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ComeH University Library 
 PS 2927B41 
 
 The bee-man o< Omand other fancijul^^^^ 
 
 HMiPi- 
 
The original of tliis bool< is in 
 tine Cornell University Library. 
 
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 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31 9240221 81 287 
 
BY FRANK R. STOCKTON 
 
 rudder grange 
 
 the late mrs. nttll 
 
 ardis claverden 
 
 the house of martha 
 
 Pomona's travels 
 
 the adventures op captain horn 
 
 MBftS. CLIFt's TACHT 
 
 THE GIRL AT COBHURST 
 
 THE LADY OR THE TIGER 
 
 THE CHRISTMAS WRECK 
 
 THE BEE-MAN OF ORN 
 
 AMOS KILBRIGHT 
 
 THE RUDDER GRANGERS ABROAB 
 
 THE watchmaker's WIFE 
 
 A stort teller's pack 
 
 AFIELD AND AFLOAT 
 JOHN GATTHEr's GARDEN 
 A CHOSEN VIEW 
 
 ROUNDABOUT RAMBLES 
 TALES OUT OP SCHOOL 
 A JOLLY FELLOWSHIP 
 THE FLOATING PRINCE 
 THE TING-A-LING TALES 
 THE STORY OF VITEAU 
 PERSONALLY CONDUCTED 
 THE CLOCKS OF RONDAINE 
 THE queen's MUSEUM 
 FANCIFUL TALES 
 
 CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS 
 
THE BEE-MAN OF ORN 
 
 AMD 
 
 OTHER FANCIFUL TALES 
 
 FRANK R. STOCKTON 
 
 NEW YORK 
 CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS 
 
 1928 
 
CorYuoBT, 1S87, bt 
 CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS 
 
 COPYEIGHT, 1915, BV 
 
 LODISE STOCKTON and FRANCES A. STOCKTON 
 
 Printed in the United States of America 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 L Thb Bsii-iiAir or Obit 1 
 
 IL Thi: Gbiffin and the MmoK Cmjsois ... 17 
 
 IIL Old Pipes and the Brtad 38 
 
 IV. The Queen's Museum 63 
 
 V. Chbistuas Befobe Last; ob, The Fruit of 
 
 THE Fbagilb Palm S7 
 
 TL Pbince Hassae'b March 114 
 
 VIL The Battle of the Third Oousins .... 138 
 
 VIII. The Banished Kcsre 156 
 
 IX. The Philopena 188 
 
THE BEE-MAN OF ORN. 
 
 IN the ancient country of Orn, there lived an old 
 man who was called the Bee-man, because his whole 
 time was spent in the company of bees. He lived in a 
 small hat, which was nothing more than an immense 
 bee-hive, for these little creatures had built their honey- 
 combs in every corner of the one room it contained, on 
 the shelves, under the little table, all about the rough 
 bench on which the old man sat, and even about the 
 head-board and along the sides of his low bed. All 
 day the air of the room was thick with buzzing insects, 
 but this did not interfere in any way with the old Bee- 
 man, who walked in among them, ate his meals, and 
 went to sleep, without the slightest fear of being 
 stung. He had lived with the bees so long, they had 
 become so accustomed to him, and his skin was so 
 tough and hard, that the bees no more thought of 
 stinging him than they would of stinging a tree or 
 a stone. A swarm of bees had made their hive in a 
 pocket of his old leathern doublet ; and when he put 
 on this coat to take one of his long walks in the forest 
 in search of wild bees' nests, he was very glad to have 
 this hive with him, ipr, it h^ ^ oot find any wild 
 
 1 
 
2 THE BEE-MAN OF ORlf. 
 
 honey, he would put his hand in his pocket and take 
 out a piece of a comb for a luncheon. The bees in 
 his pocket worked very industriously, and he was 
 always certain of having something to eat with him 
 wherever he went. He lived principally upon honey ; 
 and when he needed bread or meat, he carried some 
 fine combs to a village not far away and bartered 
 them for other food. He was ugly, untidy, shrivelled, 
 and brown. He was poor, and the bees seemed to be 
 his only friends. But, for all that, he was happy and 
 contented; he had all the honey he wanted, and his 
 bees, whom he considered the best company in the 
 world, were as friendly and sociable as they could be, 
 and seemed to increase in number every day. 
 
 One day, there stopped at the hut of the Bee-man a 
 Junior Sorcerer. This young person, who was a stu- 
 dent of magic, necromancy, and the kindred arts, was 
 much interested in the Bee-man, whom he had fre- 
 quently noticed in his wanderings, and he considered 
 him an admirable subject for study. He had got a 
 great deal of useful practice by endeavoring to find 
 out, by the various mles and laws of sorcery, exactly 
 why the old Bee-man did not happen to be something 
 that he was not, and why he was what he happened to 
 be. He had studied a long time at this matter, and 
 had found out something. 
 
 " Do you know," he said, when the Bee-man came 
 out of his hut, " that you have been transformed? " 
 
 "What do you mean by that?" said the other, 
 much surprised. 
 
 "You have surely heard of snimals and hnman 
 
THE BEE-MAN OF ORN. 8 
 
 beings who have been magically transformed into 
 different kinds of creatures? " 
 
 " Yes^ I have heard of these things," said the Bee- 
 man ; " but what have I been transformed fram? " 
 
 "That is more than I know," said the Junior Sor- 
 cerer. "But one thing is certain — you ought to be 
 changed back. If you will find out what you have been 
 transformed from, I will see that you are made all 
 right again. Nothing would please me better than to 
 attend to such a case." 
 
 And, having a great many things to study and inves- 
 tigate, the Junior Sorcerer went his way. 
 
 This information greatly disturbed the mind of the 
 Bee-man. If he had been changed from something 
 else, he ought to be that other thing, whatever it was. 
 He ran after the young man, and overtook him. 
 
 " If you know, kind sir," he said, " that I have 
 been transformed, you surely are able to tell me what 
 it is that I was." 
 
 " No," said the Junior Sorcerer, " my studies have 
 not proceeded far enough for that. When I become a 
 senior I can tell you all about it. But, in the mean- 
 tune, it will be well for you to try to discover for your- 
 self your original form, and when you have done that, 
 I will get some of the learned masters of my art to 
 restore you to it. It will be easy enough to do that, 
 but you could not expect them to take the time and 
 trouble to find out what it was." 
 
 And, with these words, he hurried away, and was 
 Boon lost to view. 
 
 Greatly disquieted, the Bee-man retraced his steps, 
 
4 TH£ BEE-MAN OF ORN. 
 
 and went to his hut. Never before had he heard any 
 thing which had so troubled him. 
 
 "I wonder what I was transfonned from?" he 
 thought, seating himself on his rough bench. " Could 
 it have been a giant, or a powerful prince, or some 
 gorgeous being whom the magicians or the fairies 
 wished to punish? It may be that I was a dog or a 
 horse, or perhaps a fiery dragon or a horrid snake. I 
 hope it was not one of these. But, whatever it was, 
 every one has certainly a right to his original form, 
 and I am resolved to find out mine. I will start early 
 to-morrow morning, and I am sorry now that I have 
 not more pockets to my old doublet, so that I might 
 cany more bees and more honey for my journey." 
 
 He spent the rest of the day in making a hive of 
 twigs and straw, and, having transferred to this a 
 number of honey-combs and a colony of bees which 
 had just swarmed, he rose before sunrise the next day, 
 and having put on his leathern doublet, and having 
 bound his new hive to his back, he set forth on his 
 quest ; the bees who were to accompany him buzzing 
 around him like a cloud. 
 
 As the Bee-man passed through the little village the 
 people greatly wondered at his queer appearance, with 
 the hive upon his back. " The Bee-man is going on a 
 long expedition this time," they said ; but no one 
 imagined the strange business on which he was bent. 
 About noon he sat down under a tree, near a beautiful 
 meadow covered with blossoms, and ate a little honey. 
 Then he untied his hive and stretched himself out on 
 the grass to rest. As he gazed upon his bees hover- 
 
THE BEE-MAN OF OBN. 5 
 
 ing about him, some going out to the blossoms in the 
 sunshine, and some returning laden with the sweet 
 pollen, he said to himself, " They know just what they 
 have to do, and they do it ; but alas for me ! I know 
 not what 1 may have to do. And yet, whatever it 
 may be, I am determined to do it. In some way or 
 other I will find out what was my original form, and 
 then I wiU have myself changed back to it." 
 
 And now the thought came to him that perhaps his 
 original form might have been something very dis- 
 agreeable, or even horrid. 
 
 " But it does not matter, ' ' he said sturdily. ' ' What- 
 ever I was that shall I be again. It is not right for 
 any one to retain a form which does not properly be- 
 long to him. I have no doubt I shall discover my 
 original form in the same way that I find the trees in 
 which the wild bees hive. When I first catch sight of 
 a bee-tree I am drawn towards it, I know not how. 
 Something says to me : ' That is what you are looking 
 for.' In the same way I believe that I shall find my 
 original form. When I see it, I shall be drawn towards 
 it. Something will say to me : ' That is it.' " 
 
 When the Bee-man was rested he started off again, 
 and in about an hour he entered a fair domain. Around 
 him were beautiful lawns, grand trees, and lovely gar- 
 dens ; while at a little distance stood the stately palace 
 of the Lord of the Domain. Richly dressed people 
 were walking about or sitting in the shade of the trees 
 and arbors ; splendidly caparisoned horses were wait- 
 ing for their riders ; and everywhere were seen eigua 
 of opulence and gayety. 
 
6 THE BEB-MAN OF OUN. 
 
 " I thiok," said the Bee-man to himself, " that I 
 should like to stop here for a time. If it should hap- 
 pen that I was originally like any of these happy 
 creatures it would please me much." 
 
 He untied his hive, and hid it behind some bushes, 
 and taking oft his old doublet, laid that beside it. It 
 would not do to have his bees flying about him if 
 he wished to go among the inhabitants of this fair 
 domain. 
 
 For two days the Bee-man wandered about the pal- 
 ace and its grounds, avoiding notice as much as possi- 
 ble, but looking at every thing. He saw handsome 
 men and lovely ladies; the finest horses, dogs, and 
 cattle that were ever known; beautiful birds in cages, 
 and fishes in crystal globes, and it seemed to him that 
 the best of all living things were here collected. 
 
 At the close of the second day, the Bee-man said to 
 himself: "There is one being here toward whom I 
 feel very much drawn, and that is the Lord of the 
 Domain. I cannot feel certain that I was once like 
 him, but it would be a very fine thing if it were so ; 
 and it seems impossible for me to be drawn toward any 
 other being in the domain when I look upon him, so 
 handsome, rich, and powerful. But I must observe 
 him more closely, and feel more sure of the matter, 
 before applying to the sorcerers to change me back 
 into a lord of a fair domain." 
 
 The next morning, the Bee-man saw the Lord of 
 the Domain walking in his gardens. He slipped along 
 the shady paths, and followed him so as to observe 
 him closely, and find out if he were really drawn 
 
THE BEE-MAN OF ORN. 7 
 
 toward thia noble and handsome being. The Lord of 
 the Domain walked on for some time, not noticing 
 that the Bee-man was behind him. But suddenly 
 turning, he saw the little old man. 
 
 "What are you doing here, you vile beggar?" he 
 cried ; and he gave him a kick that sent him into aome 
 bushes that grew by the side of the path. 
 
 The Bee-man scrambled to his feet, and ran as fast 
 as he could to the place where he had hidden his hive 
 and his old doublet. 
 
 "If I am certain of any thing," he thought, "it is 
 that I was never a person who would kick a poor old 
 man. I will leave this place. I was transformed 
 from nothing that I see here." 
 
 He now travelled for a day or two longer, and then 
 he came to a great black mountain, near the bottom of 
 which was an opening like the mouth of a cave. 
 
 This mountain he had heard was filled with caverns 
 and under-ground passages, which were the abodes of 
 dragons, evil spirits, horrid creatures of all kinds. 
 
 " Ah me ! " said the Bee-man with a sigh, " I sup. 
 pose I ought to visit this place. If I am going to do 
 this thing properly, I should look on aU sides of the 
 subject, and I may have been one of those horrid 
 creatures myself." 
 
 Thereupon he went to the mountain, and as he 
 approached the opening of the passage which led into 
 its inmost recesses he saw, sitting upon the ground, 
 and leaning his back against a tree, a Languid Youth. 
 
 •'Good-day," said this individual when he saw the 
 Bee-man. " Are you going inside ? " 
 
8 THE BEE-MAN OF OBX. 
 
 " Yes," said the Bee-man, " that is what I intend tc 
 do." 
 
 " Then," said the Languid Youth, slowly rising to 
 his feet, " I think I will go with you. I was told that 
 if I went in there I should get my energies toned up, 
 and they need it very much ; but I did not feel equal 
 to entering by myself, and I thought I would wait 
 until some one came along. I am very glad to see 
 you, and we will go in together." 
 
 So the two went into the cave, and they had pro- 
 ceeded but a short distance when they met a very little 
 creature, whom it was easy to recognize as a Very 
 Imp. He was about two feet high, and resembled 
 in color a freshly polished pair of boots. He was 
 extremely lively and active, and came bounding 
 toward them. 
 
 "What did you two people come here for?" he 
 asked. 
 
 " I came," said the Languid Youth, " to have my 
 energies toned up." 
 
 " You have come to the right place," said the Very 
 Imp. " We will tone you up. And what does that 
 old Bee-man want? " 
 
 " He has been transformed ftom something, and 
 wants to find out what it is. He thinks he may have 
 been one of the things in here." 
 
 "I should not wonder if that were so," said the 
 Very Imp, rolling his head on one side, and eying the 
 Bee-man with a critical gaze. 
 
 " All right," said the Very Imp ; " he can go around, 
 and pick out his previous existence. We have here all 
 
TBE BEE-MAN OF ORN. 9 
 
 sorts of vile creepers, crawlers, hissers, and snorters. 
 I suppose be thinks any thing will be better than a 
 Bee-man." 
 
 " It is not because I want to be better than I am," 
 said the Bee-man, " that I started out on this search. 
 I have simply an honest desire to become what I origi- 
 nally was." 
 
 " Oh ! that is it, is it? " said the other. " There is 
 an idiotic moon-calf here with a clam head, which 
 must be just like what you used to be." 
 
 " Nonsense," said the Bee-man. " You have not 
 the least idea what an honest purpose is. I shall go 
 about, and see for myself." 
 
 " Go ahead," said the Very Imp, " and I will attend 
 to this fellow who wants to be toned up." So saying 
 he joined the Languid Youth. 
 
 " Look here," said that individual, regardmg him 
 with interest, " do you black and shine youi'self every 
 morning?" 
 
 " No," said the other, " it is water-proof varnish. 
 You want to be invigorated, don't you? Well, I will 
 tell you a splendid way to begin. You see that Bee- 
 man has put down his hive and his coat with the bees 
 in it. Just wait till he gets out of sight, and then 
 catch a lot of those bees, and squeeze them flat. If 
 you spread them on a sticky rag, and make a plaster, 
 and put it on the small of your back, it will invigorate 
 you like every thing, especially if some of the bees are 
 not quite dead." 
 
 " Yes," said the Languid Youth, looking at him 
 with his mild eyes, " but if I had eneigy enough to 
 
10 TEE BEE-MAN OF OSN. 
 
 catch a bee I would be satisfied. Suppose you catd 
 a lot for me." 
 
 " The subject is changed," said the Very Imp. 
 " We are now about to visit the spacious chamber of 
 the King of the Snap-dragons." 
 
 " That is a flower," said tlie Languid Youth. 
 
 "You will find him a gay old blossom," said the 
 other. " When he has chased you round his room, 
 and has blown sparks at you, and has snorted and 
 howled, and cracked his tail, and snapped his jaws 
 like a pair of anvils, your energies will be toned up 
 higher than ever before in your life." 
 
 " No doubt of it," said the Languid Youth; "but 
 I think I will begin with something a little milder." 
 
 "Well then," said other, "there is a flat-tailed 
 Demon of the Gorge in here. He is generally asleep, 
 and, if you say so, you can slip into the farthest 
 corner of his cave, and I'll solder his tail to the oppo- 
 site wall. Then he will rage and roar, but he can't 
 get at you, for he does n't reach all the way across his 
 cave ; I have measured him. It will tone you up won- 
 derfully to sit there and watch him." 
 
 "Very likely," said the Languid Youth; "but I 
 would rather stay outside and let you go up in the 
 comer. The performance in that way will be more 
 interesting to me." 
 
 " You are dreadfully hard to please," said the Very 
 Imp. " I have offered them to you loose, and I have 
 offered them fastened to a wall, and now the best 
 thing I can do is to give you a chance at one of them 
 that can't move at all. It is the Ghastly Griffin and 
 
THE BBB-MAN OF ORS. 11 
 
 k enchanted. He can't stir 90 much as the tip of his 
 whiskers for a thousand years. You can go to his 
 cave and examine him just as if he were stuffed, and 
 then you can sit on his back and think how it would 
 be if you should live to be a thousand years old, and 
 he should wake up while you are sitting there. It 
 would be easy to imagine a lot of horrible things he 
 would do to you when you look at his open mouth 
 with its awful fangs, his dreadful claws, and his hor- 
 rible wings all covered with spikes." 
 
 '' I think that might suit me," said the Languid 
 Youth. "I would much rather imagine the exercises 
 of these monsters than to see them really going on." 
 
 "Come on, then," said the Very Imp, and he led 
 the way to the cave of the Ghastly Griffin. 
 
 The Bee-man went by himself through a great part 
 of the mountain, and looked into many of its gloomy 
 caves and recesses, recoiling in horror from most of the 
 dreadful monsters who met his eyes. While he was 
 wandering about, an awful roar was heard resounding 
 through the passages of the mountain, and soon there 
 came flapping along an enormous dragon, with body 
 black as night, and wings and tail of fiery red. In 
 his great fore-claws he bore a little baby. 
 
 "Horrible!" exclaimed the Bee-man. "He is 
 taking that little creature to his cave to devour it." 
 
 He saw the dragon enter a cave not far away, and 
 following looked in. The dragon was crouched upon 
 the ground with the little baby lying before him. It 
 did not seem to be hurt, but was frightened and ery- 
 iog. The monster was looking upon it with delight, 
 
12 THE BEE-MAN OF ORN. 
 
 as if he inteDded to make a dainty meal of it as soon 
 as his appetite should be a little stronger. 
 
 " It is too bad ! " thought the Bee-man. " Somebody 
 ought to do something." And turning around, he ran 
 away as fast as he could. 
 
 He ran through various passages until he came to 
 the spot where he had left his bee-hive. Picking it 
 up, he hurried back, carrying the hive in his two hands 
 before him. When he reached the cave of the dragon, 
 he looked in and saw the monster still crouched over 
 the weeping child. Without a moment's hesitation, 
 the Bee-man rushed into the cave and threw his hive 
 straight into the face of the dragon. The bees, 
 enraged by the shock, rushed out in an angry crowd 
 and immediately fell upon the head, mouth, eyes, and 
 nose of the dragon. The great monster, astounded 
 by this sudden attack, and driven almost wild by the 
 numberless stings of the bees, sprang back to the 
 farthest portion of his cave, still followed by his 
 relentless enemies, at whom he flapped wildly with 
 his great wings and struck with his paws. While the 
 dragon was thus engaged with the bees, the Bee-man 
 rushed forward, and, seizing the child, he hurried 
 away. He did not stop to pick up his doublet, but 
 kept on until he reached the entrance of the caves. 
 There he saw the Very Imp hopping along on one leg, 
 and rubbing his back and shoulders with his hands, 
 and stopped to inquire what was the matter, and what 
 had become of the Languid Youth. 
 
 " He is no kind of a fellow," said the Very Imp. 
 " He disappointed me dreadfully. I took him up to 
 
TB£ BEE-MAN OF OBN. 13 
 
 the Ghastly Griffin, and told him the thing was en. 
 chanted, and that he might sit on its back and thini- 
 about what it could do if it was awake; and whea 
 he came near it the wretched creature opened its eyes, 
 and raised its head, and then you ought to have seen 
 how mad that simpleton was. He made a dash at me 
 and seized me by the ears; he kicked and beat me 
 till I can scarcely move." 
 
 " His energies must have been toned up a good 
 deal," said the Bee-man. 
 
 "Toned up ! I should say so ! " cried the other. " I 
 raised a howl, and a Scissor-jawed Clipper came out 
 of his hole, and got after him ; but that lazy fool ran 
 so fast that he could not be caught." 
 
 The Bee-man now ran on and soon overtook the 
 Languid Youth. 
 
 " You need not be in a hurry now," said the latter, 
 " for the rules of this institution don't allow the 
 creatures inside to come out of this opening, or to hang 
 around it. If they did, they would frighten away 
 visitors. They go in and out of holes in the upper 
 part of ttie mountain." 
 
 The two proceeded on their way. 
 
 " What are you going to do with that baby ? " said 
 the Languid Youth. 
 
 " I shall carry it along with me," said the Bee-man, 
 " as I go on with my search, and perhaps I may find 
 its mother. If I do not, I shall give it to somebody 
 in that little village yonder. Any thing would be bet- 
 ter than leaving it to be devoured by that horrid 
 dragon." 
 
14 THE BEE-MAN OF OBN. 
 
 " Let me carry it. I feel quite strong enough now 
 to carry a baby." 
 
 " Thank you," said the Bee-man, "but I can take 
 it myself. I like to carry something, and I have now 
 neither my hive nor my doublet." 
 
 " It is very well that you had to leave them behind," 
 said the Youth, " for the bees would have stung the 
 baby." 
 
 " My bees never sting babies," said the other. 
 
 " They probably never had a chance," remarked his 
 companion. 
 
 They soon entered the village, and after walking a 
 short distance the youth exclaimed : " Do you see that 
 woman over there sitting at the door of her house? 
 She has beautiful hair and she is tearing it all to 
 pieces. She should not be allowed to do that." 
 
 " No," said the Bee-man. " Her friends should tie 
 her hands." 
 
 " Perhaps she is the mother of this child," said the 
 Youth, " and if you give it to her she will no longer 
 think of tearing her hair." 
 
 " But," said the Bee-man, " you don't really think 
 this is her child?" 
 
 " Suppose you go over and see," said the other. 
 
 The Bee-man hesitated a moment, and then he 
 walked toward the woman. Hearing him coming, she 
 raised her head, and when she saw the child she rushed 
 towards it, snatched it into her arms, and screaming 
 with joy she covered it with kisses. Then with happy 
 tears she begged to know the story of the rescue of 
 her child, whom she never expected to see again ; and 
 
THE BEE-MAN OF OSN. 16 
 
 ahe loaded the Bee-man with thanks and blessings. 
 The friends and neighbora gathered around and there 
 fras great rejoicing. The mother urged the Bee-man 
 and the Youth to stay with her, and rest and refresh 
 themselves, which they were glad to do as they were 
 tired and hungry. 
 
 They remained at the cottage all night, and in the 
 afternoon of the next day the Bee-man said to the 
 Youth : " It may seem an odd thing to you, but never in 
 aU my life have I felt myself drawn towards any living 
 being as I am drawn towards this baby. Therefore I 
 believe that I have been transformed from a baby." 
 
 " Good ! " cried the Youth. " It is my opinion that 
 you have hit the truth. And now would you like to 
 be changed back to your original form? " 
 
 " Indeed I would ! " said the Bee-man, " I have the 
 strongest yearning to be what I originally was." 
 
 The Youth, who had now lost every trace of languid 
 feeling, took a great interest in the matter, and early 
 the next morning started off to inform the Junior 
 Sorcerer that the Bee-man had discovered what he had 
 been transformed from, and desired to be changed 
 back to it. 
 
 The Junior Sorcerer and his learned Masters were 
 filled with enthusiasm when they heard this report, and 
 they at once set out for the mother's cottage. And 
 there by magic arts the Bee-man was changed back 
 into a baby. The mother was so grateful for what 
 the Bee-man had done for her that she agreed to 
 take charge of this baby, and to bring it up as her 
 own. 
 
16 THE BEE-MAN OF ORN. 
 
 " It will be a grand thing for him," said the Junior 
 Sorcerer, " and I am glad that I studied his case. He 
 will now have a fresh start in life, and will have a 
 chance to become something better than a miserable 
 old man living in a wretched hut with no friends or 
 companions but buzzing bees." 
 
 The Junior Sorcerer and his Masters then returned 
 to their homes, happy in the success of their great 
 performance; and the Touth went back to his home 
 anxious to begin a life of activity and energy. 
 
 Years and years afterward, when the Junior Sorcerer 
 had become a Senior and was very old indeed, he 
 passed through the country of Om, and noticed a small 
 hut about which swarms of bees were flying. He ap- 
 proached it, and looking in at the door he saw an old 
 man in a leathern doublet, sitting at a table, eating 
 honey. By his magic art he knew this was the baby 
 which had been transformed from the Bee-man. 
 
 "Upon my word!" exclaimed the Sorcerer, "He 
 has grown into the same thing again ! " 
 
THE GRIFFIN AND THE MINOR CANON. 
 
 OVER the great door of an old, old church which 
 stood in a quiet town of a far-away land there 
 was carved in stone the figure of a large griflSn. The 
 old-time sculptor had done his work with great care, 
 but the image he had made was not a pleasant one to 
 look at. It had a large head, with enormous open 
 mouth and savage teeth ; from its back arose great 
 wings, armed with sharp hooks and prongs ; it had stout 
 legs in front, with projecting claws ; but there were 
 no legs behind, — the body running out into a long and 
 powerful tail, finished off at the end with a barbed 
 point. This tail was coiled up under him, the end 
 sticking up just back of his wings. 
 
 The sculptor, or the people who had ordered this 
 stone figure, had evidently been very much pleased 
 with it, for little copies of it, also in stone, had been 
 placed here and there along the sides of the church, 
 not very far from the ground, so that people could 
 easily look at them, and ponder on their curious forms. 
 There were a great many other sculptures on the out- 
 aide of this church, — saints, martyrs, grotesque heads 
 of men, beasts, and birds, aa well as those of other 
 
 IT 
 
18 TBB QRIFFIN AND TBB MINOR CANON. 
 
 creatures which cannot be named, because nobodj 
 knows exactly what they were ; but none were so 
 curious and interesting as the great griffin over the 
 door, and the little griffins on the sides of the church. 
 A long, long distance from the town, in the midst 
 of dreadful wilds scarcely known to man, there dwelt 
 the Griffin whose image had been put up over the 
 church-door. In some way or other, the old-time 
 sculptor had seen him, and afterward, to the best of 
 his memory, had copied his figure in stone. The 
 Griffin had never known this, until, hundreds of years 
 afterward, he heard from a bird, from a wild animal, 
 or in some manner which it is not now easy to find 
 out, that there was a likeness of him on the old church 
 in the distant town. Now, this Griffin had no idea 
 how he looked. He had never seen a mirror, and the 
 streams where he lived were so turbulent and violent 
 that a quiet piece of water, which would reflect the 
 image of any thing looking into it, could not be found. 
 Being, as far as could be ascertained, the very last of 
 his race, he had never seen another griffin. There- 
 fore it was, that, when he heard of this stone image 
 of himself, he became very anxious to know what he 
 looked like, and at last he determined to go to the old 
 church, and see for himself what manner of being he 
 was. So he started off from the dreadful wilds, and 
 flew on and on until he came to the countries inhabited 
 by men, where his appearance in the air created great 
 consternation ; but he alighted nowhere, keeping up a 
 steady flight until he reached the suburbs of the town 
 irhich had his image on its church. Here, late in th» 
 
TBB GRIFFIN AND THE MINOR CANON. 19 
 
 kfternoon, he alighted in a green meadow by the side 
 of a brook, and stretched himself on the grass to rest. 
 His great wings were tired, for he had not made such 
 £ long flight in a century, or more. 
 
 The news of his coming spread quickly over the 
 town, and the people, frightened nearly out of their 
 wits by the arrival of so extraordinary a visitor, fled 
 into their houses, and shut themselves up. The GriflSn 
 called loudly for some one to come to him, but the 
 more he called, the more afraid the people were to 
 show themselves. At length he saw two laborers hurry- 
 ing to their homes through the fields, and in a terrible 
 voice he commanded them to stop. Not daring to 
 disobey, the men stood, trembling. 
 
 "What is the matter with you all?" cried the 
 Griflto. " Is there not a man in your town who is 
 brave enough to speak to me? " 
 
 " I think," said one of the laborers, his voice tak- 
 ing BO that his words could hardly be understood, 
 " that — perhaps — the Minor Canon — would come." 
 
 "Go, call him, then!" said the Griffin; "I want 
 to see him." 
 
 The Minor Canon, who filled a subordinate position 
 ia the old church, had just finished the afternoon ser- 
 vices, and was coming out of a side door, with three 
 aged women who had formed the week-day congrega- 
 tion. He was a young man of a kind disposition, and 
 very anxious to do good to the people of the town. 
 Apart from his duties in the church, where he con- 
 ducted services every week-day, he visited the sick 
 and the poor, counselled and assisted persons who were 
 
20 TBE GRIFFIN AND TBE MINOR CANON. 
 
 in trouble, and taught a school composed entirely of 
 the bad children in the town with whom nobody else 
 would have any thing to do. Whenever the people 
 wanted something diflficult done for them, they always 
 went to the Minor Canon. Thus it was that the 
 laborer thought of the young priest when he found that 
 some one must come and speak to the Griffln. 
 
 The Minor Canon had not heard of the strange 
 event, which was known to the whole town except 
 himself and the three old women, and when he was 
 informed of it, and was told that the Griffln had asked 
 to see him, he was greatly amazed, and frightened. 
 
 "Me!" he exclaimed. "He has never heard of 
 me ! What should he want with me?" 
 
 " Oh ! you must go instantly ! " cried the two men. 
 " He is very angry now because he has been kept wait- 
 ing so long ; and nobody knows what may happen if 
 you don't hunj to him." 
 
 The poor Minor Canon would rather have had his 
 hand cut ofif than go out to meet an angry griffln ; but 
 he felt that it was his duty to go, for it would be a 
 woful thing if injury should come to the people of the 
 town because he was not brave enough to obey the 
 summons of the Griffln. So, pale and frightened, he 
 started off. 
 
 " Well," said the Griffin, as soon as the young man 
 came near, " I am glad to see that there is some one 
 who has the courage to come to me." 
 
 The Minor Canon did not feel very courageous, but 
 he bowed his head. 
 
 "Is this the '.town," said the Griffin, "where there 
 
TBI; GRIFFIN AND THE MINOR CANON. 21 
 
 is a charch with a likeness of myaelf over one of the 
 doors?" 
 
 The Minor Canon looked at the frightful creature 
 before him and saw that it was, without doubt, exactly 
 like the stone image on the charch. " Yea," he said, 
 "you are right." 
 
 " Well, then," said the Griffin, " will you take me 
 to it? I wish very much to see it." 
 
 The Minor Canon instantly thought that if the Griffin 
 entered the town without the people knowing what he 
 came for, some of them would probably be frightened 
 to death, and so he sought to gain time to prepare 
 their minds. 
 
 "It is growing dark, now," he said, very much 
 afraid, as he spoke, that his words might enrage the 
 Griffin, " and objects on the front of the church can 
 not be seen clearly. It will be better to wait until 
 morning, if you wish to get a good view of the stone 
 image of yourself." 
 
 "That will suit me very well," said the Griffin. " 1 
 see you are a man of good sense. I am tired, and I 
 will take a nap here on this soft grass, while I cool my 
 tail in the little stream that rims near me. The end of 
 my tail gets red-hot when I am angry or excited, and 
 it is quite warm now. So you may go, but be sure 
 and come early to-morrow morning, and show me the 
 way to the church. 
 
 The Minor Canon was glad enough to take his leave, 
 and hurried into the town. In front of the church he 
 found a great many people assembled to hear his 
 report of his interview with the Griffin. When they 
 
22 THE GRIFFIN AND THE MINOR CANON. 
 
 found that he had not come to spread ruin and devas- 
 iation, but simply to see his stony likeness on the 
 ahurch, they showed neither relief nor gratification, 
 but began to upbraid the Minor Canon for consenting 
 to conduct the creature into the town. 
 
 " What could I do? " cried the young man. " K I 
 should not bring him he would come himself and, 
 perhaps, end by setting fire to the town with his red- 
 hot tail." 
 
 Still the people were not satisfied, and a great many 
 plans were proposed to prevent the GrifBn from com- 
 ing into the town. Some elderly persons urged that 
 the young men should go out and kill him ; but the 
 young men scoffed at such a ridiculous idea. Then 
 some one said that it would be a good thing to destroy 
 the stone image so that the Griffin would have no 
 excuse for entering the town ; and this proposal was 
 received with such favor that many of the people ran 
 for hammers, chisels, and crowbars, with which to tear 
 down and break up the stone griffin. But the Minor 
 Canon resisted this plan with all the strength of his 
 mind and body. He assured the people that this action 
 would enrage the Griffin beyond measure, for it would 
 be impossible to conceal from him that his image had 
 been destroyed during the night. But the people were 
 so determined to break up the stone griffin that the 
 Minor Canon saw that there was nothing for him to do 
 but to stay there and protect it. All night he walked 
 up and down in front of the church-door, keeping 
 away the men who brought ladders, by which they 
 might mount to the great stone griflto, and knock it 
 
THS GRIFFIN AND THE MINOR CANON. % 
 
 to pieces with their hammers and crowbars. After 
 many hours the people were obliged to give up their 
 attempts, and went home to sleep ; but the Minor 
 Canon remained at his post till early morning, and 
 then he hurried away to the field where he had left the 
 Griffin. 
 
 The monster had just awakened, and rising to his 
 fore-legs and shaking himself, be said that he was 
 ready to go into the town. The Minor Canon, there- 
 fore, walked back, the Griffin flying slowly through 
 the air, at a short distance above the head of his guide. 
 Not a person was to be seen in the streets, and they 
 proceeded directly to the front of the church, whera 
 the Minor Canon pointed out the stone griffin. 
 
 The real Griffin settled down in the little square 
 before the church and gazed earnestly at his sculptured 
 likeness. For a long time he looked at it. First he 
 put his head on one side, and then he put it on the 
 other ; then he shut his right eye and gazed with his 
 left, after which he shut his left eye and gazed with 
 his right. Then he moved a little to one side and 
 looked at the image, then he moved the other way. 
 After a while he said to the Minor Canon, who had 
 been standing by all this time : 
 
 "It is, it must be, an excellent likeness! That 
 breadth between the eyes, that expansive forehead, 
 those massive jaws ! I feel that it must resemble me. 
 If there is any fault to find with it, it is that the ne£^ 
 seems a little stiff. But that is nothing. It is an 
 admirable likeness, — admirable ! ' ' 
 
 The Griffin sat looking at his image all the morning 
 
24 THE GRIFFIN AND THE MINOR CANON. 
 
 and all the afternoon. The Minor Canon had been 
 afraid to go away and leave him, and had hoped all 
 through the day that he would soon be satisfied witl 
 his inspection and fly away home. But by evening 
 the poor young man was utterly exhausted, and felt 
 that he must eat and sleep. He fi-ankly admitted this 
 fact to the GrifBn, and asked him if he would not like 
 something to eat. He said this because he felt obliged 
 in politeness to do so, but as soon as he had spoken 
 the words, he was seized with dread lest the monster 
 should demand half a dozen babies, or some tempting 
 repast of that kind. 
 
 " Oh, no," said the Griffin, " I never eat between 
 the equinoxes. At the vernal and at the autumnal 
 equinox I take a good meal, and that lasts me for 
 half a year. I am extremely regular in my habits, 
 and do not think it healthful to eat at odd times. But 
 if you need food, go and get it, and I will return to 
 the soft grass where I slept last night and take another 
 nap." 
 
 The next day the Griffin came again to the little 
 square before the church, and remained there until 
 evening, steadfastly regarding the stone griffin over 
 the door. The Minor Canon came once or twice to 
 look at him, and the Griffin seemed very glad to see 
 him ; but the young clergyman could not stay as he 
 had done before, for he had many duties to perform. 
 Nobody went to the church, but the people came to 
 the Minor Canon's house, and anxiously asked him 
 how long the Griffin was going to stay. 
 
 "I do not know," he answered, "but I think he 
 
THE GRIFFIN AND THE MINOR CANON. 25 
 
 will soon be satisfied with regarding his stone likenesa, 
 and then he will go away." 
 
 But the Griffin did not go away. Morning after 
 morning he came to the church, but after a time he 
 did not stay there all day. He seemed to have taken 
 a great fancy to the Minor Canon, and followed him 
 about as he pursued his various avocations. He would 
 wait for him at the side door of the church, for the 
 Minor Canon held services every day, morning and 
 evening, though nobody came now. " If any one 
 should come," he said to himself, " I must be found 
 at my post." When the young man came out, the 
 Griffin would accompany him in his visits to the sick 
 and the poor, and would often look into the windows 
 of the school-house where the Minor Canon was teach- 
 ing his unruly scholars. All the other schools were 
 closed, but the parents of the Minor Canon's scholars 
 forced them to go to school, because they were so bad 
 they could not endure them all day at home, — griffin 
 or no griffin. But it must be said they generally 
 behaved very well when that great monster sat up on 
 his tail and looked in at the school- room window. 
 
 When it was perceived that the Griffin showed no 
 sign of going away, all the people who were able to 
 do so left the town. The canons and the higher 
 officers of the church had fled away during the first 
 day of the Gi'iffin's visit, leaving behind only the 
 Minor Canon and some of the men who opened the 
 doors and swept the church. All the citizens who 
 could afford it shut up their houses and travelled to 
 distant parts, and only the working people and the 
 
26 TEE GRIFFIN AND THE MINOR CANON. 
 
 poor were left behind. After some days these ven 
 tured to go about and attend to their business, for \L 
 they did not work they would starve. They were get- 
 ting a little used to seeing the Griffin, and having been 
 told that he did not eat between equinoxes, they did 
 not feel so much afraid of him as before. 
 
 Day by day the Griffin became more and more 
 attached to the Minor Canon. He kept near him a 
 great part of the time, and often spent the night in 
 front of the little house where the 3'oung clergyman 
 lived alone. This strange companionship was often 
 burdensome to the Minor Canon ; but, on the other 
 hand, he could not deny that he derived a great deal 
 of benefit and instruction from it. The Griffin had 
 lived for hundreds of years, and had seen much ; and 
 he told the Minor Canon many wonderful things. 
 
 "It is like reading an old book," said the young 
 clergyman to himself ; " but how many books I would 
 have had to read before I would have found out what 
 the Griffin has told me about the earth, the air, the 
 water, about minerals, and metals, and growing things, 
 and all the wonders of the world ! " 
 
 Thus the summer went on, and drew toward its 
 dose. And now the people of the town began to be 
 very much troubled again. 
 
 "It will not be long," they said, "before the 
 autumnal equinox is here, and then that monster will 
 want to eat. He will be dreadfully hungry, for he 
 has taken so much exercise since his last meal. He 
 will devour our children. "Without doubt, he will eat 
 them all. What is to be done? " 
 
TBB GRIFFIN AND TBS MINOR CANON. 2T 
 
 To this question no one could give an answer, but 
 all agreed that the Griffln must not be allowed to 
 remain until the approaching equinox. After talking 
 over the matter a great deal, a crowd of the people 
 went to the Minor Canon, at a time when the GriflSn 
 was not with him. 
 
 " It is all your fault," they said, " that that monster 
 is among us. You brought him aere, and you ought 
 to see that he goes away. It is only on your account 
 that he stays here at all, for, although he visits his 
 image every day, he is with you the greater part of the 
 time. If you were not here, he would not stay. It 
 is your duty to go away and then he will follow you, 
 and we shall be free from the dreadful danger which 
 hangs over us." 
 
 " Go away ! " cried the Minor Canon, greatly grieved 
 at being spoken to in such a way. " Where shall I 
 go? If I go to some other town, shall I not take this 
 trouble there ? Have I a right to do that ? ' ' 
 
 "No," said the people, "you must not go to any 
 other town. There is no town far enough away. 
 You must go to the dreadful wilds where the Griffin 
 lives ; and then he will follow you and stay there." 
 
 They did not say whether or not they expected the 
 Minor Canon to stay there also, and he did not ask them 
 any thing about it. He bowed his head, and went into 
 his house, to think. The more he thought, the more 
 clear it became to his mind that it was his duty to go 
 away, and thus free the town from th.e presence of tne 
 Griffin. 
 
 That evening he packed a leathern bag full of bread 
 
28 THE GRIFFIN AND THE MINOR CANON. 
 
 and meat, and early the next morning he set out on 
 his journey to the dreadful wilds. It was a long, 
 weary, and doleful journey, especially after he had 
 gone beyond the habitations of men, but the Minor 
 Canon kept on bravely, and never faltered. The way 
 was longer than he had expected, and his provisions 
 soon grew so scanty that he was obliged to eat but a 
 little every day, but he kept up his courage, and 
 pressed on, and, after many days of toilsome travel, 
 he reached the dreadful wilds. 
 
 When the Griffin found that the Minor Canon had 
 left the town he seemed sorry, but showed no disposi- 
 tion to go and look for him. After a few days had 
 passed, he became much annoyed, and asked some of 
 the people where the Minor Canon had gone. But, 
 although the citizens had been so anxious that the 
 young clergyman should go to the dreadful wilds, 
 thinking that the Griffin would immediately follow 
 him, they were now afraid to mention the Minor 
 Canon's destination, for the monster seemed angry 
 already, and, if he should suspect their trick he would, 
 doubtless, become very much enraged. So every one 
 said he did not know, and the Griffin wandered about 
 disconsolate. One morning he looked into the Minor 
 Canon's school-house, which was always empty now, 
 and thought that it was a shame that every thing 
 should suffer on account of the young man's absence. 
 
 "It does not matter so much about the church," 
 he said, "for nobody went there; but it is a pity 
 about the school. I think I will teach it myself until 
 he returns." 
 
THE GRIFFIN AND TBE MINOR CANON. 2& 
 
 It was the hour for opening the school, and tht 
 GriflBn went inside and pulled the rope which rang 
 the school-bell. Some of the children who heard the 
 bell ran in to see what was the matter, supposing it 
 to be a joke of one of their companions ; but when 
 they saw the Griffin they stood astonished, and 
 scared. 
 
 " Go tell the other scholars," said the monster, 
 " that school is about to open, and that if they are 
 not all here in ten minutes, I shall come after them." 
 
 In seven minutes everj' scholar was in place. 
 
 Never was seen such an orderly school. Not a boy 
 or girl moved, or uttered a whisper. The Griffin 
 climbed into the master's seat, his wide wings spread 
 on each side of him, because he could not lean back 
 in his chair while they stuck out behind, and his great 
 tail coiled around, in front of the desk, the barbed 
 end sticking up, ready to tap any boy or girl who 
 might misbehave. The Griffin now addressed the 
 scholars, telling them that he intended to teach them 
 whUe their master was away. In speaking he en- 
 deavored to imitate, as far as possible, the mild and 
 gentle tones of the Minor Canon, but it must be 
 admitted that in this he was not very successful. He 
 had paid a good deal of attention to the studies of the 
 school, and he determined not to attempt to teach 
 them any thing new, but to review them in what they 
 had been studying ; so he called up the various classes, 
 and questioned them upon their previous lessons. The 
 children racked their brains to remember what they 
 had learned. They were so afraid of the Griffin's dis- 
 
30 THE GRIFFIN AND TBE MINOR CANON. 
 
 pleasure that they recited as they had never recited 
 before. One of the boys, far down in his class, 
 answered so well that the Griffin was astonished. 
 
 " I should think you would be at the head," said he. 
 " I am sure you have never been in the habit of recit- 
 ing so well. "Why is this? " 
 
 " Because I did not choose to take the trouble," 
 said the boy, trembling in his boots. He felt obliged 
 to speak the truth, for all the children thought that the 
 great eyes of the Griffin could see right through them, 
 and that he would know when they told a falsehood. 
 
 "You ought to be ashamed of yourself," said the 
 Griffin. " Go down to the very tail of the class, and 
 if you are not at the head in two days, I shall know the 
 reason why." 
 
 The next afternoon this boy was number one. 
 
 It was astonishing how much these children now 
 learned of what they had been studying. It was as if 
 they had been educated over again. The Griffin used 
 no severity toward them, but there was a look about 
 him which made them unwilling to go to bed until they 
 were sure they knew their lessons for the next day. 
 
 The Griffin now thought that he ought to visit the 
 sick and the poor ; and he began to go about the town 
 for this purpose. The effect upon the sick was mirac- 
 ulous. All, except those who were very ill indeed, 
 jumped from their beds when they heard he was com- 
 ing, and declared themselves quite well. To those 
 who could not get up, he gave herbs and roots, which 
 none of them had ever before thought of as medicines, 
 but which the Griffin had seen used in various parts of 
 
TBE QBIFFIN AND TME MINOR CANON. 81 
 
 tbe world ; and most of them recovered. But, for al] 
 that, they afterward said that no matter what hap- 
 pened to them, they hoped that they should never 
 again have such a doctor coming to their bed-sides, 
 feeling their pulses and looking at their tongues. 
 
 As for the poor, they seemed to have utterly disap- 
 peared. All those who had depended upon charity foi 
 their daily bread were now at work in some way or 
 other ; many of them offering to do odd jobs for their 
 neighbors just for the sake of their meals, — a thing 
 which before had been seldom heard of in the town. 
 The Griffin could find no one who needed his assistance. 
 
 The summer had now passed, and the autumnal 
 equinox was rapidly approaching. The citizens were 
 in a state of great alarm and anxiety. The Griffin 
 showed no signs of going away, but seemed to have 
 settled himself permanently among them. In a short 
 time, the day for his semi-annual meal would arrive, 
 and then what would happen? The monster would 
 certainly be very hungry, and would devour all their 
 children. 
 
 Now they greatly regretted and lamented that they 
 had sent away the Minor Canon ; he was the only one 
 on whom they could have depended in this trouble, for 
 he could talk freely with the Griffin, and so find out 
 what could be done. But it would not do to be in- 
 active. Some step must be taken immediately. A 
 meeting of the citizens was called, and two old men 
 were appointed to go and talk to the Griffin. They 
 were instructed to offer to prepare a splendid dinner 
 for iaiD on equinox day, — one which would entirdj 
 
32 THE GRIFFIN AND TBB MINOR CANON. 
 
 satisfy his hunger. They would offer him the fattest 
 mutton, the most tender beef, fish, and game of 
 various sorts, and any tiling of the kind that he might 
 fancy. If none of these suited, they were to mention 
 that there was an orphan asylum in the next town. 
 
 "Anything would be better," said the citizens, 
 " than to have our dear children devoured." 
 
 The old men went to the Griffin, but their proposi- 
 tions were not received with favor. 
 
 " From what I have seen of the people of this 
 town," said the monster, "I do not think I could 
 relish any thing which was prepared by them. They 
 appear to be all cowards, and, therefore, mean and 
 selfish. As for eating one of them, old or young, I 
 could not think of it for a moment. In fact, there 
 was only one creature in the whole place for whom I 
 could have had any appetite, and that is the Minor 
 Canon, who has gone away. He was brave, and good, 
 and honest, and I think I should have relished him." 
 
 " Ah ! " said one of the old men very politely, " in 
 that case I wish we had not sent him to the dreadful 
 wilds!" 
 
 " What ! " cried the Griffin. " What do you mean? 
 Explain instantly what you are talking about ! " 
 
 The old man, terribly frightened at what he had 
 said, was obliged to tell how the Minor Canon had 
 been sent away by the people, in the hope that the 
 Griffln might be induced to follow him. 
 
 When the monster heard this, he became furiously 
 angry. He dashed away from the old men and, spread- 
 ing his wings, flew backward and forward over the 
 
THE GRIFFIN AND THE MINOR CANON. 33 
 
 town. He was so much excited that his tail became 
 red-hot, and glowed like a meteor against the evening 
 sky. When at last he settled down in the little field 
 where he usually rested, and thrust his tail into the 
 brook, the steam arose like a cloud, and the water of 
 the stream ran hot through the town. The citizens 
 were greatly frightened, and bitterly blamed the old 
 man for telling about the Minor Canon. 
 
 "It is plain," they said, " that the Griffin intended 
 at last to go and look for him, and we should have 
 been saved. Now who can tell what misery you have 
 brought upon us." 
 
 The Griffin did not remain long in the little field. 
 As soon as his tail was cool he flew to the town-hall 
 and rang the bell. The citizens knew that they were 
 expected to come there, and although they were afraid 
 to go, they were still more afraid to stay away ; and 
 they crowded into the hall. The Griffln was on the 
 platform at one end, flapping his wings and walking 
 up and down, and the end of his tail was still so warm 
 that it slightly scorched the boards as he dragged it 
 after him. 
 
 When everybody who was able to come was there, 
 the Griffln stood still and addressed the meeting. 
 
 "I have had a contemptible opinion of you," he 
 said, " ever since I discovered what cowards you are, 
 but I had no idea that you were so ungrateful, selfish, 
 and cruel, as I now find you to be. Here was your 
 Minor Canon, who labored day and night for your 
 good, and thought of nothing else but how he might 
 benefit you and make you hapry ; and as soon as you 
 
84 THE GRIFFIN AND THE MINOR CANON. 
 
 inagine yourselves threatened with a danger, — foi 
 well I know you are dreadfully afraid of me, — you 
 send him off, caring not whether he returns or per- 
 ishes, hoping thereby to save yourselves. Now, I had 
 conceived a great liking for that young man, and had 
 Intended, in a day or two, to go and look him up. But 
 I have changed my mind about him. I shall go and 
 find him, but I shall send him back here to live among 
 you, and I intend that he shall enjoy the reward of his 
 labor and his sacrifices. Go, some of you, to the oflS' 
 cers of the church, who so cowardly ran away when 1 
 first came here, and tell them never to return to thi» 
 town under penalty of death. And if, when youi 
 Minor Canon comes back to you, you do not bow your- 
 selves before him, put him in the highest place among 
 you, and serve and honor him all his life, beware of 
 my terrible vengeance ! There were only two good 
 things in this town: the Minor Canon and the stone 
 image of myself over your church-door. One of thesa 
 you have sent away, and the other I shall carry away 
 myself." 
 
 With these words he dismissed the meeting, and it 
 was time, for the end of his tail had become so hot that 
 there was danger of its setting fire to the building. 
 
 The next morning, the GrifiSn came to the churchr 
 .and tearing the stone image of himself from its fasten* 
 ings over the great door, he grasped it with his power' 
 fnl fore-legs and flew up into the air. Then, aftel 
 hovering over the town for a moment, he gave his tail 
 an angry shake and took up his flight to the dreadfiol 
 wUd«. When he reached this desolate r^on, he b«( 
 
TBE GRIFFIN AND THE MINOR CANON. S5 
 
 &e stone GrriflBn npoa a ledge of a rock which rose m 
 front of the dismal cave he called his home. There the 
 image occupied a position somewhat similar to that it 
 had had over the church-door ; and the Griffin, panting 
 with the exertion of carrying such an enormous load 
 to so great a distance, lay down upon the ground, and 
 r^arded it with mach satisfaction. When he felt 
 somewhat rested he went to look for the Minor Canon. 
 He found the young man, weak and half starved, lying 
 under the shadow of a rock. After picking him up 
 and carrying him to his cave, the Grriffin flew away to 
 a distant marsh, where he procured some roots and 
 herbs which he well knew were strengthening and 
 beneficial to man, though he had never tasted them 
 himself. After eating these the Minor Canon was 
 greatly revived, and sat up and listened while th« 
 Griffin told him what had happened in the town. 
 
 " Do you know," said Ibe monster, when he had 
 finished, ■' that I have had, and still have, a great 
 liking for you?" 
 
 " I am very glad to hear it," said tiie Minor Canon, 
 with his usual politeness. 
 
 " I am not at all sure that yoo would be," said the 
 Giiffin, " if you thoroughly understood the state of 
 the case, bat we will not consider that now. If some 
 things were different, other things would be otherwise. 
 I have been so enraged by discovering the manner in 
 which yoa have been treated that I have determined 
 that yon shall at last enjoy the rewards and honors 
 to which you are entitled. lie down and have a good 
 sleep, and then I will take you back to the town." 
 
36 THE GRIFFIN AND THE MINOR CANON. 
 
 As he heard these words, a look of trouble came 
 over the young man's face. 
 
 " You need not give yourself any anxiety," said the 
 Griffin, " about my return to the town. I shall not 
 remain there. Now that I have that admirable likeness 
 of myself in front of my cave, where I can sit at my 
 leisure, and gaze upon its noble features and magnifi- 
 cent proportions, I have no wish to see that abode of 
 cowardly and selfish people." 
 
 The Minor Canon, relieved from his fears, lay back, 
 and dropped into a doze ; and when he was sound 
 asleep the Griffln took him up, and carried him back 
 to the town. He arrived just before day-break, and 
 putting the young man gently on the grass in the little 
 field where he himself used to rest, the monster, 
 without having been seen by any of the people, flew 
 back to his home. 
 
 When the Minor Canon made his appearance in the 
 morning among the citizens, the enthusiasm and cordi- 
 ality with which he was received were truly wonderful. 
 He was taken to a house which had been occupied by 
 one of the banished high officers of the place, and 
 every one was anxious to do all that could be done for 
 his health and comfort. The people crowded into the 
 church when he held services, so that the three old 
 women who used to be his week-day congregation could 
 not get to the best seats, which they had always been 
 in the habit of taking ; and the parents of the bad chil- 
 dren determined to reform them at home, in order that 
 be might be spared the trouble of keeping up his 
 former school. The Minor Canon was appointed to 
 
TSE GRIFFIN AND THE MINOR CANON. 87 
 
 flie highest office of the old church, and before he died, 
 he became a bishop. 
 
 Daring the first years after his return from the 
 dreadful wUds, the people of the town looked up to 
 him as a man to whom they were bound to do honor 
 and reverence ; but they often, also, looked up to the 
 sky to see if there were any signs of the Griffin coming 
 back. However, in the course of time, they learned 
 to honor and reverence their former Minor Canon 
 without the fear of being punished if they did not do 
 so. 
 
 But they need never have been afraid of the Griffin. 
 The autumnal equinox day came round, and the mon- 
 ster ate nothing. If he could not have the Minor 
 Canon, he did not care for any thing. So, lying down, 
 with his eyes fixed upon the great stone griffin, he 
 gradually declined, and died. It was a good thing for 
 some of the people of the town that they did not know 
 this. 
 
 If you should ever visit the old town, you would still 
 see the little griffins on the sides of the church ; but 
 the great stone griffin that was over the door is gone. 
 
)LD PIPES AND THE DRYAD. 
 
 A MOUNTAIN brook ran through a little village. 
 Over the brook there was a narrow bridge, and 
 from the bridge a foot-path led out from the village 
 and up the hill-side, to the cottage of Old Pipes and 
 his mother. For many, many years, Old Pipes had 
 been employed by the villagers to pipe the cattle down 
 from the hills. Every afternoon, an hour before sun- 
 set, he would sit on a rock in front of his cottage and 
 play on his pipes. Then all the flocks and herds that 
 were grazing on the mountains would hear him, where- 
 ever they might happen to be, and would come down 
 to the village — the cows by the easiest paths, the 
 sheep by those not quite so easy, and the goats by 
 the steep and rocky ways that were hardest of all. 
 
 But now, for a year or more, Old Pipes had not 
 piped the cattle home. It is true that every afternoon 
 he sat upon the rock and played upon his familiar 
 instrument ; but the cattle did not hear him. He had 
 grown old, and his breath was feeble. The echoes of 
 his cheerful notes, which used to come from the rocky 
 hill on the other side of the valley, were heard no 
 more ; and twenty yards from Old Pipes one could 
 scarcely tell what tune he was playing. He had 
 38 
 
OLD PIPES AND THE DRYAD. t* 
 
 become somewhat deaf, and did not know that the 
 sound of his pipes was so thin and weak, and that 
 the cattle did not hear him. The cows, the sheep, and 
 the goats came down every afternoon as before, but 
 this was because two boys and a girl were sent up after 
 them. The villagers did not wish the good old man to 
 know that his piping was no longer of any use, so they 
 paid him his little salary every month, and said nothing 
 about the two boys and the girl. 
 
 Old Pipes's mother was, of course, a great deal older 
 then he was, and was as deaf as a gate, — posts, latch, 
 hinges, and all, — and she never knew that the sound 
 of her son's pipe did not spread over all the mountain- 
 side, and echo back strong and clear from the opposite 
 lulls. She was very fond of Old Pipes, and proud of 
 his piping ; and as he was so much younger than she 
 was, she never thought of him as being very old. She 
 cooked for him, and made his bed, and mended his 
 clothes ; and they lived very comfortably on his little 
 salary. 
 
 One afternoon, at the end of the month, when Old 
 Pipes had finished his piping, he took his stout staff 
 and went down the hill to the village to receive the 
 money for his month's work. The path seemed a great 
 deal steeper and more difficult than it used to be ; and 
 Old Pipes thought that it must have been washed by 
 the rains and greatly damaged. He remembered it as 
 a path that was quite easy to traverse either up or 
 down. But Old Pipes had been a very active man, 
 and as his mother was so much older than he was, he 
 never thought of himself as aged and infirm. 
 
40 OLD PIPES AND THE DRYAD. 
 
 When the Chief Villager had paid him, and he had 
 talked a little with some of his frii^nds, Old Pipes 
 started to go home. But when he had crossed the 
 bridge over the brook, and gone a short distance up 
 the hill-side, he became very tired, and sat down upon 
 a stone. He had not been sitting there half a minute, 
 when along came two boys and a girl. 
 
 "Children," said Old Pipes, "I'm very tired to- 
 night, and I don't believe I can climb up this steep 
 path to my home. I think I shall have to ask you to 
 help me." 
 
 " We will do that," said the boys and the girl, quite 
 cheerfully ; and one boy took him by the right hand, 
 and the other by the left, while the girl pushed him in 
 the back. In this way he went up the hill quite easily, 
 and soon reached his cottage door. Old IMpes gave 
 each of the three children a copper coin, and then they 
 sat down for a few minutes' rest before starting back 
 to the village. 
 
 " I'm sorry that I tired you so much," said Old 
 Pipes. 
 
 " Oh, that would not have tired us," said one of the 
 boys, " if we had not been so far to-day after the cows, 
 the sheep, and the goats. They rambled high up on 
 the mountain, and we never before had such a time in 
 finding them." 
 
 " Had to go after the cows, the sheep, and the 
 goats!" exclaimed Old Pipes. "What do you mean 
 by that?" 
 
 The girl, who stood behind the old man, shook her 
 head, put her hand on her mouth, and made all sorts 
 
OLD PIPES AND THE DRY AD. 4i 
 
 of signs to the boy to stop talking on this subject; 
 but he did not notice her, and promptly answered Old 
 Pipes. 
 
 "Why, you see, good sir," said he, "that as the 
 cattle can't hear your pipes now, somebody has to go 
 after them every evening to drive them down from the 
 mountain, and the Chief Villager has hired us three to 
 do it. Generally it is not very hard work, but to-night 
 the cattle had wandered far." 
 
 " How long have you been doing this? " asked the 
 old man. 
 
 The girl shook her head and clapped her hand on 
 her mouth more vigorously than before, but the boy 
 went on. 
 
 " I think it is about a year now," he said, " since 
 the people first felt sure that the cattle could not hear 
 your pipes ; and from that time we've been driving 
 them down. But we are rested now, and wiU go home. 
 Grood-night, sir." 
 
 The three children then went down the hill, the girl 
 scolding the boy all the way home. Old Pipes stood si- 
 lent a few moments, and then he went into his cottage. 
 
 "Mother," he shouted; "did you hear what those 
 children said? " 
 
 " Children ! " exclaimed the old woman ; "I did not 
 hear them. I did not know there were any children 
 here." 
 
 Then Old Pipes told his mother, shouting very loudly 
 to make her hear, how the two boys and the girl had 
 helped him up the hill, and what he had heard about hia 
 piping and the cattle. 
 
42 OLD PIPES AND TEE DRYAD. 
 
 " They can't hear you?" cried his mother. " "Why 
 what's the matter with the cattle? " 
 
 "Ah, me!" said Old Pipes; "I don't believe 
 there's any thing the matter with the cattle. It must 
 be with me and my pipes that there is something the 
 matter. But one thing is certain, if I do not earn the 
 wages the Chief Villager pays me, I shall not take 
 them. I shall go straight down to the village and give 
 back the money I received to-day." 
 
 " Nonsense ! " cried his mother. "I'm sure you've 
 piped as well as you could, and no more can be ex- 
 pected. And what are we to do without the money ? ' ' 
 
 " I don't know," said Old Pipes ; " but I'm going 
 down to the village to pay it back." 
 
 The sun had now set; but the moon was shining 
 very brightly on the hill-side, and Old Pipes could see 
 his way very well. He did not take the same path by 
 which he had gone before, but followed another, which 
 led among the trees upon the hill-side, and, though 
 longer, was not so steep. 
 
 When he had gone about half-way, the old man sat 
 down to rest, leaning his back against a great oak-tree. 
 As he did so, he heard a sound like knocking inside 
 the tree, and then a voice distinctly said : 
 
 " Let me out ! let me out ! " 
 
 " Old Pipes instantly forgot that he waa tired, and 
 sprang to his feet. "This must be a Dryad-tree!" 
 he exclaimed. "If it is, I'll let her out." 
 
 Old Pipes had never, to his knowledge, seen a 
 Dryad-tree, but he knew there were such trees on the 
 kill-sides and the mountains, and that Drjads lived in 
 
OLD PIPES AND TEE DSTAD. 48 
 
 them. He knew, too, that in the summer-time, on 
 those days when the moon rose before the sun went 
 down, a Dryad could come out of her tree if any one 
 could find the key which locked her in, and turn it. 
 Old Pipes closely examined the trunk of the tree, 
 which stood in the full moonlight. " If I see that 
 key," he said, " I shall surely turn it." Before long 
 he perceived a piece of bark standing out from the 
 tree, which appeared to him very much like the handle 
 of a key. He took hold of it, and found he could 
 turn it quite around. As he did so, a large part of 
 the side of the tree was pushed open, and a beautiful 
 Dryad stepped quickly out. 
 
 For a moment she stood motionless, gazing on the 
 scene before her, — the tranquil valley, the hills, the 
 forest, and the mountain-side, all lying in the soft 
 clear light of the moon. "Oh, lovely! lovely!" che 
 exclaimed. "How long it is since I have seen any 
 thing like this ! " And then, turning to Old Pipes, 
 she said : " How good of you to let me out ! I am so 
 happy and so thankful, that I must kiss you, you dear 
 old man ! " And she threw her arms around the neck 
 of Old Pipes, and kissed him on both cheeks. "You 
 don't know," she then went on to say, "how doleful 
 it is to be shut up so long in a tree. I don't mind it 
 in the winter, for then I am glad to be sheltered, but in 
 summer it is a rueful thing not to be able to see all the 
 beauties of the world. And it's ever so long since 
 I've been let out. People so seldom come this way v 
 and when they do come at the right time they either 
 don't hear me, or thev «re. *''-htened, and run away. 
 
44 OLD PIPJS8 AND TBE DRTAD. 
 
 But you, you dear old man, you were not frightened, 
 and you looked and looked for the key, and you let 
 me out, and now I shall not have to go back till winter 
 has come, and the air grows cold. Oh, it is glorious ! 
 What can I do for you, to show you how grateful I 
 am?" 
 
 *' I am very glad," said Old Pipes, " that I let you 
 out, since I see that it makes you so happy ; but I 
 must admit that I tried to find the key because I had a 
 great desire to see a Dryad. But if you wish to do 
 something for me, you can, if you happen to be going 
 down toward the village." 
 
 "To the village!" exclaimed the Dryad. "I will 
 go anywhere for you, my kind old benefactor." 
 
 "Well, then," said Old Pipes, " I wish you would 
 take this little bag of money to the Chief Villager and 
 tell him that Old Pipes cannot receive pay for the ser- 
 vices which he does not perform. It is now more than 
 a year that I have not been able to make the cattle 
 hear me, when I piped to call them home. I did not 
 know this until to-night ; but now that I know it, I can- 
 not keep the money, and so I send it back." And, 
 handing the little bag to the Dryad, he bade her good- 
 night, and turned toward his cottage. 
 
 "Good-night," said the Dryad. "And I thank 
 you over, and over, and over again, you good old 
 
 mani 
 
 I " 
 
 Old Pipes walked toward his home, very glad to be 
 saved the fatigue of going all the way down to the vil- 
 lage and back again. "To be sure," he said to him- 
 self, " this path does not seem at all steep, and I can 
 
OLD PIPES AND TEE DRYAD. 45 
 
 walk along it very easily ; but it would hare tired me 
 dreadfully to come up all the way from the village, 
 especially as I could not have expected those children 
 to help me again." "When he reached home, his 
 mother was surprised to see him returning so soon. 
 
 " "What ! " she exclaimed ; " have you already come 
 back? What did the Chief "VTillager say? Did he 
 take the money? " 
 
 Old Pipes was just about to tell her that he had sent 
 the money to the village by a Dryad, when he suddenly 
 reflected that his mother would be sure to disapprove 
 such a proceeding, and so he merely said he had sent 
 it by a person whom he had met. 
 
 " And how do you know that the person will ever 
 take it to the Chief Villager?" cried his mother. 
 " You will lose it, and the villagers will never get it. 
 Oh, Pipes ! Pipes ! when will you be old enough to 
 have ordinary common sense? " 
 
 Old Pipes considered that as he was already seventy 
 years of age he could scarcely expect to grow any 
 wiser, but he made no remark on this subject ; and, 
 saying that he doubted not that the money would go 
 safely to its destination, he sat down to his supper. 
 His mother scolded him roundly, but he did not mind 
 it ; and after supper he went out and sat on a rustic chair 
 in front of the cottage to look at the moonlit village, 
 and to wonder whether or not the Chief "Villager really 
 received the money. While he was doing these two 
 things, he went fast asleep. 
 
 When Old Pipes left the Dryad, she did not go 
 down to the village with the little bag of money. She 
 
46 OLD PIPES AND THE DRYAD. 
 
 lield it in her hand, and thought about what she had 
 heard. ' ' This is a good and honest old man," she said ; 
 " and it is a shame that he should lose this money. 
 He looked as if he needed it, and I don't believe the 
 people in the village will take it from one who has 
 served them so long. Often, when in my tree, have I 
 heard the sweet notes of his pipes. I am going to 
 take the money back to him." She did not start 
 immediately, because there were so many beautiful 
 things to look at ; but after a while she went up to the 
 cottage, and, finding Old Pipes asleep in his chair, she 
 slipped the little bag into his coat-pocket, and silently 
 sped away. 
 
 The next day, Old Pipes told his mother that he 
 would go up the mountain and cut some wood. He 
 had a right to get wood from the mountain, but for a 
 long time he had been content to pick up the dead 
 branches which lay about his cottage. To-day, how- 
 ever, he felt so strong and vigorous that he thought he 
 would go and cut some fuel that would be better than 
 this. He worked all the morning, and when he came 
 back he did not feel at all tired, and he had a very 
 good appetite for his dinner. 
 
 Now, Old Pipes knew a good deal about Dryads, 
 but there was one thing which, although he had heard, 
 he had forgotten. This was, that a kiss from a Dryad 
 made a person ten years younger. The people of the 
 village knew this, and they were very careful not to let 
 any child of ten years or younger, go into the woods 
 where the Dryads were supposed to be ; for, if they 
 should chance to be kissed by one of these tree- 
 
OLD PIPES AND THE DRYAD. 47 
 
 nymphs, they would be set back so far that they would 
 cease to exist. A story was told in the village that a 
 very bad boy of eleven once ran away into the woods, 
 and had an adventure of this kind; and when his 
 mother found him he was a little baby of one year old. 
 Taking advantage of her opportunity, she brought him 
 up more carefully than she had done before ; and he 
 grew to be a veiy good boy indeed. 
 
 Now, Old Pipes had been kissed twice by the Dryad, 
 once on each cheek, and he therefore felt as vigorous 
 and active as when he was a hale man of fifty. His 
 mother noticed how much work he was doing, and told 
 him that he need not try in that way to make up for the 
 loss of his piping wages ; for he would only tire him- 
 self out, and get sick. But her son answered that he 
 had not felt so well for years, and that he was quite 
 able to work. In the course of the afternoon. Old 
 Pipes, for the first time that day, put his hand in his 
 coat-pocket, and there, to his amazement, he found 
 the little bag of money. "Well, well!" he ex- 
 claimed, " I am stupid, indeed ! I really thought that 
 I had seen a Dryad ; but when I sat down by that big 
 oak-tree I must have gone to sleep and dreamed it all ; 
 and then I came home thinking I had given the money 
 to a Dryad, when it was in my pocket all the time. 
 But the Chief Villager shall have the money. I shall 
 not take it to him to-day, but to-morrow I wish to go 
 to the village to see some of my old friends ; and then 
 I shall give up the money." 
 
 Toward the close of the afternoon. Old Pipes, as 
 had been his custom for so many years, took his pipea 
 
48 OLD PIPES AND THE DRYAD. 
 
 from the shelf on which they lay, and went out to Ihe 
 rock in front of the cottage. 
 
 "What are you going to do?" cried his mother. 
 "If you will not consent to be paid, why do you 
 pipe?" 
 
 " I am going to pipe for my own pleasure," said her 
 son. " I am used to it, and I do not wish to give it 
 up. It does not matter now whether the cattle hear 
 me or not, and I am sure that my piping will injure no 
 one." 
 
 When the good man began to play upon his favorite 
 instrument he was astonished at the sound that came 
 from it. The beautiful notes of the pipes sounded 
 clear and strong down into the valley, and spread over 
 the hills, and up the sides of the mountain beyond, 
 while, after a little interval, an echo came back from 
 the rocky hill on the other side of the valley. 
 
 "Ha! ha!" he cried, "what has happened to my 
 pipes ? They must have been stopped up of late, but 
 now they are as clear and good as ever." 
 
 Again the merry notes went sounding far and wide. 
 The cattle on the mountain heard them, and those that 
 were old enough remembered how these notes had 
 called them from their pastures every evening, and so 
 they started down the mountain-side, the others fol- 
 lowing. 
 
 The merry notes were heard in the village below, 
 and the people were much astonished thereby. " Why, 
 who can be blowing the pipes of Old Pipes?" they 
 said. But, as they were all very busy, no one went up 
 to see. One thing, however, was plain enough: the 
 
OLD PIPES AND THE DRY AD. 49 
 
 •attle were coming down the mountain. And so the 
 two boys and the girl did not have to go after them, 
 and had an hour for play, for which they were very 
 glad. 
 
 The next morning Old Pipes started down to the 
 villj^e with his money, and on the way he met the 
 Dryad. " Oh, ho ! " he cried, " is that you? Why, I 
 thought my letting you out of the tree was nothing but 
 a dream." 
 
 " A dream ! " cried the Dryad ; "if you only knew 
 how happy you have made me, you would not think 
 it merely a dream. And has it not benefited you? 
 Do you not feel happier? Yesterday I heard you 
 playing beautifully on your pipes." 
 
 "Yes, yes," cried he. "I did not understand it 
 before, but I see it all now. I have really grown 
 younger. I thank you, I thank you, good Dryad, 
 from the bottom of my heart. It was the finding of 
 the money in my pocket that made me think it was a 
 dream." 
 
 " Oh, I put it in when you were asleep," she said, 
 laughing, "because I thought you ought to keep it. 
 Good-by, kind, honest man. May you live long, and 
 be as happy as I am now." 
 
 Old Pipes was greatly delighted when he understood 
 that he was really a younger man ; but that made no 
 difference about the money, and he kept on his way to 
 the village. As soon as he reached it, he was eagerly 
 questioned as to who had been playing his pipes the 
 evening before, and when the people heard that it was 
 himself, they were very much surprised. Thereupoa, 
 
50 OLO PIPES AND TEE DRYAD. 
 
 Old Pipes told what had happened to him, and then 
 there was greater wonder, with hearty congratulations 
 and hand-shakes ; for Old Pipes was liked by every 
 one. The Chief Villager refused to take his money, 
 and, although Old Pipes said that he had not earned it, 
 every one present insisted that, as he would now play 
 on his pipes as before, he should lose nothing, because, 
 for a time, he was unable to perform his duty. 
 
 So Old Pipes was obliged to keep his money, and 
 after an hour or two spent in conversation with his 
 friends, he returned to his cottage. 
 
 There was one individual, however, who was not at 
 all pleased with what had happened to Old Pipes. 
 This was an Echo-dwarf, who lived on the hills on the 
 other side of the valley, and whose duty it was to echo 
 back the notes of the pipes whenever they could be 
 heard. There were a great many other Echo-dwarfs 
 on these hills, some of whom echoed back the songs 
 of maidens, some the shouts of children, and others 
 the music that was often heard in the village. But 
 there was only one who could send back the strong 
 notes of the pipes of Old Pipes, and this had been his 
 sole duty for many years. But when the old man 
 grew feeble, and the notes of his pipes could not be 
 heard on the opposite hills, this Echo-dwarf had noth- 
 ing to do, and he spent his time in delightful idleness ; 
 and he slept so much and grew so fat that it made his 
 companions laugh to see him walk. 
 
 On the afternoon on which, after so long an interval, 
 the sound of the pipes was heard on the echo hills, 
 this dwarf was fast asleep behind a rock. As soon aa 
 
OLD PIPES AND THE DRY AD. 31 
 
 the first notes reached them, some of his companions 
 ran to wake him. Rolling to his feet, he echoed back 
 the merry tune of Old Pipes. Naturally, he was very 
 much annoyed and indignant at being thus obliged to 
 give up his life of comfortable leisure, and he hoped 
 very much that this pipe-playing would not occur again. 
 The next afternoon he was awake and listening, and, 
 sure enough, at the usual hour, along came the notes 
 of the pipes as clear and strong as they ever had been ; 
 and he was obliged to work as long as Old Pipes 
 played. The Echo-dwarf was very angry. He had 
 supposed, of course, that the pipe-playing had ceased 
 forever, and he felt that he had a right to be indignant 
 at being thus deceived. He was so much disturbed 
 that he made up his mind to go and try to find out 
 whether this was to be a temporary matter or not. 
 He had plenty of time, as the pipes were played but 
 once a day, and he set off early in the morning for 
 the hill on which Old Pipes lived. It was hard work 
 for the fat little fellow, and when he had crossed the 
 valley and had gone some distance into the woods on 
 the hill-side, he stopped to rest, and, in a few minutes, 
 the Dryad came tripping along. 
 
 "Ho, hoi" exclaimed the dwarf; "what are you 
 doing here? and how did you get out of your 
 tree?" 
 
 " Doing ! " cried the Dryad ; " I am being happy ; 
 that's what I am doing. And I was let out of my 
 tree by the good old man who plays the pipes to call 
 the cattle down from the mountain. And it makes me 
 happier to think that I have been of service to him. 
 
52 OLD PIPES AND TEE DRYAD. 
 
 I gave him two kisses of gratitude, and now ht 
 is young enough to play his pipes as well as 
 ever." 
 
 The Echo-dwarf stepped forward, his face pale with 
 passion. " Am I to believe," he said, " that you are 
 the cause of this great evil that has come upon me? 
 and that you are the wicked creature who has again 
 started this old man upon his career of pipe-playing ? 
 What have I ever done to you that you should have 
 condemned me for years and years to echo back the 
 notes of those wretched pipes ? ' ' 
 
 At this the Dryad laughed loudly. 
 
 "What a funny little fellow you are! " she said. 
 " Any one would think you had been condemned to 
 toil from morning till night ; while what you reaUy 
 have to do is merely to imitate for half an hour every 
 day the merry notes of Old Pipes's piping. Fie upon 
 you. Echo-dwarf ! You are lazy and selfish ; and that 
 is what is the matter with you. Instead of grumbling 
 at being obliged to do a little wholesome work, which 
 is less, I am sure, than that of any other echo-dwarf 
 upon the rocky hill-side, you should rejoice at the 
 good fortune of the old man who has regained so much 
 of his strength and vigor. Go home and learn to 
 be just and generous ; and then, perhaps, you may be 
 happy. Good-by." 
 
 "Insolent creature!" shouted the dwarf, as he 
 shook his fat little fist at her. "I'll make you suffer 
 for this. Tou shall find out what it is to heap injury 
 a,nd insult upon one like me, and to snatch from him 
 the repoae that he has earned by long years of toil.'' 
 
OLD FIFES AND TBE DRY AD. 53 
 
 And, shaking his head savagely, he hurried back to 
 the rocky hill-side. 
 
 Every afternoon the merry notes of the pipes ol 
 Old Pipes sounded down into the valley and over the 
 hills and up the mountain-side ; and every afternoon 
 when he had echoed them back, the little dwarf grew 
 more and more angry with the Dryad. Each day, 
 from early morning till it was time for him to go back 
 to his duties upon the rocky hill-side, he searched the 
 woods for her. He intended, if he met her, to pre- 
 tend to be very sorry for what he had said, and he 
 thought he might be able to play a trick upon her 
 which would avenge him well. One day, while thus 
 wandering among the trees, he met Old Pipes. The 
 Echo-dwarf did not generally care to see or speak to 
 ordinary people ; but now he was so anxious to find 
 the object of his search, that he stopped and asked 
 Old Pipes if he had seen the Dryad. The piper had 
 not noticed the little fellow, and he looked down on 
 him with some surprise. 
 
 "No," he said; "I have not seen her, and I have 
 been looking everywhere for her." 
 
 " You ! " cried the dwarf, " what do you wish with 
 her?" 
 
 Old Pipes then sat down on a stone, so that he 
 ■hould be nearer the ear of his small companion, and 
 he told what the Dryad had done for him. 
 
 When the Echo-dwarf heard that this was th« man 
 whose pipes he was obliged to echo back every day, 
 he would have slain him on the spot had he been able ; 
 but, as he was not able, he merely ground his teeth 
 and listened to the rest of the story. 
 
54 OLD PIPES AND THE DRYAD. 
 
 " I am looking for the Dryad now," Old Pipes con- 
 tinued, " on account of my aged mother. When I 
 was old myself, I did not notice how very old my 
 mother was ; but now it shocks me to see how feeble 
 and decrepit her years have caused her to become ; 
 and I am looking for the Dryad to ask her to make 
 my mother younger, as she made me." 
 
 The eyes of the Echo-dwarf glistened. Here was 
 a man who might help him in his plans. 
 
 "Your idea is a good one," he said to Old Pipes, 
 " and it does you honor. But you should know that a 
 Dryad can make no person younger but one who lets 
 her out of her tree. However, you can manage the 
 affair very easily. All you need do is to find the 
 Dryad, tell her what you want, and request her to 
 step into her tree and be shut up for a short time. 
 Then you will go and bring your mother to the tree ; 
 she will open it, and every thing will be as you wish. 
 Is not this a good plan? " 
 
 "Excellent!" cried Old Pipes; "and I will go 
 instantly and search more diligently for the Dryad." 
 
 " Take me with you," said the Echo-dwarf. " You 
 can easily carry me on your strong shoulders ; and I 
 shall be glad to help you in any way that I can." 
 
 "Now, then," said the little fellow to himself, as 
 Old Pipes carried him rapidly along, " if he persuades 
 the Dryad to get into a tree, — and she is quite foolish 
 enough to do it, — and then goes away to bring hia 
 mother, I shall take a stone or a club and I will break 
 off the key of that tree, so that nobody can ever turn 
 it again. Then Mistress Dryad will see what she baa 
 brought upon herself by her behavior to me." 
 
OLD PIPES AND TEE DRYAD. 55 
 
 Before long they came to the great oak-tree in 
 which the Dryad had lived, and, at a distance, they 
 saw that beautiful creature herself coming toward 
 them. 
 
 " How excellently well every thing happens ! " said 
 the dwarf. "Put me down, and I will go. Your 
 business with the Dryad is more important than mine ; 
 and you need not say any thing about my having 
 suggested your plan to you. I am willing that you 
 should have all the credit of it yourself. 
 
 Old Pipes put the Echo-dwarf upon the ground, but 
 the little rogue did not go away. He concealed him- 
 self between some low, mossy rocks, and he was so 
 much of their color that you would not have noticed 
 him if you had been looking straight at him. 
 
 When the Dryad came up. Old Pipes lost no time 
 in telling her about his mother, and what he wished 
 her to do. At first, the Dryad answered nothing, but 
 stood looking very sadly at Old Pipes. 
 
 " Do you really wish me to go into my tree again? " 
 she said. " I should dreadfully dislike to do it, for I 
 don't know what might happen. It is not at all neces- 
 sary, for I could make your mother younger at any 
 time if she would give me the opportunity. I had 
 already thought of making you still happier in this 
 way, and several times I have waited about your 
 cottage, hoping to meet your s^ed mother, but she 
 never comes outside, and you know a Dryad cannot 
 enter a house. I cannot imagine what put this idea 
 into your head. Did you think oi it yourself? " 
 
 " No, I cannot say that I did," answered Old 
 
56 OLD PIPES AND THE DRTAD. 
 
 Pipoa. •' A little dwarf whom I met in the woodi, 
 propOBtd it to me." 
 
 "Oh!" cried the Dryad; "now I see through it 
 all. It is the scheme of that vile Echo-dwarf — your 
 enemy and mine. Where is he? I should like to see 
 him." 
 
 " I think he has gone away," said Old Pipes. 
 
 " No he has not," said the Dryad, whose quick eyes 
 perceived the Echo-dwarf among the rocks. "There 
 he is. Seize him and drag him out, I beg of you." 
 
 Old Pipes perceived the dwarf as soon as he was 
 pointed out to him, and, running to the rocks, he 
 caught the little fellow by the arm and pulled him 
 out. 
 
 " Now, then," cried the Dryad, who had opened the 
 door of the great oak, " just stick him in there, and 
 we will shut him up. Then I shall be safe from 
 his mischief for the rest of the time I am free." 
 
 Old Pipes thrust the Echo-dwarf into the tree ; the 
 Dryad pushed the door shut ; there was a clicking 
 sound of bark and wood, and no one would have 
 noticed that the big oak had ever had an opening 
 in it. 
 
 "There," said the Dryad; "now we need not be 
 afraid of him. And I assure you, my good piper, 
 that I shaU be very glad to make your mother younger 
 as soon as I can. "Will you not ask her to come out 
 and meet me? " 
 
 " Of course I will," cried Old Pipe*; " and I will 
 do it without delay." 
 
 And then, the Dryad by his iide, he hurried to his 
 
OLD PIPES AND THE DRYAD. 57 
 
 cottage. But when he mentioned the matter to his 
 mother, the old woman became very angry indeed. 
 She did not believe in Dryads ; and, if they really did 
 exist, she knew they must be witches and sorceresses, 
 and she would have nothing to do with them. If her 
 son had ever allowed himself to be kissed by one of 
 them, he ought to be ashamed of himself. As to its 
 doing him the least bit of good, she did not believe a 
 word of it. He felt better than he used to feel, but 
 that was very common. She had sometimes felt that 
 way herself, and she forbade him ever to mention a 
 Dryad to her again. 
 
 That afternoon. Old Pipes, feeling very sad that his 
 plan in regard to his mother had failed, sat down upon 
 the rock and played upon his pipes. The pleasant 
 sounds went down the valley and up the hills and 
 mountain, but, to the great surprise of some persons 
 who happened to notice the fact, the notes were not 
 echoed back from the rocky hill-side, but from the 
 woods on the side of the valley on which Old Pipes 
 lived. The next day many of the villagers stopped in 
 their work to listen to the echo of the pipes coming 
 from the woods. The sound was not as clear and 
 strong as it used to be when it was sent back from the 
 rocky hill-side, but it certainly came from among the 
 trees. Such a thing as an echo changing its place in 
 this way had never been heard of before, and nobody 
 was able to explain how it could have happened. Old 
 Pipes, however, knew very well that the sound came 
 from the Echo-dwarf shut up in the great oak-tree. 
 The sides of the tree were thin, and the sound of the 
 
58 OLD PIPES AND TEE DRY AD. 
 
 pipes could be heard through them, and the dwarf was 
 obliged by the laws of his being to echo back those 
 notes whenever they came to him. But Old Pipes 
 thought he might get the Dryad in trouble if he let any 
 one know that the Echo-dwarf was shut up in the tree, 
 and so he wisely said nothing about it. 
 
 One day the two boys and the girl who had helped 
 Old Pipes up the hill were playing in the woods. Stop- 
 ping near the great oak-tree, they heard a sound of 
 knocking within it, and then a voice plainly said : 
 
 " Let me out ! let me out ! " 
 
 For a moment the children stood still in astonish- 
 ment, and then one of the boys exclaimed : 
 
 "Oh, it is a Dryad, like the one Old Pipes found! 
 Let's let her out!" 
 
 " What are you thinking of ? " cried the girl. " I 
 am the oldest of all, and I am only thirteen. Do you 
 wish to be turned into crawling babies? Run! run! 
 run!" 
 
 And the two boys and the girl dashed down into the 
 valley as fast as their legs could carry them. There 
 was no desire in their youthful hearts to be made 
 younger than they were. And for fear that their par- 
 ents might think it well that they should commence 
 their careers anew, they never said a word about 
 finding the Dryad-tree. 
 
 As the summer days went on, Old Pipes's mother 
 grew feebler and feebler. One day when her son was 
 away, for he now frequently went into the woods to 
 hunt or fish, or down into the valley to work, she arose 
 from her knitting to prepare the simple dinner. But 
 
OLD PIPES AND TEE DRY AD. 59 
 
 she felt 80 weak and tired that she was not able to 
 do the work to which she had been so long accustomed. 
 " Alas ! alas ! " she said, " the time has come when I 
 am too old to work. My son will have to hire some 
 one to come here and cook his meals, make his bed, 
 and mend his clothes. Alas ! alas ! I had hoped that 
 as long as I lived I should be able to do these things. 
 But it is not so. I have grown utterly worthless, and 
 some one else must prepare the dinner for my son. I 
 wonder where he is." And tottering to the door, she 
 went outside to look for him. She did not feel able to 
 stand, and reaching the rustic chair, she sank into it, 
 quite exhausted, and soon fell asleep. 
 
 The Dryad, who had often come to the cottage to 
 see if she could find an opportunity of carrying out old 
 Pipes's affectionate design, now happened by ; and 
 seeing that the much-desired occasion had come, she 
 stepped up quietly behind the old woman and gently 
 kissed her on each cheek, and then as quietly disr 
 appeared. 
 
 In a few minutes the mother of old Pipes awoke, and 
 looking up at the sun, she exclaimed : " Why, it is 
 almost dinner-time ! My son will be here directly, and 
 I am not ready for him." And rising to her feet, she 
 hurried into the house, made the fire, set the meat and 
 vegetables to cook, laid the cloth, and by the time her 
 son arrived the meal was on the table. 
 
 "How a little sleep does refresh one," she said to 
 herself, as she was bustling about. She was a woman 
 of very vigorous constitution, and at seventy had been 
 a, great deal stronger and more active than her son was 
 
60 OLD PIPES AND THE DRTAD. 
 
 at that age. The moment Old Pipes saw his mother, 
 he knew that the Dryad had been there ; but, while he 
 felt as happy as a king, he was too wise to say any 
 thing about her. 
 
 "It is astonishing how well I feel to-day," said his 
 mother ; " and either my hearing has improved or you 
 speak much more plainly than you have done of late." 
 
 The summer days went on and passed away, the 
 leaves were falling from the trees, and the air was 
 becoming cold. 
 
 " Nature has ceased to be lovely," said the Dryad, 
 " and the night- winds chill me. It is time for me to go 
 back into my comfortable quarters in the great oak. 
 But first I must pay another visit to the cottage of old 
 Pipes." 
 
 She found the piper and his mother sitting side by 
 side on the rock in front of the door. The cattle were 
 not to go to the mountain any more that season, and 
 he was piping them down for the last time. Loud 
 and merrily sounded the pipes of Old Pipes, and down 
 the mountain-side came the cattle, the cows by the 
 easiest paths, the sheep by those not quite so easy, 
 and the goats by the most difficult ones among the 
 rocks ; while from the great oak-tree were heard the 
 echoes of the cheerful music. 
 
 "How happy they look, sitting there together," 
 said the Dryad ; " and I don't believe it will do them 
 a bit of harm to be still younger." And moving 
 quietly up behind them, she first kissed Old Pipes on 
 his cheek and then his mother. 
 
 Old Pipes, who had stopped playing, knew what it 
 
OLD FIFES AND THM DRYAD. 61 
 
 was, but he did not move, and said nothing. Hia 
 mother, thinking that her son had kissed her, turned 
 to him with a smile and kissed him in return. And 
 then she arose and went into the cottage, a vigorous 
 woman of sixty, followed by her son, erect and happy, 
 and twenty years younger than herself. 
 
 The Dryad sped away to the woods, shrugging her 
 •houlders as she felt the cool evening wind. 
 
 When she reached the great oak, she turned the key 
 and opened the door. "Come out," she said to the 
 Echo-dwarf, who sat blinking within. " Winter is 
 coming on, and I want the comfortable shelter of my 
 tree for myself. The cattle have come down from the 
 mountain for the last time this year, the pipes will no 
 longer sound, and you can go to your rocks and have 
 a holiday until next spring." 
 
 Upon hearing these words the dwarf skipped quicklj 
 out, and the Dryad entered the tree and pulled the 
 door shut after her. " Now, then," she said to her- 
 self, " he can break oft the key if he likes. It does 
 not matter to me. Another will grow out next spring. 
 And although the good piper made me no promise, I 
 know that when the warm days arrive next year, he 
 will come and let me out again." 
 
 The Echo-dwarf did not stop to break the key of the 
 tree. He was too happy to be released to think of any 
 thing else, and he hastened as fast as he could to his 
 home on the rocky hUl-side. 
 
 The Dryad was not mistaken when she trusted in 
 the piper. When the warm days came again he went 
 
63 OLD PIPES AND THE DRYAD. 
 
 to the oak-tree to let her ont. But, to hu sorrow 
 and surprise, he found the great tree lying upon the 
 ground. A winter storm had blown it down, and it 
 lay with its trunk shattered and split. And what 
 became of the Dryad, no one ever knew. 
 
THE QUEEN'S MUSEUM. 
 
 r I THERE was once a Queen who founded, in her 
 -I- capital city, a grand museum. This institution 
 was the pride of her heart, and she devoted nearly all 
 her time to overseeing the collection of objects for it, 
 and their arrangement in the spacious halls. This 
 museum was intended to elevate the intelligence of her 
 people, but the result was quite disappointing to the 
 Queen. For some reason, and what it was she could 
 not imagine, the people were not interested in her 
 museum. She considered it the most delightful place 
 in the world, and spent hours every day in examining 
 and studying the thousands of objects it contained ; 
 but although here and there in the city there was a 
 person who cared to visit the collection, the great 
 body of the people found it impossible to feel the 
 slightest interest in it. At first this grieved the Queen, 
 and she tried to make her museum better ; but as this 
 did no good, she became very angry, and she issued 
 a decree that all persons of mature age who were not 
 interested in her museum should be sent to prison. 
 
 This decree produced a great sensation in the city. 
 The people crowded to the building, and did their ywy 
 
 Copynght, 1SS7, by Chuiles Scsibnee's Sons 
 Caffjasbt, 191B, by iiUxa Louise and Fkances A. Siockioh 
 
64 TEE QUEEN'S MUSEUM. 
 
 best to be interested; but, in the majority of cases, 
 the attempt was an utter failure. They could not feel 
 any interest whatever. The consequence was that 
 hundreds and thousands of the people were sent to 
 prison, and as there was not room enough for them 
 in the ordmary jails, large temporary prisons were 
 erected in various parts of the city. Those persons 
 who were actually needed for work or service which 
 no one else could do were allowed to come out in the 
 day-time on parole ; but at night they had to return to 
 their prisons. 
 
 It was during this deplorable state of affairs that a 
 stranger entered the city one day. He was surprised 
 at seeing so many prisons, and approaching the win- 
 dow in one of them, behind the bars of which he saw 
 a very respectable-looking citizen, he asked what all 
 this meant. The citizen informed him how matters 
 stood, and then, with tears mounting to his eyes, he 
 added : 
 
 " Oh, sir, I have tried my best to be interested in 
 that museum ; but it is impossible ; I cannot make 
 myself care for it in the slightest degree ! And, what 
 is more, I know I shall never be able to do so ; and 1 
 shall languish here for the rest of my days." 
 
 Passing on, the Stranger met a mother coming out 
 of her house. Her face was pale, and she was weep- 
 ing bitterly. Filled with pity, he stopped and asked 
 her what was the matter. "Oh, sir," she said, "for 
 a week I have been trying, for the sake of my dear 
 children, to take an interest in that museum. For a 
 time I thought I might do it, but the hopes proved 
 
TBE qUEEN'S MUSEUM. 65 
 
 false. It is impossible. I must leave my little ones, 
 and go to prison." 
 
 The Stranger was deeply affected by these cases 
 and many othera of a similar character, which he soon 
 met with. "It is too bad! too bad!" he said to 
 himself. *' I never saw a city in so much trouble. 
 There is scarcely a family, I am told, in which there 
 is not some uninterested person — I must see the 
 Queen and talk to her about it," and with this he 
 wended his way to the palace. 
 
 He met the Queen just starting out on her morning 
 visit to the museum. When he made it known that 
 he was a stranger, and desired a short audience, she 
 stopped and spoke to him. 
 
 "Have you visited my museum yet?" she said. 
 " There is nothing in the city so well worth your 
 attention as that. You should go there before seeing 
 any thing else. You have a high forehead, and an 
 intelligent expression, and I have no doubt that it 
 will interest you greatly. I am going there myself, 
 and I shall be glad to see what effect that fine collec- 
 tion has upon a stranger." 
 
 This did not suit the Stranger at all. From what 
 he had heard he felt quite sure that if he went to the 
 museum, he would soon be in jail ; and so he hurried 
 to propose a plan which had occurred to him while on 
 his way to the palace. 
 
 " I came to see your Majesty on the subject of 
 the museum," he said, " and to crave permission to 
 contribute to the collection some objects which shall 
 be interesting to every one. I understand that it 
 
66 TEE QUEEN'S MUSEUM. 
 
 is highly desirable that every one should be inter- 
 ested." 
 
 "Of course it is," said the Queen, "and although 
 I think that there is not the slightest reason why every 
 one should not feel the keenest interest in what the 
 museum already contains, I am willing to add to it 
 whatever may make it of greater value." 
 
 " In that case," said the Stranger, " no time should 
 be lost in securing what I wish to present." 
 
 "Go at once," said the Queen. "But how soon 
 can you return ? ' ' 
 
 " It will take some days, at least," said the 
 Stranger. 
 
 "Give me your parole to return in a week," said 
 the Queen, " and start immediately." 
 
 The Stranger gave his parole and left the palace. 
 Having filled a leathern bag with provisione from a 
 cook's shop, he went out of the city gates. As he 
 walked into the open country, he said to himself : 
 
 " I have certainly undertaken a very difScult enter- 
 prise. Where I am to find any thing that will interest 
 all the people in that city, I am sure I do not know ; 
 but my heart is so filled with pity for the great number 
 of unfortunate persons who are torn from their homes 
 and shut up in prison, that I am determined to do 
 something for them, if I possibly can. There must 
 be some objects to be found in this vast country that 
 will interest every one." 
 
 About noon he came to a great mountain-side 
 wvered with a forest. Thinking that he was as 
 likely w find what he sought in one place as ano&er, 
 
THE QUEEN'S MUSEUM. 67 
 
 and preferring the shade to the sun, he entered the 
 forest, and walked for some distance along a path 
 which gradually led up the mountain. Having crossed 
 a brook with its edges lined with water-cresses, he 
 soon perceived a large cave, at the entrance of which 
 sat an aged hermit. "Ah," said the Stranger to 
 himself, " this is indeed fortunate ! This good and 
 venerable man, who passes his life amid the secrets 
 of nature, can surely tell me what I wish to know." 
 Saluting the Hermit, he sat down and told the old man 
 the object of his quest. 
 
 " I am afraid you are looking for what you will not 
 find," said the Hermit. "Most people are too silly 
 to be truly interested in any thing. They herd to- 
 gether like cattle, and do not know what is good for 
 them. There are now on this mountain-side many 
 commodious and comfortable caves, all of which would 
 be tenanted if people only knew how improving and 
 interesting it is to live apart from their fellow-men. 
 But, so far as it can be done, I will help you in your 
 quest, which I think is a worthy one. I can do 
 nothing for you myself, but I have a pupil who is 
 very much given to wandering about, and looking for 
 curious things. He may teU you where you will be 
 able to find something that will interest everybody, 
 though I doubt it. You may go and see him, if you 
 like, and I will excuse him from his studies for a 
 time, so that he may aid you in your search." 
 
 The Hermit then wrote an excuse upon a piece of 
 parchment, and, giving it to the Stranger, he directed 
 him to the cave of his pupil. 
 
68 THE QUEEN'S UUBEBM. 
 
 This was situated at some distance, and higher up 
 the mountain, and when the Stranger reached it, he 
 found the Pupil fast asleep upon the ground. This 
 individual was a long-legged youth, with long arms, 
 long hair, a long nose, and a long face. When the 
 Stranger awakened him, told him why he had come, 
 and gave him the hermit's excuse, the sleepy eyes of 
 the Pupil brightened, and his face grew less long. 
 
 "That's delightful! " he said, "to be let off on a 
 Monday ; for I generally have to be satisfied with a 
 half-holiday, Wednesdays and Saturdays." 
 
 "Is the Hermit very strict with you?" asked the 
 Stranger. 
 
 " Yes," said the Pupil, " I have to stick closely to 
 the cave ; though I have been known to go fishing on 
 days when there was no holiday. I have never seen 
 the old man but once, and that was when he first took 
 me. You know it wouldn't do for us to be too socia- 
 ble. That would n't be hermit-like. He comes up 
 here on the afternoons I am out, and writes down what 
 I am to do for the next half-week." 
 
 " And do you always do it? " asked the Stranger. 
 
 " Oh, I get some of it done," said the Pupil ; " but 
 there have been times when I have wondered whether 
 it wouldn't have been better for me to have been some' 
 thing else. But I have chosen my profession, and I 
 suppose I must be faithful to it. We will start imme- 
 diately on our search ; but first I must put the cave in 
 order, for the old man will be sure to come up while i 
 am gone.* 
 
 So saying, the PupO opened an old parchment book 
 
TBX QUEEN'S MUSEUM. 69 
 
 at a marked page, and laid it on a flat stone, which 
 served as a table, and then placed a skull and a couple 
 of bones in a proper position near by. 
 
 The two now started oflf, the Pupil first putting a 
 line and hook in his pocket, and pulling out a fishing- 
 rod from under some bushes. 
 
 " What do you want with that?" asked the Stranger, 
 " we are not going to fish ! " 
 
 "Why not?" said the Pupil; "if we come to a 
 good place, we might catch something that would be 
 a real curiosity." 
 
 Before long they came to a mountain brook, and 
 here the Pupil insisted on trying his luck. The 
 Stranger was a little tired and hungry, and so was 
 quite willing to sit down for a time and eat something 
 from his bag. The Pupil ran off to find some bait, 
 and he staid away so long that the Stranger had quite 
 finished his meal before he returned. He came back 
 at last, however, in a state of great excitement. 
 
 " Come with me! come with me! " he cried. " I 
 have found something that is truly astonishing ! Come 
 quickly ! " 
 
 The Stranger arose and hurried after the Pupil, 
 whose long legs carried him rapidly over the moun- 
 tain-side. Reaching a large hole at the bottom of a 
 precipitous rock, the Pupil stopped, and exclaiming : 
 " Come in here and I will show you something that 
 will amaze you ! " he immediately entered the hole. 
 
 The Stranger, who was very anxious to see what 
 curiosity he had found, followed him some distance 
 along a narrow and winding under-groond passage. 
 
70 THE QUEEN'S MnSEUM. 
 
 The two suddenly emerged into a high and spacious 
 cavern, which was lighted by openings in the roof; 
 on the floor, in various places, were strongly fastened 
 boxes, and packages of many sorts, bales and bundles 
 of silks and rich cloths, with handsome caskets, and 
 many other articles of value. 
 
 "What kind of a place is this?" exclaimed the 
 Stranger, in great surprise. 
 
 "Don't you know?" cried the Pupil, his eyes 
 fairly sparkling with delight. " It is a robber's den ! 
 Isn't it a great thing to find a place like this? " 
 
 " A robber's den ! " exclaimed the Stranger in alarm ; 
 " let us get out of it as quickly as we can, or the rob- 
 bers will return, and we shall be cut to pieces." 
 
 " I don't believe they are coming back very soon," 
 said the Pupil, " and we ought to stop and take a look 
 at some of these things." 
 
 "Fly, you foolish youth!" cried the Stranger; 
 " you do not know what danger you are in." And, 
 so saying, he turned to hasten away from the place. 
 
 But he was too late. At that moment the robber 
 captain and his band entered the cave. When these 
 men perceived the Stranger and the Hermit's Pupil, 
 they drew their swords and were about to rush upon 
 them, when the Pupil sprang forward and, throwing up 
 his long arms, exclaimed : 
 ' Stop ! it is a mistake ! " 
 
 At these wordfi, the robber captain lowered his sword, 
 and motioned to his men to halt. " A mistake ! " he 
 said ; " what do you mean by that? " 
 
 " I mean," said the Pupil, " that I was out looking 
 
THE QUEEN'S MUSEUM. 71 
 
 for curiosities, and wandered into this place by acci- 
 dent. We haven't taken a thing. You may count your 
 goods, and you will find nothing missing. We have 
 not even opened a box, although I very much wanted 
 to see what was in some of them." 
 
 " Are his statements correct? " said the Captain, 
 turning to the Stranger. 
 
 " Entirely so," was the answer. 
 
 " You have truthful features, and an honest expres- 
 sion," said the Captain, " and I do not believe you 
 would be so dishonorable as to creep in here during 
 our absence and steal our possessions. Your lives 
 shall be spared, but you will be obliged to remain 
 with us ; for we cannot allow any one who knows our 
 secret to leave us. You shall be treated well, and 
 shall accompany us in our expeditions ; and if your 
 conduct merits it, you shall in time be made full 
 members." 
 
 Bitterly the Stranger now regretted his unfortunate 
 position. He strode up and down one side of the cave, 
 vowing inwardly that never again would he allow him- 
 self to be led by a Hermit's Pupil. That individual, 
 however, was in a state of high delight. He ran 
 about from box to bale, looking at the rare treasures 
 which some of the robbers showed him. 
 
 The two captives were fed and lodged very well; 
 and the next day the Captain called them and the 
 band together, and addressed them. 
 
 "We are now twenty-nine in number," he said; 
 " twenty-seven full members, and two on probation. 
 To-night we are about to undertake a very important 
 
72 TBE QUEEN'S MUSEUM. 
 
 expedition, in which we shall all join. We shall fasten 
 up the door of the cave, and at the proper time I shall 
 tell you to what place we are going." 
 
 An hour or two before midnight the band set out, 
 accompanied by the Stranger and the Hermit's Pupil ; 
 and when they had gone some miles the Captain halted 
 them to inform them of the object of the expedition. 
 " We are going," he said, " to rob the Queen's 
 museum. It is the most important business we have 
 ever undertaken." 
 
 At these words the Stranger stepped forward and 
 made a protest. " I left the city yesterday," he said, 
 " commissioned by the Queen to obtain one or more 
 objects of interest for her museum ; and to return now 
 to rob an institution which I have promised to enrich 
 will be simply impossible." 
 
 "You are right," said the Captain, after a moment's 
 reflection, " such an action would be highly dishonora- 
 ble on your part. If you will give me your word of 
 honor that you will remain by this stone until our 
 return, the expedition will proceed without you." 
 
 The Stranger gave his word, and having been left 
 •itting upon the stone, soon dropped asleep, and so 
 remained until he was awakened by the return of the 
 band, a little before daylight. They came slowly toil- 
 ing along, each man carrying an enormous bundle 
 upon his back. Near the end of the line was the 
 Hermit's Pupil, bearing a load as heavy as any of 
 the others. The Stranger offered to relieve him for a 
 time of his burden, but the Pupil would not allow it. 
 
 "I don't wish these men to think I can't do as much 
 
TBE QUEEN'S MUSEUM. 78 
 
 as they can," he said. " You ought to have been 
 along. "We had a fine time ! We swept that museum 
 clean, I tell you ! We didn't leave a thing on a shelf 
 or in a ease." 
 
 "What sort of things are they," asked the 
 Stranger. 
 
 "I don't know," replied the Pupil, "we didn't 
 have any light for fear people would notice it, but the 
 moon shone in bright enough for us to see all the 
 shelves and the cases ; and our orders were not to try 
 and examine any thing, but to take all that was there. 
 The cases had great cloth covers on them, and we 
 spread these on the floor and made bundles of the 
 curiosities. We are going to examine them carefully 
 as soon as we get to the den." 
 
 It was broad daylight when the robbers reached their 
 cave. The bundles were laid in a great circle on the 
 floor, and, at a given signal, they were opened. For 
 a moment each robber gazed blankly at the contents 
 of his bundle, and then they all began to fumble and 
 search among the piles of articles upon the cloths ; but 
 after a few minutes, they arose, looking blanker and 
 more disappointed than before. 
 
 " So far as I can see," said the Captain, " there is 
 nothing in the whole collection that I care for. I do 
 not like a thing here ! " 
 
 " Nor I ! " " Nor I ! " " Nor I ! " cried each one 
 of his band. 
 
 " I suppose," said the Captain, after musing for 
 a moment, " that as these things are of no use to us, 
 we are bound in honor to take them back." 
 
74 TBE QUEEN'S MUSEUM. 
 
 " Hold ! " said the Stranger, stepping forward ; " dc 
 not be in too great a hurry to do that." He then told 
 the Captain of the state of affairs in the city, and 
 explained in full the nature of the expedition he had 
 undertaken for the Queen. "I think it would be 
 better," he said, " if these things were not taken back 
 for the present. If you have a safe place where you 
 can put them, I will in due time tell the Queen where 
 they are, and if she chooses she can send for them." 
 
 "G-ood!" said the Captain, "it is but right that 
 she should bear part of the labor of transportation. 
 There is a disused cave, a mile or so away, and we 
 will tie up these bundles and carry them there ; and 
 then we shall leave the matter to you. We take no 
 further interest in it. And if you have given your 
 parole to the Queen to return in a week," the Captain 
 further continued, " of course you'll have to keep it. 
 Did you give your parole also? " he asked, turning to 
 the Pupil. 
 
 " Oh, no ! " cried that youth ; " there was no time 
 fixed for my return. And I am sure that I like a 
 robber's life much better than that of a hermit. There 
 is ever so much more spice and dash in it." 
 
 " The Stranger was then told that if he would prom- 
 ise not to betray the robbers he might depart. He 
 gave the promise ; but added sadly that he had lost so 
 much time that he was afraid he would not now be able 
 to attain the object of his search and return within the 
 week. 
 
 " If that is the case," said the Captain, " we will 
 gladly assist you. "Comrades!" he cried, address- 
 
TBE qCXEN'S MUaElTM. 73 
 
 mg his band, " after stowing this useless booty in the 
 disused cave, and taking some rest and refreshment, 
 we will set out again, and the object of our expedition 
 shall be to obtain something for the Queen's museum 
 which will interest every one." 
 
 Shortly after midnight the robbers set out, accom- 
 panied by the Stranger and the Pupil. When they 
 had walked about an hour, the Captain, as was his 
 custom, brought them to a halt that he might tell 
 them where they were going. " I have concluded," 
 said he, " that no place is so likely to contain what we 
 are looking for as the castle of the great magician, 
 Alfrarmedj. We will, therefore, proceed thither, and 
 sack the castle." 
 
 " Will there not be great danger in attacking the 
 castle of a magician?" asked the Stranger in some- 
 what anxious tones. 
 
 " Of course there will be," said the Captain, "but 
 we are not such cowards as to hesitate on account of 
 danger. Forward, my men ! " And on they all 
 marched. 
 
 When they reached the magician's castle, the order 
 was given to scale the outer wall. This the robbers 
 did with great agility, and the Hermit's Pupil was 
 among the first to surmount it. But the Stranger was 
 not used to climbing, and he had to be assisted over 
 the wall. Inside the great court-yard they perceived 
 numbers of Weirds — strange shadowy creatures who 
 gathered silently around them ; but not in the least 
 appalled, the robbers formed into a body, and marched 
 into the castle, the door of which stood open. They 
 
76 TEE QUEEN'S MUSEUM. 
 
 now entered a great hall, having at one end a doorway 
 before which hung a curtain. Following their Captain, 
 the robbers approached this curtain, and pushing it 
 aside, entered the room beyond. There, behind a 
 large table, sat the great magician, Alfrarmedj, busy 
 over his mj'stic studies, which he generally pursued in 
 the dead hours of the night. Drawing their swords, 
 the robbers rushed upon him. 
 
 "Surrender!" cried the Captain, "and deliver to 
 us the treasures of your castle." 
 
 The old magician raised his head from his book, 
 and, pushing up his spectacles from his forehead, 
 looked at them mildly, and said : 
 
 " Freeze ! " 
 
 Instantly, they all froze as hard as ice, each man 
 remaining in the position in which he was when the 
 magical word was uttered. With uplifted swords and 
 glaring eyes they stood, rigid and stiff, before the 
 magician. After calmly surveying the group, the old 
 man said : 
 
 ' ' I see among you one who has an intelligent brow 
 and truthful expression. His head may thaw suffi- 
 ciently for him to tell me what means this untimely 
 intrusion upon my studies." 
 
 The Stranger now felt his head begin to thaw, and 
 in a few moments he was able to speak. He then 
 told the magician about the Queen's museum, and how 
 it had happened that he had come there with the rob- 
 bers. 
 
 "Your motive is a good one," said the magician, 
 " though your actions are somewhat erratic ; and I do 
 
THE QUEEN'S MUSEVlt. 77 
 
 not mind helping you to find what j'ou wish. In what 
 class of objects do the people of the city take the 
 most interest?" 
 
 " Truly I do not know," said the Stranger. 
 
 "This is indeed surprising!" exclaimed Alfrar- 
 medj. "How can you expect to obtain that which 
 will interest every one, when you do not know what it 
 is in which every one takes an interest? Go, find out 
 this, and then return to me, and I will see what can be 
 done." 
 
 The magician then summoned his Weirds and ordered 
 them to carry the frozen visitors outside the castle 
 walls. Each one of the rigid figures was taken up by 
 two Weirds, who carried him out and stood him up 
 in the road outside the castle. When all had been 
 properly set up, with the captain at their head, the 
 gates were shut, and the magician still sitting at his 
 table, uttered the word, " Thaw ! " 
 
 Instantly, the whole band thawed and marched 
 away. At daybreak they halted, and considered how 
 they should find out what all the people in the city took 
 an interest in. 
 
 "One thing is certain," cried the Hermit's Pupil, 
 " whatever it is, it isn't the same thing." 
 
 "Your remark is not well put together," said the 
 Stranger, "but I see the force of it. It is true that 
 different people like difl'erent things. But how shall 
 we find out what the different people like? " 
 
 " By asking them," said the Pupil. 
 
 " Good ! " cried the Captain, who preferred action 
 to words. " This night we will ask them." 
 
78 TBE QUEEN'S MVSEUit. 
 
 He then drew upon the sand a plan of the city, — 
 (with which he was quite familiar, having carefully 
 robbed it for many years,) — and divided it into 
 twenty-eight sections, each one of which was assigned 
 to a man. "I omit you," the Captain said to the 
 Stranger, "because I find that you are not expert 
 at climbing." He then announced that at night the 
 band would visit the city, and that each man should 
 enter the houses in his district, and ask the people 
 what it was in which they took the greatest interest. 
 
 They then proceeded to the cave for rest and 
 refreshment ; and a little before midnight they entered 
 the city, and each member of the band, including the 
 Hermit's Pupil, proceeded to attend to the business 
 assigned to him. It was ordered that no one should 
 disturb the Queen, for thej- knew that what she took 
 most interest in was the museum. During the night 
 nearly every person in the town was aroused by a 
 black-bearded Kjbber, who had climbed into one of the 
 windows of the house, and who, instead of demanding 
 money and jewels, simply asked what it was in which 
 that person took the greatest interest. Upon receiv- 
 ing an answer, the robber repeated it until he had 
 learned it by heart, and then went to the next house. 
 As so many of the citizens were confined in prisons, 
 which the robbers easily entered, they transacted the 
 business in much less time than they would otherwise 
 have required. 
 
 The Hermit's Pupil was very active, climbing into 
 and out of houses with great agility. He obtained his 
 answers quite as easily as did the others, but whenever 
 
THE QUEEN'S MUSEUM. 79 
 
 he left a house there was a shade of disappointment 
 upon his features. Among the last places that he 
 visited was a room in which two boys were sleeping. 
 He awoke them and aslied the usual question. While 
 they were trembling in their bed, not knowing what to 
 answer, the Pupil drew his sword and exclaimed: 
 " Come, now, no prevarication ; you know it's fishing- 
 tackle. Speak out ! " Each of the boys then promptly 
 declared it was fishing-tackle, and the pupil left, greatly 
 gratified. " I was very much afraid," he said to him- 
 self, " that not a person in my district would say fish- 
 ing-tackle ; and I am glad to think that there were two 
 boys who had sense enough to like something that is 
 really interesting." 
 
 It was nearly daylight when the work was finished ; 
 and then the band gathered together in an appointed 
 place on the outside of the city, where the Stranger 
 awaited them. Each of the men had an excellent 
 memory, which was necessary in their profession, and 
 they repeated to the Stranger all the objects and sub- 
 jects that had been mentioned to them, and he wrote 
 them down upon tablets. 
 
 The next night, accompanied by the band, he pro- 
 ceeded to the castle of the magician, the great gate of 
 which was silently opened for them by the Weirds. 
 When they were ushered into the magician's room, 
 Alfrarmedj took the tablets from the Stranger and ex- 
 amined them carefully. 
 
 " AU these things should make a very complete 
 collection," he said, "and I think I have specimens 
 of the various objects in my interminable vaults." 
 
80 THE QUEEN'S MUSEUM. 
 
 He then called his Weirds and, giving one of them 
 the tablets, told him to go with his companions into the 
 vaults and gather enough of the things therein men- 
 tioned to fill a large museum. In half an hour the 
 Weirds returned and announced that the articles were 
 ready in the great court-yard. 
 
 " Go, then, said the magician, " and assist these 
 men to carry them to the Queen's museum." 
 
 The Stranger then heartily thanked Alfrarmedj for 
 the assistance he had given ; and the band, accom- 
 panied by a number of Weirds, proceeded to carry the 
 objects of interest to the Queen's museum. It was 
 a strange procession. Half a dozen Weirds carried a 
 stuffed mammoth, followed by others bearing the skele- 
 ton of a whale, while the robbers and the rest of their 
 queer helpers were loaded with every thing relating to 
 history, science, and art which ought to be in a really 
 good museum. When the whole collection had been 
 put in place upon the floors, the shelves, and in the 
 cases, it was nearly morning. The robbers, with the 
 Hermit's Pupil, retired to the cave ; the Weirds dis- 
 appeared ; while the Stranger betook himself to the 
 Queen's palace, where, as soon as the proper hour 
 arrived, he requested an audience. 
 
 When he saw the Queen, he perceived that she was 
 very pale and that her cheeks bore traces of recent 
 tears. " You are back in good time," she said to 
 him, " but it makes very little difiference whether you 
 have succeeded in your mission or not. There is no 
 longer any museum. There has been a great robbery, 
 and the thieves have carried off the whole of the va«t 
 
THE QUEEN'S MUSEUM. 81 
 
 and valuable collection which I have been so long in 
 making." 
 
 "I know of that affair," said the Stranger, "and 
 I have already placed in your museum-building the 
 collection which I have obtained. If your Majesty 
 pleases, I shall be glad to have you look at it. It may, 
 in some degree, compensate for that which has been 
 stolen." 
 
 "Compensate!" cried the Queen. "Nothing can 
 compensate for it ; I do not even wish to see what you 
 have brought." 
 
 " Be that as your Majesty pleases," said the Stran- 
 ger ; " but I will be so bold as to say that I have great 
 hopes that the collection which I have obtained will 
 interest the people. Will your Majesty graciously 
 allow them to see it?" 
 
 " I have no objection to that," said the Queen ; 
 " and indeed I shall be very glad if they can be 
 made to be interested in the museum. I will give 
 orders that the prisons be opened, so that everybody 
 can go to see what you have brought ; and those who 
 shall be interested in it may return to their homes. I 
 did not release my obstinate subjects when the museum 
 was robbed, because their fault then was just as great 
 as it was before ; and it would not be right that they 
 should profit by my loss." 
 
 The Queen's proclamation was made, and for several 
 days the museum was crowded with people moving 
 from morning till night through the vast collection of 
 stuffed animals, birds, and fishes ; rare and brilliant 
 insects; mineral and vegetable curiosities; beautiful 
 
82 THE QUEEN'S JinBEUM. 
 
 works of art; and all the strange, valuable, and in- 
 structive objects which had been brought from the 
 interminable vaults of the magician Alfrarmedj. The 
 Queen's oflScers, who had been sent to obsei-ve whether 
 or not the people were interested, were in no doubt 
 upon this point. Every eye sparkled with delight, 
 for every one found something which was the very 
 thing he wished to see ; and in the throng was the 
 Hermit's Pupil, standing in rapt ecstasy before a large 
 case containing all sorts of fishing-tackle, from th^ 
 smallest hooks for little minnows to the great irons 
 and spears used in capturing whales. 
 
 No one went back to prison, and the city was full 
 of re-united households and happy homes. On the 
 morning of the fourth day, a grand procession of 
 citizens came to the palace to express to the Queen 
 their delight and appreciation of her museum. The 
 great happiness of her subjects could but please the 
 Queen. She called the Stranger to her, and said to 
 him: 
 
 " Tell me how you came to know what it was that 
 would interest my people." 
 
 "I asked them," said the Stranger. "That is to 
 say, I arranged that they should be asked." 
 
 " That was well done," said the Queen ; " but it Is 
 a great pity that my long labors in their behalf should 
 have been lost. For many years I have been a col- 
 lector of button-holes ; and there was nothing valuable 
 or rare in the line of my studies of which I had not 
 an original specimen or a fac-simile. My agents 
 brought me from foreign lands, even from the most 
 
TBE QUEEN'S MUSEUM. 88 
 
 distant islands of the sea, button-holes of every kind ; 
 in silk, in wool, in cloth of gold, in every imaginable 
 material, and of those which could not be obtained 
 careful copies were made. There was not a duplicate 
 specimen in the whole collection ; only one of each 
 kind ; nothing repeated. Never before was there such 
 a museum. With all my power I strove to educate my 
 people up to an appreciation of button-holes ; but, 
 with the exception of a few tailors and seamstresses, 
 nobody took the slightest interest in what I had pro- 
 vided for their benefit. I am glad that my people are 
 happy, but I cannot restrain a sigh for the failure of 
 my efforts." 
 
 " The longer your Majesty lives," said the Stranger, 
 " the better you will understand that we cannot make 
 other people like a thing simply because we like it 
 ourselves." 
 
 " Stranger," said the Queen, gazing upon him with 
 admiration, " are you a king in disguise? " 
 
 " I am," he replied. 
 
 " I thought I perceived it," said the Queen, " and 
 I wish to add that I believe you are far better able to 
 govern this kingdom than I am. If you choose I will 
 resign it to you." 
 
 " Not so, your majesty," said the other ; " I would 
 not deprive you of your royal position, but I should 
 be happy to share it with you." 
 
 " That will tmswer very well," said the Queen. 
 And turning to an attendant, she gave orders that 
 preparations should be made for their marrii^e on th« 
 following day. 
 
84 TBE QUEEyS MUSEUM. 
 
 After the royal wedding, which was celebrated with 
 great pomp and grandeur, the Queen paid a visit to 
 the museum, and, much to her surprise, was greatly 
 delighted and interested. The King then informed 
 her that he happened to know where the robbers had 
 stored her collection, which they could not sell or 
 make use of, and if she wished, he would regain the 
 collection and erect a building for its reception. 
 
 " We will not do that at present," said tho 
 Queen. "When I shall have thoroughly examined 
 and studied all these objects, most of which are en- 
 tirely new to me, we will decide about the button- 
 holes." 
 
 The Hermit's Pupil did not return to his cave. He 
 was greatly delighted with the spice and dash of a 
 robber's life, so different from that of a hermit ; and 
 he determined, if possible, to change his business and 
 enter the band. He had a conversation with the 
 Captain on the subject, and that individual encouraged 
 him in his purpose. 
 
 " I am tired," the Captain said, " of a robber's life. 
 I have stolen so much, that I cannot use what I 
 have. I take no further interest in accumulating spoils. 
 The quiet of a hermit's life attracts me ; and, if you 
 like we will change places. I will become the pupil of 
 your old master, and you shall be the captain of my 
 band." 
 
 The change was made. Tho Captain retired to the 
 cave of the Hermit's Pupil, while the latter, with the 
 hearty consent of all the men, took command of 
 the band of robbers. 
 
THE QUEEN'S MUSEUM. 85 
 
 "When the King heard of this change, he was not 
 at all pleased, and he sent for the ex-pupil. 
 
 " I am willing to reward you," he said, " for 
 assisting me in my recent undertaking ; but I cannot 
 allow you to lead a band of robbers in my dominions." 
 
 A dark shade of disappointment passed over the 
 ex-pupil's features, and his face lengthened visibly. 
 
 " It is too bad," he said, " to be thus cut short at 
 the very outset of a brilliant career. I'll tell you 
 what I'll do," he added suddenly, his face brightening, 
 " if you'll let me keep on in my new profession, I'll 
 promise to do nothing but rob robbers." 
 
 "Very well," said the King, "if you will confine 
 yourself to that, you may retain your position." 
 
 The members of the band were perfectly willing to 
 rob in the new way, for it seemed quite novel and 
 exciting to them. The first place they robbed was 
 their own cave, and as they all had excellent memories, 
 they knew from whom the various goods had been 
 stolen, and every thing was returned to its proper 
 owner. The ex-pupQ then led his band against the 
 other dens of robbers in the kingdom, and his move- 
 ments were conducted with such dash and vigor that 
 the various hordes scattered in every direction, while 
 the treasures in their dens were returned to the owners, 
 or, if these could not be found, were given to the 
 poor. In a short time every robber, except those led 
 by the ex-pupil, had gone into some other business ; 
 and the victorious youth led his band into other 
 kingdoms to continue the great work of robbing 
 robbers. 
 
86 THE QUEEN'S MUSEUM. 
 
 The Queen never sent for the collection of curiosi- 
 ties which the robbers had stolen from her. She was 
 so much interested in the new museum that she con- 
 tinually postponed the re-establishment of her old one ; 
 and, as far as can be known, the button-holes are still 
 in the cave where the robbers shut them up. 
 
CHRISTMAS BEFORE LAST; 
 
 OS, TUB FSUIT OF THE FRAOIIM PALM. 
 
 THE " HoEN o' Plenty " was a fine, big, old- 
 fashioned ship, very high in the bow, very high in 
 the stem, with a quarter-deck always carpeted in fine 
 weather, because her captain could not see why one 
 should not make himself comfortable at sea as well as 
 on land. Covajos Maroots was her captain, and a 
 fine, jolly, old-fashioned, elderly sailor he was. The 
 "Horn o' Plenty" always sailed upon one sea, and 
 always between two ports, one on the west side of the 
 sea, and one on the east. The port on the west was 
 quite a large city, in which Captain Covajos had a 
 married son, and the port on the east was another city 
 in which he had a married daughter. In each family he 
 had several grandchildren ; and, consequently, it was 
 a great joy to the jolly old sailor to arrive at either 
 port. The Captain was very particular about his 
 cargo, »nd the " Horn o' Plenty " was generally laden 
 with good things to eat, or sweet things to smell, or 
 fine things to wear, or beautiful things to look at. 
 Onoe a merchant brought to him some boxes of bitter 
 
 «7 
 
88 CBRIBTMAS BEFORE LAST; OR, 
 
 sJoes, and mustard plasters, but Captain CoTajor 
 refused to take them into his ship. 
 
 " I know," said he, " that such things are very use 
 ful and necessary at times, but you would better send 
 them over in some other vessel. The ' ' Horn o' Plenty ' ' 
 has never carried any thing that to look at, to taste, or 
 to smell, did not delight the souls of old and young. 
 I am sure you cannot say that of these commodities. 
 If I were to put such things on board my ship, it would 
 break the spell which more than fifty savory voyages 
 hav6 thrown around it." 
 
 There were sailors who sailed upon that sea who 
 used to say that sometimes, when the weather was 
 hazy and they could not see far, they would know they 
 were about to meet the " Horn o' Plenty " before she 
 came in sight ; her planks and timbers, and even her 
 sails and masts, had gradually become so filled with 
 the odor of good things that the winds that blew 
 over her were filled with an agreeable fragrance. 
 
 There was another thing about which Captain Cova- 
 jos was very particular ; he always liked to arrive at 
 one of his ports a few days before Christmas. Never, 
 in the course of his long life, had the old sailor spent 
 a Christmas at sea; and now that he had his fine 
 grandchildren to help make the holidays merry, it 
 would have grieved him very much if he had been 
 unable to reach one or the other of his ports in good 
 season. His jolly old vessel was generally heavily 
 laden, and very slow, and there were many days of 
 calms on that sea when she did not sail at all, so that 
 her voyages were usually very, very long. But the 
 
THE FRUIT OF THE FRAGILE PALM. 83 
 
 Captain fixed the days of sailing so as to give himself 
 plenty of time to get to the other end of his course 
 before Christmas came around. 
 
 One spring, however, he started too late, and when 
 he was about the middle of his voyage, he called to 
 him Baragat Bean, his old boatswain. This venerable 
 sailor had been with the Captain ever since he had 
 commanded the " Horn o' Plenty," and on important 
 occasions he was always consulted in preference to the 
 other officers, none of whom had served under Captain 
 Covajos more then fifteen or twenty years. 
 
 " Baragat," said the Captain, " we have just passed 
 the Isle of Guinea-Hens. You can see its one moun- 
 tain standing up against the sky to the north." 
 
 "Aye, aye, sir," said old Baragat; "there she 
 stands, the same as usual." 
 
 " That makes it plain," said the Captain, " that we 
 are not yet half-way across, and I am very much afraid 
 that I shall not be able to reach my dear daughter's 
 house before Christmas." 
 
 "That would be doleful, indeed," said Baragat; 
 " but I've feared something of the kind, for we've had 
 calms nearly every other day, and sometimes, when 
 the wind did blow, it came from the wrong direction, 
 and it's my belief that the ship saUed backward." 
 
 "That was very bad management," said the Cap- 
 tain. " The chief mate should have seen to it that the 
 sails were turned in such a manner that the ship could 
 not go backward. If that sort of thing happened 
 often, it would become quite a serious affair." 
 
 " Bat what is done can't be helped," said the boat- 
 
90 CHRISTMAS BEFORE LAST; OR, 
 
 swain, " and I don't see how you are going to get into 
 port before Christmas." 
 
 " Nor do I," said the Captain, gazing out over the 
 sea. 
 
 " It would give me a sad turn, sir," said Baragat, 
 "to see you spend Christmas at sea ; a thing you never 
 did before, nor ever shall do, if I can help it. If you'll 
 take my advice, sir, you'll turn around, and go back. 
 It's a shorter distance to the port we started from than 
 to the one we are going to, and if we turn back 
 now, I am sure we all shall be on shore before the 
 holidays." 
 
 " Go back to my son's house ! " exclaimed Captain 
 CovajoB, " where I was last winter ! Why, that would 
 be like spending last Christmas over again ! " 
 
 " But that would be better than having none at all, 
 sir," said the boatswain, "and a Christmas at sea 
 would be about equal to none." 
 
 " Good ! " exclaimed the Captain. " I will give up 
 the coming Christmas with my daughter and her chil- 
 dren, and go back and spend last Christmas over again 
 with my son and his dear boys and girls. Have the 
 ship turned around immediately, Baragat, and tell the 
 chief mate I do not wish to sail backward if it can 
 possibly be avoided." 
 
 For a week or more the " Horn o' Plenty " sailed 
 back upon her track towards the city where dwelt the 
 Captain's son. The weather was fine, the carpet was 
 never taken up from the quarter-deck, and every thing 
 was going on very well, when a man, who happened to 
 have an errand at one of the topmasts, came down, 
 
THE FRUIT OF TEE FRAOILE PALM. 91 
 
 and reported that, far away to the north, he had seen 
 a little open boat with some people in it. 
 
 "Ah me!" said Captain Covajos, "it must be 
 some poor fellows who are shipwrecked. It will take 
 us out of our course, but we must not leave them to 
 their fate. Have the ship turned about, so that it will 
 sail northward." 
 
 It was not very long before they came up with the 
 boat ; and, much to the Captain's surprise, he saw that 
 it was filled with boys. 
 
 "Who are you?" he cried as soon as he was near 
 enough. "And where do you come from? " 
 
 "We are the First Class in Long Division," said 
 the oldest boy, " and we are cast away. Have you 
 any thing to eat that you can spare us? We are almost 
 famished." 
 
 " We have plenty of every thing," said the Captain. 
 " Come on board instantly, and all your wants shall 
 be supplied." 
 
 "How long have you been without food?" he asked, 
 when the boys were on the deck of the vessel. 
 
 " We have had nothing to eat since breakfast," said 
 one of them ; " and it is now late in the afternoon. 
 Some of us are nearly dead from starvation." 
 
 "It is very hard for boys to go so long without 
 eating," said the good Captain. And leading them 
 below, he soon set them to work upon a bountiful 
 meal. 
 
 Not until their hunger was fully satisfied did he ask 
 them how they came to be cast away. 
 
 " You see, sir," said the oldest boy, " that we and 
 
92 CBRISTMAS BEFORE LABT ; OR, 
 
 the Maltiplication Class had a holiday to-day, and 
 each class took a boat and determined to have a race, 
 so as to settle, once for all, which was the highest 
 branch of arithmetic, multiplication or long division. 
 Our class rowed so hard that we entirely lost sight of 
 the Multiplicationers, and found indeed that we were 
 out of sight of every thing ; so that, at last, we did not 
 know which was the way back, and thus we became 
 castaways." 
 
 " Where is your school? " asked the Captain. 
 
 •'It is on Apple Island," said the boy; "and, 
 although it is a long way off for a small boat with 
 only four oars for nine boys, it can't be very far for a 
 ship." 
 
 " That is quite likely," said the Captain, " and we 
 shall take you home. Baragat, tell the chief mate to 
 have the vessel turned toward Apple Island, that we 
 may restore these boys to their parents and guardians." 
 
 Now, the chief mate had not the least idea in the 
 world where Apple Island was, but he did not like to 
 ask, because that would be confessing his ignorance ; 
 so he steered his vessel toward a point where he be- 
 lieved he had once seen an island, which, probably, 
 was the one in question. The " Horn o' Plenty " 
 sailed in this direction all night, and when day broke, 
 and there was no island in sight, she took another 
 course ; and so sailed this way and that for six or 
 seven days, without ever seeing a sign of land. All 
 this time, the First Class in Long Division was as 
 happy as it could be, for it was having a perfect holi- 
 day ; fishing off the sides of the vessel, climbing up 
 
TBE FRUIT OF TBS FRAGILE PALM. 98 
 
 the ladders and ropes, and helping the sailors whistle 
 for wind. But the Captain now began to grow a little 
 impatient, for he felt he was losing time ; so he sent 
 for the chief mate, and said to him mildly but firmly : 
 
 " I know it is out of the line of your duty to search 
 for island schools, but, if you really think that you do 
 not know where Apple Island lies, I wish you to say 
 so, frankly and openly." 
 
 "Frankly and openly," answered the mate, "I 
 don't think I do." 
 
 " Very well," said the Captain. " Now, that is a 
 basis to work upon, and we know where we stand. 
 You can take a little rest, and let the second mate find 
 the island. But I can only give him three days in 
 which to do it. We really have no time to spare. ' ' 
 
 The second mate was very proud of the resp'onsi- 
 bility placed upon him, and immediately ordered the 
 vessel to be steered due south. 
 
 " One is just as likely," he said, " to find a totally 
 unknown place by going straight ahead in a certain 
 direction, as by sailing here, there, and everywhere. 
 In this way, you really get over more water, and there 
 is less wear and tear of the ship and rigging." 
 
 So he sailed due south for two days, and at the end 
 of that time they came in sight of land. This was 
 quite a large island, and when they approached near 
 enough, they saw upon its shores a very handsome 
 city. 
 
 "Is this Apple Island?" said Captain Covajos to 
 the oldest boy. 
 
 " Well, sir," answered the youth, " I am not sure I 
 
S4 CBRI8TMAB BEFORE LAST; OR, 
 
 can say with certainty that I truly believe that it is ; 
 but, I think, if we were to go on shore, the people 
 there would be able to tell us how to go to Apple 
 Island." 
 
 "Very likely," said the good Captain; "and wc 
 will go on shore and make inquiries. — And it has struck 
 me, Baragat," he said, "that perhaps the merchants in 
 the city where my son lives may be somewhat annoyed 
 when the ' Horn o' Plenty ' comes back with all their 
 goods on board, and not disposed of. Not under- 
 standing my motives, they may be disposed to think ill 
 of me. Consequently the idea has come into my head, 
 that it might be a good thing to stop here for a time, 
 and try to dispose of some of our merchandise. The 
 city seems to be quite prosperous, and I have no doubt 
 there are a number of merchants here." 
 
 So the " Horn o' Plenty " was soon anchored in the 
 harbor, and as many of the officers and crew as could 
 be spared went on shore to make inquiries. Of course 
 the First Class in Long Division was not left behind ; 
 and, indeed, they were ashore as soon as anybody. 
 The Captain and his companions were cordially wel- 
 comed by some of the dignitaries of the city who had 
 come down to the harbor to see the strange vessel; 
 but no one could give any information in regard to 
 Apple Island, the name of which had never been heard 
 on those shores. The Captain was naturally desirous 
 of knowing at what place he had landed, and was 
 informed that this was the Island of the Fragile Palm. 
 
 "That is rather an odd name," said the old Cap* 
 tain, ' ' Why is it so called ? ' ' 
 
TSX FRVIT or TBS fMAOILE PALU. 96 
 
 "The reMon is this," said his informant. " Near 
 the centre of the island stands a tall and very slender 
 palm-tree, which has been growing there for hundreds 
 of years. It bears large and handsome fruit which 
 is something like the cocoanut ; and, in its perfection, 
 is said to be a transcendently delicious fruit." 
 
 "Said to be!" exclaimed the Captain; "are you 
 not positive about it? " 
 
 "No," said the other; "no one living has ever 
 tasted the fruit in its perfection. When it becomes 
 overripe, it drops to the ground, and, even then, it is 
 considered royal property, and is taken to the palace 
 for the King's table. But on fSte-days and grand 
 occasions small bits of it are distributed to the 
 populace." 
 
 "Why don't you pick the fruit," asked Captain 
 Covajos, " when it is in its best condition to eat? " 
 
 " It would be impossible," said the citizen, " for 
 any one to climb up that tree, the trunk of which is so 
 extremely delicate and fragile that the weight of a 
 man would probably snap it ; and, of course, a ladder 
 placed against it would produce the same result. 
 Many attempts have been made to secure this fruit at 
 the proper season, but all of them have failed. Another 
 palm-tree of a more robust sort was once planted near 
 this one in the hope that when it grew high enough, 
 men could climb up the stronger tree and get the &uit 
 from the other. Bat, although we waited many years 
 the second tree never attained sufficient height, and it 
 was cut down." 
 
 "It is a gi-eat pitjr," said the Captain; "bat I 
 
96 CHRISTMAS BEFORE LAST; OR, 
 
 suppose it cannot be helped." And then he began to 
 make inquiries about the merchants in the place, and 
 what probability there was of his doing a little trade 
 here. The Captain soon discovered that the cargo of 
 his ship was made up of goods which were greatly 
 desired by the citizens of this place ; and for several 
 days he was very busy in selling the good things to 
 eat, the sweet things to smell, the fine things to wear, 
 and the beautiful things to look at, with which the 
 hold of the " Horn o' Plenty " was crowded. 
 
 During this time the First Class In Long Division 
 roamed, in delight, over the city. The busy streets, 
 the shops, the handsome buildings, and the queer 
 sights which they occasionally met, interested and 
 amused them greatly. But still the boys were not 
 satisfied. They had heard of the Fragile Palm, and 
 they made up their minds to go and have a look at it. 
 Therefore, taking a guide, they tramped out into the 
 country, and in about an hour they came in sight of 
 the beautiful tree standing in the centre of the plain. 
 The trunk was, indeed, exceedingly slender, and, as 
 the guide informed them, the wood was of so very 
 brittle a nature that if the tree had not been protected 
 from the winds by the high hills which encircled it, 
 it would have been snapped off ages ago. Under 
 the broad tuft of leaves that formed its top, the boys 
 saw hanging large clusters of the precious fruit ; great 
 nuts as big as their heads. 
 
 " At what time of the year," asked the oldest boy, 
 " is that fruit just ripe enough to eat? " 
 
 " Now," answered the guide. " This is the season 
 
THE FRUIT OF THE FRAGILE PALM. 97 
 
 when it is in the most perfect condition. In about a 
 month it will become entirely too ripe and soft, and 
 will drop. Bat, even then, the King and all the rest 
 of us are glad enough to get a taste of it." 
 
 "I should think the King would be exceedingly 
 eager to get some of it, just as it is," said the boy. 
 
 " Indeed he is ! " replied the guide. " He and his 
 father, and I don't know how many grandfathers back, 
 have offered large rewards to any one who would pro- 
 cure them this fruit in its best condition. But nobody 
 has ever been able to get any yet." 
 
 " The reward still holds good, I suppose," said the 
 head boy. 
 
 " Oh, yes," answered the guide ; " there never was 
 a King who so much desired to taste the fruit as our 
 present monarch." 
 
 The oldest boy looked up at the top of the tree, 
 shut one eye, and gave his head a little wag. Where- 
 upon every boy in the class looked up, shut one eye, 
 and slightly wagged his head. After which the oldest 
 boy said that he thought it was about time for them 
 to go back to the ship. 
 
 As soon as they reached the vessel, and could talk 
 together freely, the boys had an animated discussion. 
 It was unanimously agreed that they would make an 
 attempt to get some of the precious fruit from the 
 Fragile Palm, and the only difference of opinion among 
 them was as to how it should be done Most of them 
 were in favor of some method of climbing the tree and 
 trusting to its not breaking. But this the oldest boy 
 would not listen to ; the trunk might snap, and then 
 
98 CHRISTMAS BEFORE LAST, OR, 
 
 somebody would be hurt, and he felt, in a measure, 
 responsible for the rest of the class. At length a 
 good plan was proposed by a boy who had studied 
 mechanics. 
 
 "What we ought to do with that tree," said he, 
 " is to put a hinge into her. Then we could let her 
 down gently, pick off the fruit, and set her up again. 
 
 " But how are you going to do it? " asked the 
 others. 
 
 "This is the way," said the boy who had studied 
 mechanics. "You take a saw, and then, about two 
 feet from the ground, you begin and saw down diag- 
 onally, for a foot and a half, to the centre of the 
 trank. Then you go on the other side, and saw down 
 in the same way, the two cuts meeting each other. 
 Now you have the upper part of the trunk ending in 
 a wedge, which fits into a cleft in the lower part of 
 the trunk. Then, about nine inches below the place 
 where you first began to saw, you bore a hole straight 
 through both sides of the cleft and the wedge between 
 them. Then you put an iron bolt through this hole, 
 and you have your tree on a hinge, only she wont be 
 apt to move because she fits in so snug and tight. 
 Then you get a long rope, and put one end in a slip- 
 knot loosely around the trunk. Then yon get a lot of 
 poles, and tie them end to end, and push this slip-knot 
 ap nntil it is somewhere near the top, when yon pull 
 it tight. Then you take another rope with a slip- 
 knot, and push this a little more than half-way up the 
 trunk. By having two ropes, that way, you prevent 
 too mneh strain oommg on any one part of the tnmk. 
 
THS FRUIT OF THE FRAGILE PALM, 99 
 
 Then, after that, you take a mallet and chisel and 
 round off the lower corners of the wedge, so that it 
 will turn easily in the cleft. Then we take hold of the 
 ropes, let her down gently, pick off the fruit, and ham 
 her np again. That will all be easy enough." 
 
 This plan delighted the boys, and they all pro- 
 nounced in its favor; but the oldest one suggested 
 that it would be better to fasten the ropes to the trunk 
 before they began to saw upon it, and another boy 
 asked how tiiey were going to keep the tree standing 
 when they hauled her up again. 
 
 "Oh, that is easy," said the one who had studied 
 mechanics ; " you just bore another hole about six 
 inches above the first one, and put in another bolt. 
 Then, of course, she can't move." 
 
 Tliis settled all the difficulties, and it was agreed to 
 start out early the next morning, gather the fruit, and 
 claim the reward the King had offered. They accord- 
 ingly went to the Captain and asked him for a sharp saw, 
 a mallet and chisel, an auger, two iron bolts, and two 
 very long ropes. These, having been cheerfully given 
 to them, were put away in readiness for the work to 
 be attempted. 
 
 Very early on the next morning, the First Class in 
 Long Division set out for the Fragile Palm, carrying 
 their tools and ropes. Few people were awake as they 
 passed through the city, and, without being observed, 
 they reached the little plain on which the tree stood. 
 The ropes were attached at the proper places, the tree 
 was sawn, dif^onally, according to the plan ; the bolt 
 was pat in, and the comers of the wedge were rounded 
 
100 CHRISTMAB BEFORE LAST; OB, 
 
 oflf. Then the eldest boy produced a pound of butter, 
 whereupon his comrades, who had seized the ropes, 
 paused in surprise and asked him why he had brought 
 the butter. 
 
 " I thought it well," was the reply, " to bring along 
 some butter, because, when the tree is down, we can 
 grease the hinge, and then it will not be so hard to 
 pull it up again." 
 
 When all was ready, eight of the boys took hold oi 
 the long ropes, while another one with a pole pushed 
 against the trunk of the Fragile Palm. When it began 
 to lean over a little, he dropped his pole and ran to 
 help the others with the ropes. Slowly the tree moved 
 on its hinge, descending at first very gradually ; but it 
 soon began to move with greater rapidity, although 
 the boys held it back with all their strength ; and, 
 in spite of their most desperate efforts, the top came to 
 the ground at last with a great thump. And then 
 they aU dropped their ropes, and ran for the fruit. 
 Fortunately the great nuts incased in their strong 
 husks were not in the least injured, and the boys soon 
 pulled them oflf, about forty in all. Some of the be vs 
 were in favor of cracking open a few of the nuts 
 and eating them, but this the eldest boy positively 
 forbade- 
 
 " This fruit," he said, "is looked upon as almost 
 sacred, and if we were to eat any of it, it is probable 
 that we should be put to death, which would be ex- 
 tremely awkward for fellows who have gone to all the 
 trouble we have had. We must set up the tree and 
 carry the fruit to the King." 
 
THE FRUIT OF THE FRAGILE PALM. 101 
 
 According to this advice, they thoroughly greased tha 
 hinge in the tree with the butter, and then set them- 
 selves to work to haul up the trunk. This, however, 
 was much more difficult than letting it down ; and they 
 had to lift up the head of it, and prop it up on poles, 
 before they could pull upon it with advantage. The 
 tree, although tall, was indeed a very slender one, with 
 a small top, and, if it had been as fragile as it was 
 supposed to be, the boys' efforts would surely have 
 broken it. At last, after much tugging and warm 
 work, they pulled it into an upright position, and put 
 m the second bolt. They left the ropes on the tree 
 because, as some of them had suggested, the people 
 might want to let the tree down again the next year. 
 It would have been difficult for the boys to carry in 
 their arms the great pile of fruit they had gathered ; 
 but, having noticed a basket-maker's cottage on their 
 way to the tree, two of them were sent to buy one of 
 his largest baskets or hampers. This was attached to 
 two long poles, and, having been filled with the nuts, 
 the boys took the poles on their shoulders, and marched 
 into the city. 
 
 On their way to the palace they attracted a great 
 crowd, and when they were ushered into the presence 
 of the King, his surprise and delight knew no bounds. 
 At first he could scarcely believe his eyes ; but he had 
 seen the fruit so often that there could be no mistake 
 about it. 
 
 " I shall not ask you," he said to the boys, " how 
 you procured this fruit, and thus accomplished a deed 
 which has been the object of the ambition of myself 
 
102 CBRIBTMAS BKFOBB LAST,- OM, 
 
 and my forefathers. All I ask is, did you leave the 
 tree standing? " 
 
 " We did," said the boys. 
 
 " Then all that remains to be done," said His Maj- 
 esty, "is to give you the reward you have so nobly 
 earned. Treasurer, measure out to each of them a 
 quai't of gold coin. And pray be quick about it, for I 
 am wild with desire to have a table spread, and one of 
 these nuts cracked, that I may taste of its luscious 
 contents." 
 
 The boys, however, appeared a little dissatisfied. 
 Huddling together, they consulted in a low tone, and 
 then the eldest boy addressed the King. 
 
 "May it please your Majesty," he said; "we should 
 very much prefer to have you give each of us one of 
 those nuts instead of a quart of gold." 
 
 The King looked grave. "This is a much greater 
 reward," he said, "than I had ever expected to pay; 
 but, since you ask it, you must have it. You have 
 done something which none of my subjects has ever 
 been able to accomplish, and it is right, therefore, that 
 you should be fully satisfied." 
 
 So he gave them each a nut, with which they 
 departed in triumph to the ship. 
 
 By the afternoon of the next day, the Captain had 
 sold all his cargo at very good pnces ; and when the 
 money was safely stored away in the " Horn o' 
 Plenty," he made ready to sail, for he declared he had 
 really no time to spare. " I must now make all possi- 
 ble haste," he said to old Baragat, "to find Apple 
 Liland, put these boys ashore, and then speed away to 
 
TBX FRVJT OF THE FRAOILE PALM. 101 
 
 fee city where lives my son. "We must not fail to get 
 there in time to spend last Christmas over again." 
 
 On the second day, after the " Horn o' Plenty " had 
 left the Island of the FragUe Palm, one of the sailors 
 who happened to be aloft noticed a low, black, and ex- 
 ceedingly unpleasant-looking vessel rapidly approach- 
 ing. This soon proved to be the ship of a band of 
 corsairs, who, having heard of the large amount of 
 money on the " Horn o' Plenty," had determined to 
 pursue her and capture the rich prize. All sails were 
 set upon the " Horn o' Plenty," but it soon became 
 plain that she could never outsail the corsair vessel. 
 
 " What our ship can do better than any thing else," 
 said Baragat to the Captain, " is to stop short. Stop 
 her short, and let the other one go by." 
 
 This manoeuvre was executed, bat, although the 
 corsair passed rapidly by, not being able to stop so 
 suddenly, it soon turned around and came back, its 
 decks swarming with savage men armed to the teeth. 
 
 " They are going to board us," cried Baragat. 
 " They are getting out their grappling-irons, and they 
 will fasten the two ships together." 
 
 " Let all assemble on the quarter-deck," said the 
 Captain. " It is higher there, and we shall not be so 
 much exposed to accidents." 
 
 The corsair ship soon ran alongside the " Horn o' 
 Plenty," and in a moment the two vessels were fas- 
 tened together ; and then the corsairs, every man of 
 them, each with cutlass in hand and a belt full of dirks 
 and knives, swarmed up the side of the " Horn o' 
 Plenty," and sprang upon its central deck. Some of 
 
104 CBRISTMA8 BEFORE LAST; OR, 
 
 the ferocious fellows, seeing the oflScers and crew all 
 huddled together upon the quarter-deck, made a move- 
 ment in that direction. This so frightened the chief 
 mate that he sprang down upon the deck of the corsair 
 ship. A panic now arose, and he was immediately 
 followed by the officers and crew. The boys, of 
 course, were not to be left behind ; and the Captain 
 and Baragat felt themselves bound not to desert the 
 crew, and so they jumped also. None of the corsairs 
 interfered with this proceeding, for each one of them 
 was anxious to find the money at once. When the 
 passengers and crew of the "Horn o' Plenty" were 
 all on board the corsair ship, Baragat came to the 
 Captain, and said : 
 
 " If I were you, sir, I'd cast off those grapnels, and 
 separate the vessels. If we don't do that those rascals, 
 when they have finished robbing our money-chests, 
 will come back here and murder us all." 
 
 "That is a good idea," said Captain Covajos ; and 
 he told the chief mate to give orders to cast off the 
 grapnels, push the two vessels apart, and set some of 
 the sails. 
 
 When this had been done, the corsair vessel began 
 to move away from the other, and was soon many 
 lengths distant from her. When the corsairs came 
 on deck and perceived what had happened, they were 
 infuriated, and immediately began to pursue their own 
 vessel with the one they had captured. But the " Horn 
 o' Plenty" could not, by any possibility, sail as fast 
 as the corsair ship, and the latter easily kept away 
 from her. 
 
TBB Fnarr of tbs fragile palm. 105 
 
 " Now, then," said Baragat to the Captain, "what 
 you have to do is easy enough. Sail straight for our 
 port and those sea-robbers will follow you; for, of 
 course, they will wish to get their own vessel back 
 again, and will hope, by some carelessness on our 
 part, to overtake us. In the mean time the money will 
 be safe enough, for they will have no opportunity of 
 spending it ; and when we come to port, we can take 
 some soldiers on board, and go back and capture those 
 fellows. They can never sail away from us on the 
 " Horn o' Plenty." 
 
 "That is an admirable plan," said the Captain, 
 " and I shall carry it out ; but I cannot sail to port 
 immediately. I must first find Apple Island and land 
 these boys, whose parents and guardians are probably 
 growing very uneasy. I suppose the corsairs will con- 
 tinue to follow us wherever we go." 
 
 "I hope so," said Baragat; "at any rate we shall 
 see. 
 
 The First Class in Long Division was very much 
 delighted with the change of vessels, and the boys 
 rambled everywhere, and examined with great interest 
 all that belonged to the corsairs. They felt quite easy 
 about the only treasures they possessed, because, when 
 they had first seen the piratical vessel approaching, 
 they had taken the precious nuts which had been given 
 to them by the King, and had hidden them at the 
 bottom of some large boxes, in which the Captain 
 kept the sailors' winter clothes. 
 
 "In this warm climate," said the eldest boy, 
 '■* the robbers will never meddle with those winter 
 
106 CBRISTMAB BEFORE LAST; OB, 
 
 clothes, and our precious fruit will be perfectly 
 safe." 
 
 "If you had taken my advice," said one of the 
 other boys, " we should have eaten some of the nuts. 
 Those, at least, we should have been sure of." 
 
 " And we should have had that many less to show to 
 the other classes," said the eldest boy. "Nuts like 
 these, I am told, if picked at the proper season, will 
 keep for a long time." 
 
 For some days the corsairs on board the " Horn of 
 Plenty" followed their own vessel, but then they 
 seemed to despair of ever being able to overtake it, 
 and steered in another direction. This threatened to 
 ruin all the plans of Captain Covajos, and his mind 
 became troubled. Then the boy who had studied 
 mechanics came forward and said to the Captain: 
 
 "I'll tell you what I'd do, sir, if I were you; I'd 
 follow your old ship, and when night came on I'd sail 
 up quite near to her, and let some of your sailors swim 
 quietly over, and fasten a cable to her, and then you 
 could tow her after you wherever you wished to go." 
 
 "But they might unfasten the cable, or cut it," 
 said Baragat, who was standing by. 
 
 "That could easily be prevented," said the boy. 
 " At their end of the cable must be a stout chain 
 which they cannot cut, and it must be fastened so far 
 beneath the surface of the water that they will not be 
 able to reach it to unfasten it." 
 
 "A most excellent plan," said Captain Covajos; 
 "let it be carried out." 
 
 As soon as it became quite dark, the corsair vessel 
 
TB£ FRrrr of tex fraoile palm. 107 
 
 quietly approached the otiier, and two stout sailors 
 from Finland, who swam very well, were ordered to 
 swim oyer and attach the chain-end of a long cable 
 to the '-Horn o' Plenty." It was a very difBralt 
 operation, for the chain was heavy, but the men snc- 
 ceeded at last, and returned to report. 
 
 "We put the chain on. fast and strong sir," they 
 said to the Captain ; •* and six feet under water. But 
 the only place we could find to make it fast to was the 
 bottom of the rudder." 
 
 " That will do verv weU," r«mfu-ked Baragat ; •• for 
 the ■ Horn o' Plenty ' sails better backward than for- 
 ward, and will not be so hard to tow." 
 
 For week after week, and month after month, Cap- 
 tain Corajos, in tiie corsair vessel, sailed here and 
 there in search of Apple Island, always towing after 
 him the " Horn o' Plenty." with the corsairs on board, 
 but never an island with a school on it could they find ; 
 and one day old Baragat came to the Captain and 
 said: 
 
 " If I were you, sir, I'd sail no more in tiiese warm 
 regions. I am quite sur« that apples grow in colder 
 latitudes, and ar^ never found so far south as this." 
 
 "That is a good idea." said Captain Covajos. 
 ■ • We should sail for the north if we wished to find an 
 island of apples. Have the vessel turned northward." 
 
 And so, for days and weeks, the two vessels slowly 
 moved on to the north. One day the Captain made 
 some observations and cal<Hilaticms, and then he hastily 
 ■ommoned Baragat. 
 
 "Do vou know." said he, "that I find it is now 
 
108 CamSTMAS BEFORE LAST; OR, 
 
 near the end of November, and I am quite certain that 
 we shall not get to the port where my son lives in time 
 to celebrate last Christmas again. It is dreadfully 
 slow work, towing after us the ' Horn o' Plenty,' full 
 of corsairs, wherever we go. But we cannot cast her 
 off and sail straight for our port, for I should lose my 
 good ship, the merchants would lose all their money, 
 and the corsairs would go unpunished ; and, besides 
 all that, think of the misery of the parents and guard- 
 ians of those poor boys. No ; I must endeavor to 
 find Apple Island. And if I cannot reach port in 
 time to spend last Christmas with my son, I shall cer- 
 tainly get there in season for Christmas before last. 
 It is true that I sp^snt that Christmas with my daughter, 
 but I cannot go on to her now. I am much nearer the 
 city where my son lives ; and, besides, it is necessary 
 to go back, and give the merchants their money. So 
 now we shall have plenty of time, and need not feel 
 hurried." 
 
 "No," said Baragat, heaving a vast sigh, "we 
 need not feel hurried." 
 
 The mind of the eldest boy now became very much 
 troubled, and he called his companions about him. 
 " I don't like at all," said he, " this sailing to the 
 north. It is now November, and, although it is warm 
 enough at this season in the southern part of the sea, 
 it will become colder and colder as we go on. The 
 consequence of this will be that those corsairs will 
 want winter clothes, they will take them out of the 
 Captain's chests, and they will find our fruit." 
 
 The boyg groaned. "That is true," said on« of 
 
TBE FRUIT OF TBB FRAOILE PALM. 109 
 
 them ; " but still we wish to go back to onr 
 island." 
 
 "Of course," said the eldest boy, "it is quite 
 proper that we should return to Long Division. But 
 think of the hard work we did to get that fruit, and 
 think of the quarts of gold we gave up for it! It 
 would be too bad to lose it now ! " 
 
 It was unanimously agi-eed that it would be too bad 
 to lose the fruit, and it was also unanimously agreed 
 that they wished to go back to Apple Island. But 
 what to do about it, they did not know. 
 
 Day by day the weather grew colder and colder, 
 and the boys became more and more excited and dis- 
 tressed for fear they should lose their precious fruit. 
 The eldest boy lay awake for several nights, and then 
 a plan came into his head. He went to Captain Cova- 
 jos and proposed that he should send a flag of truce 
 over to the corsairs, offering to exchange winter cloth- 
 ing. He would send over to them the heavy garments 
 they had left on their own vessel, and in return would 
 take the boxes of clothes intended for the winter wear 
 of his sailors. In this way, they would get their fruit 
 back without the corsairs knowing any thing about it. 
 The Captain considered this an excellent plan, and 
 ordered the chief mate to take a boat and a flag of 
 truce, and go over to the " Horn o' Plenty," and make 
 the proposition. The eldest boy and two of the others 
 insisted on going also, in order that there might be no 
 mistake about the boxes. But when the flag-of-truce 
 party reached the " Horn o' Plenty " they found not 
 a corsair there ! Every man of them had gone. They 
 
110 CBRISTMAS BEFORE LAST; OX, 
 
 had taken with them all the money-chests, but to the 
 great delight of the boys, the boxes of winter clothes 
 had not been disturbed ; and in them still nestled, 
 safe and sound, the precious nuts of the Fragile 
 Palm. 
 
 When the matter had been thoroughly looked into, 
 it became quite evident what the corsairs had done. 
 There had been only one boat on board the ' ' Horn o' 
 Plenty," and that was the one on which the First 
 Class in Long Division had arrived. The night be- 
 fore, the two vessels had passed within a mile or so 
 of a large island, which the Captain had approached 
 in the hope it was the one they were looking for, and 
 they passed it so slowly that the corsairs had time to 
 ferry themselves over, a few at a time, in the little 
 boat, taking with them the money, — and all without 
 discovery. 
 
 Captain Covajos was greatly depressed when he 
 heard of the loss of all the money. 
 
 " I shall have a sad tale to tell my merchants," he 
 said, " and Christmas before last will not be celebrated 
 so joyously as it was the first time. But we cannot 
 help what has happened, and we all must endeavor to 
 bear our losses with patience. We shall continue our 
 search for Apple Island, but I shall go on board my 
 own ship, for I have greatly missed my carpeted quar- 
 ter-deck and my other comforts. The chief mate, 
 however, and a majority of the crew shall remain on 
 boaid the corsair vessel, and continue to tow us. The 
 ' Horn o' Plenty ' sails better stern foremost, and we 
 shall go faster that way." 
 
TEE FRUIT OF TBE FRAGILE PALM. Ill 
 
 The boys were overjoyed at recovering their fruit, 
 and most of them were in favor of cracking two or 
 three of the great nuts, and eating their contents in 
 honor of the occasion, but the eldest boy dissuaded 
 them. 
 
 " The good Captain," he said, " has been very kind 
 in endeavoring to take us back to our school, and still 
 intends to keep up the search for dear old Apple 
 Island. The least we can do for him is to give him 
 this fruit, which is all we have, and let him do what he 
 pleases with it. This is the only way in which we can 
 show our gratitude to him." 
 
 The boys turned their backs on one another, and 
 each of them gave his eyes a little rub, but they all 
 agreed to give the fruit to the Captain. 
 
 When the good old man received his present, he was 
 much affected. "I will accept what you offer me," 
 he said ; " for if I did not, I know your feelings would 
 be wounded. But you must keep one of the nuts for 
 yourselves. And, more than that, if we do not find 
 Apple Island in the course of the coming year, I 
 invite you all to spend Christmas before last over again, 
 with me at my son's house." 
 
 All that winter, the two ships sailed up and down, and 
 here and there, but never could they find Apple Island. 
 When Christmas-time came, old Baragat went around 
 among the boys and the crew, and told them it would 
 be well not to say a word on the subject to the Captain, 
 for his feelings were very tender in regard to spending 
 Christmas away from his families, and the thing had 
 never happened before. So nobody made any allusion 
 
U2 CERIBTMA8 BEFORE LAST; OR, 
 
 to the holidays, and they passed over as if they had 
 been ordinary days. 
 
 During the spring, and all through the summer, the 
 two ships kept up the unavailing search, but when 
 the autumn began. Captain Covajos said to old Bara- 
 gat : " I am very sorry, but I feel that I can no longer 
 look for Apple Island. I must go back and spend 
 Christmas before last over again, with my dearest son ; 
 and if these poor boys never return to their homes, I 
 am sure they cannot say it was any fault of mine." 
 
 "No, sir," said Baragat, " I think you have done 
 all that could be expected of you." 
 
 So the ships sailed to the city on the west side of 
 the sea ; and the Captain was received with great joy 
 by his son, and his grandchildren. He went to the 
 merchants, and told them how he had lost all their 
 money. He hoped they would be able to bear their 
 misfortune with fortitude, and begged, as he could 
 do nothing else for them, that they would accept the 
 eight great nuts from the Fragile Palm that the boys 
 had given him. To his surprise the merchants became 
 wild with delight when they received the nuts. The 
 money they had lost was as nothing, they said, com- 
 pared to the value of this incomparable and precious 
 fruit, picked in its prime, and still in a perfect condition. 
 
 It had been many, many generations since this rare 
 fruit, the value of which was like unto that of diamonds 
 and pearls, had been for sale in any market in the 
 world ; and kings and queens in many countries were 
 ready to give for it almost any price that might b« 
 asked. 
 
THE FRUIT OF THE FRAGILE PALM. 118 
 
 When the good old Captain heard thia he was greatly 
 Jrejoiced, and, as the holidays were now near, he in- 
 sisted that the boys should spend Christmas before last 
 over again, at his son's house. He found that a good 
 many people here knew where Apple Island was, and 
 he made arrangements for the First Class in Long 
 Division to return to that island in a vessel which was 
 to sail about the first of the year. 
 
 The boys still possessed the great nut which the 
 Captain had insisted they should keep for themselves, 
 and he now told them that if they chose to sell it, 
 they would each have a nice little fortune to take back 
 with them. The eldest boy consulted the others, and 
 then he said to the Captain : 
 
 " Our class has gone through a good many hardships, 
 and has had a lot of trouble with that palm-tree and 
 other things, and we think we ought to be rewarded. 
 So, if it is all the same to you, I think we will crack 
 the nut on Christmas Day and we aU wiU eat it." 
 
 " I never imagined," cried Captain Covajos, as he 
 sat, on that Christmas Day, surrounded by his son's 
 family and the First Class in Long Division, the eyes 
 of the whole party sparkling with ecstasy as they tasted 
 the peerless fruit of the Fragile Palm, " that Christ- 
 mas before last could be so joyfully celebrated ovei 
 again." 
 
PRINCE HASSAK'S MARCH. 
 
 IN the spring of a certain year, long since passed 
 away, Prince Hassak, of Itoby, determined to visit 
 his uncle, the King of Yan. 
 
 " Whenever my uncle visited us," said the Prince, 
 " or when my late father went to see him, the journey 
 was always made by sea ; and, in order to do this, it 
 was necessary to go in a very roundabout way between 
 Itoby and Yan. Now, I shall do nothing of this kind. 
 It is beneath the dignity of a prince to go out of his 
 way on account of capes, peninsulas, and promonto- 
 ries. I shall march from my palace to that of my 
 uncle in a straight line. I shall go across the country, 
 and no obstacle shall cause me to deviate from my 
 course. Mountains and hUls shall be tunnelled, rivers 
 shall be bridged, houses shall be levelled ; a road shall 
 be cut through forests ; and, when I have finished my 
 march, the course over which I have passed shall be a 
 mathematically straight line. Thus will I show to the 
 world that, when a prince desires to travel, it is not 
 necessary for him to go out of his way on account of 
 obstacles." 
 
 As soon as possible after the Prince had determined 
 
 1X4 
 
PRINCE HASSAK'S MARCB. 115 
 
 upon this march, he made his preparations, and set 
 out. He took with him a few courtiers, and a large 
 body of miners, rock-splitters, bridge-builders, and 
 workmen of that class, whose services would, very 
 probably, be needed. Besides these, he had an oflScer 
 whose duty it was to point out the direct course to be 
 taken, and another who was to draw a map of the 
 march, showing the towns, mountains, and the various 
 places it passed through. There were no compasses 
 in those days, but the course-marker had an instrument 
 which he would set in a proper dii-ection by means of 
 the stars, and then he could march by it all day. Be- 
 sides these persons, Prince Hassak selected from the 
 schools of his city five boys and five girls, and took 
 them with him. He wished to show them how, when a 
 thing was to be done, the best way was to go straight 
 ahead and do it, turning aside for nothing. 
 
 " When they grow up they avUI teach these things to 
 their children," said he ; " and thus I shall instil good 
 principles into my people." 
 
 The first day Prince Hassak and his party marched 
 over a level country, with no further trouble than that 
 occasioned by the tearing down of fences and walls, 
 and the destruction of a few cottages and barns. 
 After encamping for the night, they set out the next 
 morning, but had not marched many miles before they 
 came to a rocky hill, on the top of which was a hand- 
 some house, inhabited by a Jolly-cum-pop. 
 
 " Tour Highness," said the course-marker, "in order 
 to go in a direct line we must make a tunnel through 
 this hill, immediately under the house. This may 
 
116 PRINCE BASSAK'S MARCH. 
 
 cause the building to fall in, but the rabbish can be 
 easily removed." 
 
 "Let the men go to work," said the Prince. "I 
 will dismount from my horse, and watch the pro- 
 ceedings." 
 
 When the JoUy-cum-pop saw the party halt before 
 his house, he hurried out to pay his respectc to the 
 Prince. When he was informed of what was to be 
 done, the Jolly-cum-pop could not refrain from lau[;h- 
 ing aloud. 
 
 " I never heard," he said, " of such a capital idea. 
 It is so odd and original. It will be very funny, I am 
 sure, to see a tunnel cut right under my house." 
 
 The miners and rock-splitters now began to work at 
 the base of the hill, and then the Jolly-cum-pop made 
 a proposition to the Prince. 
 
 "It will take your men some time," he said, "to 
 cut this tunnel, and it is a pity your Highness should 
 not be amused in the meanwhile. It is a fine day : 
 suppose we go into the forest and hunt." 
 
 This suited the Prince very well, for he did not care 
 about sitting under a tree and watching his workmen, 
 and the Jolly-cum-pop having sent for his horse and 
 some bows and arrows, the whole party, with the 
 exception of the laborers, rode toward the forest, a 
 short distance away. 
 
 " What shall we find to hunt? " asked the Prince of 
 the Jolly-cum-pop. 
 
 " I really do not know," exclaimed the latter, " but 
 we'll hunt whatever we happen to see — deer, smaU 
 birds, rabbits, griffins, rhinoceroses, any thing that 
 
FRINGE BASSAK'S MARCH. 117 
 
 eomes along. I feel as gay as a skipping grasshopper. 
 My spirits rise like a soaring bird. What a joyful 
 thing it is to have such a hunt on such a glorious 
 day!" 
 
 The gay and happy spirits of the JoUy-cum-pop 
 affected the whole party, and they rode merrily through 
 the forest ; but they found no game ; and, after an 
 hour or two, they emerged into the open country again. 
 At a distance, on a slight elevation, stood a large and 
 massive building. 
 
 " I am hungry and thirsty," said the Prince, " and 
 perhaps we can get some refreshments at yonder house. 
 So far, this has not been a very fine hunt." 
 
 "No," cried the Jolly-cum-pop, "not yet. But 
 what a joyful thing to see a hospitable mansion just at 
 the moment when we begin to feel a little tired and 
 hungry ! ' ' 
 
 The building they were approaching belonged to a 
 Potentate, who lived at a great distance. In some of 
 bis travels he had seen this massive house, and thought 
 it would make a good prison. He accordingly bought it, 
 fitted it up as a jail, and appointed a jailer and three 
 myrmidons to take charge of it. This had occurred 
 years before, but no prisoners had ever been sent to 
 this jail. A few days preceding the Jolly-cum-pop 's 
 hunt, the Potentate had journeyed this way and had 
 stopped at his jail. After inquiring into its condition, 
 he had said to the Jailer : 
 
 " It is now fourteen years since I appointed you to 
 this place, and in all that time there have been no 
 priioners, and yon and your men have been drawing 
 
118 PRINCE HASSAK'S MARCB. 
 
 your wages without doing any thing. I shall return 
 this way in a few days, and if I still find you idle I 
 shall discharge you all and close the jail." 
 
 This filled the jailer with great dismay, for he did 
 not wish to lose his good situation. When he saw the 
 Prince and his party approaching, the thought struck 
 him that perhaps he might make prisoners of them, 
 and so not be found idle when the Potentate returned. 
 He came out to meet the hunters, and when they asked 
 if they could here find refreshment, he gave them a 
 most cordial welcome. His men took their horses, 
 and, inviting them to enter, he showed each member 
 of the party into a small bedroom, of which there 
 seemed to be a great many. 
 
 " Here are water and towels," he said to each one, 
 "and when you have washed your face and hands, 
 your refreshments wOl be ready." Then, going out, 
 he locked the door on the outside. 
 
 The party numbered seventeen : the Prince, three 
 courtiers, five boys, five girls, the course-marker, the 
 map-maker, and the Jolly-cum-pop. The heart of the 
 jailer was joyful ; seventeen inmates was something to 
 be proud of. He ordered his myrmidons to give the 
 prisoners a meal of bread and water through the holes 
 in their cell-doors, and then he sat down to make out 
 his report to the Potentate. 
 
 "They must all be guilty of crimes," he said to 
 himself, " which are punished by long imprisonment. 
 I don't want any of them executed." 
 
 So he numbered his prisoners from one to seventeen, 
 according to the cell each happened to be in, and he 
 
PRINCE BASSAK'S MARCB. 119 
 
 wrote a crime opposite each number. The first was 
 highway robbery, the next forgery, and after that 
 followed treason, smuggling, barn-burning, bribery, 
 poaching, usury, piracy, witchcraft, assault and bat- 
 tery, using false weights and measures, burglary, 
 counterfeiting, robbing hen-roosts, conspiracy, and 
 poisoning his grandmother by proxy. 
 
 This report was scarcely finished when the Potentate 
 returned. He was very much surprised to find that 
 seventeen prisoners had come in since his previous 
 visit, and he read the report with interest. 
 
 " Here is one who ought to be executed," he said, 
 referring to Number Seventeen. "And how did he 
 poison his grandmother by proxy ? Did he get another 
 woman to be poisoned in her stead ? Or did he employ 
 some one to act in his place as the poisoner ? ' ' 
 
 " I have not yet been fuUy informed, my lord," said 
 the iaOer, fearful that he should lose a prisoner ; 
 " but this is his first offence, and his grandmother, who 
 did not die, has testified to his general good char- 
 acter." 
 
 "Very well," said the Potentate; "but if he ever 
 does it again, let him be executed ; and, by the way, I 
 should like to see the prisoners." 
 
 Thereupon the Jailer conducted the Potentate along 
 the corridors, and let him look through the holes in the 
 doors at the prisoners within. 
 
 "What is this little girl in for? " he asked. 
 
 The jailer looked at the number over the door, and 
 then at his report. 
 
 " Piracy," he answered. 
 
120 PRINCE ffABSAK'S MASCB. 
 
 "A strange offence for such a child," aaid the 
 Potentate. 
 
 " They often begin that sort of thing very early it 
 life," said the jailer. 
 
 "And this fine gentleman," said the Potentate, 
 looking in at the Prince, " what did he do? " 
 
 The jailer glanced at the number, and the report. 
 
 " Robbed hen-roosts," he said. 
 
 " He must have done a good deal of it to afford to 
 dress so well," said the Potentate, passing on, and 
 looking into other cells. " It seems to me that many 
 of your prisoners are very young." 
 
 " It is best to take them young, my lord," said the 
 jailer. " They are very hard to catch when they grow 
 up." 
 
 The Potentate then looked in at the Jolly-cum-pop, 
 and asked what was his offence. 
 
 " Conspiracy," was the answer. 
 
 " And where are the other conspirators? " 
 
 " There was only one," said the jailer. 
 
 Number Seventeen was the oldest of the courtiers. 
 
 ' ' He appears to be an elderly man to have a grand- 
 mother," said the Potentate. "She must be very 
 aged, and that makes it all the worse for him. I 
 think he should be executed." 
 
 "Oh, no, my lord," cried the jailor. "I am as- 
 sured that his crime was quite unintentional." 
 
 " Then he should be set free," said the Potentate. 
 
 " I mean to say," said the jailer, " that it was just 
 enough intentional to cause him to be imprisoned here 
 for a long time, but not enough to deserve execution." 
 
PRINCE BASSAK'S MARCH. 121 
 
 "Very well," said the Potentate, turning to leare; 
 " take good care of your prisoners, and send me a 
 report every month." 
 
 " That will I do, my lord," said the jailer, bowing 
 very low. 
 
 The Prince and his party had been very much sur- 
 prised and incensed when they found that they could 
 not get out of their rooms, and they had kicked and 
 banged and shouted until they were tired, but the 
 jailer had informed them that they were to be confined 
 there for years ; and when the Potentate arrived they 
 had resigned themselves to despair. The JoUy-cum- 
 pop, however, was affected in a different way. It 
 seemed to him the most amusing joke in the world that 
 a person should deliberately walk into a prison-cell 
 and be locked up for several years ; and he lay down 
 on his little bed and laughed himself to sleep. 
 
 That night one of the boys sat at his iron-barred 
 window, wide awake. He was a Truant, and had 
 never yet been in any place from which he could not 
 run away. He felt that his school-fellows depended 
 upon him to run away and bring them assistance, and 
 he knew that his reputation as a Truant was at stake. 
 His responsibility was so heavy that he could not sleep, 
 and he sat at the window, trying to think of a way to 
 get out. After some hours the moon arose, and by its 
 light he saw upon the grass, not far from his window, 
 a number of little creatures, which at first he took for 
 birds or small squirrels ; but on looking more atten- 
 tively he perceived that they were pigwidgeons. They 
 were standing around a flat stone, and seemed to be 
 
122 PRINCE HAaSAK'8 MARCH. 
 
 making calculations on it with a piece of chalk. At 
 this sight, the heart of the Truant jumped for joy. 
 " Pigwidgeons can do any thing," he said to himself, 
 " and these certainly can get us out." He now tried 
 in various ways to attract the attention of the pigwid- 
 geons ; but as he was afraid to call or whistle very 
 loud, for fear of arousing the jailor, he did not succeed. 
 Happily, he thought of a pea-shooter which he had in 
 his pocket, and taking this out he blew a pea into the 
 midst of the little group with such force that it knocked 
 the chalk from the hand of the pigwidgeon who was 
 using it. The little fellows looked up in astonishment, 
 and perceived the Truant beckoning to them from his 
 window. At first they stood angrily regarding him ; 
 but on his urging them in a loud whisper to come to 
 his relief, they approached the prison and, clambering 
 up a vine, soon reached his window-sill. The Truant 
 now told his mournful tale, to which the pigwidgeons 
 listened very attentively ; and then, after a little con- 
 sultation among themselves, one of them said: "We 
 will get you out if you will tell us how to divide five- 
 sevenths by six." 
 
 The poor Truant was silent for an instant, and then 
 he said: " That is not the kind of thing I am good 
 at, but I expect some of the other fellows could tell 
 you easily enough. Our windows must be all in a row, 
 and you can climb up and ask some of them ; and if 
 any one tells you, will you get us all out? " 
 
 " Yes," said the pigwidgeon who had spoken before. 
 " We will do that, for we are very anxious to know 
 how to divide five-sevenths by six. We have been 
 
PRINCE EASSAK'S MARCH. 123 
 
 working at it for four or five days, and there wont be 
 any thing worth dividing if we wait much longer." 
 
 The pigwidgeons now began to descend the vine ; 
 but one of them lingering a little, the Truant, who had 
 a great deal of curiosity, asked him what it was they 
 had to divide. 
 
 " There were eight of us," the pigwidgeon answered, 
 " who helped a farmer's wife, and she gave us a pound 
 of butter. She did not count us properly, and divided 
 the butter into seven parts. We did not notice this 
 at first, and two of the party, who were obliged to go 
 away to a distance, took their portions and departed, 
 and now we can not divide among six the five-sevenths 
 that remain." 
 
 "That is a pretty hard thing," said the Truant, 
 " but I am sure some of the boys can tell you how to 
 do it." 
 
 The pigwidgeons visited the next four cells, which 
 were occupied by four boys, but not one of them 
 could tell how to divide five-sevenths by six. The 
 Prince was questioned, but he did not know ; and 
 neither did the course-marker, nor the map-maker. It 
 was not until they came to the cell of the oldest girl 
 that they received an answer. She was good at mental 
 arithmetic; and, after a minute's thought, she said, 
 "It would be five forty-seconds." 
 
 "Goodl" cried the pigwidgeons. " We will divide 
 the butter into forty-two parts, and each take five. 
 And now let us go to work and cut these bars." 
 
 Three of the six pigwidgeons were workers in iron, 
 and they had their little files and saws in pouches by 
 
124 PRINCE HASSAK'B MARCB. 
 
 their sides. They went to work manfully, and the 
 others helped them, and before morning one bar waa 
 cut in each of the seventeen windows. The cells were 
 all on the ground floor, and it was quite easy for the 
 prisoners to clamber out. That is, it was easy for all 
 but the JoUy-cum-pop. He had laughed so much in 
 his life that he had grown quite fat, and he found it 
 impossible to squeeze himself through the opening 
 made by the removal of one iron bar. The sixteen 
 other prisoners had all departed ; the pigwidgeons had 
 hurried away to divide their butter into forty-two parts, 
 and the Jolly-cum-pop still remained in his cell, con- 
 vulsed with laughter at the idea of being caught in 
 such a curious predicament. 
 
 " It is the most ridiculous thing in the world," he 
 said. " I suppose I must stay here and cry until I 
 get thin." And the idea so tickled him, that he 
 laughed himself to sleep. 
 
 The Prince and his party kept together, and hurried 
 from the prison as fast as they could. When the day 
 broke they had gone several miles, and then they 
 stopped to rest. "Where is that Jolly-cum-pop?" 
 said the Prince. " I suppose he has gone home. He 
 is a pretty fellow to lead us into this trouble and then 
 desert us ! How are we to find the way back to his 
 house? Course-marker, can you tell us the direction in 
 which we should go? " 
 
 " Not until to-night, your Highness," answered the 
 course-marker, " when I can set my instrument by 
 the stars." 
 
 The Prince's party was now in a doleful plight. 
 
PSINCS BASaAK'S MARCH. 13f 
 
 Every one was very hungry; they were in an open 
 plain, no house was visible, and they knew not which 
 way to go. They wandered about for some time, 
 looking for a brook or a spring where they might 
 quench their thirst ; and then a rabbit sprang out from 
 some bushes. The whole party immediately started 
 off in pursuit of the rabbit. They chased it here, 
 there, backward and forward, through hollows and 
 over hills, until it ran quite away and disappeared. 
 Then they were more tired, thirsty, and hungry than 
 before ; and, to add to their miseries, when night came 
 on the sky was cloudy, and the course-marker could 
 not set his instrument by the stars. It would be 
 difficult to find sixteen more miserable people than 
 the Prince and his companions when they awoke the 
 next morning from their troubled sleep on the hard 
 ground. Nearly starved, they gazed at one another 
 with feelings of despair. 
 
 "I feel," said the Prince, in a weak voice, "that 
 there is nothing I would not do to obtain food. I 
 would willingly become a slave if my master would 
 give me a good breakfast." 
 
 " So would I," ejaculated each of the others. 
 
 About an hour after this, as they were all sitting 
 disconsolately upon the ground, they saw, slowly ap- 
 proaching, a large cart drawn by a pair of oxen. On 
 the front of the cart, which seemed to be heavily 
 loaded, sat a man, with a red beard, reading a book. 
 The boys, when they saw the cart, set up a feeble 
 shout, and the man, lifting his eyes from his book, 
 drove directly toward the group on the ground. Dis- 
 
126 PRINCE BABSAK'S MARCH. 
 
 mounting, he approached Prince Hassak, who imme- 
 diately told him his troubles and implored relief. " "We 
 will do any thing," said the Prince, " to obtain food." 
 
 Standing for a minute in a reflective mood, the man 
 with the red beard addressed the Prince in a slow, 
 meditative manner : " How would you like," he said, 
 " to form a nucleus? " 
 
 " Can we get any thing to eat by it? " eagerly asked 
 the Prince. 
 
 "Yes," replied the man, " you can." 
 
 "We'll do it!" immediately cried the whole six- 
 teen, without waiting for further information. 
 
 " Which will you do first," said the man, "listen to 
 my explanations, or eat? " 
 
 " Eat ! " cried the entire sixteen in chorus. 
 
 The man now produced from his cart a quantity of 
 bread, meat, wine, and other provisions, which he dis- 
 tributed generously, but judiciously, to the hungry 
 Prince and his followers. Every one had enough, but 
 no one too much. And soon, revived and strength- 
 ened, they felt like new beings. 
 
 " Now," said the Prince, " we are ready to form a 
 nucleus, as we promised. How is it done? " 
 
 " I will explain the matter to you in a few words," 
 said the man with the red beard. " For a long time I 
 have been desirous to found a city. In order to do 
 this one must begin by forming a nucleus. Every 
 great city is started from a nucleus. A few persons 
 settle down in some particular spot, and live there. 
 Then they are a nucleus. Then other people come 
 there, and gather around this nucleus, and then more 
 
PRINCE BASSAK'S MARCB. 127 
 
 people come and more, until in course of tim« there 
 is a great city. I have loaded this cart with pro- 
 visions, tools, and other things that are necessary for 
 my purpose, and have set out to find some people who 
 would be willing to form a nucleus. I am very glad 
 to have found you and that you are willing to enter 
 into my plan ; and this seems a good spot for us to 
 settle upon." 
 
 "What is the first thing to be done?" said the 
 Prince. 
 
 "We must all go to work," said the man with the 
 red beard, " to build dwellings, and also a school-house 
 for these young people. Then we must till some 
 ground in the suburbs, and lay the foundations, at 
 least, of a few public buildings." 
 
 " All this will take a good while, will it not? " said 
 the Prince. 
 
 "Yes," said the man, " it will take a good while; 
 and the sooner we set about it, the better." 
 
 Thereupon tools were distributed among the party, 
 and Prince, courtiers, boys, girls, and all went to work 
 to build houses and form the nucleus of a city. 
 
 When the jailer looked into his cells in the morning, 
 and found that all but one of his prisoners had escaped, 
 he was utterly astounded, and his face, when the Jolly- 
 cum-pop saw him, made that individual roar with 
 laughter. The jailer, however, was a man accus- 
 tomed to deal with emergencies. "You need not 
 laugh," he said, " every thing shall go on as before, 
 and I shall take no notice of the absence of your com- 
 panions. You are now numbered One to Sevente^' 
 
128 PRINCE BABBAK'8 MARCH. 
 
 iuolusive, and you stand charged with highway rob- 
 bery, forgery, treason, smuggling, barn-burning, bri- 
 bery, poaching, usury, piracy, witchcraft, assault and 
 battery, using false weights and measures, burglary, 
 counterfeiting, robbing hen-roosts, conspiracy, and 
 poisoning your grandmother by proxy. I intended 
 to-day to dress the convicts in prison garb, and you 
 shall immediately be so clothed." 
 
 " I shall require seventeen suits," said the Jolly- 
 cum-pop. 
 
 " Tea," said the jailer, " they shall be furnished." 
 
 " And seventeen rations a day," said the Jolly-cum- 
 pop. 
 
 " Certainly," replied the jailer. 
 
 "This is luxury," roared the Jolly-cum-pop. "I 
 shall spend my whole time in eating and putting on 
 clean clothes." 
 
 Seventeen large prison suits were now brought to 
 the Jolly-cum-pop. He put one on, and hung up the 
 rest in bis cell. These suits were half bright yellow 
 and half bright green, with spots of bright red, as big 
 as saucers. 
 
 The jailer now had doors cut from one cell to 
 another. " If the Potentate comes here and wants 
 to look at the prisoners," he said to the Jolly-cum- 
 pop, "you must appear in cell number One, so that 
 be can look through the hole in the door, and see you ; 
 then, as be walks along the corridor, yon must walk 
 through the cells, and whenever he looks into a cell, 
 you must be there." 
 
 " He will think," merrily replied the Jolly-cum-pop, 
 
PBINCE BASaAK'S MARCH. 129 
 
 " that all your prisoners are very fat, and that the 
 little girls have grown up into big men." 
 
 " I will endeavor to explain that," said the jailer. 
 
 For several days the Jolly-cum-pop was highly 
 amused at the idea of his being seventeen criminals, 
 and he would sit first in one cell and then in another, 
 trying to look like a ferocious pirate, a hard-hearted 
 usurer, or a mean-spirited chicken thief, and laughing 
 heartily at his failures. But, after a time, he began 
 to tire of this, and to have a strong desire to see what 
 sort of a tuimel the Prince's miners and rock-splitters 
 were making under his house. " I had hoped," he 
 said to himself, " that I should pine away in confine- 
 ment, and so be able to get through the window-bars ; 
 but with nothing to do, and seventeen rations a day, I 
 see no chance of that. But I must get out of this jail, 
 and, as there seems no other way, I will revolt." 
 Thereupon he shouted to the jailer through the hole 
 in the door of his cell: "We have revolted! We 
 have risen in a body, and have determined to resist 
 your authority, and break jail ! " 
 
 When the jailer heard this, he was greatly troubled. 
 "Do not proceed to violence," he said; "let us 
 parley." 
 
 "Very well," replied the Jolly-cum-pop, "but you 
 must open the cell door. We cannot parley through 
 a hole." 
 
 The jailer thereupon opened the cell door, and the 
 Jolly-cum-pop, having wrapped sixteen suits of clothes 
 around his left arm as a shield, and holding in his 
 right hand the iron bar which had been cut from 
 
180 PRINCE HASSAK'8 MARCH. 
 
 his window, stepped boldly into the corridor, and con- 
 fronted the jailer and his myrmidona. 
 
 " It will be useless for you to resist," he said. 
 "You are but four, and we are seventeen. If you 
 had been wise you would have made us all cheating 
 shop-keepers, chicken thieves, or usurers. Then you 
 might have been able to control us ; but when you see 
 before you a desperate highwayman, a daring smug- 
 gler, a blood-thirsty pirate, a wily poacher, a powerful 
 rufSan, a reckless burglar, a bold conspirator, and a 
 murderer by proxy, you well may tremble I " 
 
 The jailer and his myrmidons looked at each other 
 in dismay. 
 
 "We sigh for no blood," continued the JoUy-cum- 
 pop, " and will readily agree to terms. We will give 
 you your choice : Will you allow us to honorably sur- 
 render, and peacefully disperse to our homes, or shall 
 we rush upon you in a body, and, after overpowering 
 you by numbers, set fire to the jail, and escape through 
 the crackling timbers of the burning pile? " 
 
 The jailer reflected for a minute. "It would be 
 better, perhaps," he said, "that you should surrender 
 and disperse to your homes." 
 
 The Jolly-cum-pop agreed to these terms, and the 
 great gate being opened, he marched out in good 
 order. " Now," said he to himself, " the thing for 
 me to do is to get home as fast as I can, or that jailer 
 may change his mind." But, being in a great hurry, 
 he turned the wrong way, and walked rapidly into a 
 country unknown to him. His walk was a very meny 
 one. " By this time," he said to himself, " the Prince 
 
PBINCH: HASSAK'a MABCH. 181 
 
 and his followers have returned to my house, and are 
 tired of watching the rock-splitters and miners. How 
 amused they will be when they see me come back in 
 this gay suit of green and yellow, with red spots, and 
 with sixteen similar suits upon my arm ! How my own 
 dogs will bark at me ! And how my own servants will 
 not know me ! It is the funniest thing I ever knew 
 of ! " And his gay laugh echoed far and wide. But 
 when he had gone several mOes without seeing any 
 signs of his habitation, his gayety abated. " It would 
 have been much better," he said, as he sat down to 
 rest under the shade of a tree, " if I had brought with 
 me sixteen rations instead of these sixteen suits of 
 clothes." 
 
 The Jolly-cum-pop soon set out again, but he walked 
 a long distance without seeing any person or any house. 
 Toward the close of the afternoon he stopped, and, 
 looking back, he saw coming toward him a large party 
 of foot travellers. In a few moments, he perceived 
 that the person in advance was the jailer. At this 
 the Jolly-cum-pop could not restrain his merriment. 
 " How comically it has all turned out ! " he exclaimed. 
 " Here I've taken all this trouble, and tired myself 
 out, and have nearly starved myself, and the jailer 
 comes now, with a crowd of people, and takes me 
 back. I might as well have staid where I was. Ha ! 
 ha!" 
 
 The jailer now left his party and came running 
 toward the Jolly-cum-pop. " I pray you, sir," he 
 said, bowing very low, " do not cast us off." 
 
 "Who are you all?" asked the Jolly-cum-pop, 
 
182 PRINCE HASSAK'S MARCB. 
 
 looking with much sarprise at the jailer's companioDB, 
 who were now quite near. 
 
 " We are myself, my three myrmidons, and our 
 wives and children. Our situations were such good 
 ones that we married long ago, and our families lived 
 in the upper stories of the prison. But when all the 
 convicts had left we were afraid to remain, for, should 
 the Potentate again visit the prison, he would be dis- 
 appointed and enraged at finding no prisoners, and 
 would, probably, punish us grievously. So we deter- 
 mined to follow you, and to ask you to let us go with 
 you, wherever you are going. I wrote a report, which 
 I fastened to the great gate, and in it I stated that 
 sixteen of the convicts escaped by the aid of outside 
 confederates, and that seventeen of them mutinied in 
 a body and broke jail." 
 
 "That report," laughed the Jolly-cum-pop, "your 
 Potentate will not readily understand." 
 
 " If I were there," said the jailer, " I could explain 
 it to him; but, as it is, he must work it out for 
 himself." 
 
 " Have you any thing to eat with you? " aaked the 
 Jolly-cum-pop. 
 
 "Oh, yes," said the jaUer, "we brought provisions." 
 
 "Well, then, I gladly take you under my protection. 
 Let us have supper. I have had nothing to eat since 
 morning, and the weight of sixteen extra suits of 
 clothes does not help to refresh one." 
 
 The Jolly-cum-pop and his companions slept that 
 night under some trees, and started off early the next 
 morning. " If I could only get myself turned in the 
 
PRINCE BASSAS'S MARCH. 188 
 
 proper direction," said he, «' I believe we should 
 soon reach my bouse. 
 
 The Prince, his courtiers, the boys and girls, the 
 course-marker, and the map-maker worked industri- 
 ously for several days at the foundation of their city. 
 They dug the giound, they carried stones, they cut 
 down trees. This work was very hard for all of them, 
 for they were not used to it. After a few days' labor, 
 the Prince said to the man with the red beard, who was 
 reading his book : "I think we have now formed a 
 nucleus. Any one can see that this is intended to be 
 a city." 
 
 " No," said the man with the red beard, " nothing 
 is tmly a nucleus until something is gathered around 
 it. Proceed with your work, while I continue my 
 studies upon civil government." 
 
 Toward the close of that day the red-bearded man 
 raised his eyes from his book and beheld the JoUy- 
 cum-pop and his party approaching. " Hurrah! " he 
 cried, "we are already attracting settlers!" And 
 he went forth to meet them. 
 
 When the prince and the courtiers saw the Jolly- 
 cum-pop in his bright and variegated dress, they did not 
 know him ; but the boys and girls soon recognized his 
 jovial face, and, tired as they were, they set up a 
 hearty laugh, in which they were loudly joined by their 
 merry friend. While the Jolly-cum-pop was listening 
 to the adventures of the Prince and his companions, 
 and telling what had happened to himself, the man 
 with the red beard was talking to the jailer and his 
 party, and urging them to gather around the nucleus 
 
184 PBINCE BABSAK'S MARCH. 
 
 which had been here formed, and help to build a 
 city. 
 
 " Nothing will suit us better," exclaimed the jailer, 
 " and the sooner we build a town wall so as to keep 
 off the Potentate, if he should come this way, the 
 better shall we be satisfied." 
 
 The next morning, the Prince said to the red-bearded 
 man : " Others have gathered around us. We have 
 formed a nucleus, and thus have done all that we 
 promised to do. We shall now depart. " 
 
 The man objected strongly to this, but the Prince 
 paid no attention to his words. " What troubles me 
 most," he said to the Jolly-cum-pop, "is the disgrace- 
 ful condition of our clothes. They have been so torn 
 and soiled during our unaccustomed work that they are 
 not fit to be seen." 
 
 "As for that," said the Jolly-cum-pop, "I have 
 sixteen suits with me, in which you can all dress, if 
 you like. They are of unusual patterns, but they are 
 new and clean." 
 
 " It is better," said the Prince, " for persons in my 
 station to appear inordinately gay than to be seen in 
 rags and dirt. We will accept your clothes." 
 
 Thereupon, the Prince and each of the others put on 
 a prison dress of bright green and yellow, with large 
 red spots. There were some garments left over, for 
 each boy wore only a pair of trousers with the waist- 
 band tied around his neck, and holes cut for his arms ; 
 while the large jackets, with the sleeves tucked, made 
 very good dresses for the girls. The Prince and his 
 party, accompanied by the Jolly-cum-pop, now left the 
 
PRINCE HASSAK'B MARCH. 185 
 
 red-bearded man and his new settlers to continue the 
 building of the city, and set off on their journey. 
 The course-marker had not been informed the night 
 before that they were to go away that morning, and 
 consequently did not set his instrument by the stars. 
 
 " As we do not know in which way we should go," 
 said the Prince, " one way will be as good as another, 
 and if we can find a road let us take it ; it will be easier 
 walking." 
 
 In an hour or two they found a road and they took 
 it. After journeying the greater part of the day, they 
 reached the top of a low hill, over which the road ran, 
 and saw before them a glittering sea and the spires 
 and houses of a city. 
 
 " It is the city of Yan," said the course-marker. 
 
 " That is true," said the Prince ; " and as we are 
 so near, we may as well go there." 
 
 The astonishment of the people of Yan, when this 
 party, dressed in bright green and yellow, with red 
 spots, passed through their streets, was so great that 
 the Jolly-cum-pop roared with langhter. This set the 
 boys and girls and all the people laughing, and the 
 sounds of merriment became so uproarious that when 
 they reached the palace the King came ou to see what 
 was the matter. What he thought when he saw his 
 nephew in his fantastic guise, accompanied by a party 
 apparently composed of sixteen other lunatics, cannot 
 now be known ; but, after hearing the Prince's story, 
 he took him into an inner apartment, and thus addressed 
 him : " My dear Hassak : The next time you pay me a 
 visit, I beg for your sake and my own, that you will 
 
186 PRINCE HASSAK'S MARCH. 
 
 oome in the ordinary way. You have sufficiently shown 
 to the world that, when a Prince deskes to travel, it is 
 often necessary for him to go out of his way on account 
 of obstacles." 
 
 " My dear uncle," replied Haasak, " your words 
 shall not be forgotten." 
 
 After a pleasant visit of a few weeks, the Prince 
 and his party (in new clothes) returned (by sea) to 
 Itoby, whence the JoUy-cum-pop soon repaired to his 
 home. There he found the miners and rock-splitters 
 still at work at the tunnel, which had now penetrated 
 haH-way through the hill on which stood his house. 
 " You may go home," he said, " for the Prince has 
 changed his plans. I will put a door to this tunnel, 
 and it will make an excellent cellar in which to keep 
 my wine and provisions." 
 
 The day after the Prince's return his map-maker 
 said to him : "Your Highness, according to your com- 
 mands I made, each day, a map of your progress to 
 the city of Yan. Here it is." 
 
 The Prince glanced at it and then he cast his eyes 
 upon the floor. " Leave me," he said. " I would be 
 alon«." 
 
THE BATTLE OF THE THIRD COUSINS. 
 
 THERE were never many persons who could cor- 
 rectly bound the Autocracy of Mutjado. The 
 reason for this was that the boundary line was not 
 stationary. Whenever the Autocrat felt the need of 
 money, he sent his tax-gatherers far and wide, and 
 people who up to that time had no idea of such a thing 
 found that they lived in the territory of Mutjado. But 
 when times were ordinarily prosperous with him, and 
 people in the outlying districts needed protection or 
 public works, the dominion of the Autocrat became 
 very much contracted. 
 
 In the course of time, the Autocrat of Mutjado fell 
 into bad health and sent for his doctor. That learned 
 man prescribed some medicine for him ; and as this 
 did him no good, he ordered another kind. He contin- 
 ued this method of treatment until the Autocrat had 
 swallowed the contents of fifteen phials and flasks, 
 some large and some small. As none of these were of 
 the slightest benefit, the learned doctor produced an- 
 other kind of medicine which he highly extolled. 
 
 "Take a dose of this twice a day," said he, "and 
 
 you will soon find " 
 
 138 
 
TBS BATTLS OF TBE THIRD COUSINS. 139 
 
 "A new medicine?" interrupted the Autocrat, in 
 disgust. " I will have none of it ! These others were 
 bad enough, and rather than start with a new physic, I 
 prefer to die. Take away your bottles, little and big, 
 and send me my secretary." 
 
 When that officer arrived, the Autocrat informed 
 him that he had determined to write his will, and that 
 he should set about it at once. 
 
 The Autocrat of Mutjado had no son, and his near- 
 est male relatives were a third cousin on his father's 
 side, and another third cousin on his mother's side. Of 
 course these persons were in nowise related to each 
 other ; and as they lived in distant countries, he had 
 never seen either of them. He had made up his mind to 
 leave his throne and dominions to one of these persons, 
 but he could not determine which of them should be 
 his heir. 
 
 "One has as good a right as the other," he said 
 to himself, " and I can't bother my brains settling the 
 matter for them. Let them fight it out, and whoever 
 conquers shall be Autocrat of Mutjado." 
 
 Having arranged the affair in this manner in his 
 will, he signed it, and soon after died. 
 
 The Autocrat's third cousin on his father's side was 
 a young man of about twenty-five, named Alberdin. 
 He was a good horseman, and trained m the arts of 
 warfare, and when he was informed of the terms of his 
 distinguished relative's will, he declared himself per- 
 fectly willing to undertake the combat for the throne. 
 He set out for Mutjado, where he arrived in a reason- 
 able time. 
 
140 THE BATTLE OF THE THIRD COVSINB. 
 
 The third cousin on the mother's side was a very 
 different person. He was a boy of about twelve years 
 of age ; and as his father and mother had died when 
 he was very young, he had been for nearly all his life 
 under the charge of an elderly and prudent man, who 
 acted as his guardian and tutor. These two, also, soon 
 arrived in Mutjado, — the boy, Phedo, being mounted 
 on a little donkey, which was his almost constant com- 
 panion. As soon as they reached the territory of the 
 late Autocrat, old Salim, the tutor, left the boy at an 
 inn, and went forward by himself to take a look at the 
 other third cousin. When he saw Alberdin mounted 
 on his fine horse, and looking so strong and valiant, 
 his heart was much disturbed. 
 
 " I had hoped," he said to himself, " that the other 
 one was a small boy, but such does not appear to be 
 the case. There is but one way to have a fair fight 
 between these two. They must not now be allowed to 
 see each other. If they can be kept apart until my boy 
 grows up, he will then be able, with the military educa- 
 tion which I intend he shall have, to engage in combat 
 with any man. They must not meet for at least thirteen 
 years. Phedo will then be twenty-five, and able to do 
 worthy combat. To be sure, I am somewhat old my- 
 self to undertake to superintend so long a delay, but I 
 must do my best to keep well and strong, and to attain 
 the greatest possible longevity." 
 
 Salim had always been in the habit of giving thirty- 
 two chews to every mouthful of meat, and a propor- 
 tionate number of chews to other articles of food ; 
 and had, so far, been very healthy. But he now deter- 
 
TBE BATTLE OF TBE TEIRD COUSIHS. 14, 
 
 mined to increase the number of chews to thirty-six, 
 for it would be highly necessary for him to live until it 
 was time for the battle between the third cousins to 
 take place. 
 
 Having made up his mind on these points, the old 
 tutor introduced himself to Alberdin, and told him that 
 he had come to arrange the terms of combat. 
 
 "In the first place," said Alberdin, "I should like 
 to know what sort of a person my opponent is." 
 
 " He is not a cavalryman like you," answered 
 Salim ; " he belongs to the heavy infantry." 
 
 At this, Alberdin looked grave. He knew very well 
 that a stout and resolute man on foot had often the 
 advantage of one who is mounted. He would have 
 preferred meeting a horseman, and fighting on equal 
 terms. 
 
 " Has he had much experience in war? " asked tho 
 young man. 
 
 " It is not long," answered the tutor, '' since he was 
 almost constantly in arms, winter and summer." 
 
 " He must be a practised warrior," thought Alberdin. 
 " 1 must put myself in good fighting-trim before I 
 meet him." 
 
 After some further conversation on the subject, the 
 old man advised Alberdin to go into camp on a beau- 
 tiful plain not far from the base of a low line of moun- 
 tains. 
 
 "Tour opponent," said he, "will intrench himself 
 in the valley on the other side. With the mountains 
 between you, neither of you need fear a surprise ; and 
 when both are ready, a place of meeting can be ap< 
 pointed. 
 
142 THE BATTLE OF THE THIRD COUSINS. 
 
 "Now, then," said Salim to himself when this had 
 been settled; "if lean keep them apart for thirteen 
 years, all may be well." 
 
 As soon as possible, Alberdin pitched a tent upon 
 the appointed spot, and began to take daily warlike 
 exercise in the plain, endeavoring in every way to put 
 himself and his horae into proper condition for the 
 combat. 
 
 On the other side of the mountain, old Salim in- 
 trenched himself and the boy, Pbedo. He carefully 
 studied several books on military engineering, and 
 caused a fortified camp to be constructed on the most 
 approved principles. It was surrounded by high ram- 
 parts, and outside of these was a moat filled with 
 water. In the centre of the camp was a neat little 
 house which was well provided with books, provisions, 
 and every thing necessary for a prolonged stay. When 
 the drawbridge was up, it would be impossible for Al- 
 berdin to get inside of the camp ; and, moreover, the 
 ramparts were so high that he could not look over 
 them to see what sort of antagonist he was to have.- 
 Old Salim did not tell the boy why he brought him 
 here to live. It would be better to wait until he was 
 older before informing him of the battle which had 
 been decreed. He told Phedo that it was necessary 
 for him to have a military education, which could very 
 well be obtained in a place like this ; and he was also 
 very careful to let him know that there was a terrible 
 soldier in that part of the country who might at any 
 time, if it were not for the intrenchments, pounce 
 down upon him, and cut him to pieces. Every fine 
 
THE BATTLE OF THE THIRD COUSINS. 148 
 
 day, Phedo was allowed to take a ride on his donkey 
 outside of the fortifications, but during this time, the 
 old tutor kept a strict watch on the mountain ; and if 
 a horseman had made his appearance, little Phedo 
 would have been whisked inside, and the di-awbridge 
 would have been up in a twinkling. 
 
 After about two weeks of this life Phedo found it 
 dreadfully stupid to see no one but his old tutor, and 
 never to go outside of these great rampai-ts except for 
 donkey-rides, which were generally very short. He 
 therefore determined, late one moonlight night, to go 
 out and take a ramble by himself. He was not afraid 
 of the dreadful soldier of whom the old man had told 
 him, because at that time of night this personage 
 \w)uld, of course, be in bed and asleep. Considering 
 these things, he quietly dressed himself, took down a 
 great key from over his sleeping tutor's head, opened 
 the heavy gate, let down the drawbridge, mounted 
 upon his donkey, and rode forth upon the moonlit 
 plain. 
 
 That night-ride was a very delightful one, and for a 
 long time the boy and the donkey rambled and ran ; 
 first going this way and then that, they gradually 
 climbed the mountain ; and, reaching the brow, they 
 trotted about for a while, and then went down the other 
 side. The boy had been so twisted and turned in his 
 course that he did not notice that he was not descend- 
 ing toward his camp, and the donkey, whose instinct 
 told it that it was not going the right way, was also 
 told by its instinct that it did not wish to go the right 
 way, and that the iutrenchments. oSe^ed it no tempta- 
 
144 THE BATTLE OF THE THIRD COUSIN 8. 
 
 tioas to return. When the morning dawned, Phedo 
 perceived that he was really lost, and he began to be 
 afraid that he might meet the terrible soldier. But, 
 after a time, he saw riding toward him a very pleasant- 
 looking young man on a handsome horse, and he 
 immediately took courage. 
 
 "Now," said he to himself, "I am no longer in 
 danger. If that horrible cut-throat should appear, 
 this good gentleman will protect me." 
 
 Alberdin had not seen any one for a long time, and 
 he was very glad to meet with so nice a little boy. 
 When Phedo told him that he was lost, he invited him 
 to come to his tent, near by, and have breakfast. 
 While they were eating their meal, Alberdin asked the 
 boy if in the course of his rambles he had met with a 
 heavy infantry soldier, probably armed to the teeth, 
 and very large and strong. 
 
 "Oh, I've heard of that dreadful man!" cried 
 Phedo, " and I am very glad that I did not meet him. 
 If he comes, I hope you'll protect me from him." 
 
 " I will do that," said Alberdin ; " but I am afraid I 
 shall not be able to help you find your way home, for 
 in doing so I should throw myself oflf my guard, and 
 might be set upon unexpectedly by this fellow, with 
 whom I have a regular engagement to fight. There is 
 to be a time fixed for the combat, for which I feel my- 
 self nearly ready, but I have no doubt that my enemj' 
 will be very glad to take me at a disadvantage if I give 
 him a chance." 
 
 Phedo looked about him with an air of content. The 
 tent was large and well furnished ; there seemed to be 
 
THE BATTLE OF THE THIRD C0UBJN8. 145 
 
 plenty of good things to eat ; the handsome horseman 
 was certainly a very good-humored and agreeable gen- 
 tleman; and, moreover, the tent was not shut in by 
 high and gloomy ramparts. 
 
 " I do not think you need trouble yourself," said he 
 to his host, " to help me to find my way home. I live 
 with my tutor, and I am sure that when he knows I 
 am gone he will begin to search for me, and after 
 awhile he will find me. UntU then, I can be very 
 comfortable here." 
 
 For several days the two third cousins of the Auto- 
 crat lived together in the tent, and enjoyed each other's 
 society very much. Then Alberdin began to grow a 
 little impatient. 
 
 " If I am to fight this heavy infantry man," he said ; 
 "I should like to do it at once. I am now quite ready, 
 and I think he ought to be. I expected to hear from 
 him before this time, and I shall start out and see if I 
 can get any news of his intentions. I don't care about 
 going over the mountain without giving him notice, but 
 the capital city of Mutjado is only a day's ride to the 
 west, and there I can cause inquiries to be made when 
 he would like to meet me, and where." 
 
 " I will go with you," said Phedo, greatly delighted 
 at the idea of visiting the city. 
 
 "Yes, I will take you," said Alberdin. "Your 
 tutor don't seem inclined to come for you, and, of 
 course, I can't leave yon here." 
 
 The next day, Alberdin on his horse, and Fhedo on 
 his donkey, set out for the city, where they arriveii 
 late in the afternoon. After finding a comfortable 
 
146 TBE BATTLE OF THE THIRD COUSINB. 
 
 lodging, Alberdin sent messengers to the other side of 
 the mountain, where his opponent was supposed to be 
 encamped, and gave them power to arrange with him 
 for a meeting. He particularly urged them to try to see 
 the old man who had come to him at first, and who had 
 seemed to be a very fair-minded and sensible person. 
 In two days, however, the messengers returned, stating 
 that they had found what they supposed to be the in- 
 trenched camp of the heavy infantry man they had 
 been sent in search of, but that it was entirely deserted, 
 and nobody could be seen anywhere near it. 
 
 "It is very likely," said Alberdin, "that he has 
 watched my manoeuvres and exercises from the top of 
 the mountain, and has concluded to run away. I shall 
 give him a reasonable time to show himself, and then, 
 if he does not come forward, I will consider him 
 beaten, and claim the Autocracy." 
 
 " That is a good idea," said Phedo, "but I think, 
 if you can, you ought to find him and kill him, or 
 drive him out of the country. That's what I should 
 do, if I were you." 
 
 " Of course I shall do that, if I can," said Alberdin ; 
 " but I could not be expected to wait for him forever." 
 
 When his intention had been proclaimed, Alberdin 
 was informed of something which he did not know 
 before, and that was that the late Autocrat had left 
 an only daughter, a Princess about twenty years old. 
 But although she was his daughter, she could not in- 
 herit his crown, for the laws of the country forbade 
 that any woman should become Autocrat. A happy 
 idea now struck Alberdin. 
 
TBE BATTLE OF THE THIRD COUSIHa. 147 
 
 " I will marry the Princess," be said, " and then 
 every one will think that It is the most suitable thing 
 for me to become Autocrat." 
 
 So Alberdin sent to the Princess to ask permission 
 to speak with her, and was granted an audience. 
 With much courtesy and politeness he made known his 
 plans to the lady, and hoped that she would consider 
 it advisable to marry him. 
 
 " I am sorry to interfere with any of your arrange- 
 ments," said the Princess, " but as soon as I heard 
 the terms of my father's will, I made up my mind to 
 marry the victor in the contest. As I cannot inherit 
 the throne myself, the next best thing is to be the wife 
 of the man who does. Go forth, then, and find your 
 antagonist, and when you have conquered him, I will 
 marry you." 
 
 "And if he conquers me, you will marry him?" 
 said Alberdin. 
 
 "Yes, sir," answei'ed the Princess, with a smile, 
 and dismissed him. 
 
 It was plain enough that there was nothing for 
 Alberdin to do but to go and look for the heavy infan- 
 try man. Phedo was very anxious to accompany him, 
 and the two, mounted as before, set out from the city 
 on their quest. 
 
 When old Salim, the tutor of Phedo, awoke in the 
 morning and found the boy gone, he immediately 
 imagined that the youngster had run away to his old 
 home ; so he set forth with all possible speed, hoping 
 to overtake him. But when he reached the distant 
 town where Phedo had lived, he found that the boy 
 
148 TBE BATTLE OF TBE THIRD COUSWa. 
 
 had not been there ; and after taking some needful rest, 
 he retraced his steps, crossed the mountains, and made 
 iiis way toward the capital city, hoping to find news of 
 him there. It was necessary for him to be very care- 
 ful in his inquiries, for he wished no one to find out 
 that the little boy he was looking for was the third 
 cousin of the late Autocrat on the mother's side. He 
 therefore disguised himself as a migratory medical 
 man, and determined to use all possible caution. 
 When he reached the camp of the young horseman, 
 Alberdin, and found that personage gone, his suspi- 
 cions became excited. 
 
 "If these two have run off together," he said to 
 himself, " my task is indeed difficult. If the man 
 discovers it is the boy he has to fight, my poor Phedo 
 will be cut to pieces in a twinkling. I do not believe 
 there has been any trouble yet, for the boy does not 
 know that he is to be one of the combatants, and the 
 man would not be likely to suspect it. Come what 
 may, the fight must not take place for thirteen years. 
 And in order that I may stiU better preserve my health 
 and strength to avert the calamity during that period, 
 I will increase my number of chews to forty-two to 
 each mouthful of meat." 
 
 When old Salim reached the city, he soon found that 
 Alberdin and the boy had been there, and that they 
 had gone away together. 
 
 " Nothing has happened so far," said the old man, 
 with a sigh of relief; "and things may turn out all 
 right yet. I'll follow them, but I must first find 
 out what that cavalryman had to say to the Pfinf 
 
TBE BATTLE OF THE THIRD COO SINS. 149 
 
 cess." For he had been told of the interview at the 
 palace. 
 
 It was not long before the migratory medical man 
 was brought to the Princess. There was nothing the 
 matter with her, but she liked to meet with persons of 
 skill and learning to hear what they had to say. 
 
 "Have you any specialty?" she asked of the old 
 -nan. 
 
 " Yes," said he, " I am a germ-doctor." 
 
 " What is that? " asked the Princess. 
 
 "All diseases," replied the old man, "come from 
 germs ; generally very little ones. My business is to 
 discover these, and find out all about them." 
 
 "Then I suppose," said the Princess, "you know 
 how to cure the diseases ? ' ' 
 
 " You must not expect too much," answered the old 
 man. "It ought to be a great satisfaction to us to 
 know what sort of geim is at the bottom of oar 
 woes." 
 
 "I am very well, myself," said the Princess, " and, 
 so far as I know, none of my household are troubled 
 by germs. But there is something the matter with my 
 mind which I wish you could relieve." She then told 
 the old man how she had determined to marry the victor 
 in the contest for her father's throne, and how she had 
 seen one for the claimants whom she considered to be a 
 very agreeable and deserving young man ; while the 
 other, she had heard, was a great, strong foot soldier, 
 who was probably very disagreeable, and even horrid. 
 If this one should prove the conqueror, she did not 
 know what she should do. " You see, I am in a great 
 
150 THE BATTLE OF THE THIRD COUSINS. 
 
 deal of trouble," said she. " Can you do any thing to 
 help me?" 
 
 The pretending migratory medical man looked at her 
 attentively for a few moments, and then he said : 
 
 ' ' The reason why you intend to marry the victor in 
 the coming contest, is that you wish to remain here in 
 your father's palace, and to continue to enjoy the com- 
 forts and advantages to which you have been accus- 
 tomed." 
 
 " Yes," said the Princess ; " that is it." 
 
 "Well, having discovered the germ of your disor- 
 der," said the old man, " the great point is gained. I 
 will see what I can do." 
 
 And with a respectful bow he left her presence. 
 
 " Well," said old Salim to himself, as he went away, 
 " she can never marry my boy, for that is certainly out 
 of the question ; but now that I have found out her 
 motive, I think I can arrange matters satisfactorily, so 
 far as she is concerned. But to settle the affau- be- 
 tween that young man and Phedo is immensely more 
 difficult. The first thing is to find them." 
 
 Having learned the way they had gone, the old tutor 
 travelled diligently, and in two days came up with 
 Alberdin and Phedo. When he first caught sight of 
 them, he was very much surprised to see that they 
 were resting upon the ground quite a long distance 
 apart, with a little stream between them. Noticing 
 that Alberdin's back was toward him, he threw off his 
 disguise and hastened to Phedo. The boy received 
 him with the greatest delight, and, after many em- 
 braces, they sat down to talk. Phedo told the old 
 
TBE BATTLE OF TBE TBIRD COUSINS. 151 
 
 man all that had happened, and finished by relating 
 that, as they had that day stopped by this stream to 
 rest, Alberdin had taken it into his head to inquire 
 into the parentage of his young companion ; and after 
 many questions about his family, it had been made 
 clear to both of them that they were the two third 
 cousins who were to fight for the Autocracy of Mut- 
 jado. 
 
 "He is very angry," said the boy, "at the tricks 
 that have been played upon him, and went off and left 
 me. Is it true that I am to fight him? I don't want 
 to do it, for I like him very much." 
 
 " It will be a long time before you are old enough to 
 fight," said Salim ; "so we need not consider that. 
 You stay here, and I'll go over and talk to him." 
 
 Salim then crossed the stream, and approached Al- 
 berdin. When the young man saw him, and recog- 
 nized him as the person who had arranged the two 
 encampments, he turned upon him with fury. 
 
 " Wretched old man, who came to me as the emis- 
 sary of my antagonist, you are but the tutor of that 
 boy ! If I had known the truth at first, I would have 
 met him instantly ; would have conquered him without 
 hurting a hair on his head ; and carrjing him bound to 
 the capital city, would have claimed the Autocracy, 
 and would now have been sitting upon the throne. In- 
 stead of that, look at the delay and annoyance to which 
 I have been subjected. I have also taken such a 
 fancy to the boy that rather than hurt him or injure 
 his prospects, I would willingly resign my pretensions 
 to the throne, and go back contentedly to my own city. 
 
152 THE BATTLE OF THE THIRD COUSINS. 
 
 Bat this cannot now be done. I have fallen in love 
 with the daughter of the late Autocrat, and she will 
 marry none but the victorious claimant. Behold to 
 what a condition you have brought me ! " 
 
 The old man regarded him with attention. 
 
 "I wish very much," said he, " to defer the settle- 
 ment of this matter for thirteen years. Are you will- 
 ing to wait so long? " 
 
 " No, I am not," said Alberdin. 
 
 "Very well, then," said the old man, "each third 
 cousin must retire to his camp, and as soon as matters 
 can be arranged the battle must take place." 
 
 "There is nothing else to be done," said Alberdin 
 in a troubled voice; " but I shall take care that the 
 boy receives no injury if it can possibly be avoided." 
 
 The three now retraced their steps, and in a few 
 days were settled down, Alberdin in his tent in the 
 plain, and Salim and Phedo in their intrenchments on 
 the other side of the low mountain. The old man now 
 gave himself up to deep thought. He had discovered 
 the germ of Alberdin's trouble ; and in a few days he 
 had arranged his plans, and went over to see the young 
 man. 
 
 " It has been determined," said he, " that a syndi- 
 cate is to be formed to attend to this business for 
 Phedo." 
 
 ' ' A syndicate ! ' ' cried Alberdin. ' ' What is that ? ' ' 
 
 "A S3'ndic," answered Salim, "is a person who 
 attends to business for others ; and a sj'ndicate is a 
 body of men who are able to conduct certain affairs 
 better than any individual can do it. In a week from 
 
THE BATTLE OF THE THIRD COUSINS. 153 
 
 to-day, Phedo's syndicate will meet you in the large 
 plain outside of tlie capital city. There the contest 
 will take place. Shall you be ready? " 
 
 "I don't exactly understand it," said Alberdin, 
 "but I shall be there." 
 
 General notice was given of the coming battle of the 
 contestants for the throne, and thousands of the inhab- 
 itants of the Autocracy assembled ou the plain on the 
 appointed day. The Princess with her ladies was 
 there ; and as everybody was interested, everybody 
 was anxious to see what would happen. 
 
 Alberdin rode into the open space in the centre of 
 the plain, and demanded that his antagonist should 
 appear. Thereupon old Salim came forward, leading 
 Phedo by the hand. 
 
 " This is the opposing heir," he said ; " but as evei7 
 one can see that he is too young to fight a battle, a 
 syndicate has been appointed to attend to the matter 
 for him ; and there is nothing in the will of the late 
 Autocrat which forbids this arrangement. The syndi- 
 cate will now appear." 
 
 At this command there came into the arena a horse- 
 man heavily armed, a tall foot soldier completely 
 equipped for action, an artilleryman with a small can- 
 non on wheels, a sailor with a boarding-pike and a 
 drawn cutlass, and a soldier with a revolving gun which 
 discharged one hundred and twenty balls a minute. 
 
 " All being ready," exclaimed Salim, " the combat 
 for the Autocracy will begin I " 
 
 Alberdin took a good long look at the syndicate 
 ranged before him. Then he dismounted from his 
 
154 TEE BATTLE OF THE THIRD COUSINS. 
 
 horse, drew his sword, and stuck it, point downward, 
 into the sand. 
 
 " I surrender ! " he said. 
 
 " So do I ! " cried the Princess, running toward him, 
 and throwing herself into liis arms. 
 
 The eyes of Alberdin sparkled with joy. 
 
 " Let the Autocracy go ! " he cried. " Now that I 
 have my Princess, the throne and the crown are noth- 
 ing to me." 
 
 " So long as I have you," returned the Princess, " I 
 am content to resign all the comforts and advantages 
 to which I have been accustomed." 
 
 Phedo, who had been earnestly talking with his tu- 
 tor, now looked up. 
 
 " You shall not resign any thing ! " he cried. "We 
 are all of the same blood, and we will join together 
 and form a royal family, and we will all live at the 
 palace. Alberdin and my tutor shall manage the gov- 
 ernment for me until I am grown up ; and if I have to 
 go to school for a few years, I suppose I must. And 
 that is all there is about it ! " 
 
 The syndicate was now ordered to retire and dis- 
 band ; the heralds proclaimed Phedo the conquering 
 heir, and the people cheered and shouted with delight. 
 All the virtues of the late Autocrat had come to him 
 from his mother, and the citizens of Mutjado much 
 preferred to have a new ruler from the mother's 
 family. 
 
 "I hope you bear no grudge against me," said 
 Salim to Alberdin ; " but if you had been willing to 
 wait for thirteen years, you and Phedo might have 
 
THE BATTLE OF THE THIRD COUSISS. 156 
 
 fought on equal terms. As it is now, it would have 
 been as hard for him to conquer you, as for you to con- 
 quer the syndicate. The odds would have been quite 
 as great." 
 
 " Don't mention it," said Alberdin. " I prefer 
 things as they are. I should have hated to drive the 
 boy away, and deprive him of a position which the 
 people wish him to have. Now we are all satisfied." 
 
 Phedo soon began to show signs that he would prob- 
 ably make a very good Autocrat. He declared that if 
 he was to be assisted by ministers and cabinet oflScers 
 when he came to the throne, he would like them to be 
 persons who had been educated for their positions, just 
 as he was to be educated for his own. Consequently 
 he chose for the head of his cabinet a bright and sensi- 
 ble boy, and had him educated as a Minister of State. 
 For Minister of Finance, he chose another boy with a 
 very honest countenance, and for the other members 
 of his cabinet, suitable youths were selected. He also 
 said, that he thought there ought to be another oflScer, 
 one who would be a sort of Minister of General Com- 
 fort, who would keep an eye on the health and happi- 
 ness of the subjects, and would also see that every 
 thing went all right in the palace, not only in regard 
 to meals, but lots of other things. For this office he 
 chose a bright young girl, and had her educated for 
 the position of Queen. 
 
THE BANISHED KING. 
 
 THERE was once a kingdom in which every thing 
 seemed to go wrong. Everybody knew this, and 
 everybody talked about it, especially the King. The 
 bad state of affairs troubled him more than it did any 
 one else, but he could think of no way to make them 
 better. 
 
 " I cannot bear to see things going on so badly," he 
 said to the Queen and his chief councillors. " I wish I 
 knew how other kingdoms were governed." 
 
 One of his councillors offered to go to some other 
 countries, and see how they were governed, and come 
 back and tell him all about it, but this did not suit his 
 majesty. 
 
 " You would simply return," he said, " and give me 
 your ideas about things. I want my own ideas." 
 
 The Queen then suggested that he should take a 
 vacation, and visit other kingdoms, and see for himself 
 how things were managed in them. 
 
 This did not suit the king. ' ' A vacation would not 
 answer," he said. " I should not be gone a week be- 
 fore something would happen here which would make 
 it necessary for me to come back." 
 
 166 
 
THE BANISHED KING. 157 
 
 The Queen then suggested that he be banished for a 
 certain time, say a year. In that case he could not 
 come back, and would be at full liberty to visit foreign 
 kingdoms, and find out how they were governed. 
 
 This plan pleased the King. " If it were made im- 
 possible for me to come back," he said, " of course I 
 could not do it. The scheme is a good one. Let me 
 be banished." And he gave orders that his council 
 should pass a law banishing him for one year. 
 
 Preparations were immediately begun to carry out 
 this plan, and in day or two the King bade farewell to 
 the Queen, and left his kingdom, a banished man. He 
 went away on foot, entirely unattended. But, as he 
 did not wish to cut oflf all communication between him- 
 self and his kingdom, he made an arrangement which 
 he thought a very good one. At easy shouting dis- 
 tance behind him walked one of the officers of the 
 court, and at shouting distance behind him walked 
 another, and so on at distances of about a hundred 
 yards from each other. In this way there would 
 always be a line of men extending from the King 
 to his palace. Whenever the King had walked a 
 hundred yards the line moved on after him, and 
 another officer was put in the gap between the last 
 man and the palace door. Thus, as the King walked 
 on, his line of followers lengthened, and was never 
 broken. Whenever he had any message to send 
 to the Queen, or any other person in the palace, he 
 shouted it to the officer next him, who shouted it to the 
 one next to him, and it was so passed on until it 
 reached the palace. If he needed food, clothes, or any 
 
158 THE BANISHED KINO. 
 
 other necessary thing, the order for it was shouted 
 along the line, and the article was passed to him from 
 man to man, each one carrying it forward to his neigh- 
 bor, and then retiring to his proper place. 
 
 In this way the King walked on day by day until he 
 had passed entirely out of his own kingdom. At night 
 he stopped at some convenient house on the road, and 
 if any of his followers did not find himself near a house 
 or cottage when the King shouted back the order to 
 halt, he laid himself down to sleep wherever he might 
 be. By this time the increasing line of followers had 
 used up all the oflScers of the court, and it became 
 necessary to draw upon some of the under government 
 officers in order to keep the line perfect. 
 
 The King had not gone very far outside the limits of 
 his dominions when he met a Sphinx. He had often 
 heard of these creatures, although he had never seen 
 one before. But when he saw the winged body of a 
 lion with a woman's head, he knew instantly what it 
 was. He knew, also, that the chief business of a 
 Sphinx was that of asking people questions, and then 
 getting them into trouble if the right answers were not 
 given. He therefore determined that he would not be 
 caught by any such tricks as these, and that he would 
 be on his guard if the Sphinx spoke to him. The 
 creature was lying down when the King first saw it, 
 but when he approached nearer it rose to its feet. 
 There was nothing savage about its look, and the King 
 was not at all afraid. 
 
 "Where are you going?" said the Sphinx to him, 
 in a pleasant voice. 
 
THE BANISHED KINO. 159 
 
 " Give it up," replied the King. 
 
 " What do you mean by that ? " said the other, with 
 an air of surprise. 
 
 " I give that up, too," said the King. 
 
 The Sphinx then looked at him quite astonished. 
 
 " I don't mind telling you," said the King, " of my 
 own free will, and not in answer to any questions, that 
 I do not know where I am going. I am a King, as 
 you may have noticed, and I have been banished from 
 my kingdom for a year. I am now going to look into 
 the government of other countries in order that I may 
 find out what it is that is wrong in my own kingdom. 
 Every thing goes badly, and there is something very 
 faulty at the bottom of it all. What this is I want to 
 discover." 
 
 " 1 am much interested in puzzles and matters of 
 that kind," said the Sphinx, " and if you like I will go 
 with you and help to find out what is wrong in your 
 kingdom." 
 
 "All right," said the king. "I shall be glad of 
 your company." 
 
 "What is the meaning of this long line of people 
 following you at regular distances?" asked the 
 Sphinx. 
 
 " Give it up," said the King. 
 
 The Sphinx laughed. 
 
 " I don't mind telling you," said the King, " of my 
 own free will, and not in answer to any question, that 
 these men form a line of communication between me 
 and my kingdom, where matters, I fear, must be gomg 
 on worse than ever, m my absence." 
 
160 THE BANISHED KING. 
 
 The two now travelled on together until they came to 
 a high hill, from which they could see, not very far 
 away, a large city. 
 
 " That city," said the Sphinx, " is the capital of an 
 extensive country. It is governed by a king of min- 
 gled sentiments. Suppose we go there. I think you 
 will find a government that is rather peculiar." 
 
 The King consented, and they walked down the hill 
 toward the city. 
 
 "How did the King get his sentiments mingled?" 
 asked the King. 
 
 "I really don't know how it began," said the 
 Sphinx, "but the King, when a young man, had so 
 many sentiments of different kinds, and he mingled 
 them up so much, that no one could ever tell exactly 
 what he thought on any particular subject. Of course, 
 his people gradually got into the same frame of mind, 
 and you never can know in this kingdom exactly what 
 people think or what they are going to do. You will 
 find all sorts of people here : giants, dwarfs, fairies, 
 gnomes, and personages of that kind, who have been 
 drawn here by the mingled sentiments of the people. 
 I, myself, came into these parts because the people 
 every now and then take a great fancy to puzzles and 
 riddles." 
 
 On entering the city, the King was cordially wel- 
 comed by his brother sovereign, to whom he told his 
 story ; and he was lodged in a room in the palace. 
 Such of his followers as came within the limits of the 
 city were entertained by the persons near to whose 
 houses they found themselves when the line halted- 
 
THE BANISHED KING. 161 
 
 Every day the Sphinx went with him to see the 
 eights of this strange city. They took long walks 
 through the streets, and sometimes into the surround- 
 ing country — always going one way and returning 
 another, the Splv-^x being very careful never to bring 
 the King back by the same road or street by which they 
 went. In this way the King's line of followers, which, 
 of course, lengthened out every time he took a walk, 
 came to be arranged in long loops through many parts 
 of the city and suburbs. 
 
 Many of the things the King saw showed plainly the 
 mingled sentiments of the people. For instance, he 
 would one day visit a great smith's shop, where heavy 
 masses of iron were being forged, the whole place re- 
 sounding with tremendous blows from heavy hammers, 
 and the clank and din of iron on the anvils ; while 
 the next day he would find the place transformed 
 into a studio, where the former blacksmith was paint- 
 ing dainty little pictures on the delicate surface of 
 egg-shells. The king of the country, in his treatment 
 of his visitor, showed his peculiar nature very plainly. 
 Sometimes he would receive him with enthusiastic 
 delight, while at others he would upbraid him with 
 having left his dominions to go wandering around the 
 earth in this senseless way. One day his host invited 
 him to attend a royaJ dinner, but, when he went to the 
 grand dining-hall, pleased with anticipations of a splen- 
 did feast, he found that the sentiments of his majesty 
 had become mingled, and that he had determined, 
 instead of having a dinner, to conduct the funeral ser- 
 vices of one of his servants who had died the day be- 
 
162 THE BANISBED KING. 
 
 fore. All the guests were obliged by politenesB to re- 
 main during the ceremonies, which our King, not hav- 
 ing been acquainted with the deceased servant, had 
 not found at all interesting. 
 
 "Now," said the King to the Sphinx, "I am in 
 favor of moving on. I am tired of this place, where 
 every sentiment is so mingled with others that you can 
 never tell what anybody really thinks or feels. I don't 
 believe any one in this country was ever truly glad 
 or sorry. They mix one sentiment so quickly with 
 another that they never can discover the actual ingre- 
 dients of any of their impulses." 
 
 "When this King first began to mingle his senti- 
 ments," said the Sphinx, "it was because he always 
 desired to think and feel exactly right. He did not 
 wish his feelings to run too much one way or the 
 other." 
 
 "And so he is never either right or wrong," said the 
 King. " I don't like that, at all. I want to be one 
 thing or the other." 
 
 " I have wasted a good deal of time at this place," 
 remarked the King, as they walked on, "and I have 
 seen and heard nothing which I wish to teach my 
 people. But I must find out some way to prevent 
 every thing going wrong in my kingdom. I have tried 
 plan after plan, and sometimes two or three together, 
 and have kept this up year after year, and yet nothing 
 seems to do my kingdom any good." 
 
 " Have you heard how things are going on there 
 now? " asked the Sphinx. 
 
 "Give it up," said the King. "But I don't mind 
 
TEE BANISHED KING. 163 
 
 sajing of my own accord, and not as answer to any 
 question, that I have sent a good many communica- 
 tions to my Queen, but have never received any from 
 hei . So I do not know how things are going on in my 
 kingdom." 
 
 They then travelled on, the long line of followers 
 coming after, keeping their relative positions a hundred 
 yards apart, and passing over all the ground the King 
 had traversed in his circuitous walks about the city. 
 Thus the line crept along like an enormous snake in 
 straight lines, loops, and coils ; and every time the 
 King walked a hundred yards a fresh man from his 
 capital city was obliged to take his place at the tail of 
 the procession. 
 
 " By the way," said the Sphinx, after they had 
 walked an hour or more, "if you want to see a 
 kingdom where there really is something to learn, you 
 ought to go to the country of the Gaumers, which we 
 are now approaching." 
 
 " All right," said the King. " Let us go there." 
 
 In the course of the afternoon they reached the edge 
 of a high bluflf. "On the level ground, beneath this 
 precipice," said the Sphinx, " is the country of the 
 dwarfs called Gaumers. You can sit on the edge of 
 the bluff and look down upon it." 
 
 The King and the Sphinx then sat down, and 
 looked out from the edge over the country of the little 
 people. The oflScer of the court who Jiad formed the 
 head of the line wished very much to see what they 
 were looking at, but, when the line halted, he was not 
 near enough. 
 
164 THE BANISHED KING. 
 
 " You will notice," said the Sphinx, " that the little 
 iiouses and huts are gathered together in clusters. 
 Each one of these clusters is under a separate king. 
 
 " Why don't they all live under one ruler? " asked 
 the King. " That is the proper way." 
 
 "They do not think so," said the Sphinx. " In each 
 of these clusters live the Gaumers who are 'best suited 
 to each other; and, if any Gaumer finds he cannot 
 get along in one cluster, he goes to another. The 
 kings are chosen from among the very best of them, 
 and each one is always very anxious to please his sub- 
 jects. He knows that every thing that he, and his 
 queen, and his children eat, or drink, or wear, or have 
 must be given to him by his subjects, and if it were 
 not for them he could not be their ruler. And so he 
 does every thing that he can to make them happy and 
 contented, for he knows if he does not please them 
 and govern them weU, they will gradually drop off from 
 him and go to other clusters, and he will be left with- 
 out any people or any kingdom." 
 
 "That is a very queer way of ruling," said the 
 King. ' ' I think the people ought to try to please 
 their sovereign." 
 
 " He is only one, and they are a great many," said 
 the Sphinx. "Consequently they are much more 
 important. No subject is ever allowed to look down 
 upon a king, simply because he helps to feed and 
 clothe him, and send his children to school. If any 
 one does a thing of this kind, he is banished until he 
 learns better." 
 
 " All that may be very well for Gaumers," said the 
 
TBE BANISHED KING. 165 
 
 King, " but I can learn nothing from a government 
 like that, where every thing seems to be working in an 
 opposite direction from what everybody knows is right 
 and proper. A king anxious to deserve the good 
 opinion of his subjects! What nonsense! It ought 
 to be just the other way. The ideas of this people are 
 as dwarfish as their bodies." 
 
 The King now arose and took up the line of march, 
 turning away from the country of the Gaumers. But 
 he had not gone more than two or three hundred yards 
 before he received a message from the Queen. It 
 came to him very rapidly, every man in the line seem- 
 ing anxious to shout it to the man ahead of him as 
 quickly as possible. The messsge was to the effect 
 that he must either stop where he was or come home : 
 his constantly lengthenmg line of communication had 
 used up all the chief officers of the government, all the 
 clerks in the departments, and all the officials of every 
 grade, excepting the few who were actually needed to 
 carry on the government, and if any more men went 
 into the line it would be necessary to call upon the 
 laborers and other persons who could not be spared. 
 
 " I think," said the Sphinx, " that you have made 
 your line long enough." 
 
 " And I think," said the King. " that you made it 
 a great deal longer than it need to have been, by taking 
 me about in such winding ways." 
 
 " It may be so," said the Sphinx, with its myatic 
 smile. 
 
 " Well, I am not going to stop here," said the Kii^, 
 " and so I might as well go back as soon aa I can." 
 
166 THE BANISHED KING. 
 
 And he shouted to the head man of the line to pass on 
 the order that his edict of banishment be revoked. 
 
 In a very short time the news came that the edict 
 was revoked. The King then commanded that the 
 procession return home, tail-end foremost. The march 
 was at once begun, each man, as he reached the city, 
 going immediately to his home and family. 
 
 The King and the gi-eater part of the line had a long 
 and weary journey, as they followed each other through 
 the country and over the devious ways in which the 
 Sphinx had led them in the City of Mingled Senti- 
 ments. The King was obliged to pursue all these 
 complicated turnings, or be separated from his officers, 
 and so break up his communication with his palace. 
 The Sphinx accompanied him. 
 
 When at last, he reached his palace, his line of 
 former followers having apparently melted entirely 
 away, he hurried up-stairs to the Queen, leaving the 
 Sphinx in the court-yard. 
 
 The King found, when he had time to look into the 
 affairs of his dominions, that every thing was in the 
 most admirable condition. The Queen had retained a 
 few of the best officials to carry on the government, 
 and had ordered the rest to fall, one by one, into the 
 line of communication. The King set himself to work 
 to think about the matter. It was not long before he 
 came to the conclusion that the main thing which had 
 been wrong in his kingdom was himself. He was so 
 greatly impressed with this idea that he went down to 
 the court-yard to speak to the Sphinx about it. 
 
 " I dare say you are right," said the Sphinx, " and 
 
THE BANISHED KING. 167 
 
 I don't wonder that what you learned when you were 
 away, and what you have seen since you came back, 
 have made you feel certain that you were the cause of 
 every thing going wrong in this kingdom. And now, 
 what do you intend to do about your government? " 
 
 " Give it up," promptly replied the King. 
 
 "That is exactly what I should advise," said the 
 Sphinx. 
 
 The King did give up his kingdom. He was con- 
 vinced that being a King was exactly the thing he was 
 not suited for, and that he would get on much better 
 in some other business or profession. He determined 
 to be a traveller and explorer, and to go abroad into 
 other countries to find out things that might be useful 
 to his own nation. His Queen had shown that she 
 could govern the country most excellently, and it was 
 not at aJl necessary for him to stay at home. She had 
 ordered all the men who had made up his line to follow 
 the King's example and to go into some good business ; 
 in order that not being bothered with so many oflScers, 
 she would be able to get along quite easily. 
 
 The King was very successful in his new pursuit, and 
 although he did not this time have a line of followers 
 connecting him with the palace, he fi-equently sent 
 home messages which were of t»e and value to hie 
 natioc. 
 
 "I may as well retire," said the Sphinx to itself. 
 " As the King has found his vocation and every thing 
 is going all right it is not necessary I should remain 
 where I may be looked upon aa a questionable 
 personage." 
 
THE PHILOPENA. 
 
 THEBE were once a Prince and a Princess who, 
 when quite young, ate a philopena together. They 
 agreed that the one who, at any hour after sunrise 
 the next day, should accept any thing from the other 
 — the giver at the same time saying " Philopena ! " — 
 should be the loser, and that the loser should marry 
 the other. 
 
 They did not meet as soon as they had expected the 
 next day ; and at the time our story begins, many 
 years had elapsed since they had seen each other, and 
 the Prince and the Princess were nearly grown up. 
 They often thought of the philopena they had eaten 
 together, and wondered if they should know each other 
 when they met. He remembered her as a pretty little 
 girl dressed in green silk and playing with a snow- 
 white cat ; while she remembered him as a handsome 
 boy, wearing a little sword, the handle of which was 
 covered with jewels. But they knew that each must 
 have changed a great deal in all this time. 
 
 Neither of these young people had any parents ; the 
 Prince lived with guardians and the Princess witfc 
 uncles. 
 
TME PHILOPENA. 169 
 
 The guardians of the Prince were very enterprising 
 and energetic men, and were allowed to govern the 
 country until the Prince came of age. The capital city 
 was a very fine city when the old king died ; but the 
 guardians thought it might be much finer, so they set 
 to work with all their might and main to improve it. 
 They tore down old houses and made a great many 
 new streets ; they built grand and splendid bridges 
 over the river on which the city stood ; they constructed 
 aqueducts to bring water from streams many miles 
 away ; and they were at work all the time upon some 
 extensive building enterprise. 
 
 The Prince did not take much interest in the works 
 which were going on under direction of his guardians ; 
 and when he rode out, he preferred to go into the coun- 
 try or to ride through some of the quaint old streets, 
 where nothing had been changed for hundreds of 
 years. 
 
 The uncles of the Princess were very different people 
 from the guardians of the Prince. There were three 
 of them, and they were very quiet and cosey old men, 
 who disliked any kind of bustle or disturbance, and 
 wished that every thing might remain as they had 
 always known it. It even worried them a little to find 
 that the Princess was growing up. They would have 
 much preferred that she should remain exactly as she 
 was when they first took chai-ge of her. Then they 
 never would have been obliged to trouble their minds 
 about any changes in the manner of taking care of her. 
 But they did not woiTy their minds very much, after 
 all. They wished to make her guardianship as little 
 
IVO TEE PHILOPENA. 
 
 laborious or exhausting as possible, and •o, divided th« 
 work ; one of them took charge of her education, an- 
 other of her food and lodging, and the third of her 
 dress. The first sent for teachers, and told them to 
 teach her ; the second had handsome apartments pre- 
 pared for her use, and gave orders that she should 
 have every thing she needed to eat and drink ; while 
 the third commanded that she should have a complete 
 outfit of new clothes four times a year. Thus every 
 thing went on very quietly and smoothly ; and the three 
 uncles were not obliged to exhaust themselves by hard 
 work. There were never any new houses built in that 
 city, and if any thing had to be repaired, it was done 
 with as little noise and dirt as possible. The city and 
 the whole kingdon were quiet and serene, and the 
 three uncles dozed away most of the day in three great 
 comfortable thrones. 
 
 Everybody seemed satisfied with this state of things 
 except the Princess. She often thought to herself that 
 nothing would be more delightful than a little noise 
 and motion, and she wondered if the whole world 
 were as quiet as the city in which she lived. At last, 
 she became unable to bear the dreadful stillness of the 
 place any longer ; but she could think of nothing to do 
 but to go and try to find the Prince with whom she had 
 eaten a philopena. If she should win, he must marry 
 her ; and then, perhaps, they could settle down in some 
 place where things would be bright and lively. So, 
 early one morning, she put on her white dress, and 
 mounting her prancing black horse, she rode away from 
 the city. Only one person saw her go, for nearly all 
 the people were asleep. 
 
TBE PBILOPENA. 171 
 
 About this time, the Prince made up his mind that 
 he could no longer stand the din and confusion, the 
 everlasting up-setting and setting-up in his native city. 
 He would go away, and see if he could find the Prin- 
 cess with whom he had eaten a philopena. If he 
 sliould win, she would be obliged to marry him ; and 
 then, perhaps, they could settle down in some place 
 where it was quiet and peaceful. So, on the same 
 morning in which the Princess rode away, he put on a 
 handsome suit of black clothes, and mounting a gentle 
 white horse, he rode out of the city. Only one person 
 saw him go ; for, even at that early hour, the people 
 were so busy that little attention was paid to his move- 
 ments. 
 
 About half way between these two cities, in a tall 
 tower which stood upon a hill, there lived an Inquisi- 
 tive Dwarf, whose whole object in life was to find out 
 what people were doing and why they did it. From 
 the top of this tower he generally managed to see all 
 that was going on in the surrounding country ; and in 
 each of the two cities that have been mentioned he had 
 an agent, whose duty it was to send him word, by 
 means of carrier pigeons, whenever a new thing hap' 
 pened. Before breakfast, on the morning when the 
 Prince and Princess rode away, a pigeon from the city 
 of the Prince came flying to the tower of the Inquisi- 
 tive Dwarf. 
 
 "Some new building started, I suppose," said the 
 Dwarf, as he took the little roll of paper from under 
 the pigeon's wing. "But no; it is very different ! 
 ' The Prince has ridden away from the city alone, and 
 is travelling to the north.' " 
 
172 TBE PSILOPENA. 
 
 But before he could begin to puzzle his brains about 
 the meaning of this departure, another pigeon came 
 flying in from the city of the Princess. 
 
 " Well ! " cried the Dwarf, " this is amazing ! It is 
 a long time since I have had a message from that city, 
 and my agent has been drawing his salary without 
 doing any work. What possibly can have happened 
 there?" 
 
 When he read that the Princess had ridden alone 
 from the city that morning, and was travelling to the 
 south, he was truly amazed. 
 
 " What on earth can it mean ? " he exclaimed. " If 
 the city of the Prince were to the south of that 
 of the Princess, then I might understand it ; for they 
 would be going to see each other, and that would be 
 natural enough. But as his city is to the north of her 
 city, they are travelling in opposite directions. And 
 what is the meaning of this? I most certainly must 
 find out." 
 
 The Inquisitive Dwarf had three servants whom he 
 employed to attend to his most important business. 
 These were a Gryphoness, a Water Sprite, and an 
 Absolute Fool. This last one was very valuable ; for 
 there were some things he would do which no one else 
 would think of attempting. The Dwarf called to him 
 the Gryphoness, the oldest and most discreet of the 
 three, and told her of the departure of the Princess. 
 
 " Hasten southward," he said, " as fast as you can, 
 and follow her, and do not return to me until you have 
 found out why she left her city, where she is going, 
 and what she expects to do when she gets there. 
 
THE PHILOPENA. 178 
 
 Your appearance may frighten her; and, therefore, 
 you must take with you the Absolute Fool, to whom 
 she will probably be willing to talk ; but you must see 
 that every thing is managed properly." 
 
 Having despatched these two, the Inquisitive Dwarf 
 then called the Water Sprite, who was singing to her- 
 self at the edge of a fountain, and telling her of the 
 departure of the Prince, ordered her to follow him, and 
 not to return until she had found out why be left his 
 city, where he was going, and what he intended to do 
 when he got there. 
 
 "The road to the north," he said, "lies along the 
 river bank ; therefore, you can easily keep him com- 
 pany." 
 
 The Water Sprite bowed, and dancing over the dewy 
 grass to the river, threw herself into it. Sometimes 
 she swam beneath the clear water ; sometimes she rose 
 partly in the air, where she seemed like a little cloud 
 of sparkling mist borne onward by the wind; and 
 sometimes she floated upon the surface, her pale blue 
 robes undulating with the gentle waves, while her white 
 hands and feet shone in the sun like tiny crests of 
 foam. Thus, singing to herself, she went joyously 
 and rapidly on, aided by a full, strong wind from the 
 south. She did not forget to glance every now and 
 then upon the road which ran along the river bank ; 
 and, in the course of the morning, she perceived the 
 Prince. He was sitting in the shade of a tree near the 
 water's edge, while his white horse was grazing neai 
 
 by. 
 
 The Water Sprite came very gently out of the river, 
 
174 THE PBILOPENA. 
 
 and seating herself upon the edge of the grassy bank, 
 she spoke to him. The Prince looked up in astonish 
 ment, but there was nothing in her appearance to 
 frighten him. 
 
 "I came," said the Water Sprite, at the command 
 of my master, to ask you why you left your city, where 
 you are going, and what you intend to do when you 
 get there." 
 
 The Prmce then told her why he had left his city, 
 and what he intended to do when he had found the 
 Princess. 
 
 " But where I am going," he said, " I do not know, 
 myself. I must travel and travel until I succeed in 
 the object of my search." 
 
 The Water Sprite reflected for a moment, and then 
 she said : 
 
 "If I were you, I would not travel to the north. 
 It is cold and dreary there, and your Princess would 
 not dwell in such a region. A little above us, on the 
 other side of this river, there is a stream which runs 
 sometimes to the east and sometimes to the south, and 
 which leads to the Land of the Lovely Lakes. This is 
 the most beautiful country in the world, and you will 
 be much more likely to find your Princess there than 
 among the desolate mountains of the north." 
 
 " I dare say you are right," said the Prince ; "and I 
 will go there, if you will show me the way." 
 
 " The road runs along the bank of the river," said 
 the Water Sprite ; " and we shall soon reach the Land 
 of the Lovely Lakes." 
 
 The Prince then mounted his horse, forded the 
 
THE PBILOPENA. 175 
 
 river, and \ras aoon riding along the bank of the 
 stream, while the Water Sprite gayly floated upon its 
 dancing ripples. 
 
 When the Gryphoness started southward, in pursuit 
 of the Princess, she kept out of sight among the bushes 
 by the roadside ; but sped swiftly along. The Absolute 
 Fool, however, mounted upon a fine horse, rode boldly 
 along upon the open road. He was a good-looking 
 youth, with rosy cheeks, bright eyes, and a handsome 
 figure. As he cantered gayly along, he felt himself 
 capable of every noble action which the human mind 
 has ever conceived. The Gryphoness kept near him, 
 and in the course of the morning they overtook the 
 Princess, who was allowing her horse to walk in the 
 shade by the roadside. The Absolute Fool dashed up 
 to her, and, taking off his hat, asked her why she had 
 left her city, where she was going, and what she in- 
 tended to do when she got there. 
 
 The Princess looked at him in surprise. " I left my 
 city because I wanted to," she said. " I am going 
 about my business, and when I get to the proper place, 
 I shall attend to it." 
 
 " Oh," said the Absolute Fool, " you refuse me your 
 confidence, do you? But allow me to remark that I 
 have a Gryphoness with me who is very frightful to 
 look at, and whom it was my intention to keep in the 
 bushes ; but if you will not give fair answers to my 
 questions, she must come out and talk to you, and that 
 is all there is about it." 
 
 " If there is a Gryphoness in the bushes," said the 
 
176 THE PHILOPBNA. 
 
 Princess, "let her come out. No matter how frightful 
 she is, I would rather she should come where I can see 
 her, than to have her hiding near me." 
 
 The Gryphoness, who had heard these words, now 
 came out into the road. The horse of the Princess 
 reared in affright, but his young rider patted him on 
 the neck, and quieted his fears. 
 
 " What do you and this young man want? " said the 
 Princess to the Gryphoness, "and why do you question 
 me?" 
 
 " It is not of our own will that we do it," said the 
 Gryphoness, very respectfully; "but our master, the 
 Inquisitive Dwarf, has sent us to obtain information 
 about the points on which the young man questioned 
 yon ; and until we have found out these things, it is 
 impossible for us to return." 
 
 "I am opposed to answering impertinent ques- 
 tions," replied the Princess ; " but in order to rid my- 
 self of you, I will tell you the reason of my journey." 
 And she then stated briefly the facts of the case. 
 
 "Ah, me!" said the Gryphoness. " I am very 
 Sony; but you cannot tell us where you are going, 
 and we cannot return until we know that. But you 
 need not desire to be rid of us, for it may be that we 
 can assist you in the object of your journey. This 
 young man is sometimes very useful, and I shall be 
 glad to do any thing that I can to help yon. If you 
 should think that I would injure you, or willingly 
 annoy you by my presence, it would grieve me to the 
 heart." And as she spoke, a tear bedimmed her eye. 
 
 The Princess was touched by the emotion of the 
 Gryphoness. 
 
THE PHILOPENA. 177 
 
 " You may accompany me," she said, " and I will 
 Jrust you both. You must know this country better 
 than I do. Have you any advice to give me in regard 
 to my journey?" 
 
 "One thing I would strongly advise," said the 
 Gryphoness, " and that is, that you do not travel anj 
 farther until we know in what direction it will be best 
 to go. There is an inn close by, kept by a worthy 
 woman. If you will stop there until to-morrow, this 
 young man and I will scour the country round about, 
 and try to find some news of your Prince. The young 
 man will return and report to you to-morrow morning. 
 And if you should need help, or escort, he will aid and 
 obey you as your servant. As for me, unless we have 
 found the Prince, I shall continue searching for him. 
 There is a prince in the city to the north of my master's 
 tower, and it is not unlikely that it is he whom you 
 seek." 
 
 " You can find out if it is he," answered the 
 Princess, " by asking about the philopena." 
 
 "That will I do," said the Gryphoness, " and I will 
 return hither as speedily as possible." And, with a 
 respectful salutation, the Gryphoness and the Absolute 
 Fool departed by diflferent ways. 
 
 The Princess then repaired to the inn, where she 
 took lodgings. 
 
 The next morning, the Absolute Fool came back to 
 the inn, and seeing the Princess, said : " I rode until 
 after night-fall, searching for the Prince, before it 
 occurred to me that, even if I should find him, I woulc^ 
 not know him in the dark. As soon as I thought of 
 
178 THE PHrLOPENA. 
 
 that, I rode straight to the nearest house, and slept 
 until daybreak, when I remembered that I was to report 
 to you this morning. But as I have heard no news 
 of the Prince, and as this is a beautiful, clear day, I 
 think it would be extremely foolish to remain idly 
 here, where there is nothing of interest going on, and 
 when a single hour's delay may cause you to miss the 
 object of your search. The Prince may be in one 
 place this morning, and there is no knowing where he 
 will be in the afternoon. While the Gryphoness is 
 searching, we should search also. "We can return 
 before sunset, and we will leave word here as to the 
 direction we have taken, so that when she returns, she 
 can quickly overtake us. It is my opinion that not a 
 moment should be lost. I will be your guide. I know 
 this country well." 
 
 The Princess thought this sounded like good reason- 
 ing, and consented to set out. There were some 
 beautiful mountains to the south-east; and among 
 these, the Absolute Fool declared, a prince of good 
 taste would be very apt to dwell. They, therefore, 
 took this direction. But when they had travelled an 
 hour or more, the mountains began to look bare and 
 bleak, and the Absolute Fool declared that he did not 
 believe any prince would live there. He therefore 
 advised that they turn into a road that led to the 
 north-east. It was a good road ; and therefore he 
 thought it led to a good place, where a person of good 
 sense would be likely to reside. Along this road they 
 therefore travelled. They had ridden but a few miles 
 when they met three men, well armed and mounted. 
 
TBE PBILOPENA. 179 
 
 These men drew up their horses, and reapectfuUy 
 saluted the Princess. 
 
 " High-born Lady," they said, " for by your aspect 
 we know you to be such, we would inform you that we 
 are the soldiers of the King, the outskirts of whose 
 dominions you have reached. It is our duty to ques- 
 tion all travellers, and, if their object in coming to 
 our country is a good one, to give them whatever 
 assistance and information they may require. Will 
 you tell us why you are come? " 
 
 "Impertinent vassals!" cried the Absolute Fool, 
 riding up in a great passion. " How dare you inter- 
 fere with a princess who has left her city because it 
 was so dull and stupid, and is endeavoring to find a 
 prince, with whom she has eaten a philopena, in order 
 that she may marry him. Out of my way, or I will 
 draw my sword and cleave you to the earth, and thus 
 punish your unwarrantable curiosity ! " 
 
 The soldiers could not repress a smile. 
 
 "In order to prevent mischief," they said to the 
 Absolute Fool, " we shall be obliged to take you into 
 custody." 
 
 This they immediately did, and then requested the 
 Princess to accompany them to the palace of their 
 King, where she would receive hospitality and aid. 
 
 The King welcomed the Princess with great cor- 
 diality. He had no son, and he much wished he had 
 one ; for in that case it might be liis Prince for whom 
 the young lady was looking. But there was a prince, 
 he said, who lived in a city to the north, who was 
 probably the very man ; and he would send and make 
 
180 TB£ PHILOPENA. 
 
 inquiries. In the mean time, the Princess would be 
 entertained by himself and his Queen ; and, if her 
 servant would make a suitable apology, his violent 
 language would be pardoned. But the Absolute Fool 
 positively refused to do this. 
 
 " I never apologize," he cried. " No man of spirit 
 would do such a thing. What I say, I stand by." 
 
 " Very well," said the King ; " then you shall fight 
 a wild beast." And he gave orders that the affair 
 should be aiTanged for the following day. 
 
 In a short time, however, some of his officers came 
 to him and told him that there were no wild beasts ; 
 those on hand having been kept so long that they had 
 become tame. 
 
 "To be sure, there's the old lion, Sardon," they 
 said ; ' ' but he is so dreadfully cross and has had so 
 much experience in these fights, that for a long time it 
 has not been considered fair to allow any one to enter 
 the ring with him." 
 
 " It is a pity," said the King, " to make the young 
 man fight a tame beast ; but, under the circumstances, 
 the best thing to do will be to represent the case to 
 him, just as it is. Tell him we are sorry we have not 
 an ordinary wild beast ; but that he can take his choice 
 between a tame one and the lion Sardon, whose dispo- 
 sition and experience you will explain to him." 
 
 When the matter was stated to the Absolute Fool, 
 he refused with great scorn to fight a tame beast. 
 
 " I will not be degraded in the eyes of the public," 
 he said ; " I will take the old lion." 
 
 The ne^t day, the court and the public assembled to 
 
THE PHILOPENA. 181 
 
 see the fight ; but the Queen and our Princess took a 
 ride into the country, not wishing to witness a combat 
 of this kind, especially one which was so unequal. 
 The King ordered that every advantage should be 
 given to the young man, in order that he might have 
 every possible chance of success in fighting an animal 
 which had been a victor on so many similar occasions. 
 A large iron cage, furnished with a turnstile, into 
 which the Absolute Fool could retire for rest and re- 
 freshment, but where the lion could not follow him, 
 was placed in the middle of the arena, and the youth 
 was supplied with all the weapons he desired. When 
 every thing was ready, the Absolute Fool took his 
 stand in the centre of the arena, and the door of the 
 lion's den was opened. The great beast came out, he 
 looked about for an instant, and then, with majestic 
 step, advanced toward the young man. When he was 
 within a few paces of him, he crouched for a spring. 
 
 The Absolute Fool had never seen so magnificent a 
 creature, and he could not restrain his admiration. 
 With folded arms and sparkling eyes, he gazed with 
 delight upon the lion's massive head, his long and 
 flowing mane, his magnificent muscles, and his power- 
 ful feet and legs. There was an air of grandeur and 
 strength about him which completely enraptured the 
 youth. Approaching the lion, he knelt before him, 
 and gazed with wondering ecstasy into his great, glow- 
 ing eyes. "What glorious orbs! " he inwardly ex- 
 claimed. "What unfathomable expression! What 
 possibilities ! What reminiscences ! And everywhere, 
 what majesty of curve ! " 
 
182 THE PBILOPENA. 
 
 The lion was a good deal astonished at the conduct 
 of the young man ; and he soon began to suppose that 
 this was not the person he was to fight, but probably a 
 keeper, who was examining into his condition. After 
 submitting to this scrutiny a few minutes, he gave a 
 mighty yawn, which startled the spectators, but which 
 delighted the Absolute Fool ; for never before had he 
 beheld such a depth of potentiality. He knelt in silent 
 delight at this exhibition of the beauty of strength. 
 
 Old Sardon soon became tired of all this, however, 
 and he turned and walked back to his den. " When 
 their man is ready," he thought to himself, "I will 
 come out and fight him." 
 
 One tremendous shout now arose from the multitude. 
 " The youth has conquered! " they cried. " He has 
 actually frightened the lion back into his den ! ' ' 
 Rushing into the arena, they raised the Absolute Fool 
 upon their shoulders and carried him in triumph to the 
 open square in front of the palace, that he might be 
 rewarded for his bravery. Here the King, followed 
 by his court, quickly appeared ; for he was as much 
 delighted as any one at the victory of the young 
 man. 
 
 " Noble youth," he exclaimed, " you are the 
 bravest of the brave. You are the only man I know 
 who is worthy of our royal daughter, and you shall 
 marry her forthwith. Long since, I vowed that only 
 with the bravest should she wed." 
 
 At this moment, the Queen and the Princess, return- 
 ing from their ride, heard with joy the result of the 
 combat; and riding up to the victor, the Queen de- 
 
TBE PHILOPENA. 188 
 
 dared that she would gladly join with her royal hus- 
 band in giving their daughter to so brave a man. 
 
 The Absolute Fool stood for a moment in silent 
 thought ; then, addressing the King, he said : 
 
 " Was Your Majesty's father a king? " 
 
 " He was," was the answer. 
 
 " Was his father of royal blood? " 
 
 " No ; he was not," replied the King. "My grand- 
 father was a man of the people ; but his pre-eminent 
 virtue, his great ability as a statesman, and the dignity 
 and nobility of his character made him the unanimous 
 choice of the nation as its sovereign." 
 
 " I am sorry to hear that," said the Absolute Fool ; 
 " for it makes it necessary for me to decline the kind 
 offer of your daughter in marriage. K I marry a 
 princess at all, she must be one who can trace back her 
 lineage through a long line of royal ancestors." And 
 as he spoke, his breast swelled with manly pride. 
 
 For a moment, the King was dumb with rage. Then 
 loudly he shouted: "Ho, guards! Annihilate him! 
 Avenge this insult ! " 
 
 At these words, the sword of every by-stander 
 leaped from its scabbard ; but, before any one could 
 take a step forward, the Princess seized the Absolute 
 Fool by his long and flowing locks, and put spurs to 
 her horse. The young man yelled with pain, and 
 shouted to her to let go ; but she held firmly to his 
 hair, and as he was extraordinarily active and fleet of 
 foot, he kept pace with the galloping horse. A great 
 crowd of people started in pursuit, but as none of them 
 were mounted, they were soon left behind. 
 
184 THE PHILOPENA. 
 
 " Let go my hair ! Let go my hair ! " shouted the 
 Absolute Fool, as he bounded along. " You don't 
 know how it hurts. Let go ! Let go ! " 
 
 But the Princess never relinquished her hold until 
 they were out of the King's domain. 
 
 " A little more," cried the indignant youth, when 
 she let him go, "and you would have pulled out a 
 handful of my hair." 
 
 " A little less," said the Princess, contemptuously, 
 "and you would have been cut to pieces; for you 
 have not sense enough to take care of yourself. I am 
 sorry I listened to you, and left the inn to which the 
 Gryphoness took me. It would have been far better to 
 wait there for her as she told me to do." 
 
 "Yes," said the Absolute Fool; "it would have 
 been much better." 
 
 " Now," said the Princess, " we will go back there, 
 and see if she has returned." 
 
 " If we can find it," said the other, " which I very 
 much doubt." 
 
 There were several roads at this point and, of 
 course, they took the wrong one. As they went on, 
 the Absolute Fool complained bitterly that he had left 
 his horse behind him, and was obliged to walk. Some- 
 times he stopped, and said he would go back after it ; 
 but this the Princess sternly forbade. 
 
 When the Gryphoness reached the city of the Prince, 
 it was night ; but she was not sorry for this. She did 
 not like to show herself much in the daytime, because 
 so many people were frightened by her. After a good 
 
THE PHILOPENA. 181 
 
 deal of trouble, ahe discovered that the Prince had 
 certainly left the city, although his guardians did nrt 
 seem to be aware of it. They were so busy with a 
 new palace, in part of which they were living, that 
 they could not be expected to keep a constant eye upon 
 him. In the morning, she met an old man who knew 
 her, and was not afraid of her, and who told her that 
 the day before, when he was up the river, he had seen 
 the Prince on his white horse, riding on the bank of 
 the stream ; and that near him, in the water, was some- 
 thing which now looked like a woman, and again like 
 a puff of mist. The Gryphoness reflected. 
 
 " If this Prince has gone off in that way," she said 
 to herself, " I believe that he is the very one whom 
 the Princess is looking for, and that he has set out in 
 search of her ; and that creature in the water must be 
 our Water Sprite, whom our master has probably sent 
 out to discover where the Prince is going. If he had 
 told me about this, it would have saved much trouble. 
 From the direction in which they were going, I feel 
 sure that the "Water Sprite was taking the Prince to 
 the Land of the Lovely Lakes. She never fails to go 
 there, if she can possibly get an excuse. I will follow 
 them. I suppose the Princess will be tired, waiting at 
 the inn ; but I must know where the Prince is, and if 
 he is really her Prince, before I go back to her." 
 
 When the Gryphoness reached the Land of the 
 Lovely Lakes, she wandered all that day and the next 
 night ; but she saw nothing of those for whom she was 
 looking. 
 
18K THE PHILOPENA. 
 
 The Princess and the Absolute Fool journeyed on 
 until near the close of the afternoon, when the sky 
 began to be overcast, and it looked like rain. Thej' 
 were then not far from a large piece of water ; and a. 
 a little distance, they saw a ship moored near the 
 shore. 
 
 " I shall seek shelter on board that ship," said the 
 Princess. 
 
 " It is going to storm," remarked the Absolute 
 Fool. " I should prefer to be on dry land." 
 
 " As the land is not likely to be very dry when it 
 rains," said the Princess, " I prefer a shelter, even if 
 it is upon wet water." 
 
 " Women wUl always have their own way," mut- 
 tered the Absolute Fool. 
 
 The ship belonged to a crew of Amazon sailors, who 
 gave the Princess a hearty welcome. 
 
 " You may go on board if you choose," said the 
 Absolute Fool to the Princess, " but I shall not risk 
 my life in a ship manned by women." 
 
 " It is well that j'ou are of that opinion," said 
 the Captain of the Amazons, who had heard this re- 
 mark ; " for you would not be allowed to come on board 
 if you wished to. But we will give you a tent to pro- 
 tect you and the horse in case it should rain, and wDl 
 send you something to eat." 
 
 "While the Princess was taking tea with the Amazon 
 Captain, she told her about the Prince, and how she 
 was trying to find him. 
 
 "Good! " cried the Captain. " I will join in the 
 search, and take you in my ship. Some of my crew told 
 
rjsr* PBILOPENA. 187 
 
 me that yesterday they saw a young man, who looked 
 like a prince, riding along the shore of a lake which 
 adjoins the one we are on. In the morning we will 
 sail after him. We shall keep near the shore, and 
 your servant can mount your horse and ride along the 
 edge of the lake. From what I know of the speed of 
 this vessel, I think he can easily keep up with us." 
 
 Early in the morning, the Amazon Captain called her 
 crew together. " Hurrah, my brave girls ! " she said. 
 " We have an object. I never sail without an object, 
 and it lights me to get one. The purpose of our 
 presnt cruise is to find the Prince of whom this Prin- 
 cess is in search ; and we must spare no pains to bring 
 him to her, dead or alive." 
 
 Luckily for her peace of mind, the Princess did not 
 hear this speech. The day was a fine one, and before 
 long the sun became very hot. The ship was sailing 
 quite near the land, when the Absolute Fool rode down 
 to the water's edge, and called out that he had some- 
 thing very important to communicate to the Princess. 
 As he was not allowed to come on board, she was 
 obliged to go on shore, to which she was rowed in a 
 small boat. 
 
 "I have been thinking," said the Absolute Fool, 
 "that it is perfectly ridiculous, and very uncomfort- 
 able, to continue this search any longer. I would gq 
 back, but my master would not suffer me to return 
 without knowing where you are going. I have, there- 
 fore, a plan to propose. Give up your useless search 
 for this Prince, who is probably not nearly so handsom? 
 and intellectual as I am, and marry me. We will the? 
 
188 THE PEILOPENA. 
 
 return, and I will assume the reins of government in 
 your domain." 
 
 "Follow the vessel," said the Princess, "as you 
 have been doing ; for I wish some one to take care of 
 my horse." And without another word, she returned 
 to the ship. 
 
 " I should like to sail as far as possible from shore 
 during the rest of the trip," said she to the Captain. 
 
 "Put the helm bias!" shouted the Amazon Cap- 
 tain to the steers- woman ; ' ' and keep him well out 
 from land." 
 
 When they had sailed through a small stream into 
 the lake adjoining, the out-look, who was swinging in 
 a hammock hung between the tops of the two masts, 
 sang out, " Prince ahead ! '* Instantly all was activity 
 on board the vessel. Story books were tucked under 
 coils of rope, hem-stitching and embroidery were laid 
 aside, and every woman was at her post. 
 
 "The Princess is taking a nap," said the Captain, 
 " and we wUl not awaken her. It will be so nice to 
 surprise her by bringing the Prince to her. We will 
 run our vessel ashore, and then steal quietly upon him. 
 But do not let him get away. Cut him down, if he 
 resists ! ' ' 
 
 The Prince, who was plainly visible only a short dis- 
 tance ahead, was so pleasantly employed that he had 
 not noticed the approach of the ship. He was sitting 
 upon a low, moss-covered rock, close to the water's 
 edge ; and with a small hand-net, which he had found 
 on the shore, he was scooping the most beautiful fishes 
 from the lake, holding them up in the sunlight to ad- 
 
THE PHILOPENA. 189 
 
 mire their brilliant colors and graceful forms, and then 
 returning them uninjured to the water. The Water 
 Sprite was swimming near him, and calling to the fish 
 to come up and be caught; for the gentle Prince 
 would not hurt them. It was very delightful and rare 
 sport, and it is not surprising that it entirely engrossed 
 the attention of the Prince. The Amazons silently 
 landed, and softly stole along the shore, a little back 
 from the water. Then, at their Captain's command, 
 they rushed upon the Prince. 
 
 It was just about this time that the Gryphoness, who 
 had been searching for the Prince, caught her first 
 sight of him. Perceiving that he was about to be 
 attacked, she rushed to his aid. The Amazon sailors 
 reached him before she did, and seizing upon him they 
 began to pull him away. The Prince resisted stoutly ; 
 but seeing that his assailants were women, he would 
 not draw his sword. The Amazon Captain and mate, 
 who were armed with broad knives, now raised their 
 weapons, and called upon the Prince to surrender or 
 die. But at this moment, the Gryphoness reached the 
 spot, and catching the Captain and mate, each by an 
 arm, she dragged them back from the Prince. The 
 other Amazons, however, continued the combat ; and 
 the Prince defended himself by pushing them into the 
 shallow water, where the Water Sprite nearly stifled 
 them by throwing over them showers of spray. And 
 now came riding up the Absolute Fool. Seeing a 
 youth engaged in combat with the Amazon sailors, his 
 blood boiled with indignation. 
 
 " A man fighting women ! " he exclaimed. " What 
 
190 TBE PBILOPENA. 
 
 a coward ! My arm shall ever assist the weaker 
 sex." 
 
 Jumping from the horse, he drew his sword, and 
 rushed upon the Prince. The Gryphoness saw the 
 danger of the latter, and she would have gone to his 
 assistance, but she was afraid to loosen her hold of 
 the Amazon Captain and mate. 
 
 Spreading her wings she flew to the top of a tree 
 where she deposited the two warlike women upon a 
 lofty branch, from which she knew it would take them 
 a long time to get down to the ground. When she 
 descended she found that the Absolute Fool had 
 reached the Prince. The latter, being a brave fellow, 
 although of so gentle a disposition, had been glad to 
 flnd a man among his assailants, and had drawn his 
 sword to defend himself. The two had just begun to 
 fight when the Gryphoness seized the Absolute Fool by 
 the waist and hurled him backward into some bushes. 
 
 " You must not fight him ! " she cried to the Prince. 
 " He is beneath your rank ! And as you will not draw 
 your sword against these Amazons you must fly from 
 them. If 3'ou run fast they cannot overtake you." 
 
 The Prince followed her advice, and sheathing his 
 sword he rapidly ran along the bank, followed by some 
 of the Amazons who had succeeded in getting the 
 water out of their eyes and mouths. 
 
 " Run from women !" contemptuously remarked the 
 Absolute Fool. " If you had not interfered with me," 
 he said to the Gryphoness, " I should soon have put 
 an end to such a coward." 
 
 The Prince had nearly reached the plao« opposite to 
 
THE PHILOPENA. 191 
 
 which the ship was moored, when the Princess, who 
 had been awakened by the noise of the combat, ap- 
 peared upon the deck of the vessel. The moment she 
 saw the Prince, she felt convinced that he was certainly 
 the one for whom she was looking. Fearing that the 
 pursuing Amazons might kill him, she sprang from the 
 vessel to his assistance ; but her foot caught in a rope, 
 and instead of reaching the shore, she fell into the 
 water, which was here quite deep, and immediately 
 sank out of sight. The Prince, who had noticed her 
 just as she sprang, and who felt equally convinced that 
 she was the one for whom he was searching, stopped 
 his flight and rushed to the edge of the bank. Just as 
 the Princess rose to the surface, he reached out his 
 band to her, and she took it. 
 
 " Philopena ! " cried the Prince. 
 
 " You have won," said the Princess, gayly shaking 
 the water from her curls, as he drew her ashore. 
 
 At the request of the Princess, the pursuing Ama- 
 zons forbore to assail the Prince, and when the Cap- 
 tain and the Mate had descended from the tree, every 
 thing was explained. 
 
 Within an hour, the Prince and Princess, after tak- 
 ing kind leave of the Gryphoness, and Water Sprite, 
 and of the Amazon sailors, who cheered them loudly, 
 rode away to the city of the Piincess ; while the three 
 servants of the Inquisitive Dwarf returned to their 
 master to report what had happened. 
 
 The Absolute Fool was in a very bad humor ; for he 
 was obliged to go back on foot, having left his horse in 
 the kingdom where he had so narrowly escaped being 
 
192 THE PHILOPBNA. 
 
 killed ; and, besides this, he had had his hair pulled ; 
 and had not been treated with proper respect by either 
 the Princess or the Gryphoness. He felt himself 
 deeply injured. When he reached home, he deter- 
 mined that he would not remain in a position where his 
 great abilities were so little appreciated. " I will do 
 something," he said, " which shall prove to the world 
 that I deserve to stand among the truly great. I will 
 reform my fellow beings, and I will begin by reforming 
 the Inquisitive Dwarf." Thereupon he went to his 
 master, and said : 
 
 "Sir, it is foolish and absurd for you to be med- 
 dling thus with the affairs of your neighbors. Give up 
 your inquisitive habits, and learn some useful business. 
 "While you are doing this, I will consent to manage 
 your affairs." 
 
 The Inquisitive Dwarf turned to him, and said : "I 
 have a great desire to know the ezact appearance of 
 the North Pole. Go and discover it for me." 
 
 The Absolute Fool departed on this mission, and 
 has not yet returned. 
 
 When the Princess, with her Prince, reached her 
 city, her uncles were very much amazed ; for they had 
 not known she had gone away. " If you are going to 
 get married," they said, "we are very glad ; for theu 
 you will not need our care, and we shall be free from 
 the great responsibility which is bearing us down. ' ' 
 
 In a short time the wedding took place, and then 
 the question arose in which city should the young 
 couple dwell. The Princess decided it. 
 
 "In the winter," she said to the Prince, " We will 
 
THE PHILOPENA. 193 
 
 live in your city, where all is life and activity ; and 
 where the houses are »o well built with all the latest im- 
 provements. In the summer, we will come to my city, 
 where every thing is old, and shady, and serene." 
 This they did, and were very happy. 
 
 The Gryphoness would have been glad to go and 
 five with the Princess, for she had taken a great fancy 
 to her ; but she did not think it worth her while to ask 
 permission to do this. 
 
 "My impulses, I know, are good," she said; "but 
 my appearance is against me." 
 
 As for the Water Sprite, she was in a truly disconso- 
 late mood, because she had left so soon the Land of 
 the Lovely Lakes, where she had been so happy. The 
 more she thought about it, the more she grieved; 
 and one morning, unable to bear her sorrow longer, 
 she sprang into the great jet of the fountain. High 
 into the bright air the fountain threw her, scattering 
 her into a thousand drops of glittering water ; but not 
 one drop fell back into the basin. The great, warm 
 sun drew them up ; and, in a little white cloud, thej 
 floated away across the bright blue akj.