Two in a Zoo by Oliver Herford

Said the fat white grub to the new spoon hook, With a cynical smile and a scornful look: "Pray accept my very best wishes. It is true you dazzle their eyes, I suppose, But the fact remains, as every one knows, That I am the food for fishes. " -- _Lay of the Minstrel Pike._

Toots sat on the smooth top of a boulder on the river bank, gazing deep down into the pool at his feet. The pool was shaded by the overhanging branches of a cottonwood tree. The warm air was filled with the fragrance of the country. It had painted the boy's cheeks a healthy brown, and caused him to thrill with a sense of strength that was new and delightful. The good surgeon's promise was fulfilled; Toots' leg was now as straight as that of any boy, and no longer was it burdened by the weight of iron straps. Concerning the iron straps he had just one regret; when he returned to his friends, the Menial People, would Mahmoud be able to recognize him, thus bereft of those symbols of their affinity? He would soon know, for he and the Princess -- whose guest Toots was at her father's country home during the period of his convalescence -- were to return in a few days.