a certain spot, almost in front of the Big Oak, he stopped, because he thought he heard people amongst the bushes.  In fact, two persons came out on to the road.  Can you guess who they were?  His two traveling companions, the Fox and the Cat, with whom he had supped at the inn of The Red Craw-Fish.

“Why, here is our dear Pinocchio!” cried the Fox, kissing and embracing him.  “How came you to be here?”

“How come you to be here?” repeated the Cat.

“It is a long story,” answered the puppet, “which I will tell you when I have time.  But do you know that the other night, when you left me alone at the inn, I met with assassins on the road?”