{"collection":"folklore-oral-tradition","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_50658/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_50658","id":"gutenberg_50658","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/50658","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Adventure","Category: Novels","Category: Science-Fiction & Fantasy","Children -- Conduct of life -- Juvenile fiction","Conduct of life -- Juvenile fiction","Courtship -- Juvenile fiction","Fairy tales","Fantasy fiction","Kings and rulers -- Juvenile fiction","Magic -- Juvenile fiction","Princes -- Juvenile fiction","Princesses -- Juvenile fiction","Selfishness -- Juvenile fiction"],"text":"[Illustration]\n\nTHE CHILDREN\u2019S LIBRARY\n\nTHE FEATHER\n\n\n\n\n_THE CHILDREN\u2019S LIBRARY._\n\n\n    THE BROWN OWL.\n    A CHINA CUP, AND OTHER STORIES.\n    STORIES FROM FAIRYLAND.\n    TALES FROM THE MABINOGION.\n    THE STORY OF A PUPPET.\n    THE LITTLE PRINCESS.\n    IRISH FAIRY TALES.\n    AN ENCHANTED GARDEN.\n    LA BELLE NIVERNAISE.\n    THE FEATHER.\n\n    (_Others in the Press._)\n\n[Illustration: \u201cBUT THE EAGLE HAD THE BEST OF IT AFTER ALL.\u201d]\n\n\n\n\nTHE FEATHER\n\n    BY\n    FORD H. MADOX HUEFFER\n    AUTHOR OF \u2018THE BROWN OWL\u2019\n\n\n    _WITH FRONTISPIECE BY\n    F. MADOX BROWN_\n\n\n    LONDON\n    T. FISHER UNWIN\n    1892\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n_TO JULIET_\n\n\n              \u2018_True, I talk of dreams,\n    Which are the children of an idle brain,\n    Begot of nothing but vain fantasy,\n    Which is as thin of substance as the air._\u2019\n\n\n\n\nTHE FEATHER\n\n\nONCE upon a time there was a King who reigned over a country as yet,\nfor a reason you may learn later on, undiscovered\u2014a most lovely\ncountry, full of green dales and groves of oak, a land of dappled\nmeadows and sweet rivers, a green cup in a circlet of mountains, in\nwhose shadow the grass was greenest; and the only road to enter the\ncountry lay up steep, boiling waterfalls, and thereafter through rugged\npasses, the channels that the rivers had cut for themselves. Therefore,\nas you may imagine, the dwellers in the land were little troubled by\ninroads of hostile nations; and they lived peaceful lives, managing\ntheir own affairs, and troubling little about the rest of the world.\n\nNow this King, like many kings before and after him, had a daughter\nwho, while very young, had, I am sorry to say, been very self-willed;\nand the King, on the death of his wife, finding himself utterly unable\nto manage the Princess, handed her over to the care of an aged nurse,\nwho, however, was not much more successful\u2014but that is neither here nor\nthere.\n\nFor years everything went on smoothly, and it seemed as if everything\nintended to go on smoothly until doomsday, in which case this history\nwould probably never have been written. But one evening in summer\nthe Princess and her nurse, who had by this time become less able\nthan ever to manage her charge, sat on a terrace facing the west. The\nPrincess had been amusing herself by pelting the swans swimming in the\nriver with rose-leaves, which the indignant swans snapped up as they\nfluttered down on the air or floated by on the river.\n\nBut after a time she began to tire of this pastime, and sitting down,\nlooked at the sun that was just setting, a blinding glare of orange\nflame behind the black hills. Suddenly she turned to the nurse and said:\n\n\u2018What\u2019s on the other side of the hills?\u2019\n\n\u2018Lawk-a-mussy-me, miss!\u2019 answered the nurse, \u2018I\u2019m sure I don\u2019t know.\nWhat a question to ask!\u2019\n\n\u2018Then why don\u2019t you ask some one who has been there?\u2019\n\n\u2018Because no one ever has, miss.\u2019\n\n\u2018But why not?\u2019\n\n\u2018Because there\u2019s a fiery serpent that eats every one who comes near\nthe hills; and if you\u2019re not eaten up, you\u2019re bound to tumble down a\nprecipice that\u2019s nearly three miles deep, before you can get over the\nhills.\u2019\n\n\u2018Oh, what fun! Let\u2019s go,\u2019 said the Princess, by no means awed. But the\nnurse shook her head.\n\n\u2018No, miss, I won\u2019t go; and I\u2019m sure your pa won\u2019t let you go.\u2019\n\n\u2018Oh yes, he will; let\u2019s go and ask him.\u2019\n\nBut at that moment a black shadow came across the sun, and the swans,\nwith a terrified \u2018honk, honk,\u2019 darted across the water to hide\nthemselves in the reeds on the other side of the river, churning dark\ntracks in the purple of the sunlit water\u2019s glassy calmness.\n\n\u2018Oh dear! oh dear! it\u2019s a boggles, and it\u2019s coming this way,\u2019 cried the\nnurse.\n\n\u2018But what is a boggles, nurse?\u2019\n\n\u2018Oh dear, it\u2019s coming! Come into the house and I\u2019ll tell you\u2014come.\u2019\n\n\u2018Not until you tell me what a boggles is.\u2019\n\nThe nurse perforce gave in.\n\n\u2018A boggles is a thing with a hooked beak and a squeaky voice, with hair\nlike snakes in corkscrews; and it haunts houses and carries off things;\nand when it once gets in it never leaves again\u2014oh dear, it\u2019s on us!\nOh-h-h!\u2019\n\nHer cries only made the thing see them sooner. It was only an eagle,\nnot a boggles; but it was on the look-out for food, and the sun shining\non the Princess\u2019s hair had caught its eyes, and in spite of the cries\nof the nurse it swooped down, and, seizing the Princess in its claws,\nbegan to carry her off. The nurse, however, held on to her valiantly,\nscreaming all the while for help; but the eagle had the best of it\nafter all, for it carried up, not only the Princess, but the nurse also.\n\nThe nurse held on to her charge for some seconds, but finding the\nattempt useless she let go her hold; and since it happened that at the\nmoment they were over the river, she fell into it with a great splash,\nand was drifted on shore by the current.\n\nThus the Princess was carried off; and although the land far and wide\nwas searched, no traces of her were discoverable. You may imagine for\nyourself what sorrow and rage the King indulged in. He turned the nurse\noff without warning, and even, in a paroxysm of rage, kicked one of his\npages downstairs; nevertheless that did not bring back the Princess.\n\nAs a last resource he consulted a wise woman (ill-natured people called\nher a witch) who lived near the palace. But the witch could only say\nthat the Princess would return some day, but she couldn\u2019t or wouldn\u2019t\nsay when, even though the King threatened to burn her. So it was all\nof no use, and the King was, and remained, in despair. But, since his\nMajesty is not the important personage in the story, we may as well\nleave him and return to the Princess.\n\nShe, as you can think, was not particularly happy or comfortable,\nfor the claws of the eagle pinched her, and besides, she was very\nfrightened; for, you see, she didn\u2019t know that it wasn\u2019t a boggles, as\nthe nurse had called it, and a boggles is a great deal worse than the\nworst eagle ever invented.\n\nMeanwhile the eagle continued flying straight towards the sun, which\nwas getting lower and lower, so that by the time they reached the\nmountains it was dark altogether. But the eagle didn\u2019t seem at all\nafraid of the darkness, and just went on flying as if nothing had\nhappened, until suddenly it let the Princess down on a rock\u2014at least,\nthat was what it seemed to her to be. Not knowing what else to do, she\nsat where the eagle had let her fall, for she remembered something\nabout the precipice three miles deep, and she did not at all wish to\ntumble down that.\n\nShe expected that the eagle would set to and make a meal off her at\nonce. But somehow or other, either it had had enough to eat during the\nday, or else did not like to begin to have supper so late for fear of\nnightmare; at any rate, it abstained, and that was the most interesting\nmatter to her. Everything was so quiet around that at last, in spite\nof herself, she fell asleep. She slept quite easily until daylight,\nalthough the hardness of the rock was certainly somewhat unpleasant.\nWhen she opened her eyes it was already light, and the sun at her back\nwas darting black shadows of the jagged mountains on to the shimmering\ngray sea of mist that veiled the land below. Her first thought was\nnaturally of the eagle, and she did not need to look very far for him,\nsince he was washing himself in a little pool close by, keeping an eye\non her the while.\n\nAs soon as he saw her move he gave himself a final shake, so that\nthe water flew all around, sparkling in the sunlight; after which he\ncame towards her by hops until he was quite close\u2014rather too close,\nshe thought. Nevertheless she did not move, having heard somewhere\nthat, under the circumstances, that is the worst thing to do; she also\nremembered animals cannot stand being looked at steadily by the human\neye, therefore she looked very steadfastly at the eyes of the eagle.\nBut the remedy did not seem to work well in this case, for the glassy\nyellow eyes of the bird looked bad-tempered, and it winked angrily,\nseeming to say, \u2018Whom are you staring at?\u2019 And then it began to stretch\nout its bill towards her until it was within a few inches of her face.\nThis was more than she could stand, and she said sharply, \u2018Take your\nhead away.\u2019\n\nThe eagle, however, took no notice whatever of this; and seeing nothing\nbetter to do, she lifted up her hand and gave it a smart box on the\near, or rather on the place where its ear should have been. The eagle\ndrew back its beak in a hurry and scratched its head with one claw as\nif it were puzzled. After a moment\u2019s reflection it put out its head\nagain, and once more the Princess lifted up her hand; but when the\neagle saw that it jumped backwards in a hurry, as if it did not care to\nreceive a second box on the ear, and began to stride sulkily away as if\nit thought it better to wait a while. When it reached the edge of the\nrock\u2014for I have forgotten to tell you that they were on a flat rock at\nthe top of a mountain\u2014it sat preening its feathers in a sulky manner,\nas if it imagined itself a very ill-used bird; moreover, although it\nseemed inclined to remain there a long time, I need not tell you\nthat the Princess had no objections. However, after a time even the\nwaiting began to grow unpleasant; but suddenly a peculiar sound, as of\nsomething shooting through the air, came from below, and the eagle gave\na leap and fell down a mass of tumbled feathers with an arrow quivering\nin their centre, and, with hardly a shudder, it was dead.\n\nThe Princess, as you may imagine, was a good deal startled by this\nsudden occurrence, but I cannot say she was very sorry for the eagle;\non the contrary, she was rather glad to be rid of him, and it suddenly\ncame into her head that the man who had shot the arrow might possibly\nbe somewhere below, and in that case might come up and save her if she\ncalled to him. So she tried to get up, but she was so stiff that she\ncould hardly move, and when she did stand up she had pins and needles\nin one of her feet, and had to stamp hard on the ground before it would\ngo away. So that it was some time before she got to the edge and looked\nover. Now it happened that, just as she bent carefully forward to look\ndown the side, the head of a man appeared over the edge, and his hands\nwere so near her that he almost caught hold of her foot as he put them\nup to help himself. As she drew back a little to let him have room, he\nsuddenly noticed her, and almost let go his hold in astonishment.\n\n\u2018Hullo, little girl,\u2019 he said; \u2018how did you come here? It\u2019s rather\nearly in the morning for you to be up. But who are you when you\u2019re at\nhome?\u2019\n\n\u2018I\u2019m the daughter of King Caret.\u2019\n\n\u2018King how much?\u2019\n\n\u2018King Caret, I said; and I should be glad if you would help me down\nfrom this height, and show me the way back.\u2019\n\n\u2018How on earth can I show you the way back when I don\u2019t know who King\nCaret is?\u2019\n\n\u2018But surely you must know who he is?\u2019\n\n\u2018Never heard of him. What\u2019s he like, and what\u2019s he king of?\u2019\n\n\u2018He\u2019s the King of Aoland.\u2019\n\n\u2018And where\u2019s Aoland?\u2019\n\n\u2018I don\u2019t know\u2014it\u2019s somewhere over those mountains\u2014the eagle brought me\nhere, you know.\u2019\n\n\u2018Ah! the eagle brought you here, did he? It\u2019s a little habit he\u2019s\ngot; he\u2019s carried off no end of my kids and young sheep, so I suppose\nhe thought he\u2019d try a change and carry off one of King Turnip\u2014I mean\nCaret\u2019s. But if he brought you from over the mountains you won\u2019t get\nback in a hurry, I can tell you; you\u2019d have to jump up a precipice\nthree miles high, and then you\u2019d be eaten by old Kinchof the dragon.\u2019\n\n\u2018Oh dear! then I shall never get back!\u2019\n\n\u2018No, I\u2019m afraid you won\u2019t. But don\u2019t begin to cry now\u2014there, there\u2014and\nI\u2019ll take you to King Mumkie; he\u2019s the king of this country, you know.\u2019\n\n\u2018What an awful name\u2014Mumkie!\u2019\n\n\u2018Yes, it is rather unpleasant, isn\u2019t it? And then, he\u2019s a usurper\u2014he\ndrove the last king out and made himself king instead. He used to be\na cat\u2019s-meat man, but he got up an army and drove the other off the\nthrone, and now _he\u2019s_ turned into a gardener\u2014his name\u2019s Abbonamento.\u2019\n\n\u2018Oh, never mind what his name is, only get me down\u2014I\u2019m awfully hungry;\nfor you see I\u2019ve been up here all night.\u2019\n\n\u2018Oh! all right. But I say, how are you going to get down\u2014you can\u2019t\nclimb, can you?\u2019\n\n\u2018I don\u2019t know,\u2019 she answered; \u2018I\u2019ve never tried.\u2019\n\n\u2018Then you can be sure you can\u2019t. The only thing seems to be for me to\ncarry you down.\u2019\n\nBut the Princess did not seem to relish the idea at all.\n\n\u2018You might let me drop, you know; it\u2019s rather steep.\u2019 And it was pretty\nsteep, too\u2014about as steep as the wall of a house, and a good deal\nhigher than a very high house. However, it seemed to be the only thing\nto do, so she let herself be carried down. The man took her on one\narm, and yet seemed to climb down about as easily as if he were going\ndownstairs. However, the Princess did not notice that, since she kept\nher eyes shut hard, for, to tell the truth, she was rather nervous.\n\nBut at last they were at the bottom, and he let her down on to the\nground.\n\n\u2018Now, what are you going to do?\u2019 he said.\n\n\u2018I don\u2019t know at all. What can I do?\u2019\n\n\u2018You\u2019d better go and see King Mumkie and ask him what to do.\u2019\n\n\u2018But he has got such a dreadful name; it sounds as if he was awfully\nugly,\u2019 she said.\n\n\u2018But he\u2019s not at all; he\u2019s just like me, and I\u2019m sure I\u2019m handsome\nenough for any one.\u2019\n\nThe Princess looked at him now for the first time; for you see, she\nhad not noticed him very much while she was on the mountain. But now\nshe could hardly repress a shudder; for he was awfully ugly. To begin\nwith, he was big enough for any giant, and then his hair was of a\npurple hue, and his eyes of a delicate sea-green that flashed in the\nshade like a cat\u2019s; and then his nose was awfully red, and shaped like\na mangel-wurzel; and his teeth, which were long and bright green, shone\nin the sun like danger-signals. Altogether he was not prepossessing;\nand the Princess could hardly help smiling when he said that the King\nwas as handsome as himself. However, he went on:\n\n\u2018My name\u2019s Wopole; I\u2019m King Mumkie\u2019s falconer, and so I can tell you\nall about him. Come, let\u2019s go towards the town.\u2019\n\nAnd as there seemed nothing else to do, she set out with him; but he\nwalked so fast that she could hardly keep up.\n\n\u2018How slowly you do walk!\u2019 he grumbled in a bad-tempered manner; \u2018can\u2019t\nyou keep up? Come along, I can\u2019t wait all day.\u2019 And he went on faster\nthan ever, so that she had to run to keep up with him. Suddenly he\nstopped as if he had been shot.\n\n\u2018Confound it, I\u2019ve forgotten to bring the eagle, and I shall have to\ngo all the way back and get it. Oh\u2014ouch!\u2019 And he began to howl in such\na dreadful manner that the Princess felt quite relieved when he turned\nand ran towards the hill at the top of his speed, howling all the way.\n\n\u2018What on earth shall I do now?\u2019 thought the Princess. \u2018If I wait for\nthis dreadful giant, goodness knows what may happen, and then his king\nhas such an unpleasant name; at any rate, I should like some breakfast,\nfor I\u2019m awfully hungry. I think I\u2019ll go on towards the town, and see if\nI can\u2019t find some one who\u2019ll show me the way home.\u2019\n\nSo she went on down the lane for some way, until, coming to a place\nwhere a stream went across the path, she knelt down and scooped up a\nlittle water in the palm of her hand and drank it; for, you see, the\nsun was very hot now, and the heat made her throat feel quite dry and\nparched. When she had finished she went and lay down in the long grass\nthat bordered the road, for she was rather tired. She intended to wait\ntill some one came along, only she was quite resolved not to go with\nthe giant at any rate. So she lay quietly in the shade listening to\nthe loud humming of the bees and the chirp of a linnet that was pluming\nitself, swinging on a bough above her head.\n\nShe had not been waiting long before she heard a dreadful noise behind\nher coming down the road, and in a few minutes she recognised the voice\nof the giant, who seemed to be in a terrible temper. Gradually the\nsound of his voice and his footsteps came nearer. The Princess did not\nknow what to do, for if she tried to run away he would only catch her\nup; so she lay perfectly still, hoping he would pass her without seeing\nher. And that is just what did happen; for, in a few moments, he came\nrushing round the corner shouting out, \u2018Stop! stop! will you?\u2019 And as\nhis eyes were fixed on the road far in advance, of course he did not\nnotice her, and was soon round another bend in the road. The Princess\nnoticed that he had the eagle hanging with its claws round his neck,\nand the jolting, as he went by, had shaken one of its large tail\nfeathers out, and as soon as she had got over her fright, she went and\npicked it up out of the dusty road.\n\nJust as she picked it up, the clatter of feet running along the road\ncame to her ears, and for a moment she feared that the giant had\nreturned; but soon a cow trotted round the bend and stopped at the\nstream to drink, presently another, and then a third. Each of them took\na long look at the Princess, and then bent down its head to take a\ndraught out of the stream. Just then an old man came round the corner,\nand when he saw the cows had stopped he called out:\n\n\u2018Gee on, Lightfoot; now, Daisy; come up, Cherry,\u2019 and the cows gave\ntheir heads a toss, and walked slowly through the stream.\n\nThe Princess hurried to one side of the road, for, like many people,\nshe had an instinctive dread of anything like a cow or a bull.\n\nThe old man noticed it and smiled.\n\n\u2018Oh, you needn\u2019t be afraid, miss, they won\u2019t hurt you,\u2019 he said; but\nall the same, she didn\u2019t care to go too near them. \u2018They\u2019ve just been\nfrightened by Wopole, King Mumkie\u2019s falconer,\u2019 he went on. \u2018Wopole came\nrunning round the corner suddenly, and almost knocked Lightfoot\u2014that\u2019s\nthe dun cow\u2014over. He was roaring out \u201cWhere is she?\u201d awfully loud. I\npity her when he gets her, whoever she is.\u2019\n\n\u2018But who is _she_?\u2019 asked the Princess.\n\n\u2018I don\u2019t know\u2014how should I?\u2019\n\n\u2018Oh, I only thought you might know. But what will he do with her when\nhe gets her?\u2019\n\n\u2018I don\u2019t know; fry her in lard or something\u2014that\u2019s what they generally\ndo to strangers in the town now.\u2019\n\n\u2018Oh dear!\u2019 said the Princess; \u2018how am I to get away from him?\u2019\n\nThe old man looked at her curiously.\n\n\u2018Oh! you\u2019re her,\u2019 he said.\n\n\u2018I rather think I am. But how am I to get away?\u2019 she answered.\n\n\u2018If you\u2019ll come with me I\u2019ll take you to my cottage over there, and\nthey\u2019ll never think of looking for you there.\u2019\n\nBut the Princess did not exactly like the idea.\n\n\u2018Aren\u2019t you one of these people?\u2019 she asked; \u2018because I don\u2019t relish\nbeing fried in lard, or oil, or anything else.\u2019\n\nBut the old man shook his head.\n\n\u2018Good gracious me, no!\u2019 he said. \u2018I wouldn\u2019t let them roast the last\nstranger that came to the town, and so they turned me out.\u2019\n\n\u2018Oh,\u2019 said the Princess, \u2018then you must be King Abominable.\u2019\n\n\u2018I am Abbonamento.\u2019\n\n\u2018Then I suppose I shall be safe with you?\u2019\n\n\u2018Quite safe, if you like to come; only just help me to drive the cows.\u2019\nAnd the old man called to his animals who were browsing in the grass\nat the wayside, and they trudged quietly on till they came to a gate\nin the hedge. This they waited for the old man to open for them, and\nthen went through the meadow until they came to a little farmhouse half\nhidden by trees.\n\n\u2018This is my house,\u2019 the King said. \u2018Just wait a moment till I have put\nthe cows in the byre, and then I\u2019ll come back and let you in; for you\nsee my wife\u2019s away at the market, and there\u2019s no one else at home.\u2019\n\nSo the Princess stopped where she was, and the old man went whistling\nround to the back of the house driving his cows before him.\n\nIt was a very small house, with the thatched roof coming so low down\nthat you could touch it almost with your hand, and the windows were\nquite overshadowed by it. Over a little arbour of trellis-work before\nthe door ran a rose-tree of deep red flowers, and the roses were full\nof bees that came from the hives arranged on benches under the eaves,\nand a few chickens were asleep on one leg under the porch.\n\nIn two or three minutes the door opened, and the old man appeared, and\nthe chickens walked lazily away.\n\n\u2018I entered by a back door,\u2019 he explained. \u2018Come in and make yourself at\nhome.\u2019\n\nThe inside of the house was just as small and homely as the outside,\nand the rooms were refreshingly shady and cool after the hot sunlight\nwithout.\n\n\u2018Sit down,\u2019 said the old man, pointing to an arm-chair; and the\nPrincess did as she was told.\n\n\u2018Now,\u2019 said he, \u2018if you will tell me where you come from, I will try to\nfind out how to take you back.\u2019\n\nSo she told him all her story, and he listened very attentively. When\nshe had finished he said:\n\n\u2018It\u2019s lucky for you that Wopole forgot the eagle, or goodness knows\nwhat would have happened to you; but how you\u2019re to get back I don\u2019t\nknow. It\u2019s my opinion you never will, for no one was ever known to pass\nthose mountains safely yet.\u2019\n\nI don\u2019t know what else he would have gone on to say, but by this time\nthe Princess had begun to cry bitterly.\n\n\u2018Oh dear me!\u2019 said the old man, \u2018what a fool I was to go and tell\nher all that. Now goodness knows what\u2019ll happen. Oh dear, oh dear,\nPrincess, don\u2019t go on weeping like that, or you\u2019ll melt altogether; do\nleave off.\u2019\n\nBut the Princess did not seem at all inclined to leave off, and she\nmight have melted altogether, only just then the door opened, and an\nold woman with a market-basket on her arm and a big umbrella in her\nhand came into the room, but stood transfixed with her eyes and mouth\nwide open when she saw the Princess.\n\n\u2018My! Abbonamento, what\u2019s the little girl crying for? and where does she\ncome from? and what does it all mean?\u2019\n\nAnd she picked up her umbrella, which she had dropped, and leaned it\nagainst the table, and put her market-basket on a chair. This she did\nvery slowly, and all the while the old king was telling her what had\nhappened, so that by the time she had finished her preparations she\nknew nearly as much about it as he did. When he had finished she shook\nher head.\n\n\u2018Poor girl! poor girl! So you come from the land on the other side of\nthe mountains. I know it.\u2019\n\nThe Princess had by this time left off crying, and when she heard the\nold lady say \u2018I know it\u2019 she said:\n\n    \u2018\u201cKennst du das Land\n      Wo die Citronen bl\u00fchen?\u201d\u2019\n\nBut the old lady shook her head.\n\n\u2018That\u2019s Greek, and I never could understand Greek. If it had been\nGerman or French now\u2014but just translate it for me, will you?\u2019\n\nSo the Princess translated it for her.\n\n    \u2018\u201cKnowest thou the land where blooms the lemon-flower?\u201d\u2019\n\nBut the old lady shook her head.\n\n\u2018I don\u2019t know so much about the lemon-flower; but my grand-aunt\nThompson had a sister whose daughter had a servant who\u2019d seen the\ndragon eat up the last man that ever tried to cross the mountains.\u2019\n\n\u2018But I don\u2019t see how that is to help me to get back\u2014do you?\u2019\n\n\u2018No, I don\u2019t exactly; but perhaps something will turn up to help you.\nWon\u2019t it, Abbonamento?\u2019\n\nAbbonamento nodded.\n\n\u2018But what shall I do in the meanwhile?\u2019 said the Princess; \u2018for, you\nsee, I don\u2019t want to be fried in lard, as you say the townsmen are in\nthe habit of doing.\u2019\n\n\u2018You\u2019d better stop with us,\u2019 said Abbonamento. \u2018Eh, wife, what do you\nsay?\u2019\n\nAnd his wife said:\n\n\u2018Oh yes, certainly; it\u2019s the only thing to do. Do stop.\u2019\n\n\u2018Well, I suppose I must,\u2019 said the Princess. \u2018Only, shan\u2019t I be rather\nin the way?\u2019\n\nBut the King answered:\n\n\u2018Oh, not at all, quite the other way. You\u2019ll be very useful. You can\nmilk the cows, and pluck the fowls, and feed the pigs, and all sorts of\nthings.\u2019\n\n\u2018But what will the people of the town say if they see me?\u2019 asked the\nPrincess.\n\n\u2018The people of the town\u2014oh, they never come near me, although they are\nglad to buy butter and milk and eggs of me in the market. They think\nit seems grand to say they buy their things of a king; but they never\ntrouble about me at all except for that.\u2019\n\nJust at this moment the old lady, thinking it her turn to say\nsomething, said:\n\n\u2018By the bye, you have not told us your name yet.\u2019\n\n\u2018Would you like it in full, or only what I\u2019m generally called?\u2019 asked\nthe Princess.\n\n\u2018Oh, say it in full, unless you\u2019ve any objection.\u2019\n\n\u2018Well, you see, it\u2019s rather long; it generally takes about a quarter of\nan hour to say, only if you want it particularly I\u2019ll tell you.\u2019\n\nBut the Queen answered:\n\n\u2018Ah! well, perhaps we\u2019ll wait for a time, until we\u2019ve got leisure to\nlisten to it. Meanwhile you might tell us what the short of it is.\u2019\n\n\u2018They generally call me the Princess Ernalie. Now you might tell me\nyour name, if you don\u2019t mind.\u2019\n\n\u2018They generally call me Queen Araminta. If you like, and are not too\ntired, I\u2019ll show you the farm, and then we\u2019ll have dinner.\u2019\n\nSo the Princess went through the yard to the cows\u2019 byre, and from the\nstalls to the pig-sties, and from the sties to the poultry-run, and\nthence to the orchard, and from the orchard to the flower-garden, and\nafter that home again.\n\nSo it was arranged that the Princess Ernalie was to stop with the King\nand Queen until something should turn up. But nothing ever did turn up,\nand the days lengthened into months, and the months into years, and\nstill she stayed with the old couple; and as time went on she seemed\nto do almost all the work of the farm, for the old King and Queen were\nbeginning to get too old and weak for hard work. And gradually she\nbegan to forget about her native land, and it seemed as if the farm\nwere to be her home for ever. And every year she grew taller and more\nbeautiful; but that\u2019s a habit that princesses have pretty often. So\nfive years passed quietly away, and nothing seemed likely to disturb\nthe peace of the household.\n\nEvery morning regularly she got up at five o\u2019clock to drive the cows\nto the pasture, and then she fed the poultry, and, if it happened to\nbe a Thursday or Saturday, she went with the Queen to take the butter\nand eggs to market; besides which she had to milk the cows and cook the\ndinner, and all sorts of things, so that she was gradually turning into\na simple country maid.\n\nDuring all the five years no one from the town ever came near the\nhouse, and so you may imagine how surprised she was one morning when\nshe got up and opened her bedroom window to see a man coming across the\nclover-field towards the house. She watched him come right up to the\ndoor, and then, when she heard him knock, ran down to tell the King and\nQueen that a man was knocking at the door.\n\n\u2018Who on earth can it be?\u2019 asked Abbonamento.\n\n\u2018It\u2019s not the tax-collector, is it?\u2019 asked Araminta.\n\n\u2018Oh no, it\u2019s not him; he\u2019s an old man, and this one is quite young,\u2019\nanswered the Princess.\n\n\u2018Nor the water-man?\u2019\n\n\u2018No, it\u2019s not him either. There he is knocking again.\u2019\n\nIndeed, the knocking was becoming quite furious.\n\n\u2018He\u2019s a very impatient young man, whoever he is,\u2019 said Abbonamento.\n\u2018You\u2019d better go and tell him not to make such a noise. Let him in\u2014be\nquick, or he\u2019ll knock the door down!\u2019\n\nAnd it seemed so likely, that Ernalie ran down as fast as she could and\nopened the door.\n\n\u2018Why can\u2019t you open the door faster?\u2019 said an angry voice; and then\nErnalie saw a young man looking at her in a state of great surprise.\n\u2018Why, who are you?\u2019 he asked. \u2018Is this not the house of their Majesties\nKing Abbonamento and Queen Araminta?\u2019\n\n\u2018They used to be King and Queen at one time,\u2019 answered Ernalie.\n\n\u2018They ought to be now,\u2019 said the young man with a frown.\n\n\u2018That\u2019s quite another thing,\u2019 retorted Ernalie.\n\n\u2018Oh, is it?\u2019 said he, with a smile this time. \u2018But who on earth are\nyou, if I may ask?\u2019\n\n\u2018I am Her Royal Highness Princess Ernalie of Aoland; and who on earth\nare you, if I may ask?\u2019\n\n\u2018I am Prince Treblo of this country,\u2019 answered he.\n\n\u2018I suppose you are the son of King Mumkie, then?\u2019 said she.\n\n\u2018Good gracious, no!\u2019 said the Prince.\n\nThe Princess was just about to say, \u2018Then whose son are you?\u2019 when the\nold King burst into the room. He had evidently got up in a hurry, and\nhe was only attired in his flowered dressing-gown.\n\n\u2018My long-lost chee-yld!\u2019 he exclaimed, as he threw himself into the\nstranger\u2019s arms. \u2018Araminta! Araminta! come along, it\u2019s Treblo.\u2019\n\nAnd the Queen came rushing down in haste, as you may imagine. Over the\nrest of this affecting scene we will draw a curtain\u2014that\u2019s what they\ngenerally do with affecting scenes\u2014in books, at least.\n\nThe Princess Ernalie easily perceived that she was a little\u2014as the\nFrench say\u2014_de trop_; that is, finding that \u2018three was company and four\nnone.\u2019 So she left the room and went upstairs to comb her hair and wash\nher face and hands, and make herself look smart generally; for she\nthought that would be only right on the day on which the eldest son of\nthe house came home\u2014especially as he was very handsome.\n\nNow it happened that as she was bending down to pick up her best shoes\nfrom under her toilet-table, one of them had gone a little far back,\nand as she drew it out she noticed that something lay behind the\nshoe, and she drew that out too. You may perhaps remember that she\nhad picked up out of the road an eagle\u2019s feather which Wopole had let\nfall as he hurried by with the eagle on his back. Well, then, it was\nthis feather that she now drew out from under the toilet-table. It had\nlain there since she had first entered the room five years ago. Now\nthis doesn\u2019t say much for the cleanliness of the floors, but in those\nunsophisticated days they never thought of sweeping any hidden spot in\nthe floor. This habit, curiously enough, survives even now among some\npeople. However, to return to the Princess Ernalie.\n\nWhen she picked up the feather she stood upright again and examined it\ncarefully.\n\n\u2018Why, how nice,\u2019 she said. \u2018It\u2019s the old eagle\u2019s feather. Now that\u2019ll\ncome in handy; my hat rather wanted a new feather, and it\u2019ll just suit\nthe colour of my hair and eyes.\u2019\n\nSo she went to the looking-glass and held the feather close against her\nhair. But to her astonishment nothing was to be seen in the glass\u2014not a\nvestige of herself; it seemed as if she had vanished altogether.\n\n\u2018Why, what\u2019s the matter with the glass?\u2019 she said. \u2018Something seems to\nhave gone wrong with it.\u2019 So she put the feather on the table and went\nto rub the glass, but when she looked at it she was there all right\nagain.\n\n\u2018That\u2019s queer,\u2019 she thought; \u2018I can\u2019t have been right in front of the\nglass.\u2019 So she took up the feather and went in front of the glass.\nThis time she saw herself very well, but as soon as the feather touched\nher hair she vanished just as before.\n\n\u2018Good gracious!\u2019 she said; \u2018what is the matter with the glass?\u2019 So she\ntried again, and the result was always the same\u2014whenever the feather\ntouched her hair she vanished. \u2018It must be something the matter with\nthe feather.\u2019 So she examined it quite closely, and she found rolled\nround the quill end of it a small piece of paper on which was written:\n\n\u2018Guard well the feather, for whoso toucheth his hair therewith\u2014though\nhe be but feather-brained\u2014shall be invisible, yet shall he see all.\u2019\n\nErnalie read it over once or twice from beginning to end.\n\n\u2018The writing says \u201chis\u201d hair; but it seems to act just as well with\n\u201cher\u201d hair\u2014that is, my hair. What fun I shall have now. I think I\u2019ll\ntry it on at once on the King. But then, it might frighten him. No,\nI\u2019ll wait, and try it on Treblo; and that reminds me I think that\nthey\u2019ve had enough of it all to themselves now. I\u2019ll go and see if I\ncan do anything for them.\u2019 So she locked the feather up in one of the\ndrawers, and then, putting on her shoes, went downstairs.\n\nNow it happened that just as she had almost reached the bottom step her\nheel came out of her shoe, and as she stopped to put it firmly on again\nshe heard the voice of the stranger saying:\n\n\u2018By the bye, mother, who was that girl who opened the door to me?\u2019\n\n\u2018Oh! that\u2019s Ernalie,\u2019 answered the Queen\u2019s voice.\n\n(It seemed as if the shoe took some time to get on again.)\n\n\u2018So she told me; but who is Ernalie?\u2019 he asked again.\n\n\u2018Oh! you\u2019d better get her to tell you that too when she comes down.\nWell, what do you think of her?\u2019\n\n\u2018Oh, she\u2019s\u2014she\u2019s just lovely,\u2019 answered he.\n\n(\u2018Listeners never hear any good of themselves,\u2019 thought the Princess.\nHowever, the shoe had come on just at that moment, and she entered the\nroom.)\n\n\u2018Speak of the\u2014ahem!\u2019 the King was just saying, when the Prince\ninterrupted him.\n\n\u2018\u201cSpeak of angels, and you hear the rustling of their wings,\u201d you\nmean,\u2019 he said.\n\n\u2018Thank you for the compliment, if it was meant for me,\u2019 said the\nPrincess.\n\n\u2018Oh! don\u2019t mention it\u2014it\u2019s nothing when you\u2019re used to it,\u2019 said\nTreblo, who, to tell the truth, seemed rather confused.\n\n\u2018And are you used to calling young ladies angels?\u2019 said his father\nsharply. \u2018I suppose it\u2019s some of the foreign manners you\u2019ve learnt.\u2019\n\n\u2018Suppose we change the subject,\u2019 retorted his son, and the subject was\nchanged.\n\nErnalie retired again. She wanted to look after the dinner, so that\nit might not be late, and so nothing else in particular happened, for\nTreblo went round the farm with his father, and Araminta went into the\nkitchen to help Ernalie with the dinner. When the goose was turning on\nthe spit, and the apple-tart had been put into the oven, the Princess\nhad time to ask some questions about Treblo, and the Queen told her\nthat he had been sent out of the way by Mumkie, in order that he might\nnot attempt to put his father on the throne again; but after seven\nyears he had come back safe, having had all sorts of adventures, and he\nnow felt quite confident that he would be able to restore his father,\nfor he was very popular with the army that had just returned from the\nwar, and as to the people of the town, they cared very little who was\nking\u2014in fact, they rather preferred Abbonamento to Mumkie. So Araminta\nwas quite cheerful over it, for she much preferred living in a palace\nto living in a cottage.\n\nThings went merrily through the day, and at dinner-time they drank the\nhealth of the King and Queen of the country, and altogether they seemed\nvery happy. After dinner the King composed himself for his afternoon\nnap, and the Queen took down a volume of sermons and began to read.\nErnalie went out to milk the cows and take the eggs from the hens\u2019\nnests. As to the Prince, he said he was going out to take a walk.\n\nBefore going out the Princess slipped up to her room, and took the\neagle\u2019s feather from the drawer where she had locked it up. She\nintended to try if she were invisible to the cows and poultry. So she\nput it in her sunbonnet and went out. It really seemed as if it was\nquite correct about the feather, for as soon as she got out of the door\na bee ran right against her, and then a sparrow that was chirping on\na rail allowed her to catch hold of it before it took any notice of\nher approach. However, she let it go, and it flew away, looking very\nastonished indeed, as you may imagine.\n\nShe reached the pasture, and opened the gate, calling to the cows:\n\n\u2018Daisy, Daisy; come, Lightfoot; Cherry, come!\u2019\n\nThe cows looked up from the ground, and came towards the gate, looking\nvery astonished indeed; but when they got quite close and saw no one\nthey stopped, and however much she called them they refused to move.\n\n\u2018This will never do,\u2019 she said; \u2018I must really let them see me, or they\nwon\u2019t come.\u2019\n\nSo she took the feather from her bonnet, and called again. This time\nthe cows seemed quite ready to come, and they trotted along to the gate\nand crowded round her to be stroked. So she shut the gate again and\ntold the cows to go on\u2014for they understood her quite well\u2014and then\nshe went on after them. When they got to the dairy she milked them one\nafter the other as they came in their regular order to the stool. She\nwas milking the last one\u2014Cherry, the best of them all\u2014and she leaned\nher face against its side, and listened to the \u2018thud, thud,\u2019 of the\nmilk as it streamed into the pail with a foam like the sea in a rage.\nShe was in fact almost lulled to sleep by it, when she was startled\nby a voice behind her. It was so sudden that she almost upset the\nmilk-pail in her fright.\n\n\u2018It seems to be easy work milking,\u2019 said the voice, and she looked\nround and saw it was the Prince, who had come quietly up behind, and\nwas leaning over the fence at her back, looking on lazily at her.\n\n\u2018Oh! how you startled me, Prince,\u2019 she said.\n\n\u2018Did I?\u2019 he answered. \u2018I am very sorry for that; but you needn\u2019t call\nme Prince yet. I\u2019m not a Prince, you see, and then you\u2019re the adopted\ndaughter of my parents, so you ought to call me your brother.\u2019\n\n\u2018Oh, really!\u2019 said she. \u2018However, you soon will be a Prince, and then I\nshan\u2019t be able to call you brother, shall I?\u2019\n\n\u2018Why not?\u2019\n\n\u2018Because you will be a Prince, and I am only a dairymaid.\u2019\n\n\u2018But you\u2019re a Princess, aren\u2019t you?\u2019 he asked.\n\n\u2018I was a Princess once,\u2019 she said, with a sigh; \u2018but\u2014\u2014\u2019\n\n\u2018You shall be again,\u2019 he said.\n\n\u2018But how do you know?\u2019 she asked.\n\n\u2018I know\u2014oh, well, let\u2019s change the subject. As I said before, it seems\nto be easy work milking. You might let me try?\u2019\n\nBut she said:\n\n\u2018It wouldn\u2019t be any good. Cherry wouldn\u2019t let any one but me touch\nher. Besides, I\u2019ve just done, and I\u2019m going to carry the pails to the\nhouse.\u2019\n\n\u2018Let me carry them for you?\u2019 he said quickly.\n\n\u2018Oh, thanks; if you\u2019ll take two, I\u2019ll take the other two, and thus we\nshall do it all in one journey,\u2019 she answered.\n\nSo he did as he was told, and the pails were put safely in the house.\n\n\u2018Now I must go and get the eggs,\u2019 she said.\n\n\u2018Can I be of any use?\u2019 asked the Prince.\n\nBut she answered:\n\n\u2018Oh no, there\u2019s nothing for you to do, thanks.\u2019\n\nBut he went with her all the same. I suppose he thought he might be of\nsome use. So she let him hold the basket for her, and the eggs were\nalso put safely in the house. Just, however, as he had put them down,\na shrill whistle sounded twice from behind the garden hedge, and the\nPrince said:\n\n\u2018Oh, that\u2019s a friend of mine. You must excuse me for a few moments,\u2019\nand he went towards the hedge.\n\n\u2018I wonder who his friend is,\u2019 she said to herself. \u2018I think I\u2019ll put\nthe feather on again and go after them. It would be a good way of\ntrying my feather on men.\u2019\n\nSo she took the feather out of her pocket again, and put it in her\nbonnet, and then ran after him. He had got over the fence some time\nbefore she reached it, but he was still in sight on the other side, and\nwith him his friend was walking. He seemed to be a soldier, so far as\nshe knew. They were talking very earnestly; but, from where she was,\nshe was not able to hear what they said. So she too got over the fence,\nand went towards them; but she reached them rather too late to hear\nanything much that they did say. What she did hear was this, from the\nsoldier:\n\n\u2018Then you will come to-night at half-past twelve?\u2019\n\n\u2018Yes,\u2019 answered the Prince.\n\n\u2018We\u2019ll have everything ready, and it will be easily done. If I were you\nI wouldn\u2019t tell the King or Queen, it would only make them nervous, and\nwe\u2019re sure to succeed.\u2019\n\n\u2018Very well,\u2019 said Treblo; \u2018at half-past twelve.\u2019\n\n(\u2018Half-past twelve,\u2019 thought the Princess; \u2018what on earth is he going\nto do at that time of night? It sounds funny. I think I\u2019ll go with him\nto look after him.\u2019 For, you see, Ernalie was rather inquisitive, as\nyou may have found out by this time.)\n\nSo the soldier went one way, and Treblo went back to the house\nwhistling \u2018When the king shall enjoy his own again.\u2019\n\nBut the Princess ran on in front of him and reached the house first,\nso that by the time he was there she had taken the feather out of her\nbonnet and was quite visible again.\n\nHe came in quite naturally, as if nothing had happened, and the rest of\nthe day went off quietly enough.\n\nThey went very early to bed at the farm, and the house was quiet by\nhalf-past eight.\n\nJust before they went to bed Ernalie asked the Prince:\n\n\u2018Do you like walking at night much?\u2019\n\n\u2018It depends upon the night very much,\u2019 he answered.\n\n\u2018Such a night as this, for instance,\u2019 said she.\n\n\u2018Oh yes\u2014\u201ca moonlight night for a ramble,\u201d don\u2019t you know?\u2019 he said,\nlaughing.\n\n\u2018About half-past twelve, I suppose.\u2019\n\nThe Prince looked astonished and shocked.\n\n\u2018Half-past twelve!\u2019 he said, with his eyes wide open; \u2018why, I\u2019m never\nout after eight. My mother says the night air\u2019s not good for me.\u2019\n\n\u2018Oh, is that it?\u2019 said the Princess. \u2018However, I\u2019m tired; good-night.\u2019\nAnd she went to her room and lay down on her bed with all her clothes\non. It was rather hard work keeping awake for such a time, but at last\nshe heard the kitchen clock strike twelve, and she knew it was twenty\npast. So she got up as quietly as possible and put on the feather, for,\nyou see, she didn\u2019t want any one to see her. It seemed very ghostly\ngetting up so late at night, and although she stepped very lightly,\nthe stairs creaked loudly. She went into the sitting-room and sat on\na chair waiting for the Prince to come down. She had to wait close on\nhalf an hour; for, you see, the Prince had heard the clock strike too,\nbut didn\u2019t know it was twenty minutes slow. However, at last he came\ndownstairs holding the candle in his hand. He hadn\u2019t put his boots on\nfor fear of waking any one, and so he, too, sat down on a chair to put\nthem on. This was rather unpleasant for the Princess, for of course she\nhad to keep as quiet as a mouse for fear of making him suspicious; for,\nyou see, it was so quiet that the least breath she took could be heard.\nAt last the putting on of his boots was finished, and he stood up,\nsaying to himself out loud, \u2018Now, where\u2019s my hat?\u2019 and then he looked\nstraight at the Princess and said, \u2018Ah, there it is,\u2019 and he began to\nwalk towards her.\n\n\u2018What can he want?\u2019 thought the Princess; and then she looked down at\nthe chair\u2014for, you see, she could see right through herself\u2014and she\ndiscovered she was sitting on his hat. By this time he was quite close\nto her and bending down to pick his hat up, so she jumped sideways off\nthe chair as fast as she could; but even then, as he put his hand out,\nhe caught hold of hers, which had not time to get out of the way. As\nsoon as his hand closed on it, however, he let go as if it had stung\nhim.\n\n\u2018Good gracious! what is that?\u2019 he said in astonishment. And he did look\nso funny that she had hard work to keep from laughing at him. However,\nhe calmed down in a minute, and again tried to take up his hat. This\ntime you may be sure that the Princess\u2019s hand was no longer there, for\nshe had taken herself and it over to the other side of the table. So he\ntook up the hat and looked at it.\n\n\u2018Looks as if it had been sat on,\u2019 he muttered. \u2018Just like \u2019em; people\nalways do sit on my hat if they can.\u2019 However, he pushed it out\nstraight again and looked at his boots to see if the laces were quite\ntight; and then he blew the light out, seeming, by the noise he was\nmaking, to be trying to get out of the door. When she heard him in the\npassage she thought it was about time to follow him. So she tried to\ndo it, making as little noise as possible; but although she did try\nvery hard she did not succeed very well, for she fell right over a\nchair and made noise enough to be heard all over the house.\n\n\u2018What on earth\u2019s that?\u2019 she heard the Prince ask, and then he lit a\nmatch to look. But he didn\u2019t see anything, and the light allowed the\nPrincess to get quite close to him without upsetting anything more, and\nhe opened the door, letting the moonlight shine in clear and white.\nWhile he was standing at the door she managed to slip past him into the\nopen air, and there she waited for him. He wasn\u2019t very long coming, and\nthen she followed him down the garden, keeping to the grassy edge, and\nnot walking on the path for fear of the noise that her feet would make\non the gravel. They reached the field and then the road, and the Prince\nwas joined by the other man whom the Princess had seen before. This\nman\u2014whom, by the bye, the Prince called Ablot\u2014was dressed in complete\narmour, and he carried another suit, which the Prince proceeded to put\non.\n\n(\u2018This begins to look exciting,\u2019 thought Ernalie. \u2018Perhaps he\u2019s a\nhighwayman, or a footpad\u2014anyhow, I mean to keep up with them.\u2019)\n\nSo she walked on faster, for she had fallen a little behind. When she\ngot up with them she heard the Prince say:\n\n\u2018Well, we\u2019ll surround the Palace, take Mumkie prisoner, and turn him\ninto the market-gardener; and then we\u2019ll proclaim it to the rest of the\ncitizens that my father and mother are King and Queen once more, and if\nthey won\u2019t give in\u2014so much the worse for them. The soldiers are all on\nmy side.\u2019\n\nThe other answered:\n\n\u2018Oh, but they\u2019ll give in without the soldiers. They\u2019re not at all fond\nof Mumkie. He has made himself very unpopular of late. You see, he put\na farthing on the income tax, and he\u2019s raised the price of everything\nthat begins with \u201cS,\u201d like \u201csausages\u201d and \u201csealing-wax\u201d and \u201csoap\u201d and\n\u201csewing-machines.\u201d Now your father only raised the price of things that\nbegin with \u201cZ,\u201d and there aren\u2019t many \u201cZ\u2019s,\u201d you know; there\u2019s \u201czebras\u201d\nand \u201czeal,\u201d and you can\u2019t make much out of selling zeal.\u2019\n\n(\u2018Ah, that\u2019s what you\u2019re up to!\u2019 thought the Princess. \u2018We ought to\nhave some fun then.\u2019)\n\nHowever, they were walking too fast for her to think much. All she\ncould do was to keep up, and that she did to the best of her power,\nuntil at last they reached the middle of the town, where the King\u2019s\nPalace stood. Here they halted to take counsel.\n\n\u2018You wait here while I go and fetch the men,\u2019 said Ablot, and as\nthe Prince made no objection, he went and left him standing in the\nmoonlit square. As Ablot seemed gone rather a long time, the Princess\nthought she would have a little fun, and going close to the Prince she\nwhispered in his ear:\n\n\u2018Does your mother know you\u2019re out?\u2019\n\nThe Prince turned round once or twice, as if to assure himself that\nthere was no one hiding behind his back; but as he could see no one, he\nsimply said:\n\n\u2018I beg your pardon.\u2019\n\n\u2018That\u2019s very good of you; but I thought you were never allowed out\nafter half-past eight o\u2019clock. I heard you tell Ernalie so this\nevening. I\u2019m afraid you told a fib.\u2019\n\nThe Prince looked very astonished.\n\n\u2018Who or what are you?\u2019 he asked.\n\n\u2018Never you mind. I\u2019ve a good mind not to let you succeed this evening,\nbecause you deceive not only your old mother who is asleep at home,\nbut you have also told a fib to that innocent girl, of whom I\u2019m very\nfond.\u2019 (\u2018That\u2019s quite true,\u2019 thought the Princess. \u2018I\u2019m very fond of\nmyself.\u2019 And so she was.)\n\nThe Prince looked astonished.\n\n\u2018How on earth could you know that?\u2019 he said.\n\n\u2018I heard it, I tell you.\u2019\n\n\u2018But there was no one in the room except the Princess and myself.\u2019\n\n\u2018All the same, I heard every word you said, and, what\u2019s more, I shall\nhear every word you ever say to her,\u2019 answered the Princess.\n\n\u2018Well, then, you\u2019ll be a great nuisance,\u2019 said the Prince angrily.\n\n\u2018Very well, I\u2019ll tell the Princess all that you say, and I\u2019ve a good\nmind not to let you succeed, as I\u2019ve said before.\u2019\n\n\u2018Then you\u2019ll do the Princess a great deal of harm if you do.\u2019\n\n\u2018Why?\u2019\n\n\u2018Because she\u2019s\u2014she\u2019s\u2014\u2014\u2019 he began.\n\n\u2018She\u2019s what?\u2019 asked the voice.\n\n\u2018Oh, well, never mind.\u2019\n\n\u2018But I do mind,\u2019 said the voice.\n\n\u2018\u201cShe\u2019s all that fancy painted!\u201d if you want to know so much,\u2019 said the\nPrince.\n\n\u2018But I don\u2019t see how that\u2019ll make any difference to her in case you\nshould succeed,\u2019 said the voice.\n\n\u2018You\u2019re uncommonly dull if you don\u2019t see it,\u2019 said the Prince, who was\nbeginning to feel bad-tempered over being cross-questioned thus.\n\n\u2018Don\u2019t be rude, or you shan\u2019t succeed,\u2019 said the voice.\n\n\u2018If I don\u2019t succeed the Princess will never become Queen of the\nkingdom.\u2019\n\n\u2018How can she become Queen of the _king_dom?\u2014it would have to be a\n_queen_dom. And I don\u2019t see, if you do succeed, how she is to become\nQueen!\u2019\n\n\u2018As I\u2019ve said before,\u2019 said the Prince, \u2018you\u2019re excessively dull if you\ndon\u2019t see.\u2019\n\n\u2018I shall tell her what you said.\u2019\n\n\u2018Oh, do anything you like, only leave me alone, do,\u2019 said the Prince,\nwho by this time was quite in a temper.\n\nSo she let him alone, and made no answer when he wanted her to talk\nagain. However, in a few minutes Ablot came into the square, followed\nby a large number of men, whom she heard him command to surround the\nPalace, which they accordingly did; and then, choosing five men, he and\nthe Prince entered the Palace, Ernalie following them, for she didn\u2019t\nknow exactly what else to do. The first of the Palace guards they came\nto was fast asleep, and they did not molest him; but the second one was\nawake, and so was the third one. These two made some resistance, but\nthey were soon knocked down and bound; but that was not much good, for\nthey made such a noise that they would soon have brought the household\nabout their ears, only it happened to be Saturday and all the servants\nwere having a half holiday, and the only effect of the shouting was to\nbring King Mumkie out on to the landing. He had been sitting up to let\nthe servants in when they came home, and he was in rather a bad temper.\n\n\u2018What the deuce are you making such a noise for?\u2019 he shouted to the\nguards.\n\nBut as the guards had been gagged by this time, they could only gurgle\nhopelessly.\n\n\u2018Why don\u2019t you answer?\u2019 roared the King. But the guards made no reply,\nand the King came running down to see what was the matter. He was\nholding a candlestick above his head, and the light that fell on his\nface showed that he was in a very great rage indeed. When he saw the\nPrince in the hall he stopped, and said:\n\n\u2018What do you want making this unearthly row at this time of night?\nEvery one\u2019s in bed, and I shall catch my death of cold coming down in\nmy dressing-gown into this cold hall. Now, just go off\u2014do, and leave me\nalone.\u2019\n\n\u2018I shall not,\u2019 answered the Prince.\n\n\u2018Why not? What do you want at this time of night?\u2019\n\n\u2018I want the throne!\u2019\n\n\u2018Then you can\u2019t have it; it\u2019s a reserved seat, and I\u2019ve taken it\nalready.\u2019\n\n\u2018But what right have you to it?\u2019\n\n\u2018I\u2019m the sovereign,\u2019 said Mumkie.\n\n\u2018You\u2019re a false coin then\u2014you\u2019re not _half_ a sovereign!\u2019\n\n\u2018I\u2019m quite as good as the last sovereign. He\u2019s lost the crown, so he\u2019s\nonly worth fifteen shillings.\u2019\n\n\u2018Well, fifteen shillings is three crowns, and you haven\u2019t got one.\u2019\n\n\u2018Yes, I have.\u2019\n\n\u2018Well, then, you won\u2019t have it long.\u2019\n\n\u2018I shall have it to the end of my life.\u2019\n\n\u2018Not if I can help it,\u2019 retorted the Prince.\n\n\u2018But you can\u2019t help it.\u2019\n\n\u2018Why not, pray?\u2019\n\n\u2018Well, you can\u2019t, unless you scalp me,\u2014it\u2019s the crown of my head I\nmean.\u2019\n\n\u2018Well, then, I\u2019ll have your head cut off.\u2019\n\n\u2018I shall die then, so I shall keep the crown until I die. Besides, I\nshall have your head cut off instead, for I\u2019ll call out the soldiers.\u2019\n\n\u2018That\u2019s no good. They\u2019re all on my side,\u2019 answered the Prince.\n\n\u2018Then it\u2019s all up with me. As Julius C\u00e6sar says\u2014let\u2019s see, what did he\nsay, now?\u2014ah yes!\u2019 and he began to roar \u2018A horse! a horse! my kingdom\nfor a horse!\u2019\n\n\u2018You\u2019ll make _yourself_ hoarse if you go on roaring like that. Besides,\nyour share of the kingdom isn\u2019t worth a horse\u2014it\u2019s not even worth a\nhorse-chestnut.\u2019\n\n\u2018That\u2019s rather old,\u2019 said the King. \u2018However, what are you going to do\nwith me?\u2019\n\n\u2018I\u2019m going to turn you into what you wanted to turn my father into. You\nshall have his cottage and all the live-stock and implements thereto\nappertaining.\u2019\n\n\u2018What does that mean?\u2019 asked the astonished Mumkie.\n\n\u2018Oh, find out,\u2019 said the Prince. And he found out eventually.\n\nThe Prince now gave orders that he should be taken to the coal-cellar\nand locked in there for fear of escape. And so the poor old man was led\noff, muttering to himself, \u2018Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown.\u2019\n\nBut the Prince answered:\n\n\u2018Well, you needn\u2019t talk; your head doesn\u2019t wear a crown.\u2019 And from that\ntime forth it didn\u2019t.\n\nWhile this was being done, the Princess had noticed that a man had been\nstealing round the corner. He was standing close beside her now, and\nhe seemed quite unconscious of her presence. The Princess looked at him.\n\n\u2018He must be one of the five they brought in with them,\u2019 she said to\nherself. So she counted; but to her astonishment she found there were\nsix of them\u2014with him.\n\n\u2018He must be some one belonging to the Palace,\u2019 she thought, \u2018and he may\nbe up to some mischief.\u2019 So she watched him closely. It was evident\nthat the rest thought he was one of themselves, for they took no notice\nof him in particular.\n\nThe man, however, seemed quite innocent; but the Princess noticed that\nhe was fingering a pistol that he had in his belt in a most suspicious\nway. So she kept quite close to him while they descended the stairs to\nthe cellars. And she was right; for, in the twinkling of a bed-post, he\ndrew the pistol from his belt and aimed straight towards the Prince.\nBut before he could draw the trigger, she lifted up her hand and gave\nhim such a box on the ear that, in his astonishment and pain, he\ndropped the pistol altogether, and it exploded harmlessly. As for the\nman, he was so astonished that he sat down on the floor with his mouth\nand eyes wide open, looking like an expiring frog.\n\nAt the report of his pistol every one turned, and Ablot noticed him for\nthe first time.\n\n\u2018Why, who are you?\u2019 he said.\n\nBut the man only gasped.\n\n\u2018Who is he?\u2019 asked the Prince of the men.\n\n\u2018We thought he was one of us,\u2019 they all answered in astonishment.\n\n\u2018Who are you?\u2019 asked the Prince.\n\nBut he only gasped on in silence.\n\n\u2018Stick a pin into him, and see if that will bring him to.\u2019 And a man\nwas just going to do it when he said, in a gruff voice:\n\n\u2018Don\u2019t; I\u2019m Wopole.\u2019\n\n\u2018Oh, you\u2019re Wopole. And who\u2019s he?\u2019 asked the Prince.\n\n\u2018I used to be the falconer of the late tyrant, now sojourning in the\ncoal-hole there.\u2019\n\n\u2018Oh! and so you tried to shoot me?\u2019\n\n\u2018Not at all, your Majesty. I was only firing a royal salute to show my\njoy at your ascent to the throne.\u2019\n\n\u2018That\u2019s not true,\u2019 said the voice of the Princess, so suddenly that\nevery one started and the falconer collapsed again.\n\n\u2018I\u2019ve a good mind to have your head cut off,\u2019 said the Prince, who by\nthis time had grown used to the voice. \u2018However, I\u2019ll just put you in\nthe coal-hole along with your late master.\u2019\n\nWopole having been accordingly put into the hole, everything seemed\nquiet; and as it was getting late, the Princess thought she would leave\nthem. She therefore returned as fast as she could, and getting into\nbed slept soundly till morning.\n\nShe did not awake until long after her usual hour, for you see she was\nnot used to being out so late, and she was only roused in the morning\nby the Queen knocking at the door.\n\n\u2018Ernalie! Ernalie!\u2019 she called; \u2018get up. It\u2019s half-past seven. You\nought to have been up this two hours.\u2019\n\nShe got up as fast as she could; and when she had laid the table, the\nKing and Queen came down.\n\n\u2018I wish you\u2019d knock at Treblo\u2019s door and tell him we\u2019re waiting\nbreakfast for him,\u2019 the Queen said to Ernalie, and she accordingly\nwent; but she couldn\u2019t get any answer, and she went downstairs once\nmore and told them he seemed to be out.\n\n\u2018Where can he be?\u2019 asked the King.\n\n\u2018I rather think he\u2019s gone out for a walk,\u2019 suggested the Princess.\n\n\u2018It\u2019s funny; he usedn\u2019t to be fond of getting up so early. Just go to\nthe door and see if he is coming across the fields.\u2019\n\nErnalie obediently went to the door, and shading her eyes from the\nglare of the sun, looked over the fields towards the road.\n\nShe came back quickly.\n\n\u2018I can\u2019t see him,\u2019 she said; \u2018but there\u2019s a whole lot of people coming\nacross the field.\u2019\n\nThe King looked vexedly astonished.\n\n\u2018What on earth do they want?\u2019 he said. \u2018It must be some fresh trick of\nMumkie for bothering me.\u2019\n\nHowever, by this time the people had reached the garden gate, and they\ncould hear a man\u2019s step on the gravel-walk. It stopped at the door, and\na knock was heard.\n\n\u2018Come in,\u2019 cried the King; and the man entered, bowing profoundly.\n\nWhen the King saw who it was he looked surprised, and said:\n\n\u2018Why, Lord Corax, what do you want with me?\u2019\n\n\u2018I have come to receive your Majesty\u2019s orders,\u2019 said the man in a\nsingularly hoarse voice.\n\nThe King looked still more astonished.\n\n\u2018My orders! What _do_ you mean?\u2019\n\n\u2018I mean your Majesty\u2019s orders for the management of affairs,\u2019 said the\nman, with a still deeper obeisance.\n\nA light broke on the King\u2019s face.\n\n\u2018Oh! that\u2019s what you mean, is it?\u2019 he said.\n\n\u2018It is, your Majesty,\u2019 answered the courtier, bowing once more.\n\n\u2018It strikes me you\u2019re rather late in the day coming here, aren\u2019t you?\u2019\nasked his Majesty.\n\nThe courtier pulled out a large watch.\n\n\u2018It is, I believe, at the present moment thirty-five and a half\nminutes after eight A.M., your Majesty. At eight precisely I received\norders from your Majesty\u2019s son to come hither, bringing with me your\nMajesty\u2019s coach and guard of honour. Likewise a person, by name Mumkie,\nwho is for the future to inhabit this cottage, and to enjoy the\nprivilege of using for his own purposes all the live stock\u2014sheep, oxen,\nkine, sows, pigs, cocks, hens\u2014\u2014\u2019\n\nHere the King interrupted him.\n\n\u2018That is enough. Tell them to get the carriage ready for three, and\nsend Mumkie to me.\u2019\n\n\u2018Just so, your Majesty,\u2019 said the courtier, and departed on his errand.\n\nWhen he had gone the King said to the Queen and Ernalie:\n\n\u2018Now, my dears, run up and put on your best things, and, Araminta, just\nsee if our crowns are _very_ tarnished. We ought to make our triumphal\nentry in state, for we are reinstated. And, by the bye, see if you\u2019ve\ngot an old coronet of Treblo\u2019s that will fit Ernalie.\u2019\n\n\u2018What for, your Majesty?\u2019 asked Ernalie in surprise.\n\n\u2018For you to wear, of course,\u2019 said the King.\n\n\u2018But what do I want with a crown? I have to stop here with Mumkie\u2014I\u2019m\npart of the live stock.\u2019\n\n\u2018Good gracious! what do you mean?\u2019 said the King and Queen together.\n\n\u2018Well, you see, the agreement between your son and Mumkie was that\nMumkie should have _all_ the live stock of the farm, and as I\u2019m alive I\nsuppose I\u2019m part of the live stock.\u2019\n\n\u2018I suppose you are,\u2019 said the King.\n\nJust at that moment a voice was heard outside, saying:\n\n\u2018May I come in?\u2019\n\n\u2018Oh yes, come in,\u2019 said the King.\n\nAnd Mumkie entered, looking very dirty and black with coal-dust, for,\nyou see, he had spent the night in the coal-cellar. They were all very\nmuch surprised, and naturally too, and the King remarked:\n\n\u2018Good-morning! _Have_ you washed?\u2019\n\nMumkie shook his head.\n\n\u2018I\u2019ve been watched\u2014only it\u2019s not quite the same thing, your Majesty.\u2019\n\n\u2018Well, never mind. So there\u2019s been a revolt, has there?\u2019\n\n\u2018A revolution, sire,\u2019 answered Mumkie.\n\n\u2018Ah, well, it\u2019s all the same. They manage these things quickly here. By\nthe bye, what was the arrangement that my son made about this house?\u2019\n\n\u2018He said I was to have the house and all the live stock.\u2019\n\n\u2018_All_ the live stock?\u2019 said the King.\n\n\u2018All, your Majesty.\u2019\n\n\u2018Then I\u2019m afraid it\u2019s all up with you, Ernalie!\u2019\n\n\u2018I\u2019m afraid it is, your Majesty, unless your Majesty would buy me from\nthis gentleman.\u2019\n\n\u2018Good idea! What\u2019ll you take for her, Mumkie?\u2019\n\nMumkie looked at her critically.\n\n\u2018What\u2019s your weight?\u2019 he said to her suddenly.\n\n\u2018I don\u2019t exactly see what that has to do with it.\u2019\n\n\u2018Well, I suppose you\u2019re good, aren\u2019t you?\u2019\n\n\u2018Oh, very good,\u2019 said the Princess.\n\n\u2018She\u2019s as good as gold,\u2019 said the Queen.\n\n\u2018Just so,\u2019 said Mumkie. \u2018That\u2019s why I wanted to know her weight. You\nsee, I\u2019ll sell her to you for her weight in gold.\u2019\n\nThe King put his hand in his pocket, and drew out his purse and looked\ninto it.\n\n\u2018Will you take threepence-farthing on account?\u2019 he said.\n\nBut Mumkie shook his head.\n\n\u2018We only take ready money here, or pay on delivery.\u2019\n\n\u2018Then I suppose the only thing to do is to go to the Palace and fetch\nthe money. Good-bye till then, Ernalie.\u2019\n\nSo Ernalie kissed the King and Queen, and watched them go down the\ngarden walk to the carriage, and saw them get in. The guard of honour\nfired a royal salute, and they drove off at a gallop. But Ernalie\nturned back into the house where Mumkie was awaiting her.\n\n\u2018I\u2019ve got a friend coming here to-day, shortly, and I don\u2019t want to\nhave our conversation overheard, so when he comes you cut your stick.\nGo and perform some wholesome menial function\u2014clean the plates.\nUnderstand? And don\u2019t you listen at the door, miss.\u2019\n\n\u2018I am not in the habit of listening at doors, and you\u2019d better call me\n\u201cyour Royal Highness,\u201d if you please.\u2019\n\n\u2018And why, your Royal Highness?\u2019\n\n\u2018Because I\u2019m a Princess.\u2019\n\n\u2018Oh, you are! Then, I suppose, you\u2019re a foreigner? And they have a\ncustom here with foreigners of boiling them alive. How would you like\nthat, your Royal Highness?\u2019\n\n\u2018You daren\u2019t do it,\u2019 said the Princess; but all the same she felt\nrather frightened. Just then a knock came at the door.\n\n\u2018That\u2019s Wopole,\u2019 said Mumkie, \u2018so your Royal Highness may take yourself\noff, and if I catch you listening at the door I\u2019ll skin you alive.\u2019\n\n\u2018I never listen at doors,\u2019 said the Princess. But she thought to\nherself: \u2018I listen inside the room sometimes, though.\u2019 And she ran\nupstairs to fetch her feather. She got it very quickly, and ran\ndownstairs as lightly as possible. They had shut the door of the room,\nbut she opened it boldly, and stepped in as quietly as she could.\nMumkie looked up, as if he expected to see some one come in; but of\ncourse he did not.\n\n\u2018It\u2019s the wind, I suppose,\u2019 said Wopole. \u2018Anyhow, you\u2019d better shut it.\nSome one might be listening.\u2019\n\nSo Mumkie got up and shut it, and then went back to his seat again.\n\n\u2018You say you can\u2019t try to murder this Prince again?\u2019 he said.\n\nWopole shook his head.\n\n\u2018It\u2019s no good. I tried last night, and I got such a box on my ear that\nI was half killed.\u2019\n\n\u2018But who gave it to you?\u2019\n\n\u2018How on earth should I know? I could see nobody. Just as I was raising\nthe pistol to shoot\u2014bang! it came. I wouldn\u2019t try it again for\nanything.\u2019\n\n\u2018What a nuisance it is that you let that feather fall out of the\neagle\u2019s tail. You could have done it easily then. As it is, I don\u2019t\nknow what to do. You won\u2019t try again, and I\u2019m too old, and no one else\nin the country would hurt him for love or money. There\u2019s only one other\nthing to do, and it\u2019s not an easy task, anyway.\u2019\n\n\u2018Oh, never mind the ease or difficulty. If it\u2019s possible to be done,\nI\u2019ll do it.\u2019\n\n\u2018Then I\u2019ll tell you. You\u2019ll have to cut his thread of life.\u2019\n\n\u2018Really, and what with?\u2019\n\n\u2018Oh, anything you like. The trouble is to get to the place where\nthey\u2019re kept.\u2019\n\n\u2018Oh! and where is that?\u2019\n\n\u2018They\u2019re kept by three old women who live in the moon. They\u2019re called\nthe Fates.\u2019\n\n\u2018And how am I to get to the moon?\u2019\n\n\u2018That\u2019s just it. You\u2019ll have to take a boat one evening at six, and if\nyou sail straight towards the moon while she is visible, and anchor\nwhen she is out of sight, in three weeks and two days you will reach\nthe end of the sea, where the moon touches at night, and then you can\nget out of the boat; and take care to haul it up out of reach of the\nsea, or else it\u2019ll be carried off, and you won\u2019t be able to get back\nto the earth again.\u2019\n\n\u2018And when I\u2019ve got to the moon what am I to do?\u2019\n\n\u2018The moon\u2019s not a very large place, although it\u2019s certainly larger\nthan it looks from the earth. There are five people who live in the\nmoon. One is the man in the moon, the rest are all women; these are\nthree Fates, who sit twisting the threads of life into one large rope,\nand besides that there\u2019s Diana; but she keeps to herself, and never\ntroubles about the other four. When you touch the shore you\u2019ll see\nthe man in the moon. He\u2019s a wrinkled old man, who carries a bundle of\nsticks and a lanthorn. When you meet him, give him a loaf of bread to\npacify him, for the moon being made of green cheese they have nothing\nelse to eat, and so they\u2019re very fond of bread to eat with it. Ask him\nthe way to the Miss Parkers\u2014those are the three Fates. He\u2019ll show you\nin reward for the bread, and then you\u2019ll see the house. Knock at the\ndoor, and when it\u2019s opened, slip in. The Fates are blind, and won\u2019t see\nyou. When you get in you\u2019ll see a lot of reels of silver threads. Among\nthem you\u2019ll see his thread. You\u2019ll know it by the label on the reel.\nCut that and those of the King and Queen, and then come back again as\nsoon as you like.\u2019\n\n\u2018Very well, then; when shall I start?\u2019 asked Wopole.\n\n\u2018When you will.\u2019\n\n\u2018Will to-morrow evening do?\u2019\n\n\u2018Yes, quite well.\u2019\n\n\u2018Very well, I\u2019ll start to-morrow evening about eight. In the meantime,\nI must see about getting food, as I\u2019m not a fasting man.\u2019\n\n\u2018Very well, do.\u2019\n\nJust then came a knock at the door, and Wopole said:\n\n\u2018Well, I suppose it\u2019s settled. I shall open the door and see who\u2019s\nknocking.\u2019\n\n\u2018Yes, do. I suppose it\u2019s some one come to buy this Princess.\u2019\n\n\u2018Oh, is it?\u2019 and Wopole went to open the door.\n\nThe Princess meanwhile quietly slipped upstairs and took the feather\nout. In a few moments she heard a voice calling her, and she went down.\nShe found the Prince with the other two in the little parlour.\n\n\u2018Good-morning, Ernalie,\u2019 he said; and she answered, \u2018Good-morning.\u2019\n\n\u2018This absurd man,\u2019 the Prince went on, \u2018insists that you shall be\nweighed, although I offered him two thousand ounces of gold; and I\u2019m\nsure you don\u2019t weigh that. However, he will have you weighed, and it\ncan\u2019t be helped.\u2019\n\n\u2018I suppose it can\u2019t,\u2019 said the Princess.\n\nSo she was weighed. It doesn\u2019t matter what she did weigh, but it was\nless than two thousand ounces. The Prince ordered the two men whom\nhe had brought with him as bearers of the gold, to stop and see it\nproperly weighed out, and then he set out with the Princess for the\ntown.\n\n\u2018I thought you wouldn\u2019t mind there not being an escort,\u2019 he said\napologetically; \u2018but all the people about the Palace are busy preparing\nfor a festival.\u2019\n\nThe Princess said she didn\u2019t mind at all.\n\nShe had not had much time to think about what she had heard Wopole and\nMumkie say, nevertheless she determined to tell the Prince all she had\nheard.\n\nWhen he had listened to it all, he laughed.\n\n\u2018Ah, well, if that\u2019s all I\u2019ve got to fear I\u2019m quite safe. He\u2019s sure\nto get drowned if he tries,\u2019 was all he said; and he refused to say\nanything more on the subject.\n\nSo they went quietly on till they came to a slight hill down which\nthe road went, and from the top they could see the city shining in the\nmorning sun.\n\n\u2018It\u2019s a very beautiful place, isn\u2019t it?\u2019 said the Prince.\n\n\u2018Very beautiful; only my own country is far more beautiful.\u2019\n\n\u2018It must be very beautiful indeed, then. However, I suppose this is\ngood enough for you while you are away from your own country.\u2019\n\n\u2018It\u2019ll have to be, at any rate,\u2019 said the Princess dismally, as they\nwent down the hill.\n\nThey soon reached the city, and went, through crowds of bowing citizens\nand citizenesses, to the Palace, where they found the King and Queen\nanxiously awaiting them.\n\n\u2018So you\u2019ve come at last,\u2019 the King said; \u2018I was afraid that you would\ncome to some harm with that Mumkie.\u2019\n\nBut the Princess laughed.\n\n\u2018Oh no,\u2019 she said; \u2018I\u2019m quite able to take care of myself and of other\npeople too; and while I was in the house I heard something of great\nimportance.\u2019 And she proceeded to tell them what she had heard.\n\nBut when she had finished, the King laughed even more than his son had\ndone.\n\n\u2018Why, my dear little girl,\u2019 he said, \u2018do you believe all that\nrigmarole? They were having a joke at your expense. They must have\nheard you outside the door and wanted to frighten you. Don\u2019t you think\nof such rubbish. Why, if they tried it on alone they\u2019d get swallowed up\nin a storm; and I\u2019m sure none of my people would ever help them.\u2019\n\nBut the Princess did not feel at all convinced, all the same.\n\n\u2018You might just as well have them put in prison, and then they couldn\u2019t\ndo anything.\u2019\n\nBut the King shook his head.\n\n\u2018That\u2019s just it, you see; I\u2019ve only just let them go, and I can\u2019t put\nthem into prison unless they\u2019ve committed some fresh crime.\u2019\n\n\u2018But isn\u2019t it treason to compass the death of the King or his eldest\nson?\u2019\n\n\u2018It is; but then it\u2019s such a foolish scheme that no one would believe\nany one capable of inventing it. So we\u2019d better leave it alone.\u2019\n\nBut still the Princess was not at all convinced.\n\n\u2018If you won\u2019t stop him going, I shall go with him,\u2019 she said.\n\n\u2018But he won\u2019t take you,\u2019 said the King.\n\n\u2018He won\u2019t be able to help it,\u2019 said she.\n\n\u2018Oh, well, have your own way, my dear,\u2019 said the King good-naturedly;\nfor he thought she would change her mind. But she was quite in earnest.\n\nHowever, she didn\u2019t say anything more about it, and the rest of the day\nwent on quietly.\n\nThe old King and his son attended the council just as if nothing\nunusual had ever intervened between it and the last council they had\nheld before they had been turned out. As for the Queen and Princess,\nthey occupied themselves with choosing dresses for a grand ball that\nwas to be given on the day after the morrow. So that the time was\npretty well filled up until the evening; and as the Princess said she\nfelt rather tired, she went out to take a walk on the sands by the sea.\nTo tell the truth, she intended to see whether Wopole were not making\npreparations.\n\nNow it so happened that the Prince, too, was going out to take an\nevening stroll, and so they went together; and as the town was\nrather full, they walked along the beach to get out of the way of\nthe enthusiastic populace, who insisted on congratulating him on his\ngood fortune. This is a habit of populaces, they are all fond of\ncongratulating any one who is successful\u2014but they never assist any one\nto success if they can help it. So they walked on for some time, and as\nthe evening was approaching, turned back towards the harbour.\n\nNow it happened that as they came round a bend of the shore they\nnoticed a crowd assembled round one of the boats.\n\n\u2018I wonder what the excitement is?\u2019 said the Princess.\n\n\u2018I don\u2019t know, really, unless it\u2019s some gigantic dog-fish, or perhaps\nthey\u2019ve found a scale of the sea-serpent. Shall we go and look at it?\u2019\n\n\u2018Yes, let us,\u2019 said the Princess eagerly.\n\nAnd so they went towards the crowd, who made way at their approach.\n\n\u2018Why, it\u2019s Wopole!\u2019 said the Princess suddenly; and so it was.\n\n\u2018What is he up to?\u2019 asked the Prince of one of the bystanders.\n\n\u2018I don\u2019t know, your Majesty, only we saw him coming along bringing\npackages of things to his boat here, and we thought we\u2019d come and see\nthat he wasn\u2019t up to mischief.\u2019\n\nThe Prince then spoke to Wopole, who was looking angrily at him.\n\n\u2018Well, Wopole,\u2019 he said, \u2018what are you up to now?\u2019\n\n\u2018I\u2019m going to leave the country,\u2019 said he angrily.\n\n\u2018A good thing for the country,\u2019 said several of the crowd. But the\nPrince said:\n\n\u2018I\u2019m sorry you\u2019re going to leave us. However, I shall be glad to make\nyou a small present before you go.\u2019 And he felt in his coat, and after\na moment\u2019s search he drew out a minute pair of nail-scissors. \u2018Perhaps\nthese might be of some use to you. They\u2019re very good for cutting\nthreads of any kind. Good-day.\u2019\n\nAnd pretending not to notice his look of astonishment, he drew the\nPrincess\u2019s arm through his, and they walked off.\n\n\u2018Why did you do that?\u2019 asked the Princess, after they had got out of\nhearing.\n\nThe Prince laughed.\n\n\u2018I thought it might surprise him a little,\u2019 he said. \u2018And they wouldn\u2019t\ncut butter if they were heated, so he won\u2019t do much harm with them.\u2019\n\n\u2018So you don\u2019t mean to stop him?\u2019\n\nThe Prince laughed.\n\n\u2018No, no!\u2019 he said; \u2018why should I? He\u2019ll never get to the moon.\u2019\n\n\u2018Then if you don\u2019t stop him I shall go with him.\u2019\n\n\u2018I think he\u2019ll take care that you don\u2019t,\u2019 retorted the Prince.\n\n\u2018But he won\u2019t be able to help himself.\u2019\n\n\u2018And why not?\u2019\n\nBecause he won\u2019t be able to see me.\u2019\n\n\u2018Nonsense!\u2019\n\n\u2018You may call it nonsense if you like. But do you remember some one\nwho spoke to you last night in the square? You couldn\u2019t see me then,\nand why should he stop me if he can\u2019t see me?\u2019\n\n\u2018Good gracious! Was that you last night? How stupid of me not to\nrecognise your voice! But you won\u2019t go with him, will you?\u2019\n\n\u2018I shall, unless you stop him.\u2019\n\n\u2018But I promised not to stop him, and I can\u2019t break my promise.\u2019\n\n\u2018Then I must go, that\u2019s all. I can\u2019t allow you and your father and\nmother to be killed because you\u2019ve promised not to stop him.\u2019\n\n\u2018But, Ernalie, can\u2019t I go instead?\u2019\n\n\u2018He wouldn\u2019t take you, and you can\u2019t make yourself invisible, you see.\u2019\n\n\u2018But all the same, you must not go; it\u2019s absurd.\u2019\n\n\u2018Why?\u2019\n\n\u2018You may be drowned, or anything.\u2019\n\n\u2018If I\u2019m drowned or anything Wopole will have to be drowned or\nanythinged too, so that you\u2019ll be safe in any case.\u2019\n\n\u2018But I don\u2019t want to be safe if you are drowned.\u2019\n\n\u2018What difference will it make to you if I\u2019m drowned or not?\u2019\n\n\u2018Oh, Ernalie, you are too bad,\u2019 he said earnestly. \u2018Can\u2019t you see I\nlove you more than all the world?\u2019\n\nThe Princess looked at him in utter astonishment.\n\n\u2018You love me!\u2019 she said, with her lips parted and the colour coming and\ngoing in her cheeks. \u2018Why, whatever made you?\u2019\n\nAnd the Prince answered naturally:\n\n\u2018Why, you did, of course.\u2019\n\n\u2018But you\u2019ve not known me for more than two days.\u2019\n\n\u2018If I had known you only for two hours it would have been more than\nenough. You are the most beautiful girl I ever saw.\u2019\n\n\u2018Perhaps you\u2019ve not seen many,\u2019 said the Princess.\n\nHe took no notice of her flippant remark\u2014he was very much in earnest.\n\n\u2018I love you as much as the whole world, and a great deal besides. And\ndon\u2019t you love me a little in return?\u2019\n\n\u2018Well, to tell the truth, I never thought of it at all before; but now\nI come to think of it I do love you, and a very great deal too\u2014if you\ndon\u2019t tease.\u2019\n\nSo they prolonged the stroll indefinitely, thinking nothing about the\nunpleasant walking that the heavy shingle afforded, or even that it\nwas getting very dark, and that the air was chilly with the night and\nthe sea-foam that the wind blew against them, so that it was after\nsupper-time by a great deal when they arrived at the Palace once more.\nBut all that he could say would not persuade her not to go with Wopole,\nalthough she was very sorry that she could not stop. But, as she said,\nit was no use stopping if her love died, and if any one was to die she\nwould be the one. Wopole was sure to die with her, so the Prince would\nbe safe at any rate. And although the King and Queen both tried to\ndissuade her it made no difference. She refused to promise not to go.\n\nSo on the next day they watched her carefully, though without hindering\nher going about.\n\nThe day went past just as the day before had done, and about the same\ntime in the evening she asked the Prince to go down to the beach with\nher, and they went just as before. But all the while the Prince kept\nfast hold of her hand.\n\nSo they walked along the beach as the wind freshened, and they talked\nof all sorts of things,\u2014it is not necessary to say what.\n\nBut the Princess noticed that the boat which Wopole had loaded with\nprovisions was almost in the water, and Wopole and Mumkie were both\nstanding talking by it.\n\nSo she drew the feather quietly out of her pocket, for you may be sure\nshe had not forgotten to bring it. Suddenly she said:\n\n\u2018Oh dear! my shoe\u2019s full of sand. I must take it off and shake it out.\u2019\n\n\u2018Will you let me do it for you?\u2019 said the Prince, who stepped easily\ninto the trap.\n\n\u2018Yes, you might, if it\u2019s not too much trouble,\u2019 she said.\n\nSo he knelt down, and unlaced her shoe, took it off, and shook out the\nsand, and then put it on again for her. He was just getting up again\nwhen the Princess gave him a little push, so that he lost his balance\naltogether, and before he could recover himself she put the feather to\nher hair, and ran along the sands to the boat which Wopole and Mumkie\nwere just about to launch.\n\nShe stepped over the back just before they reached it, and then she\nwent at once to the front of the boat in order not to be in the way of\nWopole when he got on board. In a moment the boat was dancing on the\nwater, and Wopole sprang in over the stern. The boat shipped a good\ndeal over the bows, and the Princess got rather wet. However, she was\ntoo excited to care much about a little water.\n\nIn a few moments Wopole had hauled up the sail, and the boat began to\nmove through the dancing waters. Just at this moment Treblo reached the\nedge of the sea, and saw the boat well out of his power.\n\n\u2018Come back!\u2019 he cried to Wopole.\n\n\u2018Don\u2019t you!\u2019 said Mumkie.\n\n\u2018You needn\u2019t be afraid!\u2019 Wopole called as loud as he could. \u2018I shan\u2019t\ncome back!\u2019\n\n\u2018But you\u2019ve got the Princess on board!\u2019\n\n\u2018You bet!\u2019 remarked Wopole with familiar vulgarity now he was out of\nthe Prince\u2019s reach.\n\nThe Princess thought it was her turn to say something, so she called:\n\n\u2018Good-bye, Treblo, my love, good-bye!\u2019\n\nWopole was naturally somewhat surprised at this voice that appeared to\ncome from nowhere in particular.\n\n\u2018I suppose she\u2019s hanging in the water,\u2019 he said to himself out loud.\n\u2018I shan\u2019t trouble to help her on board if she is. I shall just let her\ndrown.\u2019\n\n\u2018How very good of you,\u2019 remarked Ernalie sweetly.\n\nWopole looked surprised.\n\n\u2018Sounds as if she was on board. However, she isn\u2019t.\u2019\n\nAnd as the Princess thought it best to be quiet, he remained of the\nsame opinion.\n\nAll the while the boat had been getting rapidly out of the bay, and\nthe Princess thought they were quite safe from pursuit. But suddenly\nWopole rose from his seat in the stern and let down the sail.\n\n\u2018What on earth is he going to do?\u2019 thought the Princess. \u2018He can\u2019t be\ngoing to stop.\u2019\n\nHowever, it was soon pretty clear what he was going to do, for she\nnoticed he was steering towards a large vessel that lay near them.\n\nThe way that the sail had left on the boat was sufficient to carry them\nto the vessel, which the boat soon bumped against. Wopole now seemed\nto be coming forward; and as there was not room in the boat for her to\nslip past him, she jumped from the bow and managed to scramble on board\nthe ship, although it was rather difficult, and boats have a habit of\nslipping away under any one who tries jumping off them.\n\nHowever, she luckily managed it, and was soon safe on board.\n\nShe was followed almost immediately by Wopole, who didn\u2019t find much\ndifficulty in getting on board; in fact, he came so quickly that he\nalmost fell on top of the Princess. However, she just managed to slip\nout of his way, and he did not notice her, as he was occupied in tying\nthe boat-rope to a cleat.\n\nHe then went through various nautical exercises\u2014such as boxing the\ncompass, and shivering his timbers, and danging his lee-deadlights, and\nother things which it takes a sailor, or a nautical novel-writer, to\nunderstand. The effect of these operations was to make the sails run\nup, and then the vessel bent to the freshening gale and began to walk\nthe waters like a thing of life\u2014at least, as like a thing of life as a\nwet sheet and a flowing sea and a wind to follow after, but no legs,\ncould make it walk.\n\nWopole had taken the helm by this time, and he was steering a course\neast by west, so that they stood\u2014that is, they walked\u2014straight out\nfrom the shore. Thus they sailed on for an hour or two till the moon\nbegan to show itself, and then Wopole altered the course so that they\nsailed straight towards her. It might be as well to explain that in\nthose days a ship was only provided with two sails, and so one man\ncould manage a pretty large ship; and as Wopole was a very strong man,\nit stands to reason that he could manage a rather large ship. So, you\nsee, it was not altogether so impossible as it looks to sail for three\nweeks alone on the sea, although I own it would be somewhat difficult\nnowadays.\n\nWhen the moon rose, as I have mentioned before, Wopole steered straight\nfor it, and he continued steering straight towards it all night\u2014at\nleast all the time that the moon could be seen.\n\nTowards sunrise, however, the moon set; and as soon as he could see it\nno more, he let down the sail, threw his anchor overboard, and in a few\nmoments the ship was at rest.\n\nWhen this had been done he walked to a hatch, which he opened, and took\nout some beef, captain\u2019s biscuits, and pickled pork. From these he cut\nslices and placed the slices on plates, after which he took the joints\nback to the hatchway and put them in the meat-safes again. Then he\nfilled a glass with water from a little cistern that stood on deck.\n\nAfter these preparations, he sat down and made a comfortable meal, and\nthen he went downstairs\u2014that is, down the hatchway\u2014and into his cabin.\n\nHe seemed to have departed for good, so the Princess followed his\nexample\u2014at least, so far as the eating was concerned; only, she washed\nthe knives, forks, and plates before she used them.\n\n\u2018I wonder if he\u2019ll see any difference in the size of the joints?\u2019 she\nthought to herself. \u2018If he does, he won\u2019t know how it is, so that\u2019s all\nright.\u2019\n\nSo she made a hearty meal, and then replaced the things just as he had\nput them.\n\nThe question now was\u2014how to pass away the time?\u2014and it was a very\ndifficult one to answer. There were no books to read\u2014at least, she\nwas not able to find any on deck. So she tried playing cat\u2019s-cradle\nby herself; but that was not a very great success, because there was\nno one to take it up. She next attempted going to sleep, but that\nwas not a success either. Then she tried counting how many times the\nship rolled in the course of an hour; but she always forgot how many\nhundreds she had counted. At last she went and sat on one of the\nbulwarks and watched the porpoises as they played about the ship\u2019s\nbows. So the day passed away and evening came, and just as the sun set\nWopole came on deck yawning and stretching himself.\n\nHe looked at the vane, which was blown out nearly straight in the\nevening wind.\n\n\u2018A nice breeze,\u2019 the Princess heard him say to himself. \u2018If the wind\nholds good like this it won\u2019t take more than a fortnight.\u2019\n\n\u2018Thank goodness,\u2019 the Princess said to herself; for she was beginning\nalready to grow rather tired of the adventure. \u2018I think I\u2019ll go down\nand see what the vessel is like below-stairs.\u2019\n\nSo she descended the dark hatchway as well as she could, though it was\nno easy matter, for the boat was beginning to roll in a most unpleasant\nmanner; for, you see, the wind was freshening a good deal, and Wopole\nhad not yet hoisted the sails. However, she managed to get to the\nbottom without tumbling down more than four steps at a time.\n\nIt was not quite dark in the cabin below, for an open port-hole let in\nthe last rays of daylight.\n\nThe cabin was a very small one, though it did not seem very cosy;\nhowever, the Princess was delighted to see one thing, and that was that\nthere were some books on a table in the centre of the cabin.\n\nShe went and looked at their titles, but it was too dark to read them,\nand she didn\u2019t know where to find the matches. Through the porthole\nshe could see that the sea was getting rougher, and the waves were\nbeginning to dash loudly against the side of the boat.\n\n\u2018It\u2019ll be getting wet on deck,\u2019 she thought to herself; \u2018I think I\nshall stop where I am, for I hate being damp, and I\u2019m quite comfortable\nhere.\u2019 Just at this moment she heard heavy steps coming down the\nhatchway. \u2018Good gracious! here\u2019s Wopole coming down. What does he want,\nI wonder?\u2019\n\nWopole opened the door and looked in, but he didn\u2019t seem to notice her.\nHe just put his arm round the door and unhooked a tarpaulin coat that\nwas hanging there. Then he took a sou\u2019-wester from another peg and put\nit on his head and shut the door again, and she heard him tramp up on\nto the deck.\n\n\u2018I suppose he\u2019s gone for good,\u2019 she said to herself. \u2018Anyhow, I\u2019ll lock\nthe door, and then he won\u2019t be able to get in.\u2019 So she locked the door\nwith the key that was in the lock. \u2018Now I wonder where the bed is?\u2019 she\nthought. \u2018That place like a shelf can\u2019t be it; but it\u2019s got bed-clothes\non it. However, I can\u2019t get into it. I shall just lie on this sofa for\nthe night.\u2019\n\nSo she lay down and slept all night in spite of the noise that the wind\nand waves made.\n\nShe awoke next morning on hearing a most tremendous rumble and\nsplashing.\n\n\u2018What is that?\u2019 she said to herself. \u2018He must be letting out the\nanchor.\u2019\n\nAnd so he was; for in a moment she heard him coming downstairs.\n\n\u2018I wonder what he\u2019ll do when he finds the door locked?\u2019 she thought.\n\nJust then he reached the door and turned the handle, but the door\nrefused to move; and although he kicked and banged, it was all no use.\n\n\u2018I\u2019ll go and fetch a hatchet and prise it open,\u2019 he grunted, out of\nbreath with his exertions; and he thumped up the stairs again.\n\nBut meanwhile the Princess unlocked the door, and seizing a couple of\nbooks at random off the bookshelf she ran up on deck; but she kept\npossession of the door-key.\n\nNow it so happened that Wopole had dropped his hatchet in front of the\nhatchway, and he was bending down to pick it up just as she came out\nof it, so that the result was a collision; and as Wopole was bending\ndown he got considerably the worst of it, although the books that the\nPrincess was carrying were thrown right out of her hands.\n\nWopole got up from the sitting posture which the sudden shock had made\nhim assume.\n\n\u2018Well, this is extraordinary! Shiver my old lee-scuppers if it isn\u2019t!\nHere first I can\u2019t get into my cabin, and then I\u2019m knocked over by my\nown books that come flying at my head. I think it\u2019s those books that\nare the cause of the mischief, and I\u2019ll just throw them overboard,\u2019 and\nhe was just bending over to pick them up. But this was too much for\nthe Princess, who had no wish to be left for the whole of another day\nwithout books. So she snatched the books from just under his hand\u2014at\nleast, the book he was going to pick up\u2014and as soon as she touched it,\nit became invisible.\n\nWopole shook his head dismally as if he had quite expected it, and then\nhe tried to pick up the other one; but just the same thing happened.\nNow the Princess had just been bending down to pick the book up as\nhe bent down, and the wind blew her hair right across his eyes. He,\nfeeling the tickling, put his hand up to his face and caught the hair\nbefore she could draw it away.\n\n\u2018What is this now?\u2019 he said, as he examined his hand. \u2018Feels like\nhair,\u2019 he mused. But in his fit of musing he let his fingers relax\ntheir grasp, and she drew her hair away very quickly.\n\n\u2018I thought so,\u2019 Wopole said. \u2018It was only the hair\u2014the wind, I mean. I\nwonder what\u2019s the matter with the books, though? It must be the cabin\nthat\u2019s bewitched them. I won\u2019t sleep in that cabin to-day. I\u2019ll change\nmy apartments at once.\u2019\n\nAnd he did. So, for the rest of the time, the Princess had the cabin\nall to herself, and she was quite contented; for Wopole was so sure\nthat it was bewitched, that he moved his clothes and things out of it,\nand never came near it again.\n\nAnd the Princess had decidedly the best of it; for Wopole slept all day\nand watched all night, and she kept awake all day and slept all night\njust as usual. So the time passed away, and every night the moon got\nlarger and larger as they got nearer and nearer, until it was quite\nclose.\n\nThey had been a fortnight and three days out before they came to the\nedge of the sea, but it was eight o\u2019clock in the evening, and the moon\nhad just left the water, as it flew into the air like a large\u2014a very\nlarge\u2014white bird.\n\n\u2018What a confounded nuisance!\u2019 Ernalie heard Wopole say. \u2018Now I shall\nhave to wait the whole of another day for it to rise above the sea; and\nthen it\u2019s so jolly dangerous.\u2019\n\nThe Princess couldn\u2019t help wondering why it was so jolly dangerous;\nand how, if it were dangerous, it could be jolly. So she asked\u2014quite\nwithout thinking that she was invisible:\n\n\u2018Why?\u2019\n\n\u2018Why, you dunderhead!\u2019 retorted Wopole; \u2018because we\u2019re quite near the\nedge of the world, and if a strong wind should rise we should be blown\nright over it, and then we should fall right into the sun. See, stupid?\u2019\n\nThe Princess replied meekly:\n\n\u2018I thank you.\u2019\n\n\u2018I should think you ought to thank me,\u2019 Wopole retorted angrily. \u2018It\u2019s\nbad enough to have spirits on board a temperance ship without having to\ntalk to them.\u2019\n\n\u2018But I\u2019m not a spirit,\u2019 said Ernalie.\n\n\u2018Then who are you?\u2019\n\n\u2018I\u2019m\u2014\u2014\u2019 But she thought it best not to tell him more.\n\n\u2018Oh, you are, are you?\u2019 he replied. \u2018Thanks for the information. I\u2019m\nsure it wasn\u2019t necessary for you to tell me so much, and I don\u2019t want\nto know any more about you. Only, look here, I don\u2019t know whether you\nwant to be roasted?\u2019\n\n\u2018Of course not,\u2019 answered the Princess.\n\n\u2018Well, then, if a storm comes up it will blow us right over the world\u2019s\nend into the sun; so look out. If the anchor holds, we are safe.\u2019\n\n\u2018What does the anchor hold?\u2019 asked Ernalie.\n\n\u2018The ground, of course. If it doesn\u2019t, we shall have to hoist the sails\nand try to beat against the wind.\u2019\n\n\u2018I suppose you beat against the wind to make it run away?\u2019 said Ernalie.\n\nBut Wopole replied gruffly:\n\n\u2018No puns allowed on board. Now, if we have to beat against the wind, I\nshall have to manage the sails, so you must go to the helm.\u2019\n\n\u2018What is the helm?\u2019 she asked.\n\n\u2018That\u2019s it,\u2019 said Wopole, pointing to it.\n\n\u2018Oh, that\u2019s the helm; and what am I to do with it?\u2019\n\n\u2018Do what I tell you.\u2019\n\n\u2018Very well.\u2019\n\n\u2018That\u2019s all.\u2019\n\nSo the Princess, not seeing anything better to do, went down below to\nbed.\n\nThe night passed safely, and nearly the whole of the next day; but\ntowards evening the wind began to get up. Wopole was on deck, and as\nhe did not seem to wish to talk she let him alone. About seven the\nmoon was to rise, and at about half-past five Ernalie went down to her\ncabin to get a book. She selected a small one that she had not noticed\nbefore. It was called \u2018The Life and Surprising Adventures of Robinson\nCrusoe of Hull, Mariner, who\u2014\u2014\u2019 But before she had half finished the\ntitle-page\u2014which, by the bye, is rather long\u2014a sudden reeling of the\nvessel threw her right over to one corner of the room, and at the same\ntime from above there sounded a shrieking as of ten thousand demons.\n\n\u2018What on earth is that?\u2019 she thought as well as she could, for she was\nlying in one corner of the room among chairs and various other articles\nof furniture. However, she got out of it as quickly as she could, and\nran on deck, or at least she tried to run, for the vessel was rolling\nand pitching, and the shrieking continued to resound from above. At\nlast she did reach the deck; but she rather wished she had stopped\nbelow, for the wind was so biting it nearly bit her hair off, and\nthis same wind behaved so badly to the ropes of the vessel that they\nshrieked in their pain as the blast cut past them, causing the strange\nsounds that the Princess had heard below.\n\nIt was nearly as difficult to stand on deck as it had been in the\ncabin, and the spray that came dashing over the boat made it very\ndifficult to see, for it got into her eyes and half blinded her.\n\nHowever, she managed to steady herself by holding on to a rope, and in\na few minutes she was able to see Wopole standing in the bow of the\nboat, and looking over the side. So she went towards him as well as she\ncould, for the wind and spray came from over the bows. Nevertheless,\nshe reached him somehow. He was leaning quietly against the bulwarks\nover the hawser-hole watching the straining cable, just as calm as if\nthere were nothing in particular depending on whether the anchor held\nor not.\n\nAs soon as she could find her breath she touched him on the shoulder\nand shouted in his ear as loud as she could:\n\n\u2018Will the rope break?\u2019 But it was no use trying to out-roar the\ntempest\u2014at least for her.\n\nWhen Wopole felt something touch him on the shoulder he looked round.\n\n\u2018Oh, it\u2019s you, is it?\u2019 she heard him cry. But the wind was still too\nhigh for her to answer. She only nodded; but she might have spared\nherself the trouble.\n\nPresently, after she had waited some minutes in silence, the wind fell,\nalmost as suddenly as it had risen.\n\n\u2018Thank goodness! It\u2019s over now,\u2019 she said, and it was so quiet that\nWopole overheard her easily.\n\n\u2018Don\u2019t hulloa till you\u2019re out of the wood,\u2019 he said. \u2018Look there!\u2019\n\nThe Princess did look, and she saw that the horizon was hidden by\nmasses of white foam that rose and fell as if the sea were one great\ncauldron full of boiling water.\n\n\u2018That\u2019s the storm coming down again,\u2019 Wopole went on. \u2018Hurry to the\nhelm and put it hard down when I hoist the sail, for the cable will\nsnap like thread before it. Quick\u2014quick!\u2019\n\nThe Princess ran like lightning along the deck, for the sea was quite\nquiet, and the vessel hardly pitched at all, and she reached the helm\nin a very few minutes.\n\nWhen she got there she stood still and listened. Everything was quiet\nand still; the vessel only rolled slightly, and the cordage creaked\nuneasily, as if it feared the coming strain that it would have to\nstand. From where the sea boiled a noise came\u2014so low and grumbling that\nit might have been the faint growl of an angry cat before it makes a\nspring.\n\nJust then Wopole looked towards the helm:\n\n\u2018Mind and put it hard down!\u2019 he shouted.\n\n\u2018I wonder why he wants me to put it down,\u2019 she thought.\n\nBut before she could ask the storm was upon them again. Swifter than\nthe arrow leaps from the bow it came, and the churned sea fled from\nthe attack of the wind like a mighty white horse. The flying scud and\nrain beat mercilessly against her face; but she held bravely to the\ntiller, and stemmed the storm as well as she could, with her eyes shut\nand her teeth set.\n\nThe noise the storm made would have frightened Neptune himself; but\nhigh over it she heard Wopole shout:\n\n\u2018The cable\u2019s parted! Hard down!\u2019\n\nAnd she pressed on the tiller as hard as she could; but the stubborn\nbar refused to go down, and though she leant her whole weight on it, it\nonly fell away to one side, and she had only strength to lie against\nit in vain hope of putting it down. Just then the sail began to raise\nitself, and the vessel seemed to feel its influence, for it was turning\nslowly round. Suddenly she saw Wopole appear in the mist of rain.\n\n\u2018Let me have the tiller!\u2019 he shouted; and she let go. Instantly he\nseized it and pushed it the other way with all his might.\n\nBut at this critical moment a disaster happened, that made it look as\nif everything had conspired against them. The tiller broke in half\nunder the strong hands of Wopole, and before they could wink the vessel\nhad turned its back to the wind, and they were carried at racing speed\ntowards the end of the world. They had but a mile or so to go, and a\nmile is soon covered.\n\nThe last part of the journey was through a thick mist; but it didn\u2019t\nmuch matter to Ernalie.\n\n\u2018Anyhow, Wopole won\u2019t be able to cut the strings,\u2019 she thought.\n\nJust then the fog began to get lighter, as if some great fire were just\noutside it, and in a few seconds they burst through the veil of mist\ninto a light so blinding that the Princess could not keep her eyes open.\n\n\u2018This must be the sun we\u2019ve fallen into,\u2019 she thought. \u2018But it doesn\u2019t\nseem very hot.\u2019 Then there was a bump, as if the boat had run into a\nlump of mud, and then a greasy slide, and then Ernalie fainted.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nWhen she came to herself, she heard voices close to her. One sounded\nlike the voice of an old man, and the other, she was quite sure, was\nthat of Wopole; but she had never heard him so polite before. They had\nevidently only just met, for Wopole was saying:\n\n\u2018I am very happy to make your acquaintance, sir. May I trouble you to\ntell me your name?\u2019\n\n\u2018It\u2019s a great deal of trouble,\u2019 grumbled the other; \u2018but I\u2019ll tell you.\nI\u2019m the Man.\u2019\n\n\u2018How strange\u2014I too happen to be a man.\u2019\n\n\u2018You\u2019re only _a_ man. I\u2019m _the_ Man.\u2019\n\n\u2018The Man in the Moon, I should think?\u2019 said Wopole.\n\n\u2018Exactly,\u2019 answered the voice.\n\n\u2018Why, we must be in the moon,\u2019 thought the Princess; and it was the\ncase, for the ship had run right over the edge of the world on to the\nmoon, which had been hidden behind the clouds.\n\n\u2018I\u2019ll just go and look at him,\u2019 she said to herself, and so she sat up\nto look where the voices came from. \u2018They seem to be behind the sail,\u2019\nshe went on. So she walked to the sail, and peeped round the corner,\nand there sure enough he was.\n\nI daresay you\u2019ve often seen the Man in the Moon\u2014at all events, you\nought to have. Perhaps you mayn\u2019t have; if so, this is what the\nPrincess saw.\n\nHe was a very old man, and looked very much as if he was in his second\nchildhood, and he carried an enormous lanthorn, which made him even\nmore bent than he might have been if he had not carried it so often. On\nhis shoulders he carried a bundle of thorns, which appeared to prick\nhim and cause him a good deal of uneasiness generally; and besides this\nhe had an ugly little dog by his side, which made continual attacks\non Wopole\u2019s shins, and it made such a noise with its barking that the\nold man in a temper aimed a vicious kick at it; but he missed his mark,\nand the weight of the lanthorn overbalancing him he sat down rather\nsuddenly, and during the rest of the evening he remained there.\n\nBut the conversation proceeded just as if nothing in particular had\nhappened.\n\n\u2018Being the Man in the Moon, perhaps you would be so kind as to direct\nme to the place where the Misses Parker reside?\u2019 Wopole said.\n\n\u2018That I won\u2019t,\u2019 said the Man. \u2018Why should I?\u2019\n\n\u2018I thought that you might be so good as to direct me, and I had\nintended presenting you with a loaf of bread. However, that does not\nmatter. Good-day. I daresay I shall find the house by myself,\u2019 and\nWopole made preparations for getting over the side of the vessel.\n\nBut the Man no sooner heard the word \u2018bread\u2019 than he became very eager\nto help him on the way.\n\n\u2018Oh, wait a minute,\u2019 he said; and Wopole accordingly waited.\n\n\u2018If you\u2019ll give me two loaves I\u2019ll show you,\u2019 he went on.\n\n\u2018I\u2019ll give you one now, and the other when I have paid my visit and am\nsafely back on the ship.\u2019\n\n\u2018Well, that\u2019ll do. Give me the one, and I\u2019ll show you at once.\u2019\n\nSo Wopole went to the hatch which covered the pantry and took out a\nlarge loaf, which he handed to the old Man.\n\n\u2018Now trot,\u2019 he said; and the Man hurried to the side of the vessel and\nscrambled down as well as he could, followed by Wopole and the Princess.\n\nIt was curious how bright it was when they got over the side; for\nalthough it was past nine o\u2019clock P.M. by the Princess\u2019s watch, the\nground itself seemed to shoot out light, and what was still more\nfunny, they threw no shadows, although that was easily explained; for\nas the moon itself provided the light, it would be rather difficult to\nthrow a shadow on the moon.\n\nThey plodded on for some time in silence; but although the old Man\nhobbled very much he managed to get along very fast, almost too fast\nfor the Princess, for the walking was very heavy.\n\nPresently Wopole said:\n\n\u2018How soft the ground is; is it all the same about here?\u2019\n\n\u2018Of course it is. It\u2019s all cheese; and you don\u2019t want hard cheese.\u2019\n\n\u2018I don\u2019t want cheese at all,\u2019 said Wopole.\n\n\u2018You\u2019d want it if you were me,\u2019 remarked the old Man.\n\n\u2018Why?\u2019 asked Wopole.\n\n\u2018Because it\u2019s all there is to eat in the moon, and if it were hard I\nshouldn\u2019t be able to eat it.\u2019\n\n\u2018Oh, I see; but why don\u2019t you come to the earth? You\u2019d make your\nfortune in a show.\u2019\n\nThe Man shook his head sadly.\n\n\u2018I did try once; but I got my mouth burnt, and I shan\u2019t try again.\u2019\n\n\u2018Why, how was that?\u2019 asked Wopole.\n\n\u2018Don\u2019t you know the song?\u2019 said the old Man in astonishment.\n\n\u2018Not I.\u2019\n\n\u2018Then I\u2019ll sing it.\u2019\n\nAnd forthwith he began to sing:\n\n    \u2018The Man in the Moon\n     Came down too soon\n     And asked his way to Norwich, O;\n     He got sent to the south\n     And burnt his mouth\n     With eating cold plum-porridge, O.\u2019\n\nThe Man\u2019s voice itself was about as melodious as that of a peacock;\nbut in the final \u2018O\u2019 of the song he was joined by his dog and Wopole,\nwho both sang\u2014or rather bawled\u2014a wrong note; and as each was proud of\nhis voice the \u2018O\u2019 was prolonged indefinitely, and it might have been\nkept up till doomsday, only, just at that moment, they happened to turn\nthe corner of a heap of cheese and came in sight of a cottage at some\ndistance off.\n\n\u2018That\u2019s the cottage where they live,\u2019 said the old Man.\n\nAnd no sooner did the Princess hear his words than she started off at a\nrun towards it.\n\n\u2018I must get there before him,\u2019 she said; and so she went as fast as she\ncould over the soft cheese. She really needn\u2019t have hurried so much,\nfor Wopole and the old man had stopped, and it might have saved her a\nworld of trouble if she had listened to what they said; but she didn\u2019t.\n\nWhen she reached the cottage she stopped a moment to gain breath; but\nthat was soon done, and she went to the door and tapped. No answer\ncame; so she lifted the latch gently and walked in as quietly as she\ncould.\n\n\u2018There goes that door,\u2019 she heard an ill-tempered voice say.\n\n\u2018I shouldn\u2019t take the trouble to close it again if I were you. It\u2019s the\nfifth time it\u2019s blown open to-day.\u2019 This was in another voice.\n\nIt was impossible for the Princess to see where the voice came from,\nfor the cottage was so dark after the light outside that for some\nmoments it was quite as black as night. However, gradually her eyes\nbecame accustomed to the twilight, for the open door did let in a good\ndeal of light.\n\nWhat she did see, however, did not please her eyes much, for the three\nsisters, to whom Wopole gave the name of Parker\u2014they are called the\nParcae generally\u2014were about as ugly as they make them; and as they were\ntwins\u2014that is, triplets\u2014there was not much to choose between them.\n\nThe room in the cottage was very large, and at the wall at one end a\nlarge number of frames stood on which were nailed reels, and from every\nreel came a silver thread, and over every reel a small placard was\nplaced on which was written a name\u2014the name of the owner of the thread.\n\nBehind the frames stood one of the Fates, who took off used-up reels\nand placed new ones in their stead; though how she did it the Princess\ncould not tell, for the Fates, as well as Love, are blind. Yet she did\nit.\n\nBetween the reels and the last of the three sisters sat one clothed in\nblack, who held in her hand scissors wherewith she severed certain of\nthe threads\u2014threads of those that die on earth. Last of the three sat\none who twisted all the threads into one great rope that ran from her\nhands down a fathomless pit to the earth.\n\nAnd so they all sat silently working busily, with no other sound than\nthe clipping of the scissors as their owner cut remorselessly here and\nthere, surely and safely\u2014she needed no eyes.\n\nBut the Princess heeded little of this, for she was seeking out two\nnames. The names were arranged in townships, so she had but little\ndifficulty in finding them; and she changed the names that stood over\nthe strings. Over Wopole\u2019s she put the name of Treblo, and over Treblo\nshe put Wopole\u2019s name.\n\n\u2018It is the only way to stop him killing Treblo. As for the others,\nAbbonamento and Araminta, if Wopole cuts his own string and dies, he\nwill not be able to cut theirs; but if he die not instantly and cut the\nother strings, I will knot them together again quickly. And I will also\nknot together Wopole\u2019s own thread, for he has done me no harm, and\nonce he saved my life; only, he must not kill Treblo.\u2019\n\nWhen she had got thus far, the light that came through the door was\ninterrupted for a moment, and Wopole entered.\n\nHe stopped for a few minutes to accustom his eyes to the faint light.\nThen the Princess heard him mutter:\n\n\u2018Lucky for me the old ladies are blind and deaf. Here are his own\nscissors to cut his own thread. That is to fight him with his own\ntools\u2014and I shall win.\u2019\n\nAnd then he walked towards the sets of threads.\n\nIn a few moments he had found the thread marked \u2018Treblo,\u2019 and reaching\nout the scissors he cut it through. But he dropped the scissors almost\ninstantly.\n\n\u2018What a pain I have in my side,\u2019 he said. \u2018I won\u2019t cut any more threads\nif it\u2019s to hurt me like this each time. Old Abbonamento and Araminta\nwon\u2019t last long after their son; and as for the lovely Princess, Mumkie\npromised her to me, so I won\u2019t cut your string, Ernalie.\u2019\n\n\u2018Thank you,\u2019 said Ernalie herself, so quietly that Wopole did not\nnotice it, and he left the house in somewhat of a hurry.\n\n\u2018I\u2019ll just join his thread, and then I\u2019ll join him again; and so\nthere\u2019s not much harm done.\u2019\n\nBut it was not quite so easy to join the threads as it looked, for part\nof the thread that went towards the earth moved on, while that which\ncame from the reel stood still. However, she pulled the thread rapidly\nfrom the reel, and she managed to tie the two parts together before\nthey reached the lady with the scissors, and so the thread passed on\nits way without notice.\n\n\u2018That\u2019s all right,\u2019 said she thankfully, and she left the house to\nfollow Wopole.\n\nHe, however, had already passed the turning and was out of sight, so\nshe followed; but when she too had turned the corner he was nowhere to\nbe seen. However, she was quite sure of the road, so she went leisurely\non; but each hillock was so like the other, and there was no mark to\nguide her, for no trees grew on the cheese. And so little by little\nshe began to feel convinced that she had lost her way, and though she\nwandered on for hours and hours she came to no trace of anything that\nwould guide her to the vessel.\n\nBut at last she came to some footsteps in the cheese, and she was now\nquite sure of being in the right track. So she ran on as fast as she\ncould, and she really was on the right path, and soon she came in sight\nof the sea, and then she saw the vessel, but it was sailing away from\nher as fast as it could, and although she shouted and cried to Wopole\nto come back and fetch her, he took no notice.\n\n\u2018Wopole! Wopole!\u2019 she shrieked; but the wind carried her voice away,\nand did not bring back Wopole.\n\nAgain she called:\n\n\u2018Wopole!\u2019\n\n\u2018What _is_ the use of making all that noise?\u2019 said a voice that came\nfrom close to her side, and when she looked round she saw the Man,\nsitting on his bundle of sticks, eating the bread ravenously, and\nscooping up pieces of the moon-cheese from his side.\n\n\u2018What is the use of making all that noise?\u2019 he said again,\nbad-temperedly.\n\n\u2018I want Wopole to come back and fetch me,\u2019 said the Princess.\n\n\u2018I daresay he\u2019d feel flattered if he knew; but he doesn\u2019t. It\u2019s no\nuse howling. By the bye, I forgot to tell you\u2014\u201cThis lanthorn doth the\nhorned moon present.\u201d\u2019\n\n\u2018But what _has_ that got to do with my getting home?\u2019 said the\nPrincess.\n\n\u2018I don\u2019t know; but it\u2019s my home. Look, the sea\u2019s rising.\u2019\n\nThe Princess looked round in alarm, for she was afraid of getting her\nfeet wet; but though the sea was rising, it did not hurt the moon at\nall, for, you see, the water belonged to the earth, and so, while the\nmoon sank lower and lower, the water remained like a solid wall above\nthem, but did not close over them. The light of the moon attracted the\nfishes and strange monsters of the deep, and the Princess saw them as\ncalmly as if they had been part of a large aquarium. She looked at them\nfor some time; but a strange sound behind her made her turn round:\n\n\u2018I am about to sing a serenade,\u2019 said the Man.\n\n\u2018Please don\u2019t,\u2019 said the Princess.\n\n\u2018I\u2019m sure you\u2019d like to hear it. \u201cI\u2019ll sing you songs of Araby,\u201d\u2019 he\nsaid.\n\n\u2018But I don\u2019t care about Araby.\u2019\n\n\u2018You really must listen. Come, now, do hear.\u2019\n\nAnd he began waving his arms to and fro, roaring:\n\n    \u2018When moonlight o\u2019er the azure seas\n     In soft effulgence swells!\u2019\n\nBut he sang it to the tune of the moonlight sonata.\n\nThe Princess did not wait to hear. She put her fingers in her ears, and\nran off as fast as she could; but still she heard the burden:\n\n    \u2018Ah, Angeline! ah, lady mine!\u2019\n\nAnd he seemed to keep it up for a long while. However, after she had\ngone some miles the sound died away in the distance, and all was quiet.\n\nThe Princess now sat down to rest, and to look at the earth, for the\nmoon had dipped underneath it by this time, and she could see Australia\nand New Zealand and various of the other lands of the Antipodes.\n\nHer attention was drawn away from the earth to the moon by a sound that\nseemed like the rolling of wheels. It was still distant, but approached\nrapidly, and in a few moments a chariot, drawn by two milk-white stags\nwith golden horns, dashed past close to her, and rolled over a hill\nnear by, as easily as if they had been bubbles blown by the wind.\n\nBut the Princess did not look much at the stags or the chariot; the\nthing that took her attention was the driver. A woman you could hardly\nhave called her; for, though she was clad in the garb of a huntress, it\nwas easy to see who she was, for who but Diana carried a silver bow?\n\n\u2018Dear me!\u2019 said Ernalie, \u2018this must be the Goddess of the moon. I\u2019ll\ngo to her and tell her everything, and ask her to take me back to the\nearth when she goes. For she must go to the earth sometimes since\nshe\u2019s the Goddess of the chase; there\u2019s nothing to hunt here except\ncheese-mites, and they\u2019re not great sport for such a mighty huntress.\u2019\n\nSo she followed as fast as she was able to the top of the hill over\nwhich the chariot had disappeared; but it had gone so fast that it\nhad passed out of sight over another range of hills. However, the\nhoof and wheel marks were plainly shown on the white surface of the\ncheese. So she went on and on, following the tracks, until, just as\nshe was beginning to despair, she came to the brow of a hill, and in a\nvalley beneath she saw a large building, in appearance something like a\nGrecian temple, except that instead of stone it was made of cheese.\n\nIn front of the building was a large heap of skins of various animals,\npiled up so high that they made a sort of couch on which the Goddess\nwas lying up to dinner; for it was the fashion among the gods to lie up\nor rather down, instead of sitting up to table.\n\nThe two white stags which had been harnessed to the chariot were\nplayfully butting at each other with their golden horns, and the\nchariot itself was tilted on its back, just as you would see an\nordinary two-wheeled cart nowadays.\n\nBut the Princess was not particularly interested in this\u2014to tell the\ntruth, she was feeling remarkably hungry and thirsty, for she had been\nalready for some hours without tasting anything at all.\n\n\u2018I wonder if I\u2019m invisible to the gods as well as to man,\u2019 she thought.\n\u2018I\u2019ll just try if I am, at all events.\u2019\n\nSo she went towards the Goddess, who was eating the food that lay on\nthe table in front of the couch; but Diana did not appear to notice\nher, and she advanced more boldly until she was quite close to the\ntable.\n\n\u2018She doesn\u2019t seem to have much variety,\u2019 thought the Princess, at\nleast she meant to think.\n\n\u2018Do you think so?\u2019 said Diana, looking up in some astonishment to where\nthe voice came from. \u2018And who asked you to say so? and who are you, and\nwhere are you, and why can\u2019t I see you? Tell me, or I\u2019ll shoot you.\u2019\n\n\u2018I don\u2019t exactly see how you can,\u2019 said the Princess.\n\nThe Goddess seized her bow and looked for her quiver; but even as she\nreached out her hand to take it, it vanished, for Ernalie was too fast\nfor her.\n\nDiana looked more and more astonished and annoyed.\n\n\u2018Who are you?\u2019 she said. \u2018Are you a mortal?\u2019\n\n\u2018Certainly I am,\u2019 said Ernalie.\n\n\u2018Then how is it I can\u2019t see you?\u2019 asked the Goddess.\n\n\u2018Because of the feather, I suppose,\u2019 said the Princess.\n\n\u2018You don\u2019t mean to say you\u2019ve got the feather? Tell me how you got it?\u2019\n\nThe Princess did as she was told, for she saw no use in making the\nGoddess angry.\n\nWhen she had finished, Diana said:\n\n\u2018You have been lucky, whoever you are. The feather belonged to one of\nJupiter\u2019s eagles, and this eagle got angry and flew at Jove because\nhe gave its brother eagle more than its share of food. So he banished\nthe eagle to the earth, and it got shot. I would give anything for the\nfeather.\u2019\n\n\u2018But I wouldn\u2019t part with it for any price,\u2019 said Ernalie.\n\n\u2018I\u2019ll give you anything you like for it, you know,\u2019 said the Goddess.\n\n\u2018But I won\u2019t part with it,\u2019 said Ernalie. \u2018Besides, I\u2019ve got your\narrows, and I won\u2019t give them back to you for nothing.\u2019\n\n\u2018What a plague you are! What do you want for the arrows?\u2019\n\n\u2018First, you must promise not to steal the feather from me.\u2019\n\n\u2018Well, I\u2019ll promise that,\u2019 said the Goddess.\n\n\u2018Then promise not to do me any harm.\u2019\n\n\u2018Very well.\u2019\n\n\u2018And lastly, take me safely back to the earth.\u2019\n\n\u2018I should be only too glad if you had never come near me,\u2019 said the\nGoddess. \u2018However, I promise them all. Now give me the arrows.\u2019\n\nThe Princess gave the arrows back, for the word of Diana was not to be\ndoubted.\n\n\u2018I wish you would show yourself to me,\u2019 the Goddess went on; \u2018I should\nlike to see you very much. I wonder what sort of a person you are? Do\nshow yourself.\u2019\n\nSo the Princess took off the cap in which she wore the feather, but as\nsoon as it was off Diana vanished; for, you see, it was the feather\ntouching her head that gave Ernalie the power of seeing without being\nseen, and a goddess is naturally invisible. But the Princess did not\nthink of that.\n\n\u2018It must be some trick,\u2019 she thought. So she put the feather back in a\nhurry, but the Goddess had not moved. She was smiling quietly.\n\n\u2018Can\u2019t you trust me, child?\u2019 she said; \u2018for you aren\u2019t much more than a\nchild, you know.\u2019\n\n\u2018I\u2019m grown up, at any rate,\u2019 said the Princess indignantly. \u2018I\u2019m\nnineteen years old, so I\u2019m not so very young.\u2019\n\n\u2018And I\u2019m nineteen thousand years old,\u2019 said the Goddess, \u2018and I don\u2019t\nlook so very old, do I?\u2019\n\n\u2018You certainly don\u2019t. But then, you see, you\u2019re a goddess and I\u2019m a\nmortal, and it makes a difference.\u2019\n\n\u2018It does,\u2019 said Diana. \u2018But do show yourself to me again.\u2019\n\n\u2018But if I make myself visible, you disappear,\u2019 said Ernalie.\n\n\u2018Oh, I had forgotten that. However, I\u2019ll make myself visible too.\u2019\n\nSo when Ernalie took the feather away this time Diana was easily\nvisible.\n\n\u2018And you want to go back to the earth, do you?\u2019 asked Diana.\n\n\u2018I do, very much,\u2019 answered the Princess.\n\n\u2018And why?\u2019\n\n\u2018Because the moon has got so little to eat on it.\u2019\n\n\u2018Really!\u2019 said the Goddess. \u2018There\u2019s plenty of cheese, isn\u2019t there?\u2019\n\n\u2018But I don\u2019t like cheese, and especially green cheese. I hate it.\u2019\n\n\u2018Do you, really? What a pity it is you\u2019re not a mouse,\u2019 said the\nGoddess.\n\n\u2018But I\u2019m not,\u2019 said Ernalie, \u2018and that settles it.\u2019\n\n\u2018She might offer me some of her food,\u2019 she thought to herself.\n\n\u2018You wouldn\u2019t be able to eat it if you had it,\u2019 said the Goddess, who\nseemed to hear what she thought just as well as what she said.\n\n\u2018Why shouldn\u2019t I?\u2019 asked Ernalie.\n\n\u2018Because it\u2019s ambrosia; and if you once ate any of it you\u2019d never be\nable to eat any other kind of food, which would be rather awkward for\nyou.\u2019\n\n\u2018Why?\u2019 asked the Princess.\n\n\u2018You\u2019re always asking \u201cY.\u201d Why don\u2019t you use some other letter\u2014\u201cZ\u201d for\ninstance; it gets so monotonous. Now tell me who you are, and all about\nyourself.\u2019\n\nSo the Princess did as she was told.\n\n\u2018It would never do to offend her if she\u2019s going to take me back to the\nearth,\u2019 she thought, and the Goddess remarked:\n\n\u2018Quite right.\u2019\n\nWhen she had finished, the Goddess said:\n\n\u2018You shouldn\u2019t have interfered with the Fates. Even Jupiter daren\u2019t do\nthat, and I\u2019d as soon go near them as I would pat Cerberus.\u2019\n\n\u2018But what could I do? I didn\u2019t want Wopole to kill himself.\u2019\n\n\u2018I don\u2019t see why not,\u2019 said the Goddess. \u2018Why did you come at all?\nIf Wopole and the other chose to fall out I don\u2019t see why you should\nmeddle to save him.\u2019\n\n\u2018But I couldn\u2019t let Wopole kill Treblo.\u2019\n\n\u2018Why not?\u2019 asked the Goddess.\n\n\u2018Because he was my foster-brother, and he was going to marry me, and\nI\u2019m sure I didn\u2019t want my husband to be liable to drop down dead at any\nmoment.\u2019\n\nThe Goddess looked angry at this.\n\n\u2018Why shouldn\u2019t he? He\u2019s only a man, and I hate men\u2014nasty, vulgar\nthings! And you were going to marry him? If I\u2019d known that I\u2019d never\nhave spoken a word to you. Don\u2019t you know I\u2019m the Goddess of Chastity,\nand I\u2019ve sworn never to marry? The sooner you go the better.\u2019\n\n\u2018But I can\u2019t go. I\u2019ve got nowhere to go to; and besides, you promised\nto take me back to the earth,\u2019 said Ernalie.\n\n\u2018I suppose I did,\u2019 said the Goddess. \u2018Besides, I don\u2019t want to have you\nalways here. Well, the moon will begin to rise in half an hour, and\nthen I\u2019ll take you in my chariot, that\u2019s the only thing to do; so you\ncan help me to harness the stags.\u2019\n\nThis was soon done, and the Goddess went into the house to put away\nthe remains of the food on which she had been dining. When she came\nout again Ernalie noticed that she had made a considerable change in\nher costume. What the change was I don\u2019t exactly know, but she said to\nErnalie:\n\n\u2018You see I have to dress lightly to follow the chase easily. However,\nif you\u2019re ready, I am.\u2019\n\nSo saying, she slung her quiver full of arrows over her back, and\ntaking the silver bow in her hand, got into the chariot.\n\n\u2018Get up,\u2019 she said to Ernalie, for the stags were already pawing the\nground in their eagerness to be off. Ernalie jumped in quickly, and the\nstags darted off at an immense pace. They went so smoothly, however,\nthat the Princess was not at all shaken or jolted. On over hills and\nthrough valleys, until it almost made her head swim at the way in which\nthe scenery shot past. However, in a few minutes the roar of the waves\nsounded in her ears, and they came over the hill-top to the sea-beach.\nJust then the Goddess drew the reins in, and the stags stopped short.\n\n\u2018What on earth is that?\u2019 she said.\n\nNow that the chariot had stopped, the Princess too could hear the sound\nthat came faintly borne on the breeze:\n\n    \u2018When moonlight o\u2019er the azure seas.\u2019\n\n\u2018Why, it\u2019s the Man,\u2019 she said.\n\n\u2018So it is,\u2019 said Diana angrily. \u2018I recognise his voice. He calls it\n\u201cmezzo-soprano.\u201d It\u2019s dreadful. I told him never to sing unless he had\nsomebody to sing to. Of course I thought no one would ever come to the\nmoon. I wonder whom he\u2019s singing to?\u2019\n\n\u2018I rather imagine he thinks he\u2019s singing to me,\u2019 said the Princess\nhesitatingly. \u2018I begged him not to sing; but he insisted. So I ran\naway, and I suppose he thinks I\u2019m still there, for, you see, he can\u2019t\nsee me.\u2019\n\n\u2018Oh, he thinks you\u2019re still there, does he?\u2019 said Diana. \u2018Just make\nyourself invisible, and I\u2019ll do the same, and we\u2019ll go a little closer.\u2019\n\nThe Princess did as she was told, and Diana urged the stags in the\ndirection of the voice.\n\nThe rattling of the wheels was quite drowned in the noise of the Man\u2019s\nvoice, as he sang:\n\n    \u2018And you\u2019ll remember me . . e . . e,\n     And you\u2019ll remember me.\u2019\n\n\u2018You\u2019ve improved a good deal in that last line,\u2019 said the Goddess. \u2018I\nwish you\u2019d sing it over again.\u2019\n\n\u2018You _are_ there then?\u2019 said the Man. \u2018I thought you had gone away. I\ncouldn\u2019t get you to answer when I spoke to you.\u2019\n\n\u2018Ah! that was because I was too enchanted for words to express. Now,\n_do_ sing the last line again. Only the last line; it _is_ so fine,\u2019\nsaid Diana.\n\nThe Man drew in a long breath:\n\n    \u2018And you\u2019ll remember, re . member me . e . e.\u2019\n\nAt the sound of his voice the Princess put her hands to her ears, and\nDiana had the greatest difficulty in keeping the stags from turning\ntail and bolting right away. However, she managed to quieten them, and\ntook a good grip of her whip handle, and the consequence was that the\nlast line came out:\n\n    \u2018And you\u2019ll remember me . . e . . ow\u2014ow!\u2019\n\nfor the whip stung a good deal.\n\n\u2018I hope you\u2019ll remember me\u2014ow\u2014ow,\u2019 said the Goddess calmly, as she\nsuddenly appeared to him, turning the chariot towards the sea.\n\n\u2018You don\u2019t mind getting a little wet?\u2019 she continued, turning to the\nPrincess. \u2018We\u2019re going over the water.\u2019\n\nAnd she gave the reins to the stags, who sprang wildly down the steep\nslope into the sea. For a moment the Princess thought that there might\nbe rather too much of a good thing, even if that good thing were riding\nin a chariot along with a goddess; for the chariot plunged deep into a\nhigh wave, and it seemed to the Princess as if it never did intend to\ncome to the surface again. However, it did come up, and that was some\ncomfort, although the Princess was dripping all over with the sea-water.\n\nBut the stags were once more darting onwards, for the chariot ran as\nlightly over the waves as over the land, and they went at such a rate\nthat although the great breakers chased them, and even curled right\nover them, they were never so much as touched by the spray that the\nwind blew from off the crests of the waves.\n\nSo they dashed on through the blue water that coiled up over the front\nof the chariot but fell back when it saw the Goddess. On and on they\nwent, and as they got farther out the waves became steeper and steeper,\nuntil it seemed as if they were going over very mountainous land\nindeed, for they rose over every wave.\n\nSuddenly the Goddess said:\n\n\u2018This is a little too much,\u2019 and drew the stags in.\n\nThe great waves rolled on like angry hounds hungering for their prey;\nbut the Goddess motioned with her hand:\n\n\u2018Down, down!\u2019 she cried. \u2018Know ye me?\u2019\n\nAnd the waves sank, like hounds to whom their master shows his whip,\nand instantly it fell a deep calm over the whole sea. Then the Goddess\nlashed on the deer again, and once more they sped on over the sea, and\nthe chariot wheels cut two deep white furrows in the deep blue, and in\nthe moonlight Ernalie could see the two straight white lines glistening\nright away to the horizon\u2014for they went so quickly that there was no\ntime for the foam to die away, before it was out of sight. So they kept\non for a long while, and gradually the moon rose in the sky, and then\nfell lower and lower, and still they journeyed on. Then the moon set,\nthe stars gradually faded from sight, and the hot rays of the morning\nsun began to turn the eastern sky yellow.\n\nSuddenly the Goddess pulled up the stags.\n\n\u2018There\u2019s the land,\u2019 she said, pointing to a low blue line on the\nhorizon. \u2018We must rise into the air now, for we are getting near the\nplace where ships ply to and fro on the sea, and if the sailors saw\nthe two white trails of the chariot wheels they would say it was the\nsea-serpent, and I don\u2019t want to be called a snake\u2014it\u2019s most insulting.\nSo if you\u2019re inclined to be giddy you\u2019d better sit in the bottom of the\ncar.\u2019\n\nBut the Princess said:\n\n\u2018Oh no. I\u2019m never giddy, however great the height may be.\u2019\n\nSo Diana gave the word to the stags, and they began to rise from the\nwater in a spiral line upwards as an eagle soars in chase of a swan.\n\nWhen they had reached a sufficiently great height, the Goddess once\nmore let loose the reins, and the deer bounded forward again like an\narrow released from a bow.\n\nSwiftly they neared the land; but from where they were nothing could be\nseen of the things on it. Everything was blurred into one mass, as if\nit had been a map spread out below them.\n\nSo they sped on again for a time, and the fresh morning air blew cool\non Ernalie\u2019s face, and almost made her shiver, though by this time her\ngarments were dry again, and blew out like a cloud behind her, as if\nthey had been of thin gauze, though they were really of far thicker and\nheavier material.\n\nSuddenly a thought struck Ernalie.\n\n\u2018Where are you going to take me?\u2019 she asked as well as she could, for\nthe wind blew her words down her throat.\n\nThe Goddess smiled somewhat maliciously, Ernalie thought, and checked\nthe course of the stags that she might speak with greater ease.\n\n\u2018You shall see,\u2019 she said.\n\n\u2018But I should like to know beforehand.\u2019\n\n\u2018I only promised to take you back to the earth,\u2019 said Diana.\n\n\u2018But you promised to do me no harm,\u2019 said Ernalie dismally, \u2018and if you\nleave me in the middle of a desert you\u2019ll do me a lot of harm.\u2019\n\n\u2018But I\u2019m not going to put you down into the middle of a desert,\u2019 said\nDiana. \u2018Look, we are descending. Now, see if you recognise the country\nyou pass over.\u2019\n\nThe Princess looked over the edge of the chariot, and she saw that\nthe stags were descending in great spiral curves, and at each curve\nthe earth flew up nearer and nearer to meet them. As they got lower\ndown Ernalie could see what was below more clearly, as if she had been\nlooking through an opera glass, and was only just commencing to get the\nright focus. When they were quite close the Goddess stopped the descent\nof the chariot.\n\n\u2018Now, do you recognise where you are?\u2019 she asked.\n\nBut Ernalie shook her head.\n\n\u2018I only see that we are over the tops of a range of mountains that\nhave snow on their peaks,\u2019 she said. \u2018But I was never here before\u2014that\nI am quite certain of.\u2019\n\nThe Goddess shook the reins, and again the stags flew forward; but this\ntime not so fast as they had gone before.\n\n\u2018You have been here before,\u2019 she said. \u2018And at just this height, and at\njust this speed, only you were going in the opposite direction.\u2019\n\n\u2018Why,\u2019 said Ernalie, \u2018I must be in my own country. Oh, how cruel of you\nto take me away from my Prince, and you promised to do me no harm.\u2019\n\n\u2018I am doing you no harm,\u2019 said the Goddess. \u2018To prevent you marrying is\nnot harm\u2014it is good.\u2019\n\nBut the Princess said:\n\n\u2018No! no! it is harm. I would give anything to be back with him.\u2019\n\n\u2018Would you give your feather?\u2019 said the Goddess eagerly.\n\n\u2018No, not that,\u2019 said the Princess.\n\n\u2018I will give you anything you like for it,\u2019 said the Goddess.\n\u2018Anything\u2014\u2014\u2019\n\nBut the Princess said scornfully:\n\n\u2018Not so, Goddess. I will get back to my love in spite of you. If I can\ndo nothing better I will pray to Venus and offer her the feather.\u2019\n\nThe Goddess looked angrily at her, and it almost seemed as if her eyes\nshot fire.\n\n\u2018If it were not for my promise,\u2019 she said, \u2018I would hurl you from the\ncar; but as it is, I will put you safely down.\u2019\n\nBut the Princess smiled in spite of herself.\n\n\u2018Do you, then, hate Venus so much, great Goddess?\u2019 she asked. \u2018Well,\nyou have really done me much good, and therefore I promise never to\ngive the feather to any other goddess save you alone.\u2019\n\nDiana looked very much relieved; for, to tell the truth, the goddesses\nin those days were very jealous of one another, and Diana could not\nbear the thought that any one else should have the feather if she could\nnot get it.\n\nSo for a few minutes she was silent; and then suddenly she drew in the\nstags.\n\n\u2018I am going to set you down here,\u2019 she said, and they plunged into\nthe darkness below. For you must know that though they were high up,\nand the rays of the sun, still below the horizon, fell on them, yet,\nbeneath them, everything was dark in the shadow of the mountains.\n\nThe chariot sank slowly until it rested on the ground, but it was still\nso dark that the Princess could see nothing.\n\n\u2018Get out,\u2019 said Diana; \u2018you are quite safe here.\u2019 And the Princess\nobeyed. \u2018Now remember,\u2019 the Goddess went on, \u2018I have kept my promises.\nRemember to keep yours. Give the feather to no one except to me,\nunless I send Iris for it. To her alone give it, for she is the\nmessenger of the goddesses.\u2019\n\nThe Princess once more promised, and Diana shook the reins, and the\nchariot once more darted up through the air and out of the lower\ndarkness into the sunlight, until it was so high that it vanished\naltogether from her sight.\n\nSo the Princess looked wearily down again, and the earth around her\nseemed doubly dark by contrast.\n\n\u2018I wonder where on earth I am,\u2019 she said, and then she took two or\nthree steps forward, but she came against a stone parapet or wall, or\nsomething. \u2018I wonder what this is,\u2019 she said to herself. \u2018I think I\nshall stop where I am till daylight; it won\u2019t be very long now, and I\u2019m\nsafe here at any rate.\u2019\n\nSo she leant on the wall and waited; but even though the dawn was near\nit seemed long in coming.\n\nBut presently over the mountains in the east a yellow light stole,\nchanging the silence of darkness for the clamorous speech of light,\nand the river flowing placidly in front was turned to liquid gold with\nthe yellow of the dawn, and a sense of yellow-fringed gray mist was on\neverything, and forms erstwhile veiled discovered themselves.\n\n\u2018Why, wherever am I?\u2019 said Ernalie, rubbing her eyes in astonishment.\n\u2018I seem to have been here before! Yes, there\u2019s the fountain and the\nrose-bushes, and\u2014why, this must be the terrace of my father\u2019s Palace!\nJust where I was when the eagle carried me off. I wonder if the swans\nare still here,\u2019 and she walked to the other side of the terrace and\nlooked over the marble parapet into the water.\n\n\u2018Yes, there they are.\u2019 And on the marble steps that led down to the\nwater the swans were asleep, each on one leg, with its neck coiled up\non its back, and head under its wing. On hearing the footsteps of the\nPrincess one of them looked lazily up as if it had been waked too soon,\nand then it shook its head, yawned, put down its other leg and waddled\nslowly to the water, into which it jumped with a splash that woke the\nothers up; and they followed dreamily, being unused to the chill of the\nwater so early.\n\nA cock crowed, and his challenge was answered from far and near, and\nwoke up the sparrows, who came down to the fountain for a shower-bath\nin the sparkling spray. They were followed by the pigeons, who, after\ncooing a little, stretched their wings and circled away on their\nmorning flight. So, by degrees, the world awoke as the day took a\nfirmer grasp on the land and the light grew stronger.\n\n\u2018I wish they\u2019d open the doors and let me get in,\u2019 the Princess said.\nBut as yet there seemed no sign of any one waking up.\n\n\u2018Ah, well,\u2019 she said resignedly, \u2018I\u2019ve waited six years to come home\u2014I\nsuppose I can wait a few more hours.\u2019\n\nSo she quietly walked to the rose-bushes and plucked one or two of the\ngreat red damask roses, and chafing the petals off between her hands,\nthrew the handfuls of them at the swans, who hissed and snapped as the\nmass of red leaves fell over them. It was some time since they had been\nsubjected to such treatment; however, they seemed to get used to it\nagain pretty easily.\n\nThus the Princess managed to while away about half an hour, and then\nshe noticed smoke coming out of one of the chimneys.\n\n\u2018They must be up in the kitchen,\u2019 she thought. \u2018I\u2019ll just go and knock\nat the door and get let in.\u2019\n\nAccordingly she went and knocked softly at the door, and an angry\nvoice shouted out:\n\n\u2018Come in, do! and don\u2019t stand knocking there. I\u2019ve got the King\u2019s boots\nto black, and his eggs and bacon to cook, and I\u2019ve only got three hours\nto do it in. I haven\u2019t got time.\u2019\n\nSo the Princess lifted the latch and walked in.\n\n\u2018Is the King up, cook?\u2019 she asked.\n\n\u2018No, he\u2019s not! lazy old man as he is,\u2019 said the cook, looking up\nangrily. \u2018But where are you? Come out from behind that door.\u2019\n\n\u2018Oh! I had forgotten,\u2019 said the Princess.\n\nShe meant, of course, she had forgotten about the feather, but the cook\ndidn\u2019t know that.\n\n\u2018You\u2019d forgotten, had you?\u2019 she exclaimed. \u2018I\u2019ll teach you to forget if\nI catch you!\u2019\n\n\u2018But you won\u2019t, my dear cook,\u2019 said the Princess sweetly.\n\n\u2018You\u2019ll catch it if you don\u2019t look out!\u2019 howled the cook, as she rose\nfrom the floor where she had been cleaning the boots, and in doing so\nshe knocked over an enormous pot of liquid blacking.\n\n\u2018That\u2019s your doing!\u2019 she cried, as she made a dash at the door.\n\nBut the Princess evaded her easily, and she ran outside fully expecting\nto find the invisible questioner there. But the Princess meanwhile\nwalked through the kitchen and up the back-stairs to her own room.\n\nThe room was just as she had left it when she went away, except that\nthe bed seemed to have grown rather small for her, or rather she had\ngrown too large for the bed.\n\nHowever, she went in, and locking the door, laid herself down on the\nbed, and soon dropped off to sleep; for, as you may imagine, she was\nrather tired, for she had not slept for nearly two days\u2014that is, ever\nsince she had first reached the moon.\n\nIt did not seem that she had slept three minutes before she was\nawakened by a tremendous noise below-stairs.\n\n\u2018I wonder what that is,\u2019 she said. \u2018I think I\u2019ll get up and see.\u2019\n\nAnd she went to the wash-hand stand to wash the sea-water off her face,\nbut the soap, from long want of use, had cracked in all directions, and\nshe had to content herself with the water that was in the jug. Then she\nbrushed her hair, which was full of salt, and after that tried to brush\nthe salt off her dress; for the sea-water had dried on it, and had\nleft it shining all over with the salt. Before she had quite finished,\nhowever, the noise that had waked her sounded again. It seemed as if\nsome one were running downstairs very hard.\n\nSo the Princess took her hat off, not wishing to be invisible any more,\nfor a time at least, and then, opening the door, she walked quietly\ndownstairs.\n\nThere seemed to be no one about, and except that a terrible hurly-burly\nproceeded from the whereabouts of the kitchen, one would never have\ntold that any one in the whole house was awake.\n\nHowever, just then the clock in the hall struck eight, and a page came\nrushing downstairs.\n\n\u2018Breakfast! breakfast!\u2019 he shouted, quite without noticing the\nPrincess, and he almost passed her before he saw her; but she stopped\nhim.\n\n\u2018Where is the King?\u2019 she said.\n\n\u2018The King is in his counting\u2014that is, I mean the breakfast-room. But\nyou can\u2019t see him.\u2019\n\n\u2018But I must,\u2019 said the Princess.\n\n\u2018Well, of course, if you must\u2014\u2014\u2019\n\nThe Princess interrupted him.\n\n\u2018Don\u2019t you know who I am?\u2019 she said.\n\n\u2018No, I don\u2019t; and I don\u2019t want to,\u2019 said the page. \u2018Perhaps you\u2019re the\nperson who brings home the washing, or the kitchen-maid. If you are, I\nwouldn\u2019t like to be in your shoes. The King is so jolly wild about his\neggs and bacon being late that\u2014\u2014\u2019\n\nBut the Princess didn\u2019t wait to hear any more; she walked straight\ntowards the door of the breakfast-room. At the door two guards were\nstationed; but as they were old and crusted\u2014that is, trusted\u2014they\nremembered the Princess, and only saluted with their swords, wishing\nher \u2018good-morning\u2019\u2014for they were far too well bred to express surprise\nor joy at sight of her. One of them opened the door for her, and said\nin a loud voice:\n\n\u2018The Princess, your Majesty.\u2019\n\nThe King was seated in a chair with his back to the door, and did not\nseem to hear what the man said. He only nodded, and did not look up\nfrom the papers he was reading.\n\nSo the Princess stole quietly up behind him, and put her fingers over\nhis eyes\u2014she always was rather irreverent.\n\n\u2018Guess who I am,\u2019 she said to the struggling monarch.\n\n\u2018I won\u2019t,\u2019 he spluttered, for he was rather enraged.\n\n\u2018Think a minute, papa,\u2019 she said encouragingly.\n\n\u2018I never should have thought of being assaulted in such a way,\u2019 said\nthe King, who had given up struggling, finding it no use.\n\nSo the Princess drew her hands away, and kissed him on the top of his\nbald head.\n\nThe King darted away out of the chair as soon as he was released, and\nthat so violently that he fell right on to the floor in a sitting\nposture.\n\n\u2018Why, who the\u2014\u2014\u2019 he was beginning; but his eye happening to fall on\nErnalie, he ejaculated:\n\n\u2018Good gracious! How did you come here?\u2019\n\n\u2018I walked downstairs from my room to bid you good-morning, papa, and\nyou recoiled when I touched you as if I were a snake, instead of your\nloving daughter. But wouldn\u2019t you like me to help you up? It must be\nrather uncomfortable sitting there.\u2019\n\n\u2018Yes, I think it would be as well,\u2019 the King said, after reflecting\na moment. \u2018I shouldn\u2019t like any one to see me in such a posture\u2014it\u2019s\nrather undignified for a king.\u2019\n\nSo the Princess bent over and began to help him up; but it was a labour\nof some time, for the King was rather stiff, and just as she had got\nhim half up a page entered and announced the breakfast. It was the same\npage that had met the Princess on the staircase, and when he saw the\nPrincess assisting the King to rise, he rushed forward, shouting:\n\n\u2018Help! help! She\u2019s murdering the King.\u2019\n\nAnd catching the Princess by the arm, he pulled her away so roughly\nthat she had to let go of the King, who recoiled at the shock, and\nrolled under the table on his back.\n\nAlarmed at the page\u2019s cries for help, a large number of people had\nrushed in, and he turned to them expecting to be commended for his\nbravery; but he saw that every one either looked as if he had put his\nfoot in it, or else was trying hard not to laugh. The Princess herself\ncould hardly help laughing at his perplexed face.\n\n\u2018I think, sir, you were a little too vigorous in your help,\u2019 she said\ncoldly. \u2018You may leave us now.\u2019\n\n\u2018And you can all go,\u2019 said the King from under the table.\n\nThe whole lot trooped out, shutting the door, and as soon as they were\noutside shouts of laughter filled the air for some minutes.\n\nThe King meanwhile scrambled out from under the table and got up, this\ntime declining his daughter\u2019s help.\n\n\u2018It\u2019s always the way,\u2019 he said, as soon as the laughter had died away.\n\u2018Whenever I do anything ridiculous and undignified there\u2019s always a\nlot of people to see it. Why, only last Thursday\u2014no, last Tuesday,\nI think\u2014anyhow, it was the day of the last state banquet, my crown\ntumbled into the soup-tureen, and then I was so nervous that, when I\nwas raising my wine-glass to propose a toast, my hand shook so much\nthat I dropped the wine down the Duchess of Carabas\u2019s neck; and then\nshe fainted, and I helped to carry her out of the room, and as soon\nas I got outside they all laughed so loud that the chandelier fell\ninto the middle of them. It broke right on a duke\u2019s head, and he never\napologised for breaking it. However, I shall get over it now you\u2019ve\ncome back. We really must get into more regular habits. I\u2019ve actually\nnever had more than ten pages to serve my breakfast since you\u2019ve been\naway, and, by the bye, we\u2019ve not _had_ breakfast; and I\u2019ve forgotten\naltogether to have the bells rung in your honour. Just knock that gong\nthere on the table\u2014it\u2019s cracked, but I can\u2019t afford a new one, and it\u2019s\nquite good enough for the guards outside to hear.\u2019\n\nSo the Princess knocked the gong, and it certainly _was_ cracked; it\nsounded a good deal more like knocking an old pot than a respectable\nroyal gong.\n\nAt the sound one of the guards outside entered and saluted.\n\n\u2018Let the breakfast be brought,\u2019 the King said.\n\nThe guard withdrew, and presently the door opened, and a page appeared\nwith the royal coffee-pot on a cushion of cloth of gold. Next came\nanother page with the cream-jug on a similar cushion, and then another\nwith the slop-basin, and another with the sugar, and another with the\ntongs, until the table was completely furnished. Last of all came,\nwith a loud fanfare of trumpets, four men, staggering under the weight\nof an enormous silver dish with an equally enormous silver cover. When\nthis was placed on the table, amid another flourish of trumpets, the\nroyal butler entered, and said:\n\n\u2018Breakfast is served, your Majesty,\u2019 although the King could see it\nvery well himself. But that was the custom.\n\n\u2018You may remove the cover,\u2019 the King said.\n\nAnd the butler did so, discovering the breakfast. I say discovering,\nfor the breakfast was so small that it seemed almost lost in the centre\nof the great dish. The twelve pages had ranged themselves in lines of\nsix on each side of the table, and although they were very well bred,\non the whole they could not help smiling, whereupon all simultaneously\ndrew out their handkerchiefs and began to cough, and then they looked\nat the windows, as if to see where the draught came from.\n\nBut the King did not take any notice, and as soon as he could make\nhimself heard, he said:\n\n\u2018Ah! and what is this?\u2019\n\n\u2018It is the breakfast, your Majesty,\u2019 said the butler.\n\n\u2018Yes, I can see that,\u2019 said the King. \u2018But what is the dish called?\u2019\n\n\u2018Oh, the dish, your Majesty,\u2019 said the butler apologetically. \u2018It\u2019s the\nordinary silver dish that your Majesty has with the breakfast. I think\nit\u2019s the fiddle pattern\u2014no, that\u2019s for spoons; but\u2014\u2014\u2019\n\n\u2018You\u2019re an ass,\u2019 said the King, interrupting him angrily.\n\n\u2018Thank you, your Majesty. Anything else?\u2019\n\n\u2018Send for the cook.\u2019\n\n\u2018Yes, your Majesty. Anything else?\u2019\n\n\u2018Yes; go away, and don\u2019t come back.\u2019\n\n\u2018Yes, your Majesty. You\u2019re quite sure there\u2019s nothing\u2014\u2014\u2019\n\n\u2018If you don\u2019t go,\u2019 said the King threateningly. But he had gone.\n\nIn a few minutes heavy footsteps were heard outside, and the door burst\nopen violently, and a very fat person entered. She seemed a perfect\nmass of blacking and dust.\n\n\u2018Who are you?\u2019 said the King in astonishment.\n\n\u2018I am the lady that does the cooking for you,\u2019 said the cook solemnly.\n\n\u2018Oh, you are,\u2019 said the King; \u2018and will your ladyship allow me to ask\nwhat that is?\u2019 and he pointed to the breakfast.\n\nThe cook went forward and, taking a fork from the table, tried to pick\nthe breakfast up, but it slid off the fork; so, without more ado, she\ntook it up in her fingers and examined it carefully, as if to see that\nit had not changed since she sent it up. When she had done, she looked\nup and said:\n\n\u2018Why, it\u2019s as nice an egg as can be bought for money, only it\u2019s a bit\naddled; and I dropped it in the blacking, but I wiped it on my own\napron\u2014look there.\u2019\n\nAnd she lifted up her apron to look at; and it certainly looked as if a\ngood many eggs had been wiped on it.\n\nHowever, the King did not notice that.\n\n\u2018Oh, it\u2019s an egg, is it?\u2019 he said; \u2018I didn\u2019t know. I thought it was a\npiece of coal, and\u2014\u2014\u2019\n\nBut at this point the cook broke in.\n\n\u2018Call my eggs a coal! It\u2019s a crying shame! You ought to be ashamed of\nyourself, an old man like you, too. Here have I been working for three\nhours this very morning at that egg, and he calls it a coal; and me\nthat plagued too with demons! Why, only this morning one of \u2019em came\nand banged at the door so hard that it broke, and then it came in. It\nwas a blue one, with red eyes and a long green tail with a fork at\nthe end; and it stuck the fork in the egg, and then put the egg in the\nblacking and threw it all over the kitchen; and then it kicked the\nblacking pot over and flew out at the door before I could say \u201cGemini\u201d;\nand I saw it with my own eyes, and it was as ugly a little\u2014\u2014\u2019\n\nBut this was more than the Princess could stand.\n\n\u2018Oh, what a\u2014an untruth that is! Look at me. Am I a blue demon with red\neyes and a tail?\u2019\n\nBut the cook was off again.\n\n\u2018Oh, it was you, was it? And you ought to be ashamed of _your_self,\na-frightening a poor lone-lorn woman. Call yourself a Princess? I call\nyou a\u2014\u2014\u2019\n\nThis was too much for the King.\n\n\u2018That is enough,\u2019 he said. \u2018Take a month\u2019s warning.\u2019\n\nTo which the cook replied contemptuously:\n\n\u2018You give _me_ a month\u2019s warning? Not a bit of it. I give you a\nminute\u2019s warning! it\u2019s quite enough for the likes of you.\u2019\n\n\u2018Oh, very well,\u2019 said the King. \u2018Of course, if you go off without\nwarning, I don\u2019t pay your month\u2019s wages.\u2019\n\n\u2018Call yourself a King?\u2019 roared the cook. \u2018Why, you\u2019re meaner than\u2014\u2014\u2019\n\n\u2018I don\u2019t know what I call myself,\u2019 said the King mildly, \u2018but if you\ndon\u2019t go I\u2019ll call a policeman and have your head cut off instead of\nyour wages.\u2019\n\nBut the cook was not to be daunted.\n\n\u2018That\u2019s what the likes of you does with your old and faithful servants.\nHere have I been, day in, day out, work, work, work, like a nigger\nslave-driver, and this is my reward!\u2019\n\nThe King did not listen to the rest. He beckoned to one of the pages\nand said:\n\n\u2018Just run and bring a sack and throw it over her head. Be quick!\u2019\n\nThe page left the room.\n\n\u2018There you go,\u2019 said the irrepressible cook. \u2018That\u2019s it, send for the\npolice, ye oppressors of the poor. Ugh!\u2019\n\nAnd she began a fresh volley of abuse. She seemed as if she would\nnever lose her breath. But after a few minutes\u2014it seemed ages to the\nunfortunate King\u2014the page returned; and although he did not enter very\nquietly, yet the cook was making such a noise that she did not hear\nhim, and the page, who seemed to enter entirely into the spirit of the\nthing, dropped the sack quietly over her head, and stopped her flow of\nlanguage.\n\n\u2018Now, take her outside and put her out at the back door, and mind and\nshut the door securely after her,\u2019 remarked the King, with a sigh of\nrelief.\n\nSix of the pages immediately caught hold of her and dragged her out,\nand the other six were about to follow to see the sport when the King\nstopped them.\n\n\u2018Can any one of you cook at all?\u2019 he said.\n\nOne of the pages stood out and professed to be able to do a little in\nthat way.\n\n\u2018Well, then,\u2019 said the King decidedly, \u2018all six of you go to the\nkitchen and see what you can find there; and mind you, if I don\u2019t have\na breakfast in five minutes, I\u2019ll\u2014well, _I\u2019ll_ see about it.\u2019\n\nWhen the pages had gone, he turned to the Princess and said:\n\n\u2018That\u2019s what I always have to put up with. Only the other day the man\nwho cleans the library windows flung his towel in my face and refused\nto work any more for me, and all because I told him that his coat\nwasn\u2019t in the fashion.\u2019\n\n\u2018But wasn\u2019t that rather an unwise proceeding, papa?\u2019 asked Ernalie,\ndubiously.\n\n\u2018Do you think so?\u2019 asked the King. \u2018If I said that the cut of your\ndress was rather outlandish\u2014and it is, by the bye\u2014you wouldn\u2019t fling\nsomething at me, would you?\u2019\n\n\u2018No; but then I\u2019m your dutiful daughter, you see.\u2019\n\n\u2018Well, but he ought to be my dutiful son, for I\u2019m the father of my\ncountry.\u2019\n\n\u2018Well, but then, you see, sons are not always dutiful\u2014daughters always\nare.\u2019\n\n\u2018Or they ought to be,\u2019 said his Majesty.\n\n\u2018It\u2019s the same thing, isn\u2019t it?\u2019\n\n\u2018Do you think so?\u2019 said the King, in a tone that showed he doubted it.\n\nJust at this moment the pages entered, bringing the breakfast; and they\nsat down to it.\n\nI needn\u2019t say it was much better than the first one, although I don\u2019t\nremember exactly what it consisted of; however, they did good justice\nto it, for Ernalie was rather hungry.\n\nJust as they had finished, the King threw down his knife and fork and\nlooked as if he had just remembered something dreadful.\n\n\u2018What is the matter, papa?\u2019 asked the Princess in alarm.\n\nAnd the King burst out:\n\n\u2018There, now! I knew I\u2019d forgotten something!\u2019 he said. \u2018Run out, all\nsix of you,\u2019 he went on, addressing the pages, \u2018and set the joy-bells\npealing, and send messengers throughout the land. Quick!\u2019\n\nBut when they had gone, he calmed down and said:\n\n\u2018Now, Ernalie, tell me where you\u2019ve been.\u2019\n\nSo she began and told it all through, and the King listened quietly\ntill she had finished. Then he said:\n\n\u2018Ah! You\u2019ve had some wonderful adventures, and you\u2019ve come back safe\nout of them\u2014only, I should very much like to see this wonderful\nfeather.\u2019\n\nSo the Princess showed him the feather in her hat, which she had laid\non a chair; the King looked at it very carefully, and then he said:\n\n\u2018H\u2019m. Looks a very ordinary feather. How does it work? I should like to\nsee.\u2019\n\n\u2018You won\u2019t see much,\u2019 said the Princess with a smile, as she put it on\nand vanished.\n\nThe King looked astonished.\n\n\u2018Why, where are you?\u2019 he said.\n\n\u2018I\u2019m just where I was before, papa,\u2019 answered the Princess.\n\n\u2018But I don\u2019t believe it,\u2019 the King said, and he looked under the table.\n\u2018You\u2019ve hidden yourself behind something\u2014or some other trick.\u2019\n\nHe was rather too startled to think of what his words meant exactly.\n\n\u2018You are a sceptical old papa for any one to have to do with; but I\u2019ll\nsoon prove it to you.\u2019\n\nAnd she walked quietly behind his chair, and blew in his ear, which\nwas a rather rude thing to do, on the whole.\n\n\u2018Perhaps that will blow the disbelief out of your head,\u2019 she said,\nlaughing to see how her unfortunate father shook his head in surprise.\n\n\u2018Oh yes,\u2019 he replied, \u2018I\u2019m quite convinced, and I don\u2019t need any more;\nand I\u2019d much rather see what you\u2019re up to, so just take the feather\noff, there\u2019s a good girl.\u2019\n\nAnd the Princess did as she was told, and the King said:\n\n\u2018Ah! there you are. Don\u2019t put it on again; I\u2019ve had quite enough of\nit. Now I can understand how it was that you did it all. But I can\u2019t\nunderstand why you didn\u2019t let the young man save himself. You might\njust as well have lent him the feather, and let him go and get drowned.\u2019\n\n\u2018But I didn\u2019t want him to get drowned,\u2019 said the Princess.\n\n\u2018Why not?\u2019 said the King.\n\n\u2018Because his father and mother took me in, and saved me from Wopole,\nand it wouldn\u2019t have been a great return for their kindness to let\ntheir only son be killed, and besides I\u2014\u2014\u2019 But her Royal Highness\nstopped.\n\n\u2018You what?\u2019 said her father.\n\n\u2018I mean he\u2014\u2014\u2019 and she stopped again.\n\n\u2018Oh, it\u2019s him this time, is it? What\u2019s the matter with you?\u2019 he said\nin astonishment. \u2018You don\u2019t mean to say that you\u2019re in love with one\nanother? Now I call that too bad. Here have I promised you to three\ndukes, and you\u2019ve gone and fallen in love with a Prince. Now I shall\nhave no end of a nuisance with them.\u2019\n\n\u2018I won\u2019t marry them, at any rate,\u2019 said Ernalie energetically.\n\n\u2018I don\u2019t want you to marry _them_\u2014one\u2019s quite enough at a time.\u2019\n\n\u2018But I won\u2019t marry one of them, and I\u2019m the principal person concerned.\n\nAnd the Princess began to cry, and that of course softened the heart\nof her father.\n\n\u2018There, there,\u2019 he said, as if he were soothing a baby. \u2018Don\u2019t cry; you\nshall marry the Prince, if you can get him\u2014only it\u2019s rather awkward for\nme. I can\u2019t tell the dukes that you\u2019re engaged to a Prince that can\u2019t\nbe got at. I\u2019m afraid the only thing to do will be to have all their\nheads cut off. That\u2019ll keep them quiet, at any rate. If I were you I\u2019d\nsend this young man a letter to tell him where you are.\u2019\n\n\u2018But I\u2019m afraid it wouldn\u2019t reach him,\u2019 said the Princess.\n\n\u2018Then I don\u2019t see what\u2019s to be done,\u2019 said the King perplexedly.\n\u2018However, I shall give a grand ball to-morrow, and if I were you I\nshould go and have a dress made at once. Send for the Court dressmaker,\nand tell her that if the dress isn\u2019t ready by then you\u2019ll turn her out\nof her place; and then when you\u2019ve done that go into the library, and\ntake a book and read. I\u2019ve got a whole lot of work to do this morning;\nbut I shall have finished by one, and then I shall have the day to\nmyself.\u2019\n\n\u2018But can\u2019t I stay with you while you work? I will be very quiet.\u2019\n\nBut the King shook his head.\n\n\u2018No\u2014there\u2019s a good girl. I\u2019ve got a whole lot of people to give\naudience to, and they\u2019ll take up such a lot of time congratulating you\nthat I shall not get a stroke of work done.\u2019\n\nSo the Princess went and was measured for her ball-dress, and then into\nthe library, and looked about for a book.\n\nMost of them looked very dry and uninteresting, so the Princess took\none at a venture.\n\nIt was called _The Canterbury Tales_, by Geoffrey Chaucer.\n\n\u2018Chaucer,\u2019 said the Princess to herself, \u2018I\u2019ve heard of him. I\u2019ll just\ntake it on to the terrace and read it in the arbour. It\u2019s better than\nsitting in this stuffy old library.\u2019\n\nSo she opened one of the windows that led on to the steps of the\nterrace, and taking the book with her, stepped out of the room.\n\nOn the terrace a peacock was airing itself with some pea-hens, and when\nit saw the Princess it raised its great fan-like tail to display itself\nto greater advantage, then it quivered all over until the feathers of\nits tail rattled one against the other, and the hens looked admiringly\nat him, and then sideways at one another, nodding their heads and\nclucking, as if to say:\n\n\u2018Ha! what a fine fellow our master is, and what a splendid tail he\u2019s\ngot. Much better than that poor human being\u2019s yellow stuff, which only\nmoves when the wind blows it.\u2019 And then they looked contemptuously\nat the Princess\u2019s golden hair, and clucked to each other again, and\nfollowed the peacock, which was strutting away to another part of the\nterrace.\n\nSo the Princess went and looked for the swans; but they were busily\nengaged right over at the other side of the lake, turning bottom\nupwards in a very undignified manner, and they refused to come for any\namount of calling.\n\nAs there was nothing else to do, she went and sat down in a shady nook\nin the white marble wall, and began to look at her book.\n\n\u2018I shall skip the \u201cIntroduction\u201d and the \u201cPrologue\u201d\u2014that\u2019s always dry.\nYes, let\u2019s see, this will do\u2014\u201cThe Knightes Tale.\u201d It hasn\u2019t got any\napostrophe to \u201cKnightes.\u201d That\u2019s bad grammar, I\u2019m sure. However, I\u2019ll\ngo on.\u2019\n\nSo she settled herself in a comfortable position with the book on her\nlap, and began again:\n\n    \u2018Whilom as olde stories tellen us\n     A certeyn duk highte Theseus.\u2019\n\nHere she stopped.\n\n\u2018This man may be a good poet, but he spells awfully badly. Fancy\n\u201ccertain\u201d spelt with an \u201ce-y-n,\u201d and \u201cduke\u201d without an \u201ce.\u201d It sounds\nlike \u201cduck.\u201d And then, what was the \u201cheight of Theseus\u201d? I can\u2019t\nunderstand it at all.\u2019\n\nHowever, she read on, skipping pages here and there, for it was almost\nimpossible for her to understand it. Now it happened that as she turned\nthe pages over listlessly\u2014for she was thinking of something else\u2014her\neye happened to fall on the name of \u2018Dian.\u2019\n\n\u2018Why, that must be Diana! only they\u2019ve forgotten the \u201ca.\u201d I\u2019ll look a\nlittle farther and see what it says about her.\u2019\n\nSo she ran her eye down the page, and sure enough she came upon the\nname.\n\n\u2018Why, it\u2019s spelt with a \u201cy\u201d now,\u2019 she said. \u2018Chaucer evidently doesn\u2019t\nknow his own mind in the matter of spelling. I\u2019ll write to him, and\nask him about it. Now, let\u2019s see what it says. Why, it appears to be a\nprayer, or an invocation, or something.\u2019\n\nSo she read:\n\n    \u2018O chaste goddes of the woodes greene\n     To whence bothe heven and erthe are seene\n     Queen of the regne of Pluto dark and lowe\n     Goddes of maydens that myn hert has knowe\n     Ful many a yeer ye woot what I desire\n     As keep me fro the vengeans of thilk yre\n     That Act\u00e6on aboughte trewely . . .\u2019\n\nJust at this point she heard the rattling of chariot wheels, and Diana\nappeared to her.\n\n\u2018Well, what do you want now?\u2019 she said.\n\n\u2018I don\u2019t want anything in particular,\u2019 said Ernalie in astonishment.\n\n\u2018Then why did you go on praying to me like that?\u2019\n\n\u2018I wasn\u2019t praying, I was reading.\u2019\n\n\u2018It doesn\u2019t matter to me. It was a very funny prayer. Whoever was it\nby? He must have been a stupid man.\u2019\n\n\u2018He was the father of English poetry,\u2019 the Princess said reproachfully.\n\n\u2018I should have thought he was a great-great-grandfather when he wrote\nthat.\u2019\n\n\u2018Why?\u2019 said the Princess in astonishment.\n\n\u2018It seems uncommonly like the writing of a man in his second childhood.\nHowever, that does not matter. About the feather now. What can I do in\nexchange for it? I will give you anything you want.\u2019\n\nThe Princess looked at the Goddess.\n\n\u2018Why do you want the feather so much?\u2019 she asked. \u2018Are you not\ninvisible enough already?\u2019\n\nThe Goddess looked at her sneeringly:\n\n\u2018I _am_ invisible to dull mortals; but we gods can see each other well\nenough, invisible or not. If I had this feather, though, it would be\ndifferent, and I should be able to laugh at Venus and that set.\u2019\n\n\u2018Then I\u2019m sure I won\u2019t give it you, for as Venus is the Goddess of\nBeauty she might make me ugly, and that would not be nice for me.\u2019\n\nDiana laughed.\n\n\u2018You evidently don\u2019t consider yourself bad-looking,\u2019 she said; and she\nwas just going on to say something else when an enormous wolf, without\na muzzle too, appeared coming round the side of the Palace.\n\n\u2018There\u2019s Mars,\u2019 said Diana.\n\n\u2018I don\u2019t see him. I only see a horrible wolf, and\u2014\u2014\u2019\n\nBut the Goddess interrupted her.\n\n\u2018Why, you stupid, that\u2019s Mars\u2019s wolf, and where it is Mars is sure to\nbe, or he isn\u2019t far off.\u2019\n\n\u2018But what does he want here?\u2019 asked Ernalie.\n\n\u2018He\u2019s going to escort me to Jupiter\u2019s ball, and he\u2019ll be awfully\nimpatient. However, he can wait. Now think, is there nothing?\u2019\n\nThe Princess reflected a moment.\n\n\u2018If I give it to you,\u2019 she said, \u2018you must do several things for it,\nand those quickly.\u2019\n\nThe Goddess nodded.\n\n\u2018First, you must make a road across the mountains into the country\nbeyond.\u2019\n\n\u2018That is easy enough,\u2019 said the Goddess.\n\n\u2018Then you must kill the dragon.\u2019\n\n\u2018He died last week of sheer starvation. So that\u2019s done. Next.\u2019\n\n\u2018You must bring Treblo here.\u2019\n\n\u2018Do you mean that he\u2019s to marry you? That\u2019s too bad, considering that\nyou know I detest marriages. However, it can\u2019t be helped. Is that all?\nBecause if there\u2019s much more you had better write it down.\u2019\n\n\u2018There\u2019s nothing more, except that it must all be done by half-past\nsix to-morrow evening.\u2019\n\n\u2018Oh! is that all? You shall have it all done before then,\u2019 said the\nGoddess, very much relieved that the tasks that were to be done had\nbeen set.\n\n\u2018Then, if you\u2019re here to-morrow evening I\u2019ll give it to you.\u2019\n\nJust then Mars appeared round the corner, looking very bad-tempered.\n\n\u2018If you _are_ coming at all, you\u2019d better come at once.\u2019\n\nSo Diana said:\n\n\u2018Very well, to-morrow evening I shall be here.\u2019\n\nAnd she drove her chariot towards the God of War, and when he had got\nin they turned the corner of the house and disappeared.\n\nJust then the King came into the garden from the library window.\n\n\u2018What have you been doing?\u2019 he asked her. \u2018I\u2019ve been watching you for\nsome minutes from the window, and you\u2019ve been going on in the most\nextraordinary manner, talking and laughing, just as if you had been\nspeaking to some one.\u2019\n\nThe Princess brushed back her hair from her face.\n\n\u2018Oh! I didn\u2019t know you could see me,\u2019 she said. \u2018It\u2019s nothing\u2014only a\nlittle surprise I\u2019ve been preparing for you.\u2019\n\n\u2018Indeed, you surprise me,\u2019 the King said.\n\n\u2018Ah, well! if I do that so easily perhaps I shall do it often,\u2019 she\nsaid.\n\n\u2018What have you been doing all the morning?\u2019 the King asked.\n\n\u2018All the morning?\u2019 said the Princess in astonishment. \u2018It\u2019s not late,\nis it?\u2019\n\nThe King pulled out his watch and looked at it.\n\n\u2018It\u2019s half-past five by my watch; but I don\u2019t think that\u2019s quite\nright\u2014in fact it stopped three days ago. Ah! I thought so\u2014there\u2019s the\ndinner-gong. You needn\u2019t wash your hands, or you\u2019ll be late.\u2019\n\nSo they went in together, and the rest of the day passed off quietly,\nexcept that every now and then one of the enthusiastic nobles insisted\non coming in and welcoming the Princess, although the King had given\nstrict orders that no one should be admitted, as he wanted to be alone\nfor the day. In spite of this, every now and then an elderly duchess\n_would_ rush into the royal presence, and offer her congratulations.\n\nAt last, just as they hoped that the last of them had come and gone,\nthe door opened, and an elderly man\u2014he would have been offended at\nbeing called old\u2014rushed in and clasped the Princess in his arms.\n\n\u2018My adored Duchess\u2014\u2014\u2019 he was just beginning.\n\nBut the Princess boxed his ears suddenly, and he let go.\n\n\u2018What on earth does this mean?\u2019 she said, turning to the King. \u2018First\nI am inundated with duchesses until I\u2019m quite tired of the name, and\nthen this old fright rushes in and calls me _his_ duchess, when I\u2019m not\na duchess at all. What does he mean, papa?\u2019\n\nThe King looked rather embarrassed.\n\n\u2018It\u2019s one of them,\u2019 he said meaningly.\n\n\u2018Oh! it\u2019s one of them, is it?\u2019 she said. \u2018Well, sir\u2019\u2014turning to the\nDuke\u2014\u2018what do _you_ mean by forcing your way here against the royal\norders?\u2019\n\n\u2018I thought,\u2019 said the Duke, looking rather foolish, \u2018that as you are\ngoing to\u2014\u2014\u2019\n\n\u2018But I\u2019m not,\u2019 said Ernalie suddenly, \u2018after such rudeness. You may go,\nand don\u2019t come back again.\u2019\n\nAnd the Duke went.\n\n\u2018That\u2019s got rid of one of them, at any rate,\u2019 the King said, with a\nsigh of relief.\n\n\u2018I\u2019ll do my best to get rid of them all,\u2019 said the Princess.\n\n\u2018How?\u2019 the King began. Then he stopped. \u2018Wait a moment. I have an\nidea,\u2019 he went on.\n\n\u2018Indeed, you surprise me,\u2019 said the Princess.\n\nBut the King did not notice her impertinent remark. He went to a\ndrawer, and took out a large piece of paper, and wrote on it as large\nas he could:\n\n                       \u2018NOTICE.\n\n    \u2018During the next twenty-four hours, any one found\n    kissing, embracing, congratulating, or suing for the\n    hand of the Princess\u2014or King\u2014will be submerged three\n    times in the Palace draw-well.\n\n                             \u2018(Signed) CARET, etc. etc.\u2019\n\n\u2018That ought to do it,\u2019 said the King, surveying his handiwork\napprovingly.\n\nJust then the door opened, and two more old gentlemen\u2014each wearing a\nducal coronet\u2014tottered in as fast as they could.\n\n\u2018My dear Princess,\u2019 \u2018My darling wife,\u2019 they duetted in feeble tones,\nshowing as much joy as their faces were capable of, which made them\nlook about as pleasant as a pair of Japanese masks.\n\n\u2018Allow me to congratulate you,\u2019 \u2018Allow me to offer my congratulations,\u2019\nthey went on.\n\n\u2018Now you\u2019ve done it,\u2019 said the King. \u2018Look here!\u2019 And he showed them\nthe notice.\n\nThe two Dukes turned each a different shade of yellow.\n\n\u2018But, your Majesty,\u2019 one of them began.\n\n\u2018But, your Majesty,\u2019 said the other suddenly; \u2018as I\u2019m\u2014\u2014\u2019\n\n\u2018As I\u2019m\u2014\u2014\u2019 the other put in.\n\nEach of them stopped and looked angrily at the other.\n\n\u2018As the son-in-law elect of the King,\u2019 the first one began.\n\n\u2018As the affianced husband of the Princess,\u2019 said the other.\n\n\u2018I think I have the right to speak first,\u2019 they both said angrily.\n\nBut the King said, coolly:\n\n\u2018My lords, the case is very clear. You have each of you offended\nagainst the law by congratulating the Princess, and as one of you,\nif not both, intends to marry my daughter and become King, it is as\nwell to teach you from the beginning that the law must be abided by.\nTherefore, you will be ducked\u2014\u201csubmerged,\u201d the notice says\u2014until one\nof you expires; the other will then marry Ernalie, and in course of\ntime\u2014if he does not die of the effects in the meantime\u2014he will ascend\nthe throne, having learnt a useful lesson.\u2019\n\nAs the Dukes got greener and greener at this, the King went on:\n\n\u2018The sentence had better be executed at once, so come along to the\ncourtyard.\u2019\n\n\u2018But, your Majesty,\u2019 said one of them, \u2018I am subject to rheumatism,\nand I should not be fit to reign if this immersion in cold water should\nmake it so bad that I was unable to move.\u2019\n\n\u2018That\u2019s just the case with me,\u2019 said the other.\n\n\u2018Ah, well, if that is so,\u2019 said the King, \u2018perhaps you would like\nto give up your pretensions to my daughter\u2019s hand. In that case, I\nshould let you off, because there would be no need to give you such a\npractical exemplification of the majesty of the law.\u2019\n\nThe Dukes looked perplexedly at one another.\n\n\u2018I think,\u2019 said one of them, \u2018that, under the circumstances, I will\ngive up my pretensions to the Princess\u2019s hand.\u2019\n\nHere he looked regretfully at her right hand.\n\n\u2018And I too,\u2019 said the other sadly, looking at her left hand.\n\n\u2018How _very_ gallant of you,\u2019 the Princess said ironically. \u2018And now,\nas you\u2019ve got rid of me so easily, perhaps you will be so kind as to\nleave us for a time. Good-day.\u2019\n\n\u2018Good-day,\u2019 duetted the Dukes.\n\nAnd they huddled out as well as they could, each trying to get behind\nthe other.\n\n\u2018I think that\u2019s got rid of all the suitors for to-day,\u2019 the King said\nwhen the door closed behind them. \u2018I\u2019ll just go and have the notice\nhung on the door, and I\u2019ll be back in a minute.\u2019\n\nAnd he went, too.\n\nNow really, he thought he had let the Dukes off too easily, and he\nintended to catch them up and fine them, but they had made off so\nuncommonly fast that they had disappeared before he got to the street\ndoor.\n\nMeanwhile the Princess waited quietly for him; but hearing a noise of\nwheels outside the window, she went to see what was the cause of it.\n\n\u2018Why, it\u2019s him!\u2019 she said delightedly, and with utter disregard of\nEnglish grammar.\n\nOpening the window she called out, \u2018Treblo! Treblo!\u2019 and, running down\nthe steps towards him, threw herself into his arms.\n\nFor a moment she was too much out of breath to say anything at all, and\nTreblo too surprised to do anything but just hold her in his arms; and\nthe King, who had just returned from the search after the Dukes, was\nfar too taken aback to do anything but stand with his mouth and eyes\nwide open.\n\n\u2018I call this too bad,\u2019 he said in a low voice; and then raising it, he\ncalled out:\n\n\u2018Young man, I say, have you seen the notice?\u2019\n\nTreblo looked annoyed.\n\n\u2018What is the notice to me, you old fool?\u2019 he said.\n\nThe King looked more and more astonished.\n\n\u2018This is too much,\u2019 he said. \u2018Ernalie, when you\u2019ve done kissing that\nyoung man perhaps you\u2019ll tell me who he is. You see, it\u2019s no use my\nputting up notices about other people embracing you if you go and\nperform on some one immediately afterwards. Now just tell me who it is.\u2019\n\n\u2018Why, it\u2019s him, papa,\u2019 said Ernalie, who had by this time disengaged\nherself.\n\n\u2018Oh, it\u2019s a _him_, is it?\u2019 the King said. \u2018That\u2019s what the three others\nsaid they were, but they wouldn\u2019t suit you.\u2019\n\n\u2018But they were so very old; besides, this is _the_ him, papa.\u2019\n\n\u2018Ah, I see,\u2019 said the papa, laughing. \u2018It\u2019s a case of \u201cAncient and\nModern Hymns,\u201d and you prefer the modern. But what about the notice?\u2019\n\n\u2018What _is_ the notice?\u2019 asked Treblo, rather puzzled; \u2018and what has it\ngot to do with me?\u2019\n\n\u2018More than you think,\u2019 said the King. \u2018It\u2019s worth reading, I can tell\nyou, especially during the next twenty-four hours. I should advise you\nto learn it by heart\u2014that is, if you intend. However, I\u2019ll go and fetch\nit, and you will be able to see for yourself.\u2019\n\nAnd the King went off to look for his notice.\n\nWhen he had gone, the Princess said:\n\n\u2018But how did you get here? I thought the mountains could not be\ncrossed.\u2019\n\n\u2018I don\u2019t know anything about the mountains, or how I came here either,\nfor that matter. All I know is that I was suddenly caught up in a thick\nmist which hid me from every one, and every one from me too, and before\nI knew anything I was whirled off here in about a minute and a half,\nand then you came running down the steps\u2014and that\u2019s all I know. Now\nperhaps you\u2019ll tell me where I am, for I haven\u2019t the faintest idea?\u2019\n\n\u2018Why, you\u2019re in the middle of the kingdom of Aoland, and that was my\nfather, and this is my home\u2014and it\u2019s all right.\u2019\n\n\u2018Yes, it\u2019s all right now, but you wouldn\u2019t have said it was all right\nif you had been carried like me.\u2019\n\n\u2018But you should feel yourself highly honoured and not injured. Why, you\nstupid fellow, it was a goddess who was carrying you like the heroes of\nHomer.\u2019\n\n\u2018A goddess!\u2019 said the Prince, laughing. \u2018Why, you must have been the\ngoddess, Ernalie, and you\u2019re quite\u2014\u2014\u2019\n\nBut the Princess stopped him.\n\n\u2018What\u2019s the use of saying that if you won\u2019t believe me? It really was a\ngoddess; and if you would like to know her name, it was Diana.\u2019\n\n\u2018Diana!\u2019 said the Prince. \u2018Why did she carry me off like this?\u2019\n\n\u2018Because I told her to, of course.\u2019\n\nThe Prince shook his head.\n\n\u2018Come, I say, Ernalie,\u2019 he said, \u2018this is too much, you know. I suppose\nyou want me to believe that?\u2019\n\n\u2018Of course I do. Why should I have told you if I hadn\u2019t wanted you to?\u2019\n\n\u2018Yes, that\u2019s all very well,\u2019 said the unbelieving Prince; \u2018but how do\nyou do it?\u2019\n\n\u2018I just make myself invisible, and then I make people do everything I\nlike; they have to do it, or else I tease them till they do. But let\u2019s\ncome into the house and I\u2019ll tell you all about it. But why are you\nholding me so tightly?\u2019\n\n\u2018I am afraid that you will suddenly vanish as you did once before, and\nI don\u2019t want that\u2014you\u2019ve been away from me long enough.\u2019\n\n\u2018Oh, but I won\u2019t leave you again, Treblo,\u2019 she said, \u2018I promise\nthat\u2014that is, if you don\u2019t want me to.\u2019\n\n\u2018Then you won\u2019t leave me, dear?\u2019 he said; \u2018for I shall never want to\nlose sight of you again.\u2019\n\nSo they went in, and the Princess told him what you know already\u2014if you\nhaven\u2019t skipped it. But all the same he did not leave go of her, and I\ndon\u2019t think it was from mistrust.\n\nErnalie finished relating her story, and the Prince was beginning:\n\n\u2018My dearest Ernalie, how can I\u2014\u2014\u2019 when the door opened, and the King\ncame in.\n\n\u2018I\u2019ve had such a job,\u2019 he said, wiping his forehead. \u2018There were about\nthree thousand people assembled reading the notice, and they jeered and\nhooted so much that I had to make them a speech before they\u2019d go away.\nHowever, here\u2019s the notice.\u2019\n\nThe Prince read it through carefully, and when he had finished he\nlooked at the King and said:\n\n\u2018Well?\u2019\n\n\u2018That\u2019s just it,\u2019 said the King; \u2018the Palace draw-_well_.\u2019\n\n\u2018But as I\u2019m the affianced bride of\u2014I mean, as Ernalie\u2019s my future\nhusband\u2014\u2014\u2019\n\n\u2018That\u2019s just what the other two said\u2014at least they said, and more\ncorrectly, that they were my sons-in-law elect; only that didn\u2019t help\nthem.\u2019\n\nBy this time the Prince was looking more puzzled than ever.\n\n\u2018Who are these other two?\u2019 he said, turning to the Princess.\n\n(\u2018Beware of the green-eyed monster,\u2019 the King said parenthetically.)\n\n\u2018Oh, they\u2019re only three dukes that papa had promised my hand to\u2014only I\nwouldn\u2019t have them.\u2019\n\n\u2018You mean they wouldn\u2019t have you,\u2019 said the King, correcting her.\n\n\u2018I don\u2019t mean anything of the sort,\u2019 said the Princess.\n\n\u2018Oh, very well, my dear,\u2019 said the King. \u2018Of course, if you say so,\nit\u2019s all right. But how about the notice?\u2019\n\n\u2018I think we\u2019ll tear that up,\u2019 said Ernalie. \u2018It\u2019s done its duty, and it\nwill be rather in the way now.\u2019\n\n\u2018Indeed, you surprise me,\u2019 remarked the King.\n\n\u2018Ernalie is quite right,\u2019 said the Prince.\n\n\u2018Oh! is she?\u2019 said the King. \u2018Then I suppose I\u2019d better tear it up.\u2019\nAnd he did.\n\nWhen he had finished, and had thrown the fragments into the waste-paper\nbasket, he said:\n\n\u2018Now I suppose you want me to consent to your marrying each other, and\nI suppose I\u2019d better, or else I shall have Ernalie pitching into me\nlike anything\u2014only, I really don\u2019t know who you are, young man, except\nthat Ernalie says you are \u201chim\u201d (she ought to say he), and so I suppose\nyou are Treblo, the Prince of the neighbouring kingdom?\u2019\n\n\u2018I am,\u2019 said the Prince. \u2018And I suppose you are the King of this\ncountry?\u2019\n\nThe King was just about to say \u2018I am,\u2019 when another voice sounded\nthrough the room so clear and commanding that each of them looked\ntowards the window from which it came; but nothing was to be seen there.\n\n\u2018The road is made,\u2019 it said, \u2018and now perhaps you\u2019ll give me the\nfeather.\u2019\n\n\u2018Certainly,\u2019 said the Princess. \u2018Here it is,\u2019 and she held it out in\nthe direction of the Goddess. \u2018Only, you might let us see you before\nyou go for ever.\u2019\n\n\u2018Oh, certainly,\u2019 said the Goddess, for, to tell the truth, Diana\u2014like\nothers besides goddesses\u2014was very fond of being admired; and\nimmediately she appeared in the middle of the room with her silver bow\nand quiver slung over her back, and the star that she always wore\nshining on her forehead.\n\nShe took the feather and, smiling, put it to her hair, and on the\nmoment passed away; so that, where she had seemed to be, they saw the\nthin circlet of the moon hanging silvery and pale over the flush of the\nsun\u2019s departure.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n\u2018It really was Diana,\u2019 Treblo said.\n\n\u2018Yes, of course it was, you sceptical boy,\u2019 Ernalie answered; and then,\nwith a little sigh, \u2018I wish I had the feather still, it makes me feel\njust like any other girl being without it.\u2019\n\n\u2018But you\u2019re not\u2014not a bit\u2014there\u2019s no one like you in the world!\u2019 Treblo\nsaid hotly.\n\n\u2018Why, I believe you\u2019re right\u2014upon my word I do,\u2019 the King said\nsuddenly, looking up from a book in which he had seemed immersed, \u2018_I_\nnever knew any one like her\u2014for obstinacy.\u2019\n\n\u2018Let\u2019s go into the garden, Treblo,\u2019 the Princess said.\n\n\u2018You\u2019ll catch your deaths of cold,\u2019 the King remarked.\n\nBut somehow, although they quietly ignored his prudent observation,\nwhich was really wrong of them, they never caught cold. And that is\nall the stranger, because the evening was falling very rapidly, with a\nfeeling of cool dew after the heat of the day, with a faint scent of\nroses and honeysuckle, and no sound on the air but the splash of a fish\nas it jumped for a moment out of the smooth river, or the short, shrill\nshriek of a bat that was circling in the air above them. They sat in a\nmarble niche in the wall that had roses running up it and hanging down\nlike a net in front of them\u2014sat and talked till it grew so dark that\nhe could no longer see the golden threads in her brown hair; until he\ncould no longer see that her eyes were hazel-gray and long-lashed, or\neven that her face was a long, sweet, serious oval. So, you see, it\nmust have been _quite_ a long time that they sat and talked thus.\n\nBut from this you are not to imagine that their example is to be\nemulated\u2014not by any means; because I am perfectly certain that if\nany one were foolish enough to do it nowadays, they\u2019d have perfectly\nmiserable colds-in-the-head at the very least, not to mention rheumatic\npains, so I should really advise you not to try any such tricks; very\nlikely the Prince and Princess had something especial to keep them\nwarm, or perhaps they sat rather close together\u2014it\u2019s just possible.\n\nHowever, next morning the Prince and Princess set out together for the\ncourt of King Abbonamento.\n\nThey arrived safely at the Palace, and were received with joy by every\none\u2014except Mumkie, who was already making preparations to make himself\nKing again, for he was quite sure that the Prince had been carried off\nfor good. So, when he saw the Prince returning, safe and sound, he\nwas seized with such a fit of rage that he jumped into the sea, and\nswam right out of sight. Wopole having, moreover, committed the fatal\nmistake of setting sail from the moon when it set, had unfortunately\nchosen the wrong side of the earth. And from that day to this neither\nhe nor Mumkie has ever been heard more of.\n\nBut in a very short time the Prince and Princess were married, and it\nis needless to say\u2014because, since we live in the nineteenth century,\nno one will believe it, but still, if you\u2019ll take my word for it\u2014they\nlived happily ever afterwards.\n\n\n    THE END\n\n\n    _Printed by_ R. & R. CLARK, _Edinburgh_","title":"The Feather","tradition":"folklore-oral-tradition","translated_text":null,"word_count":32302}