UC-NRLF 
 
 
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 By 
 
 ¥&)f*3&S rtOQ i^JON f 
 
 jj i hu ■■■i w ni iim in^wwww 
 
BY FRANK R. STOCKTON". 
 
 THE CLOCKS OF RONDAINE, AND OTHER 
 STORIES. Illustrated. 4 to, cloth . . . net $i 
 
 PERSONALLY CONDUCTED. Illustrated. 4 to, 
 cloth net $i 
 
 THE FLOATING PRINCE AND OTHER FAIRY 
 TALES. Illustrated. 4to, cloth . . . . net $i 
 
 ROUNDABOUT RAMBLES IN LANDS OF FACT 
 AND FANCY. Illustrated. 4 to, boards . net $i 
 
 TALES OUT OF SCHOOL. 300 illustrations. 
 4to, boards net $1 
 
 A JOLLY FELLOWSHIP. Illustrated, nmo, net $1 
 
 THE TING-A-LING TALES. Illustrated by E. B. 
 Bensell net $1 
 
 THE STORY OF VITEAU. With 16 full-page 
 illustrations by R. B. Birch, nmo ... ml $1 
 
THE 
 
 Floating Prince 
 
 AND OTHER 
 
 FAIRY TALES. 
 
 BY 
 
 FRANK R. STOCKTON 
 
 NEW YORK 
 
 CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS. 
 
 1916 
 
COPYRIGHT BY 
 CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 The Floating Prince i 
 
 How the Aristocrats Sailed Away ; A Sequel to The Floating 
 
 Prince 25 
 
 3. The Reformed Pirvte 47 
 
 4. Huckleberry 74 
 
 5. The Gudra's Daughter 84 
 
 6. The Emergency Mistress 102 
 
 7. The Sprig of Holly 121 
 
 The Magician's Daughter and the High-Born Boy 129 
 
 Derido ; or, The Giant's Quilt 153 
 
 The Castle of Bim 173 
 
 33803 
 
List of Illustrations. 
 
 The Pirate Sitting in Front of his Cottage Frontispiece. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 The Giant Looked .bewildered 4 
 
 The General tries to Secure an Admiral 6 
 
 The General and the Admiral led the Procession 11 
 
 The Giant and His Army 13 
 
 The Kingdom of Nassimia Afloat 15 
 
 The Company began to Move On 19 
 
 The Admiral at Night . 27 
 
 The Aristocrats Winding Up the City 31 
 
 The King's Consternation .............. 37 
 
 The Prisoners Escape 39 
 
 The Watch on the High Tower 42 
 
 The School-Master and Head-Boy Embrace . . . , 43 
 
 The Babies in the Sweet Marjoram Beds 48 
 
 The Reformed Pirate is the Jolliest Man Afloaj 54 
 
 " It seems to Me that It couldn't be Better," said the Condensed Pirate 60 
 
 The Condensed Pirate Climbs Up the Outside of the Steeple ... 69 
 
6 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 FAGE. 
 
 "Don't you see?" asked the Old Fellow ............. 77 
 
 The Boy and His Grandmother 80 
 
 The Fair Lady of Renown 81 
 
 The Gudra and His Daughter Start on their Journey 86 
 
 "i shall not fail now," said the gudra 91 
 
 The Professor of Motto-Painting Paints a Motto on the Curious One's 
 
 Head Q7 
 
 The Curious One reads His Mottc ioo 
 
 Jules and the Little Man 103 
 
 "Robbers," said the Bear, "that's good! Robbers, indeed!" . . . no 
 
 "This is the last Sprig in the whole Forest." 123 
 
 The Six Applicants who Wished to be Helped out of Trouble . . 130 
 
 " Oh, tell it to me," exclaimed the Gnome 136 
 
 The Witch ' Searches for the Key 139 
 
 The Hippogriff Gains the Secret 140 
 
 The two Giants bring in the Sedan-Chair 145 
 
 FlLAMINA AND THE HlGH-BORN BoY RlDE AWAY 151 
 
 Loris Follows the Short Man x 74 
 
 The Ninkum and Loris take Dinner • • J 79 
 
 The Ninkum finds Laub in the Mine ........... 184 
 
 The Giant welcomes His Guests 188 
 
 The Ninkum and His Company enter the City *9 2 
 
 The Giant puts His Arm through the Doorway 198 
 
THE FLOATING PRINCE 
 
 AND OTHER 
 
 FAIRY TALES 
 
 THE FLOATING PRINCE. 
 
 THERE was once an orphan prince, named Nassime, who 
 had been carefully educated to take his place upon the 
 throne of his native country. Everything that a king 
 ought to know had been taught him, and he was considered, by 
 the best judges, to be in every way qualified to wear a crown and 
 to wield a scepter. 
 
 But when he became of age, and was about to take his 
 place upon the throne, a relative, of great power and influence in 
 the country, concluded that he would be king himself, and so the 
 young prince was thrown out upon the world. The new king did 
 not want him in his dominions, and it was therefore determined, by 
 his teachers and guardians, that he would have to become a "float- 
 ing prince." By this, they meant that he must travel about, from 
 place to place, until he found some kingdom which needed a king, 
 and which was willing to accept him to rule over it. If such a 
 situation were vacant, he could easily obtain it. 
 
THE FLOATIXG PRIX.CE AXD OTHER FAIRY TALES. 
 
 He was therefore furnished with a new suit of clothes and a 
 good sword ; a small crown and a scepter were packed into his 
 baa-; and he was started out to seek his fortune, as best he could. 
 
 As the prince walked away from the walls of his native city, 
 he felt quite down-hearted, although he was by nature gay and 
 hopeful. He did not believe that he could find any country which 
 would want him for a ruler. 
 
 "That is all nonsense," he said to himself. "There are always 
 plenty of heirs or usurpers to take a throne when it is empty. If 
 I want a kingdom, I must build up one for myself, and that is just 
 what I will do. I will gather together my subjects as I go along. 
 The first person I meet shall be my chief councilor of state, the 
 second shall be head of the army, the third shall be admiral of the 
 navy, the next shall be chief treasurer, and then I will collect sub- 
 jects of various classes." 
 
 Cheered by this plan, he stepped gayly on, and just as he was 
 entering a wood, through which his pathway led him, he heard some 
 one singing. 
 
 Looking about him, he saw a little lady, about five inches high, 
 sitting upon a twig of a flowering bush near by, and singing to 
 herself. Xassime instantly perceived that she was a fain', and said 
 to himself: "Oho! I did not expect a meeting of this sort." But 
 as he was a bold and frank young fellow, he stepped up to her 
 and said : " Good-morning, lady fairy. How would you like to be 
 chief councilor to a king?" 
 
 •' It would be splendid !" said the lively little fair}', her eyes 
 sparkling with delight. "But where is the king?" 
 
 " I am the king," said Xassime, " or, rather, I am to be, as soon 
 as I get my kingdom together." 
 
 And then he told her his story and his plans. The fairy was 
 charmed. The plan suited her exactly. 
 
THE FLOATING PRINCE. 
 
 "You might get a larger councilor than I am," she said, ''but 
 I know a good deal about government. I have been governed ever 
 so much, and I could not help learning how it is done. I'm glad 
 enough to have a chance to help somebody govern other people. 
 I'll be your chief councilor." 
 
 "All right," said the prince, who was much pleased with the 
 merry little creature. "Now we'll go and hunt up the rest of the. 
 kingdom." 
 
 He took the little fairy in his hand and placed her in one of 
 the folds of his silken girdle, where she could rest, as if in a tiny 
 hammock, and then he asked her name. 
 
 "My name," she answered, "is Lorilla, chief councilor of the 
 kingdom of — what are you going to call your kingdom?" 
 
 " Oh, I haven't thought of a name, yet." 
 
 " Let it be Nassimia, after yourself," said Lorilla. 
 
 " Very well," answered the prince, " we will call it Nassimia. 
 That will save trouble and disputes, after the kingdom is established." 
 
 Nassime now stepped along quite briskly, talking to his little 
 companion as he went, and explaining to her his various ideas re- 
 garding his future kingdom. Suddenly he stumbled over what he 
 supposed was the trunk of a fallen tree, and then he was quickly 
 raised into the air, astride of the supposed tree-trunk, which seemed 
 to have a hinge in it. 
 
 "What now?" said a great voice, and the prince perceived that 
 he was sitting on the knee of a giant, who had been lying on his 
 back in the wood. 
 
 "Don't be afraid," said Lorilla, looking out of her little ham- 
 mock. " He won't hurt you." 
 
 " Excuse me," said the prince, " I did not see you, or I should 
 have been more careful. How would you like to be general of the 
 army of the kingdom of Nassimia ? " 
 
4 THE FLOATING PRINCE AND OTHER FAIRY TALES. 
 
 "That sounds splendidly!" cried little Lorilla. 
 The giant looked bewildered. He could not understand, at 
 all, what the prince was talking about. But when Nassime explained 
 
 "THE giant looked bewildered. 
 
 it all to him, he said he would like very well to be head general 
 of the army, and he accepted the position. 
 
 Rising to his feet, the giant offered to carry the prince on his 
 arm, so that they could get along faster, and in this way they traveled, 
 all discussing, with much zest, the scheme of the new kingdom. 
 
 About noon, they began to be hungry, and so they sat down 
 in a shady place, the giant having said that he had something to 
 eat in a bag which he carried at his side. He opened this bag, and 
 spread out half a dozen enormous loaves of bread, two joints of 
 roast meat, a boiled ham, and about a bushel of roasted potatoes. 
 
 "Is that the food for your whole army?" asked Lorilla. 
 
THE FLOATING PRINCE. 
 
 " Oh, no," answered the giant, who was a young fellow with a 
 good appetite. "I brought this for myself, but there will be enough 
 for you two. I don't believe I should have eaten it quite all, any- 
 way." 
 
 "I should hope not," said the prince. "Why, that would last 
 me several weeks." 
 
 "And me a thousand years," said Lorilla. 
 
 "You will talk differently, if you ever grow to be as big as I 
 am," said the giant, smiling, as he took a bite from a loaf of bread. 
 
 When the meal was over, they all felt refreshed, and quite eager 
 to meet the next comer, who was to be the admiral, or commander 
 of the navy, of the new kingdom. For some time, they went on 
 without seeing any one, but, at last, they perceived, in a field at 
 some distance, a man on stilts. He was tending sheep, and wore 
 the stilts so that he could the better see his flock, as it wandered 
 about. 
 
 " There's the admiral !" said the giant. " Let me put you down, 
 and run over and catch him." 
 
 So saying, he set the prince on the ground, and ran toward the 
 shepherd, who, seeing him coming, at once took to flight. His stilts 
 were so long that he made enormous steps, and he got over the 
 ground very fast. The giant had long legs, and he ran swiftly, but 
 he had a great deal of trouble to get near the man on stilts, who 
 dodged in every direction, and rushed about like an enormous crane. 
 The poor frightened sheep scattered themselves over the fields, and 
 hid in the bushes. 
 
 At last, the giant made a vigorous dash, and swooping his long 
 arm around, he caught the shepherd by one stilt, and waving him 
 around his head, shouted in triumph. 
 
 The prince and Lorilla, who had been watching this chase with 
 great interest, cheered in return. 
 
THE ELOATEYG PRIXCE AXD OTHER FAIRY TALES. 
 
 "Now we have an admiral/' said the fain", as the giant ap- 
 proached, proudly bearing the shepherd aloft. " Don't you think it 
 would be well for you to get out your crown and scepter? He 
 ought to understand, at once, that you are the king. - ' 
 
 So Nassime took his crown and scepter from his bag, and 
 putting the one on his head, held the other in his hand. He looked 
 quite kingly when the giant came up. and set the shepherd down 
 on his knees before him, with his stilts sticking out ever so far 
 behind. 
 
 
 THE GENERAL TRIES TO SECURE AN ADMIRAL. 
 
 "I am glad to see you." said the prince, "and I herewith make 
 you admiral of my royal navy." 
 
 "Admiral?" cried the poor frightened man. "I don't under- 
 stand." 
 
 "Oh, it's all right." exclaimed the merry little Lorilla. as she 
 slipped out of the prince's sash, and ran up to the shepherd. 
 "We're going to have a splendid kingdom, and we're just getting 
 together the head officers. I'm chief councilor, that giant is the 
 
THE FLOATING PRINCE. 
 
 general of the army, and we want you to command the navy. 
 There'll be a salary, after a while, and I know you'll like it." 
 
 As she went on to explain the whole matter to the shepherd, 
 his fear left him, and he smiled. 
 
 " I shall be very glad to be your admiral," he then said, to the 
 prince, whereupon the giant lifted him up on his feet, or rather on 
 to the stilts, which were strapped to his feet and ankles, and the 
 affair was settled. The party now went on, the giant and the man 
 on stilts side by side, the prince on the giant's arm, and Lorilla 
 in Nassime's sash. 
 
 "What other great officer must we have?" asked she of Nas- 
 sime. 
 
 " The chief officer of the treasury, or chancellor of the exchequer. 
 I see him now." 
 
 It was true. Along a road in a valley below them a man was 
 walking. Instantly all were excited. The giant and the man on 
 stilts wished to run after the new-comer, but the prince forbade it, 
 saying it would be better to approach him quietly. 
 
 The man, who halted when he saw them, proved to be a clam- 
 digger, with his clam-rake over one shoulder, and a large basket in 
 his hand. The prince did not waste many words with this person, 
 who was a rather humble-minded man, but briefly explained the 
 situation to him, and told him that he was now the chancellor of 
 the exchequer, in charge of the treasury of the kingdom of Nassimia. 
 
 The man, remarking that he saw no objection to such a position, 
 and that it might, in the end, be better than clam-digging, joined 
 the prince's party, which again proceeded on its way. 
 
 That night, they all slept in a palm-grove, first making a supper 
 of cocoa-nuts, which the giant and the admiral picked from the tops 
 of the trees. 
 
 "Now, then," said Nassime, in the morning, "what we must 
 
8 THE FLOATING PRINCE AND OTHER FAIRY TALES. 
 
 have next, is an aristocracy. Out of this upper class, we can then 
 fill the government offices." 
 
 " Very true," said the giant, " and we shall want an army. I 
 do not feel altogether like a general, without some soldiers unde»- 
 me." 
 
 "And / must have a navy," said the admiral. 
 
 "And there must be common people," remarked the chancellor 
 of the exchequer. " For we shall need some folks on whom I can 
 levy taxes with which to carry on the government." 
 
 " You are all right," said Nassime, " and this is the way we will 
 manage matters. All the people we meet to-day shall be the aris- 
 tocrats of Nassimia; all we meet to-morrow shall form the army, 
 and all we see the next day shall be taken to make up the navy. 
 After that, we will collect common people, until we have enough." 
 
 " I can tell you now," said the admiral, " how to get a lot of 
 iristocrats all together in a bunch. A mile ahead of where we now 
 are, is a school-house, and it is full of boys, with a gray-headed 
 master. Those fellows ought to make excellent aristocrats." 
 
 " They will do very well," said Nassime, " and we will go quietly 
 forward and capture them all." 
 
 When they reached the school-house, Nassime, with his crown 
 on his head and his scepter in his hand, took his position at the 
 front door, the giant crouched down by the back door, the chan- 
 cellor stood by one window and the admiral tried to stand by the 
 other, but his stilts were so long that he looked over the roof, in- 
 stead of into the window. 
 
 " Is not that a well near you ? " said the little councilor Lorilla, 
 who was perched on a vine, for safe-keeping. " Step into that, and 
 you will, most likely, be just tall enough." 
 
 The admiral stepped into the well, which was close to the house, 
 and found that he stood exactly high enough to command the window. 
 
THE FLOATING PRINCE. 
 
 When all were posted, Xassime opened his door, and stepping a 
 short distance into the room, declared his title and position, and 
 called upon them all to consider themselves members of the aris- 
 tocracy of his kingdom. The moment he said this, the astonished 
 and frightened boys sprang to their feet and made a rush for the 
 back door, but when they threw it open, there squatted the giant, 
 with a broad grin on his face, and his hands spread out before 
 the door-way. They then turned and ran, some for one window 
 and some for the other, but at one stood the treasurer, brandish- 
 ing his clam-rake, and at the other the admiral, shaking his fists. 
 There was no escape, — one or two, who tried to pass by Nassime, 
 having been stopped by a tap on the head from his scepter, — and 
 so the boys crowded together in the middle of the room, while 
 some of the smaller ones began to cry. The master was too 
 much startled and astonished to say a word. 
 
 Then came running into the room little Lorilla, and mounting 
 to the top of the school-master's table, she addressed the school, 
 telling them all about the new kingdom, and explaining what a 
 jolly time they would have. It would be like a long holiday, and 
 although their master would go with them, to teach them what 
 they would have to know in their new position, it would not be a 
 bit like going to school. 
 
 As soon as the boys heard that they would not have to go to 
 school, they agreed to the plan on the spot. Some of them even 
 went out to talk to the giant. As to the master, he said that if 
 his school was to be taken into the new kingdom he would 2^0, too, 
 for he had promised the parents that he would take care of their boys. 
 
 -So, when all was settled, the whole school, headed by the 
 master, made ready to follow Xassime and his officers. The giant 
 pulled the admiral out of the well, much to the delight of the 
 boys, and all started off in high good humor. 
 
IC THE FLOATING PRINCE AND OTHER FAIRY TALES. 
 
 The company went into camp on the edge of a wood, quite 
 early in the evening, because Lorilla said that boys ought not to 
 be up late. If it had not been for the luncheons which the boys 
 had in their baskets, and which they cheerfully shared with their 
 older companions, many of the party would have gone to sleep 
 hungry that night. As for the giant, it is probable that he did go 
 to sleep hungry, for it would have taken the contents of all the 
 baskets to have entirely satisfied his appetite. 
 
 Early the next morning, he aroused the party. 
 
 " Here are a few bushels of cocoa-nuts," he cried, emptying a 
 great bag on the ground. " I gathered them before any of you 
 were awake. Eat them quickly, for we must be off. To-day is 
 my army day, and I want to get as many soldiers as I can." 
 
 As ever}' one was very willing to please the giant, an early 
 start was made, and, before very long, the party reached the edge 
 of a desert. They journeyed over the sand nearly all day, but 
 not a living being did they see. Late in the afternoon, a black 
 man, on an ostrich, was seen coming from behind a hillock of 
 sand, and immediately, with a great shout, the whole party set out 
 in chase. 
 
 It is probable that the man on the bird would have soon got 
 away from his pursuers, had not the ostrich persisted in running 
 around in a great circle, while, with whoops and shouts, the giant 
 and the rest succeeded in heading off the ostrich, which tumbled 
 over, throwing his rider on the sand. The bird then ran off as 
 fast as he could go, while the negro was seized by ever}' aristo- 
 crat who could get near enough to lay hold of him. The giant 
 now came up, and lifted the man from the midst of his young 
 captors. " You need not be frightened," said he. " You are to 
 belong to my army. That is all. I will treat you well." 
 
 " And not kill me ?" whimpered the black man. 
 
THE FLOATING PRINCE. 
 
 II 
 
 <£s 
 
 THE GENERAL AND THE ADMIRAL LED THE PROCESSION. 
 
 
12 THE FLOATING PRINCE AND OTHER FAIRY TALES. 
 
 " Certainly not," said the giant. " I need soldiers too much 
 to want to kill the only one I 've got. Fall into line, behind 
 me and we '11 march on and see if we cannot find you some 
 comrades." 
 
 But by night-fall the giant's army still consisted of one black 
 man. The party encamped in an oasis, where grew a number of 
 date-palms, the fruit of which afforded a plentiful supper for every- 
 body. The giant had not much appetite, and he looked solemn 
 while gazing at his army, as it sat cross-legged on the ground, 
 eating dates. 
 
 The next morning, the admiral earnestly petitioned that they 
 should try to get out of the desert as soon as possible. "For," 
 said he, "I have a dreadful time in this sand with my stilts, and 
 I really need more men in my navy than the giant has in his 
 army. Besides, the best kind of sailors can never be found in a 
 dry desert, like this." 
 
 As no one could object to this reasoning, they set forth, turn- 
 ing to the -east, and, before noon, they saw before them fields and 
 vegetation, and shortly afterward they came to a broad river. 
 Journeying down the bank of this for a mile or two, they per- 
 ceived, lying at anchor in the stream, a good-sized vessel, with a 
 tall mast, and a great sail hauled down on the deck. 
 
 "Hurrah!" shouted the admiral, the moment he set his eyes 
 upon this prize, and away he went for it, as fast as his stilts would 
 carry him. When he reached the water, he waded right in, and 
 was soon standing looking over the vessel's side. 
 
 He did not get on board, but, after standing for some time 
 diking to a person inside, he waded back to the shore, where his 
 companions were anxiously waiting to hear what he had disco- 
 vered. 
 
 "There are not many persons on board," he said, rather rue- 
 
THE FLOATIXG PRIXCE. 
 
 [3 
 
 fully ''Only an old woman and a girl. One Is the cook and the 
 other washes bottles. There were a good many men on the ship. 
 
 THE GIANT AND HIS ARMY. 
 
 but the old woman says that they all went away yesterday, carry- 
 ing with them a vast number of packages. She thinks the) were 
 a lot of thieves, and that they have gone off with their booty and 
 
14 THE FLOATING PRINCE AND OTHER FaiRY TALES. 
 
 have deserted the vessel. She and the girl were simply hired as 
 servants, and knew nothing about the crew. It is n't exactly the 
 kind of navy I wanted, but it will do, and we may see some men 
 before night." 
 
 It was unanimously agreed that the government of Nassimia 
 should take possession of this deserted vessel, and the giant soon 
 managed to pull her to shore, anchor and all. Everybody except- 
 ing the giant went on board, Nassime and Lorilla going first, then 
 the government officers, the aristocracy, and the army. The admi- 
 ral stood on his stilts, with his head up in the rigging, and the 
 ship was formally placed under his command. When all was 
 ready, the giant ran the ship out into the stream, wading in up to 
 his middle; and then he very carefully clambered on board. The 
 vessel rocked a good deal as he got in, but it could carry him so 
 long as he kept quiet. 
 
 "As my navy is not large enough, just now, to work the 
 ship," said the admiral to Nassime, "and, also, as it doesn't know 
 anything about such work, I shall have to have the help of the 
 aristocracy, and shall also have to ask the general to lend me his 
 army." 
 
 "All right," said the giant, "you can have him." 
 
 A number of the larger boys, assisted by the negro, now went 
 to work and hoisted the sail. Then the army was sent to the 
 helm, the vessel was put before the wind, and the kingdom of Nas- 
 simia began to sail away. 
 
 There was a large quantity of provisions on board, enough to 
 last many days, and everybody ate heartily. But not a person 
 was seen that day on either bank of the river. 
 
 They anchored at night, and the next morning, setting sail 
 again, they soon entered a broad sea or lake. They sailed on > 
 with the wind behind them, and everybody enjoyed the trip. The 
 
THE FLOATING PRINCE. 
 
 *5 
 
 admiral sat on the stern, with his stilts dangling behind in the wa- 
 ter, as the ship sailed on, and was very happy. 
 
 "Now," said the chancellor of the exchequer, as the officers 
 ">f the government were talking together on deck, "all we want is 
 
 THE KINGDOM OF NASSIMIA AFLOAT. 
 
 some common people, and then we can begin the kingdom in real 
 earnest." 
 
 "We must have some houses and streets," said Nassime, "and 
 a palace. These will be necessary before we can settle down as 
 a kingdom." 
 
 They sailed all night, and the next day they saw land before 
 
1 6 THE FLOATING PRINCE AND OTHER FAIRY TALES. 
 
 them. And, slowly moving near the shore, they perceived a long 
 caravan. 
 
 "Hi!" shouted the chancellor of the exchequer, "there are the 
 common people!" 
 
 Everybody was now very much excited, and everybody wanted 
 to go ashore, but this Nassime would not permit. Capturing a 
 caravan would be a very different thing from capturing a negro on 
 an ostrich, and the matter must be undertaken with caution and 
 prudence. So, ordering the ship brought near the shore, he made 
 ready to land, accompanied only by the giant and Lorilla. 
 
 The giant had found a spare mast on the vessel, and he had 
 trimmed and whittled it into a convenient club. This he took un- 
 der one arm, and, with Nassime on the other, wearing his crown 
 and carrying Lorilla in his sash, the giant waded ashore, and 
 stopped a short distance in front of the approaching caravan. 
 
 Nassime, having been set on the ground, advanced to the 
 leader of the caravan, and, drawing his sword, called upon him to 
 halt. Instantly the procession stopped, and the leader, dismounting 
 from his horse, approached Nassime, and bowed low before him, 
 offering to pay tribute, if necessary. 
 
 "We will not speak of tribute," said Nassime, "at least not 
 now. What I wish, is to know who you all are, and where you 
 are going." 
 
 "That is easily answered," said the other, giving a glance up- 
 ward at the giant, who stood leaning on his club, behind Nassime; 
 "we are a company of men of high degree; of philosophers and 
 of rich merchants, who have joined together to visit foreign lands, 
 to enjoy ourselves and improve our minds. We have brought 
 with us our families, our slaves, and our flocks and other posses- 
 sions. We wish to offend no one, and if you object to our pass- 
 ing through your dominions " 
 
THE FL OA TING PRINCE. 1 7 
 
 V -I do not object," said Nassime, "I am very glad you came 
 this way. These are not my dominions. I am king of Nas- 
 simia." 
 
 "And where is that, your majesty?" 
 
 "It is not anywhere in particular, just now," said Nassime, 
 "but we shall soon fix upon a spot where its boundaries will be 
 established. It is a new kingdom, and only needed a body of com — " 
 
 "Say populace," whispered Lorilla, from his sash, "the other 
 might offend him." 
 
 "And only needed a populace," continued Nassime, "to make 
 it complete. I am the king — of royal blood and education. I have 
 ministers of state and finance; an admiral and a navy; a general 
 of the army, whom you see here," pointing to the giant, "and an 
 aristocracy, which is at present on board of that ship. I have been 
 looking for a populace, and am very glad to have met you. You 
 and your companions are now my people." 
 
 "What, your majesty?" cried the astonished leader of the ca- 
 ravan. "I do not comprehend." 
 
 Nassime then explained the plan and purpose of his kingdom, 
 and assured the other that he and his countrymen could nowhere 
 be more happy than in the kingdom of Nassimia, where every 
 opportunity of enjoyment and the improvement of the mind would 
 be offered to the people. 
 
 The leader, on hearing this, begged permission to consult with 
 his fellow-travelers. Some advised one thing and some another, 
 but the sight of the giant, who every now and then playfully struck 
 the earth with the end of his club in such a way as to make the 
 ground tremble, hastened their decision. 
 
 "If we were poor men," said one of the philosophers, "and 
 had no treasures with us, we might scatter in various directions, 
 and many of us might escape. That giant could not kill us all. 
 
1 8 THE FLOATING PRINCE AND OTHER FAIRY TALES. 
 
 But we are too rich for that. We cannot run away from our great 
 possessions. We must submit in peace." 
 
 So it was settled that they should submit to the king of Nas- 
 simia and become his people, and the leader carried the decision to 
 Nassime. 
 
 The chancellor of the exchequer now became very anxious to 
 go on shore. He had cast off his clam-digger's clothes, and wore 
 a magnificent suit which he had found in the ship, and which had 
 belonged to the robber captain. He stood on the deck and made 
 signs for the giant to come for him. So the giant was sent for 
 him, and soon returned, bringing also the army, which the chancel- 
 lor had borrowed of him for a time. This officer, as soon as he 
 had landed, approached Nassime and said: 
 
 "These, then, are the common people. I suppose I might as 
 well go to work and collect taxes." 
 
 "You need not hurry about that," said Nassime. 
 
 "They will never believe in your government until you do it," 
 urged the chancellor, and so Nassime allowed him to do as he 
 wished, only telling him not to levy his taxes too heavily. 
 
 Then the chancellor, with the negro behind him, carrying his 
 old clam-basket, over which a cloth had been thrown, went through 
 the caravan and collected taxes enough in gold and silver to fill his 
 basket. He also collected a horse for himself and one for Nas- 
 sime. "Now," said he, "we have the foundation of a treasury, and 
 the thing' begins to look like a kingdom." 
 
 Everything being now satisfactorily arranged, the company be- 
 gan to move on. The giant, with his army at his heels, and his 
 club over his shoulder, marched first. Then rode Nassime with 
 Lorilla, then the chancellor, with his basket of treasure before him 
 on his horse, and after him the caravan. The ship sailed alonp- a 
 short distance from the shore. 
 
THE FLOATING PRINCE. 
 
 19 
 
 In the evening, the land party encamped near the shore, 
 and the vessel came to anchor, the giant shouting to the admiral 
 Nassime's commands. The chancellor wished to make another 
 collection of taxes, after supper, but this Xassime forbade. 
 
 Lorilla then had a long talk with Xassime, apart from the 
 company, assuring him that what was needed next was the royal 
 city. 
 
 THE COMPANY BEGAN TO MOVE ON. 
 
 "Yes, indeed," said Nassime, "and we are not likely to meet 
 
 with that as we have met with everything else. We must build 
 a city, I suppose." 
 
 "No," said Lorilla, gayly. "We can do much better. Do 
 
2Q THE FLOATING PRINCE AND OTHER FAIRY TALES. 
 
 you see that heavy forest on the hills back of us ? Well, in that 
 forest is the great capital city of my people, the fairies. We are 
 scattered in colonies all over the country, but there is our court 
 and our queen. And it is the fairies who can help you to get 
 a royal city. This very evening, I will go and see what can 
 be done." 
 
 So, that evening, Nassime took Lorilla to the edge of the 
 forest, and while she ran swiftly into its depths, he lay down and 
 slept. Early the next morning, while the stars were still shining, 
 she returned and awoke him, and while they were going to the 
 camp she told him her news. 
 
 "Our queen," she said, "will have a city built for you, all 
 complete, with everything that a city needs, but before she will 
 have this done, she commands that some one in your party shall 
 be changed into a fairy, to take my place ! This must be a 
 grown person who consents to the exchange, as I have agreed to 
 be your chief councilor of state. And it must be some one whose 
 mind has never been occupied with human affairs." 
 
 " I don't believe you will find any such person among us/' 
 said Nassime, ruefully. 
 
 But Lorilla clapped her hands and cried, merrily: 
 
 " Ah, yes ! The bottle-washer ! I believe she is the very 
 person." 
 
 Nassime was cheered by this idea, and as soon as they 
 reached the shore, he asked the giant to carry him and Lorilla to 
 the ship. Early as it was, they found the young girl sitting on 
 the deck, quietly washing bottles. She had lost her parents when 
 an infant, and had never had any one to care for. She had 
 passed her life, since she was a very small child, in washing 
 bottles, and as this employment does not require any mental 
 labor, she had never concerned herself about anything. 
 
THE FLOATING PRINCE. 21 
 
 " She will do," exclaimed Lorilla, when she had found out all 
 this. " I don't believe her mind was ever occupied at all. It is 
 perfectly fresh for her to begin as a fairy." 
 
 When the girl was asked if she would be a fairy, she readily 
 consented, for it made no difference to her what she was, and 
 when the admiral was asked if he would give her up, he said: 
 " Oh, yes ! To be sure, it will reduce my navy to one person, but, 
 even then, it will be as large as the army. You may take her, 
 and welcome." The bottle-washer therefore was taken to the 
 shore, and Nassime conducted her to the woods with Lorilla. 
 There he left them, promising to return at sunset. 
 
 " You must be careful of one thing," said Lorilla to him, 
 before he left, "and that is, not to let those aristocrats come on 
 shore. If they once get among the populace, they will begin to 
 lord it over them in a way that will raise a dreadful commotion." 
 
 Nassime promised to attend to this, and when he went back 
 he sent orders to the admiral, on no account to allow any aristo- 
 crat to come on shore. This order caused great discontent on 
 the vessel. The boys could n't see why they alone should be 
 shut up in the ship. They had expected to have lots of fun when 
 the common people were found. 
 
 It was, therefore, with great difficulty that they were restrained 
 from jumping overboard and swimming ashore in a body. The 
 master had been made an ancient noble, but his authority was of 
 little avail, and the poor admiral had his hands full. Indeed, 
 he would have been in despair, had it not been for the gallant 
 conduct of his navy. That brave woman seized a broom, and 
 marching around the deck, kept watchful guard. Whenever she, 
 saw a boy attempting to climb over the side of the vessel, she 
 brought down the broom with a whack upon him, and tumbled him 
 back on the deck. In the afternoon, however, the giant came to the 
 
2 2 THE FLOATING PRINCE AND OTHER FAIRY TALES. 
 
 vessel with a double arm-load of rich fruit, cakes, pastry and confec- 
 tionery, an offering- from the common people, which so delighted the 
 aristocrats that there was peace on board for the rest of the day. 
 
 At sunset, Nassime went to the woods and met Lorilla, who 
 was waiting for him. 
 
 " It 's all right !" she cried ; " the bottle-washer is to be magi- 
 cally dwindled down to-night. And when everybody is asleep, the 
 fairies will come here and will see how many people there are 
 and what they are like, and they will build a city just to suit. It 
 will be done to-morrow." 
 
 Nassime could scarcely believe all this, but there was nothing 
 to be done but to wait and see. That night, everybody went to 
 sleep quite early. And if the fairies came and measured them 
 for a city, they did not know it. 
 
 In the morning, Nassime arose, and walked down toward the 
 shore. As he did so, a lady came out of a tent and approached 
 him. He thought he knew her features, but he could not remem- 
 ber who. she was. But when she spoke, he started back and 
 cried out : " Lorilla !" 
 
 " Yes," said the lady, laughing, " it is Lorilla. The king of 
 Nassimia ought to have a chief councilor of state who is some- 
 what longer than his finger, and last night, as the girl who took 
 my place dwindled down to the size of a fairy, I grew larger and 
 larger, until I became as large as she used to be. Do you like 
 the change ?" 
 
 Lorilla was beautiful. She was richly dressed, and her lovely 
 lace was as merry and gay as ever. 
 
 Nassime approached her and took her hand. 
 
 "The chief councilor of my kingdom shall be its queen," he 
 said, and calling a priest from the populace, the two were married 
 on the spot. 
 
THE FLOATIXG PRIXCE. 
 
 Great were the rejoicings on land and water, but there was 
 no delay in getting ready to march to the royal city, the domes 
 and spires of which Lorilla pointed out to them behind some 
 lovely groves. Nassime was about to signal for the ship to come 
 to shore, but Lorilla checked him. 
 
 " I 'm really sorry for those poor aristocrats, but it will never 
 do to take them to the royal city. They are not needed, and 
 they would make all sorts of trouble. There is nothing to be 
 done but to let the admiral sail away with them, and keep on 
 sailing until they are grown up. Then they will come back, fit to 
 be members of the nobility. They will have their master with 
 them, and you can put three or four philosophers on board, and 
 they can be as well educated, traveling about in this way, as if 
 they were going to school." 
 
 Xassime felt sorry for the aristocrats, but he saw that this 
 was good advice, and he took it. A quantity of provisions and 
 four philosophers were sent on board the ship, and the admiral 
 was ordered to sail away until the boys grew up. As he liked 
 nothing better than sailing, this suited the admiral exactly, and 
 after having a few sheep sent on board, with which to amuse 
 himself during calms, he hoisted sail, and was soon far away. 
 
 The rest of the kingdom marched on, and in good time 
 reached the royal city. There it stood, with its houses, streets, 
 shops, and everything that a city should have. The royal palace 
 glittered in the center, and upon a hill there stood a splendid 
 castle for the giant ! 
 
 Everybody hurried forward. The name of the owner was on 
 every house, and every house was fully furnished, so in a few 
 minutes the whole city was at home. 
 
 The king, leading his queen up the steps of his royal palace, 
 paused at the door ; 
 
2f 
 
 THE FLOATING PRINCE AND OTHER FAIRY TALES. 
 
 " All this," he said, " I owe to you. From the very beginning, 
 you have given me nothing but good advice." 
 
 " But that is not the best of it," she said, laughing. " You al- 
 ways took it." 
 
 The vessel carrying the aristocrats sailed away and away, with 
 the admiral sitting on the stern, his stilts dangling in the water be- 
 hind, as the ship moved on. 
 
HOW THE ARISTOCRATS SAILED AWAY. 
 
 A SEQUEL TO " THE FLOATING PRINCE:' 
 
 FOR many and many a day, the ship of the admiral of the 
 kingdom of Nassimia, containing the admiral himself, the 
 company of school-boys who had been made aristocrats, the 
 old schoolmaster, the four philosophers, and the old woman, who 
 was cook and navy, all in one, sailed and sailed away. 
 
 The admiral sat on the stern, his lono- stilts danp-linpf in the 
 water behind, as the ship sailed on. He was happy, for this was 
 just what he liked; and the four philosophers and the old master 
 and the navy were happy; but the aristocrats gradually became 
 very discontented. They did not want to sail so much; they wanted 
 to go somewhere, and see something. The ship had stopped se- 
 veral times at towns on the coast, and the boys had gone on shore, 
 but, in every case, the leading people of the town had come to the 
 admiral, bearing rich presents, and begging him to sail as soon 
 as possible. So it happened that the lively young aristocrats had 
 been on land very little, since they started on their travels. 
 
 Finding, at last, that the admiral had no intention of landing 
 again, the aristocrats determined to rebel, and, under the leader- 
 ship of the Tail-boy, who was the poorest scholar among them, but 
 first in all mischief, they formed a plan to take possession of the 
 ship. , 
 
 *5 
 
26 THE FLOATING PRINCE AND OTHER FAIRY TALES. 
 
 Accordingly, one fine afternoon, as the admiral, the master, 
 and the four philosophers were sitting on the deck of the vessel 
 enjoying the breeze, six aristocrats, each carrying a bag, slipped 
 quietly up behind them, and, in an instant, a bag was clapped over 
 the head of each man. It was in vain to kick and struggle. The 
 other aristocrats rushed up, the bags were tied securely around the 
 necks of the victims, their hands and feet were bound, and they 
 were seated in a row at the stern of the ship, the admiral's stilts 
 lying along the deck. The Tail-boy then took a pair of scissors 
 and cut a hole in each bag, opposite the mouth of its wearer, so 
 that he could breathe. The six unfortunate men were now informed 
 that if they behaved well they should be treated well, and that, on 
 the next day, a hole should be cut in each of their bags, so that 
 they could see with one eye; on the next day, a hole for one ear; 
 on the next, a hole for the nose; and if they still behaved well, 
 holes should be cut on the two succeeding days for the other ears 
 and eyes. The smartest boy of the school had said, when this ar- 
 rangement- was proposed, that by the time they got this far, they 
 might as well take off the bags, but the rest of the aristocrats did 
 not think so; a prisoner whose head was even partly bagged was 
 more secure than one not baesred at all. 
 
 The admiral and his companions could think of nothing to do 
 but to agree to these terms, and so they agreed, hoping that, by 
 some happy chance, they would soon be released. It was sug- 
 gested by a few aristocrats that it would be well to bring up the 
 navy and bag her head also, but the majority decided that she was 
 needed to do the cooking, and so she was shut down below, and 
 ordered to cook away as hard as she could. 
 
 The prisoners were plentifully fed, at meal-times, by their cap- 
 tors, who put the food through the mouth-holes of their bags. At 
 first, the aristocrats found this to be such fun that the poor men 
 
HOW THE ARISTOCRATS SAILED AWAY. 
 
 27 
 
 could scarcely prevent themselves from being overfed. At night, 
 cushions were brought for them to lie upon, and a rope was fast- 
 ened to the ends of the admiral's stilts, which were hoisted up into 
 the rigging, so as to be out of the way. 
 
 THE ADMIRAL AT NIGHT. 
 I 
 
 The aristocrats now did just as they pleased. They steered in 
 the direction in which they supposed the coast should lie, and, as 
 
28 THE FLOATING PRINCE AND OTHER FAIRY TALES. 
 
 they were sailing on, they gave themselves up to all manner of 
 amusements. Among other things, they found a number of pots 
 of paint stowed away in the ship's hold, and with these they set 
 to work to decorate the vessel. 
 
 They painted the masts crimson, the sails in stripes of pink 
 and blue, the deck light green, spotted with yellow stars, and nearly 
 everything on board shone ir* some lively color. The admiral's 
 sheep were adorned with bands of green, yellow, and crimson, and 
 his stilts were painted bright blue, with a corkscrew red line run- 
 ning around them. Indeed, the smell of paint soon became so 
 strong, that three of the philosophers requested that the nose-holes 
 in their bags should be sewed up. 
 
 There is no knowing what other strange things these aristo- 
 crats would have done, had they not, on the fourth day of their 
 rule on the vessel, perceived they were in sight of land, and of 
 what seemed to be a large city on the coast. Instantly, the vessel 
 was steered straight for the city, which they soon reached. The 
 ship was made fast, and every aristocrat went on shore. The cook 
 was locked below, and the admiral and his companions were told 
 to sit still and be good until the boys should return. 
 
 Each of the prisoners now had holes in his bag for his mouth, 
 his nose, one eye, and an ear, but as the eye-holes were all on 
 the side toward the water, the poor men could not see much that 
 was going on. They twisted themselves around, however, as well 
 as they could, and so got an occasional glimpse of the shore. 
 
 The aristocrats swarmed up into the city, but although it was 
 nearly midday, not a living soul did they meet. The buildings were 
 large and handsome, and the streets were wide and well laid out; 
 there were temples and palaces and splendid edifices of various 
 kinds, but every door and shutter and gate of every house was 
 closely shut, and not a person could be seen, nor a sound heard. 
 
HO W THE ARISTO CRA TS SAILED A WA K 29 
 
 The silence and loneliness of the place quieted the spirits of 
 the aristocrats, and they now walked slowly and kept together. 
 
 "What does it all mean?" said one. "Is the place bewitched, 
 or has everybody gone out of town and taken along the dogs, and 
 the birds, and the flies, and every living thing?" 
 
 "We might go back after one of the philosophers," said ano- 
 ther. "He could tell us all about it." 
 
 "I don't believe he'd know any more than we do," said the 
 Tail-boy, who had now forced his way to the front. "Let us go 
 ahead, and find out for ourselves." 
 
 So they walked on until they came to a splendid edifice, which 
 looked like a palace, and, much to their surprise, the great doors 
 stood wide open. After a little hesitation, they went up the steps 
 and peeped in. Seeing no one, they cautiously entered. Every- 
 thing was grand and gorgeous within, and they gradually pene- 
 trated to a large hall, at one end of which they saw a wide stair- 
 way, carpeted with the richest tapestry. 
 
 Reaching this, they concluded to go up and see what they 
 could find upstairs. But as no one wished to be the first in such 
 a bold proceeding, they went in a solid body. The stair-way was 
 very wide, so that twelve boys could go up, abreast, and they 
 thus filled three of the stairs, with several little boys on the next 
 stair below. 
 
 On they went, up, up, and up, keeping step together. There 
 was a landing above them, but it seemed to be farther up than 
 they had supposed. Some of the little aristocrats complained of 
 being tired; but as they did not wish to be left behind, they 
 kept on. 
 
 "Look here," said one of the front row; "do you see that 
 window up there.' Well, we're not any nearer to it now than we 
 were when we started." 
 
SO THE FLOATING PRINCE AND OTHER FAIRY TALES. 
 
 "That's true," said another, and then the Smart-boy spoke up: 
 
 "I'll tell you what it is. We're not going up at all. These 
 stairs are turning around and around, as we step on them. It's a 
 kind of tread-mill!" 
 
 "Let's stop!" cried some of the boys; but others exclaimed, 
 "Oh, no! Don't do that, or we shall be ground up!" 
 
 "Oh, please don't stop!" cried the little fellows below, forget- 
 ting i>heir tired legs, "or we shall be ground up first." 
 
 So on they kept, stepping up and up, but never advancing, 
 while some of them tried to think of a plan by which they all 
 could turn around and jump off at the same instant. But this 
 would be difficult and dangerous, and those little fellows would 
 certainly be crushed by the others if they were not ground up 
 by the stairs. 
 
 Around and around went the stairs, each step disappearing 
 under the floor beneath, and appearing again above them ; while 
 the boys stepped up and up, wondering if the thing would ever 
 stop. They were silent now, and they could hear a steady click, 
 click, click, as the great stair-way went slowly around. 
 
 "Oh, I '11 tell you!" suddenly exclaimed the Smart-boy. "We 
 're winding it up !" 
 
 "Winding up what?" cried several of the others. 
 
 "Everything!" said the Smart-boy; "we 're winding up the 
 city!" 
 
 This was true. Directly, sounds were heard outside; a dog 
 barked; some cocks crew, and windows and doors were heard to 
 open. The boys trembled, and forgot their weariness, as they 
 stepped up and up. Some voices were heard below, and then, 
 with a sudden jar, the stairs stopped. 
 
 "She 's wound!" said the Smart-boy, under his breath, and 
 every aristocrat turned around and hurried off the stairs. 
 
HOW THE ARISTOCRATS SAILED AWAY. 
 
 What a change had taken place in everything ! From 
 without, came the noise and bustle of a great city, and, within. 
 doors were opening, curtains were being pulled aside, and people 
 were running here, there, and everywhere. The boys huddled 
 together in a corner of the hall. Nobody seemed to notice them. 
 
 'W&M^\ : 'i Jim 
 
 THE ARISTOCRATS WINDING UP THE CITY. 
 
 Suddenly, a great gilded door, directly opposite to them, was 
 thrown wide open, and a king and queen came forth. The king 
 glanced around, eagerly. 
 
32 THE FLOATIXG FRIXCE AXD OTHER FAIRY TALES. 
 
 " Hello !" he cried, as his eyes fell upon the cluster of 
 frightened aristocrats. " I believe it is those boys ! Look here," 
 said he, advancing, "did you boys wind us up?" 
 
 " Yes, sir," said the Head-boy, " I think we did. But we 
 did n't mean to. If you 'd let us off this time, we 'd never 
 
 "Let you off!" cried the king. "Not until we 've made you 
 the happiest boys on earth ! Do you suppose we 're angry ? 
 Ne\er such a mistake! What do you think of that?" he said, 
 turning to the queen. 
 
 This royal lady, who was very fat, made no answer, but 
 smiled, good-humoredly. 
 
 " You 're our greatest benefactors," continued the king. " I 
 don't know what we can do for you. You did not imagine, 
 perhaps, that you were winding us up. Few people, besides our- 
 selves, know how things are with us. This city goes all right for 
 ten years, and then it runs down, and has to be wound up. 
 When we feel we have nearly run down, we go into our houses 
 and apartments, and shut up everything tight and strong. Only 
 this hall is left open, so that somebody can come in, and wind 
 us up. It takes a good many people to do it, and I am glad 
 there were so many of you. Once we were wound up by a 
 lot of bears, who wandered in and tried to go upstairs. But 
 they did n't half do it, and we only ran four years. The city 
 hap been still — like a clock with its works stopped — for as long 
 as a hundred years at once. I don't know how long it was 
 this time. I 'm going to have it calculated. How did you 
 happen to get here ?" 
 
 The boys then told how they had come in a ship, with the 
 admiral, their master, and four philosophers. 
 
 "And the ship is here!" cried the king. "Run!" he shouted 
 
HO IV THE ARISTO CRA TS SAILED AWAY. S3 
 
 to his attendants, "and bring hither those worthy men, that they 
 may share in the honor and rewards of their pupils." 
 
 While the attendants were gone, the aristocrats waited in 
 the hall, and the king went away to attend to other matters. 
 The queen sat down on a sofa near by. 
 
 "It tires me dreadfully to smile," she said, as she wiped her 
 brow ; " but I have to take some exercise." 
 
 "I hope they won't bring 'em here, bags and all," whispered 
 the Tail-boy. "It would look funny, but I should n't like it." 
 
 In a short time the king came back in a hurry. 
 
 "How 's this?" he cried. "My messengers tell me that there 
 is no ship at our piers excepting our own vessels. Have you 
 deceived me ?" 
 
 The aristocrats gazed at each other in dismay. Had their 
 ship sailed away and left them ? If so, they had only been served 
 aright. They looked so downcast and guilty that the king knew 
 something was wrong. 
 
 "What have you done?" said he. 
 
 The Head-boy saw that there was no help for it, and he 
 told all. 
 
 The kine looked sad, but the queen smiled two or three 
 times. 
 
 "And you put their heads in bags?" said the king 
 
 "Yes, sir," replied the Head-boy. 
 
 "Well, well!" said the king; "I am sorry. After all you 
 have done for us, too. I will send out swift cruisers after 
 that ship, which will be easy to find if it is painted as you say. 
 and, until it is brought back to the city, I must keep you in 
 custody. Look you," said he to his attendants; "take these young 
 people to a luxurious apartment, and see that they are well fed and 
 cared for, and also be very careful that none of them escape." 
 3 
 
34 THE FLOATING PRINCE AND OTHER FAIRY TALES. 
 
 Thereupon, the aristocrats were taken away to an inner 
 chamber of the palace. 
 
 When the admiral and his companions had been left on 
 board the vessel, they felt very uneasy, for they did not know 
 what might happen to them next. In a short time, however, 
 when the voices of the aristocrats had died away as they pro- 
 ceeded into the city, the admiral perceived the point of a gimlet 
 coming up through the deck, close to him. Then the gimlet was 
 withdrawn, and these words came up through the hole: 
 
 " Have no fear. Your navy will stand by you !" 
 
 "It will be all right," said the admiral to the others. "I can 
 depend upon her." 
 
 And now was heard a noise of banging and chopping, and 
 soon the cook cut her way from her imprisonment below, and 
 made her appearance on deck. She went to work vigorously, 
 and, taking the bags from the prisoners' heads, unbound them, and 
 set them at liberty. Then she gave them a piece of advice. 
 
 " The .thing for us to do," said she, " is to get away from 
 here as fast as we can. If those young rascals come back, there's 
 no knowin' what they '11 do." 
 
 " Do you mean," said the master, " that we should sail away 
 and desert my scholars? Who can tell what might happen to 
 them, left here by themselves ?" 
 
 "We should not consider what might happen to them if they 
 were left," said one of the philosophers, " but what might happen 
 to us if they were not left. We must away." 
 
 "Certainly!" cried the admiral. "While I have the soul of 
 the commander of the navy of Nassimia left within me, I will not 
 stay here to have my head put in a bag ! Never ! Set sail !" 
 
 It was not easy to set sail, for the cook and the philosophers 
 were not very good at that sort of work ; but they got the sail 
 
HO IV THE ARISTO CRA TS SAILED A WA K 35 
 
 up at last, and cast loose from shore, first landing the old master, 
 who positively refused to desert his scholars. The admiral took 
 the helm, and, the wind being fair, the ship sailed away. 
 
 The swift cruiser, which was sent in the direction taken by 
 the admiral's vessel, passed her in the night, and as she was a 
 very fast cruiser, and it was therefore impossible for the admiral's 
 ship to catch up with her, the two vessels never met. 
 
 " Now, then," said the admiral the next day, as he sat with 
 the helm in his hand, "we are free again to sail where we please. 
 But I do not like to sail without an object. What shall be our 
 object ?" 
 
 The philosophers immediately declared that nothing could be 
 more proper than that they should take a voyage to make some 
 great scientific discovery. 
 
 "All right," said the admiral. "That suits me. What dis- 
 covery shall we make?" 
 
 The philosophers were not prepared to answer this question 
 at that moment, but they said they would try to think of some 
 good discovery to make. 
 
 So the philosophers sat in a row behind the admiral, and 
 thought and thought; and the admiral sat at the helm, with his 
 blue-and-red stilts dangling in the water behind; and the cook 
 prepared the meals, swept the deck, dusted the sail, and put things 
 in order. 
 
 After several hours, the admiral turned around to ask the 
 philosophers if they had thought of any discovery yet, when, to 
 his amazement, he saw that each one of them had put his bag 
 upon his head. 
 
 "What did you do that for?" cried the admiral, when each of 
 the philosophers gave a little start; and then they explained that 
 it was much easier to think with one's head in a bacr. The outer 
 
JO THE FLOATING PRINCE AND OTHER FAIRY TALES. 
 
 world was thus shut out, and trains of thought were not so likely 
 to be broken up. 
 
 So, for day after day, the philosophers, with their heads in 
 their bags, sat, and thought, and thought; and the admiral sat and 
 steered, and the navy cooked and dusted and kept things clean. 
 Sometimes, when she thought the sail did not catch the wind 
 properly, she would move the admiral toward one side or the 
 other, and thus change the course of the vessel. 
 
 "If I knew," said the admiral one day, "the exact age of the 
 youngest of those aristocrats, I should know just how long we 
 should have to sail, before they would all be grown up, and when it 
 would be time for us to go back after them, and take them to 
 Nassimia." 
 
 The cook remembered that the smallest boy had told her he 
 was ten years old. 
 
 "Then," said the admiral, "we must sail for eleven years." 
 
 And they sailed for eleven years ; the philosophers, with their 
 heads in their bags, trying their best to think of some good thing 
 to discover. 
 
 The day after the aristocrats had been shut up in their luxu- 
 rious apartment, the queen sent a messenger to them, to tell them 
 that she thought the idea of putting people's heads in bags was 
 one of the most amusing things she ever heard of, and that she 
 would be much obliged if they would send her the pattern of the 
 proper kind of bag, so that she could have some made for her 
 slaves. 
 
 The messenger brought scissors, and papers, and pins, and 
 the boys cut a pattern of a very comfortable bag, with holes for 
 the eyes, nose, mouth, and ears, which they sent with their respects 
 to the queen. This royal lady had two bags made, which she put 
 upon two of her servants, and their appearance amused her so 
 
 
 
HOW THE ARISTOCRATS SAILED AWAY. 
 
 much that she smiled a great deal, and yet scarcely felt tired 
 at all. 
 
 But, in the course of a day or two, the king Happened to 
 see these bagf-headed slaves sitting in an ante-chamber. He was 
 
 I 
 
 THE KING S CONSTERNATION. 
 
 struck with consternation, and instantly called a council of his 
 chief ministers. 
 
 "We are threatened with a terrible danger," he said to them, 
 when all the doors were shut. "We have among us a body ol 
 Bagists! Little did we think, in our gratitude, that we were 
 wound up merely that we might go through life with our heads 
 
33 THE FLOATING PRINCE AND OTHER FAIRY TALES. 
 
 bagged ! Better far that we should stay stopped forever ! How 
 can we know but that the ship which brought them here may 
 soon return, with a cargo of bag-stuffs, needles, thread, and thim- 
 bles, and that every head in our city may be bagged in a few 
 days ? Already, signs of this approaching evil have shown them- 
 selves. Notwithstanding the fact that these dangerous characters 
 have been closely confined, no less than two of the inmates of 
 my palace have already had their heads bagged !" 
 
 At these words, a thrill of horror pervaded the ministers, and 
 they discussed the matter for a long time. It was finally decided 
 that a lookout should be constantly kept on the top of a high 
 tower, to give notice of the approach of the ship, should she 
 return ; additional guards were posted at the door of the aris- 
 tocrats' apartment, and it was ordered that the city be searched 
 every day, to see if any new cases of bagism could be discovered. 
 
 The aristocrats now began to be very discontented. Although 
 they had everything they could possibly want to eat and drink, 
 and were . even furnished with toys and other sources of amuse- 
 ment, they did not like to be shut up. 
 
 " I '11 tell you what it is," said the Tail-boy. " 1 can't stand 
 this any longer. Let 's get away." 
 
 " But where shall we get away to ?" asked several of the 
 others. 
 
 " We '11 see about that when we 're outside," was the answer 
 •'Anything 's better than being shut up here." 
 
 After some talk, everybody agreed that they ought to try 
 to escape, and they set about to devise some plan for doing 
 so. The windows were not very high from the ground, but they 
 were too high for a jump, and not a thing could be found in 
 the room which was strong enough to make a rope. Every piece 
 of silk or muslin in the curtains or bed-clothes was fine, and 
 
HOW THE ARISTOCRATS SAILED AWAY. 
 
 delicate, and flimsy. At last, the Smart-boy hit upon a plan. 
 The apartment was a very long one, and was floored with narrow 
 boards, of costly wood, which ran from one end to the other of 
 it. He proposed that they should take up one of these boards, 
 
 THE PRISONERS ESCAPE. 
 
 and, putting it out of the window, should rest one end on the 
 ground, and the other on the window-sill. Then they could slide 
 down. 
 
 Instantly, every aristocrat set to work, with knife, or piece of 
 ., or small coin, to take out the silver screws which held down 
 une of the boards. 
 
 " It is very narrow," said the Head-boy. " I am afraid we 
 shall slip off." 
 
 " Oh, there is no dano-er of that," replied the Smart-boy. 
 
40 THE FLOATING PRINCE AND OTHER FAIRY TALES. 
 
 u If we only go fast enough, we cannot slip off. We will grease 
 the board, and then we shall go fast enough." 
 
 So the board was taken up, and, after having been well 
 greased with oil from the lamps, was put out of the window. 
 
 Then the boys, one at a time, got on the board and slid, 
 with the speed of lightning, to the ground. Most of them came 
 down with such rapidity and force that they shot over the smooth 
 grass to a considerable distance. As soon as they were all down, 
 the Smart-boy took the end of the board and moved it to one 
 side, so that it rested on the edge of a deep tank. 
 
 " Now, then," said he, " if any of the guards slide down after 
 us, they will go into the tank." 
 
 It was now nearly dark, and the boys set about finding 
 some place where they could spend the night. They soon came 
 to a large building, the doors of which were shut, but, as they 
 were not locked, they had no trouble in entering. This building 
 was a public library, which was closed very early every afternoon, 
 and opened very late every morning. Here the aristocrats found 
 very comfortable quarters, and having lighted a candle which one 
 of them had in his pocket, they held a meeting, to determine 
 what they should do next. 
 
 " Of course the ship will come back, some day," said the 
 Smart-boy, " for that admiral would be afraid to go home without 
 us. The giant would smash him and his old ship if he did that. 
 So we shall have to wait here until the ship returns." 
 
 "But how are we going to live?" asked several of his com- 
 panions. 
 
 "We can sleep here," he answered. "It 's a nice, big place, 
 and nobody will ever disturb us, for a notice on the door says 
 it 's closed two hours before sunset. And as to victuals, we 
 shall have to work at something." 
 
HOW THE ARISTOCRATS SAILED AWAY. 41 
 
 This was thought good reasoning, and they now began to 
 consider what they should work at. It was agreed that it would 
 be wise for them all to select the same trade, because then they 
 could stand by each other in case of any business disputes, and 
 their trade was to be chosen in this way : Every boy was to 
 write on a piece of paper the business he liked best, and what- 
 ever trade or profession was written on the most papers, was to 
 be adopted by the whole company. 
 
 When the papers were read by the Head-boy, it was found 
 that nearly every one had selected a different calling ; but three 
 of the smaller boys happened to want to be letter-carriers, and 
 so, as there was no business which had so many votes as this, it 
 was determined that they should all be letter-carriers. 
 
 The three little boys shouted for joy at this. 
 
 "But where shall we get letters to carry?" asked some of 
 the older fellows. 
 
 "Oh, we '11 see about that in the morning," said the Smart- 
 boy. "There '11 be plenty of time before the library opens." 
 
 They slept that night on piles of parchments, and in the 
 morning the building was searched to see if any letters could be 
 found for them to carry. In the cellar they discovered a great 
 many huge boxes, filled with manuscripts which had been collect- 
 ing ever since the city was first wound up and started. These, 
 they concluded, would do just as well as letters, and each boy 
 filled his satchel with them, and started off to deliver them. 
 
 Each carrier was assigned by the Head-boy to a different 
 street, and all went to work with a will. The people were glad 
 to get the manuscripts, for many of them were very instructive 
 and interesting, and they gave the boys a small piece of money 
 for each one. This went on, day after day, and every morning 
 each person in the whole city got a letter. 
 
42 THE FLOATING PRINCE AND OTHER FAIRY TALES. 
 
 When the king was informed of the escape of his prisoners, 
 he hurried, in great trouble, to see how they had got away. But 
 
 THE WATCH OX THE HIGH TOWER. 
 
 when he saw the board which they had left resting on the edge 
 
 of the tank, he was delighted. 
 
HOW THE ARISTOCRATS SAILED AWAY. 
 
 43 
 
 "Those wretched Bagists," he exclaimed, "in trying to escape, 
 have all slid into the tank. Let it be walled over, and that will 
 be the end of them. We are fortunate to get rid of them 
 
 so easily." 
 
 But the watch on the high tower was still kept up, for no 
 one knew when the ship might come back with more Bagists. 
 
 One day, as the Head-boy was delivering his letters, he met 
 
 S^Ssa 
 
 THE SCHOOL-MASTER AND HEAD-BOY EMBRACE. 
 
 an old man, whom he instantly recognized as his master. At 
 first he felt like running away; but when the master told him 
 that he was alone, and forgave everything, they embraced in tears. 
 The old man had not been able to find his boys in the town, 
 and had wandered into the surrounding country. In this way, he 
 had never had a letter. 
 
 The Head-boy took him to the library that night, and he 
 afterward spent most of his time reading the old manuscripts 
 
44 THE EI O A TING PRINCE AND OTHER FAIRY TALEh. 
 
 and sorting them out for the carriers. Nobody ever came into 
 the cellar to disturb him. 
 
 The people of the city were very much benefited by the 
 instructive papers which were brought to them every day, and 
 many of them became quite learned. The aristocrats also learned 
 a great deal by reading the papers to those persons who could 
 not read themselves, and, every evening, the master gave them 
 lessons in the library. So they gradually became better and 
 better educated. 
 
 They often looked up to the high tower, because they had 
 heard that a flag was to be hoisted there whenever a ship with 
 a pink-and-blue sail was seen approaching the city. 
 
 Ten years passed, and they saw no flag, but one day they 
 saw, posted up all over the city, a notice from the king, stating 
 that, on the next day, the city would run down, and ordering all 
 the people to retire into their houses, and to shut up their doors 
 and windows. This struck the aristocrats with dismay, for how 
 were they 'to get a living if they could not deliver their letters ? 
 
 So they all boldly marched to the palace, and, asking for the 
 king, proposed to him that they should be allowed to wind up 
 his city. 
 
 The king gazed upon them in amazement. "What!" he cried. 
 "Do you letter carriers venture to come to me with such a bold 
 request.' Do you think for a moment that you know anything 
 about what you propose doing?" 
 
 "We can do it a great deal easier than we did it before," 
 said one of the younger aristocrats, " for some of us were very 
 small then, and did n't weigh much." 
 
 " Did it before ?" exclaimed the bewildered king, staring at 
 the sturdy group before him. 
 
 The Head-boy, who was by this time entirely grown up, now 
 
HOW sr/y/, ^aJSTOCRATS SAILED AWAY. 45 
 
 came forward, and, acknowledging that he and his companions 
 were the boys who had been shut up in the luxurious apart- 
 ment, told their whole story since their escape. 
 
 "And you have lived among us all this time, and have not 
 tried to bag our heads?" said the king. 
 
 " Not a bit of it," replied the other. 
 
 " I am very glad, indeed, to hear this," said the king, " and 
 now, if you please, I would like you to try if you really can wind 
 Us up, for I feel that I am running down very fast." 
 
 At this, the whole body of aristocrats ran to the great stair- 
 way, and began quickly to mount the steps. Around and around 
 went the revolving stair-way, twice as fast as it had ever gone 
 before. Click ! click ! click ! went the machinery, and before any- 
 body could really imagine that the thing was true, the stair-way 
 stopped with a bump, and the city was wound up for another ten 
 years ! 
 
 It would be useless to try to describe the joy and gratitude 
 of the king and the people. The aristocrats were loaded with 
 honors and presents; they and their old master were sumptuously 
 lodged in the palace, and, in their honor, the public library was 
 ordered to be kept open every evening, in order that the people 
 who were busy in the day-time might go there and read the 
 papers, which were no longer carried to them. 
 
 At the end of a year, a flag was raised on the top of the 
 high tower, and the admiral's ship came in. The philosophers 
 took off their bags, which were now very old and thin, and the 
 aristocrats, with their master, were warmly welcomed on board, 
 lieing all grown up, they were no longer feared. In a few days, 
 the ship sailed for Nassimia, and, as the aristocrats were taking 
 leave of the sorrowing citizens, the Smart-boy stepped up to the 
 kine, and said: 
 
46 THE FLOATING PRINCE AND OTHER FAIRY TAIEs. 
 
 " I '11 tell you what I should do, if I were you. About a 
 week before the time you expect to run down again, I 'd make 
 a lot of men go to work and wind up the city. You can do it 
 yourselves, just as well as to wait for other people to do it for 
 you." 
 
 "That's exactly what I will do!" cried the king. "I never 
 thought of it before !" 
 
 He did it, and, so far as is known, the city is running yet. 
 
 When the aristocrats reached the city of Nassimia, everybody 
 was glad to see them, for they had become a fine, well-behaved, 
 and well-educated body of nobility, and the admiral, standing high 
 upon his stilts, looked down upon them with honest pride, as he 
 presented them to the king and queen. 
 
 Lorilla shook each one of them by the hand. They did not 
 recognize the little fairy in this handsome woman, but when she 
 explained how the change had taken place, they were delighted. 
 
 "To think of it!" cried one of the younger aristocrats. "We 
 never missed that bottle-washer !" 
 
 " No," said Lorilla ; " nobody ever missed her. That is one 
 reason why she was such a good one to be made a fairy. And 
 now you must tell us your whole story." 
 
 And so the king and the queen, the giant and his army, the 
 chancellor of the exchequer, and as many of the populace as 
 could get near enough, crowded around to hear the story of the 
 adventures of the aristocrats, which the Head-boy told very well. 
 
 " I should like very much to go to that curious city," said 
 Lorilla, " especially at a time when it had run down, and every- 
 thing had stopped." 
 
 " Oh, I don't believe it will ever stop any more," cried the 
 Tail-boy. " We told them how to keep themselves a-going all 
 the time." 
 
THE REFORMED PIRATE. 
 
 IT was a very delightful country where little Corette lived. It 
 seemed to be almost always summer-time there, for the winters 
 were just long- enough to make people glad when they were 
 over, When it rained, it mostly rained at night, and so the fields 
 and gardens had all the water they wanted, while the people were 
 generally quite sure of a fine clay. And, as they lived a great deal 
 out-of-doors, this was a great advantage to them. 
 
 The principal business of the people of this country was the 
 raising of sweet marjoram. The soil and climate were admirably 
 adapted to the culture of the herb, and fields and fields of it were to 
 be seen in every direction. At that time, and this was a good while 
 ago, very little sweet marjoram was raised in other parts of the 
 world, so this country had the trade nearly all to itself. 
 
 The great holiday of the year was the day on which the harvest 
 of this national herb began. It was called "Sweet Marjoram Day," 
 and the people, both young and old, thought more of it than of any 
 other holiday in the year. 
 
 On that happy day everybody went out into the fields. There 
 was never a person so old, or so young, or so busy, that he or she 
 could not go to help in the harvest. Even when there were sick 
 people, which was seldom, they were carried out to the fields and 
 staid there all dav. And they generally felt much better in the 
 evening. 
 
 47 
 
4 8 
 
 THE FLOATING PRINCE AND OTHER FAIR* TALES. 
 
 There were always patches of sweet marjoram planted on 
 purpose for the very little babies to play in on the great day. They 
 must be poor, indeed, these people said, if they could not raise sweet 
 marjoram for their own needs and for exportation, and yet have 
 enough left for the babies to play in. 
 
 So, all this day the little youngsters rolled, and tumbled, and 
 kicked and crowed in the soft green and white beds of the fragrant 
 herb, and pulled it up by the roots, and laughed and chuckled, and 
 went to sleep in it, and were the happiest babies in the world. 
 
 THE BABIES IN THE SWEET MARJORAM BEDS. 
 
 They needed no care, except at the dinner hour, so the rest of 
 the people gave all their time to gathering in the crop and having 
 fun. There was always lots of fun on this great harvest day, for 
 everybody worked so hard that the whole crop was generally in the 
 sweet marjoram barns before breakfast, so that they had nearly the 
 whole day for games and jolity. 
 
THE REFORMED F IRATE. 49 
 
 In this country, where little Corette lived, there were fairies. 
 Not very many of them, it is true, for the people had never seen 
 but two. These were sisters, and there were never fairies more 
 generally liked than these two little creatures, neither of them over 
 four inches high. They were very fond of the company of human 
 beings, and were just as full of fun as anybody. They often used to 
 come to spend an hour or two, and sometimes a whole day, with 
 the good folks, and they seemed always glad to see and to talk to 
 everybody. 
 
 These sisters lived near the top of a mountain in a fairy cottage. 
 This cottage had never been seen by any of the people, but the sis- 
 ters had often told them all about it, It must have been a charm- 
 ing place. 
 
 The house was not much bigger than a bandbox, and it had two 
 stories and a garret, with a little portico running all around it. In- 
 side was the dearest little furniture of all kinds, — beds, tables, chairs, 
 and all the furniture that could possibly be needed. 
 
 Everything about the house and grounds was on the same 
 small scale. There was a little stable and a little barn, with a little 
 old man to work the little garden and attend to the two little cows. 
 Around the house were garden-beds ever so small, and little gra- 
 veled paths; and a kitchen-garden, where the peas climbed up little 
 sticks no bigger than pins, and where the little chickens, about the 
 size of flies, sometimes got in and scratched up the little vegetables. 
 There was a little meadow for pasture, and a grove of little trees; 
 and there was also a small field of sweet marjoram, where the blos- 
 soms were so tiny that you could hardly have seen them without a 
 magnifying glass. 
 
 It was not very far from this cottage to the sweet marjoram 
 country, and the fairy sisters had no trouble at all in running down 
 there whenever they felt like it, but none of the people had ever 
 
50 THE FLOATING PRINCE AND OTHER FAIRY TALES. 
 
 seen this little home. They had looked for it, but could not find it, 
 and the fairies would never take any of them to it. They said it 
 was no place for human beings. Even the smallest boy, if he were 
 to trip his toe, might fall against their house and knock it over; and 
 as to any of them coming into the fairy grounds, that would be im- 
 possible, for there was no spot large enough for even a common- 
 sized baby to creep about in. 
 
 On Sweet Marjoram Day the fairies never failed to come. 
 Every year they taught the people new games, and all sorts of new 
 ways of having fun. The good folks would never have even thought 
 of having such fine times if it had not been for these fairies. 
 
 One delightful afternoon, about a month before Sweet Marjoram 
 Day, Corette, who was a little girl just old enough, and not a day 
 too old (which is exactly the age all little girls ought to be), was 
 talking about the fairy cottage to some of her companions. 
 
 "We never can see it," said Corette, sorrowfully. 
 
 "No," said one of the other girls, "we are too big. If we were 
 little enough, we might go." 
 
 'Are you sure the sisters would be glad to see us, then?" asked 
 Corette. 
 
 "Yes, I heard them say so. But it does n't matter at all, as 
 we are not little enough." 
 
 "No," said Corette, and she went off to take a walk by nerself. 
 
 She had not walked far before she reached a small house 
 which stood by the sea-shore. This house belonged to a Reformed 
 Pirate who lived there all by himself. He had entirely given up a 
 sea-faring life so as to avoid all temptation, and he employed his 
 time in the mildest pursuits he could think of. 
 
 When Corette came to his house, she saw him sitting in an 
 easy chair in front of his door, near the edge of a small bluff which 
 overhung the sea, busily engaged in knitting a tidy. 
 
THE REFORMED PIRATE. 51 
 
 When he saw Corette, he greeted her kindly, and put aside 
 his knitting, which he was very glad to do, for he hated knitting 
 tidies, though he thought it was his duty to make them. 
 
 "Well, my little maid," he said, in a strange, muffled voice, 
 which sounded as if he were speaking under water, for he tried to 
 be as gentle in every way as he could, "how do you do? You don't 
 look quite as gay as usual. Has anything run afoul of you?" 
 
 "Oh no!" said Corette, and she came and stood by him, and 
 taking up his tidy, she looked it over carefully and showed him 
 where he had dropped a lot of stitches and where he had made some 
 too tight and others a great deal too loose. He did not know how 
 to knit very well. 
 
 When she had shown him as well as she could how he ouo-ht 
 to do it, she sat down on the grass by his side, and after a while she 
 began to talk to him about the fairy cottage, and what a great pity 
 it was that it was impossible for her ever to see it. 
 
 "It is a pity," said the Reformed Pirate. "I've heard of that 
 cottage, and I'd like to see it myself. In fact, I'd like to go to see 
 almost anything that was proper and quiet, so as to get rid of the 
 sight of this everlasting knitting." 
 
 "There are other things you might do besides knit," said 
 Corette. 
 
 "Nothing so depressing and suitable," said he, with a sigh. 
 
 "It would be of no use for you to think of going there," said 
 Corette. "Even I am too large, and you are ever and ever so 
 much too big. You could n't get one foot into any of their 
 paths." 
 
 "I've no doubt that's true," he replied; "but the thing might be 
 done. Almost anything can be done if you set about it in the 
 right way. But you see, little maid, that you and I don't know 
 enough. Now, years ago, when I was in a different line of business-, 
 
52 THE FLOATING PRINCE AND OTHER FAIRY TALES. 
 
 I often used to get puzzled about one thing- or another, and then I 
 went to somebody who knew more than myself." 
 
 "Were there many such persons?" asked Corette. 
 
 "Well, no. I always went to one old fellow who was a Prac- 
 ticing Wizard. He lived, and still lives, I reckon, on an island 
 about fifty miles from here, right off there to the sou'-sou'-west. 
 I've no doubt that if we were to go to him, he'd tell us just how 
 to do this thing." 
 
 "But how could we get there?" asked Corette. 
 
 "O!" I'd manage that," said the Reformed Pirate, his eyes 
 flashing with animation. " I've an old sail-boat back there in the 
 creek that's as good as ever she was. I could fix her up, and get 
 everything all ship-shape in a couple of days, and then you and I 
 could scud over there in no time. What do you say? Would n't 
 you like to go?" 
 
 " Oh, I'd like to go ever so much !" cried Corette, clapping 
 her hands,, "if they'd let me." 
 
 " Well, run and ask them," said he, rolling up his knitting 
 and stuffing it under the cushion of his chair, "and I'll go and 
 look ac chat boat right away." 
 
 So Corette ran home to her father and mother, and told them 
 all about the matter. They listened with great interest, and her 
 father said : 
 
 "Well, now, our little girl is not looking quite as well as 
 usual. I have noticed that she is somewhat pale. A sea-trip might 
 be the very thing for her." 
 
 " I think it would do her a great deal of good," said her mo- 
 ther, " and as to that Reformed Pirate, she'd be just as safe with 
 him as if she was on dry land." 
 
 So it was agreed that Corette should go. Her father and 
 mother were always remarkably kind. 
 
THE REFORMED PIRATE. 
 
 53 
 
 The Reformed Pirate was perfectly delighted when he heard 
 this, and he went hard to work to get his little vessel ready. To 
 sail again on the ocean seemed to him the greatest of earthly joys, 
 and as he was to do it for the benefit of a good little girl, it was 
 all perfectly right and proper. 
 
 When they started, the next day but one, all the people who 
 lived near enough came down to see them off. Just as they were 
 about to sail, the Reformed Pirate said: 
 
 " Hello ! I wonder if I had n't better run back to the house 
 and get my sword ! I only wear the empty scabbard now, but it 
 might be safer, on a trip like this, to take the sword along." 
 
 So he ran back and got it, and then he pushed off amid the 
 shouts of all the good people on the beach. 
 
 The boat was quite a good-sized one, and it had a cabin and 
 everything neat and comfortable. The Reformed Pirate managed 
 it beautifully, all by himself, and Corette sat in the stern and 
 watched the waves, and the sky, and the sea-birds, and was very 
 happy indeed. 
 
 As for her companion, he was in a state of ecstasy,, As the 
 breeze freshened, and the sails filled, and the vessel went dashing 
 over the waves, he laughed and joked, and sang snatches of old 
 sea-songs, and was the jolliest man afloat. 
 
 After a while, as they went thus sailing merrily along, a 
 distant ship appeared in sight. The moment his eyes fell upon 
 it, a sudden change came over the Reformed Pirate. He sprang 
 to his feet and, with his hand still upon the helm, he leaned for- 
 ward and gazed at the ship. He gazed and he gazed, and he 
 gazed without saying a word. Corette spoke to him several 
 times, but he answered not. And as he gazed he moved the 
 helm so that his little craft gradually turned from her course, and 
 sailed to meet the distant ship. 
 
54 
 
 THE FLOATING PRINCE AND OTHER FAIRY TALES. 
 
 As the two vessels approached each other, the Reformed 
 Pirate became very much excited. He tightened his belt and 
 loosened his sword in its sheath. Hurriedly giving the helm to 
 Corette, he went forward and jerked a lot of ropes and hooks 
 from a cubby-hole where they had been stowed away. Then he 
 
 
 THE REFORMED PIRATE IS THE JOLLIEST MAX AFLOAT. 
 
 pulled out a small, dark flag, with bits of skeleton painted on it, 
 and hoisted it to the top-mast. 
 
 By this time he had nearly reached the ship, which was a 
 
THE REFORMED PIRATE. 55 
 
 large three-masted vessel. There seemed to be a great commo- 
 tion on board ; sailors were running this way and that ; women 
 were screaming ; and officers could be heard shouting, " Put her 
 about ! Clap on more sail !" 
 
 But steadily on sailed the small boat, and the moment it 
 came alongside the big ship, the Reformed Pirate threw out grap- 
 nels and made the two vessels fast together. Then he hooked 
 a ropeladder to the side of the ship, and rushing up it, sprang 
 with a yell on the deck of the vessel, waving his flashing sword 
 around his head ! 
 
 "Down, dastards! varlets! hounds!" he shouted. "Down upon 
 your knees ! Throw down your arms ! Surrender !" 
 
 Then every man went down upon his knees, and threw down 
 his arms and surrendered. 
 
 "Where is your Captain?" roared their conqueror. 
 
 The Captain came trembling forward. 
 
 ; ' Bring to me your gold and silver, your jewels and your 
 gracious stones, and your rich stuffs!" 
 
 The Captain ordered these to be quickly brought and placed 
 before the Reformed Pirate, who continued to stride to and fro 
 across the deck waving his glittering blade, and who, when he 
 saw the treasures placed before him, shouted again: 
 
 "Prepare for scuttling!" and then, while the women got down 
 on their knees and begged that he would not sink the ship, and 
 the children cried, and the men trembled so that they could 
 hardly kneel straight, and the Captain stood pale and shaking 
 before him, he glanced at the pile of treasure, and touched it 
 with his sword. 
 
 "Aboard with this, mv men!" he said. "But first I will divide 
 this into, — into, — into one part. Look here!" and then he paused, 
 glanced around, and clapped his hand to his head. He looked 
 
56 THE FLOATING PRINCE AND OTHER FAIRY TALES. 
 
 at the people, the treasure and the ship. Then suddenly he sheathed 
 his sword, and, stepping up to the Captain, extended his hand. 
 
 "Good sir," said he, "you must excuse me. This is a mis- 
 take. I had no intention of taking this vessel. It was merely a 
 temporary absence of mind. I forgot I had reformed, and seeing 
 this ship, old scenes and my old business came into my head, and 
 I just came and took the vessel without really thinking what I 
 was doing. I beg you will excuse me. And these ladies, — I am 
 very sorry to have inconvenienced them. I ask them to over- 
 look my unintentional rudeness." 
 
 "Oh, don't mention it!" cried the Captain, his face beaming 
 with joy as he seized the hand of the Reformed Pirate. "It is of 
 no importance, I assure you. We are delighted,, sir, delighted!" 
 
 "Oh yes!" cried all the ladies. "Kind sir, we are charmed! 
 We are charmed!" 
 
 "You are all very good indeed," said the Reformed Pirate, 
 " but I really think I was not altogether excusable. And I am 
 very sorry that I made your men bring up all these things." 
 
 " Not at all ! not at all !" cried the Captain. " No trouble 
 whatever to show them. Very glad indeed to have the oppor- 
 tunity. By the by, would you like to take a few of them, as a 
 memento of your visit?" 
 
 "Oh no, I thank you," replied the Reformed Pirate, "I would 
 rather not." 
 
 "Perhaps, then, some of your men might like a trinket or a 
 bit of cloth " 
 
 "Oh, I have no men! There is no one on board but myself 
 — excepting a little girl, who is a passenger. But I must be 
 going. Good-by, Captain!" 
 
 "I am sorry you are in such a hurry," said the Captain. "Is 
 there anything at all that I can do for you ?" 
 
THE REFORMED PIRATE. 
 
 57 
 
 "No, thank you. But stop! — there may be something. Do 
 you sail to any port where there is a trade in tidies?" 
 
 "Oh, yes! To several such," said the Captain. 
 
 "Well, then, I would be very much obliged to you," said the 
 Reformed Pirate, " if you would sometimes stop off that point of land 
 that you see there, and send a boat ashore to my house for a load 
 of tidies." 
 
 " You manufacture them by the quantity, then ?" asked the 
 Captain. 
 
 " I expect to," said the other, sadly. 
 
 The Captain promised to stop, and, after shaking hands with 
 every person on deck, the Reformed Pirate went down the side of 
 the ship, and taking in his ladder and his grapnels, he pushed off. 
 
 As he slowly sailed away, having lowered his flag, the Captain 
 looked over the side of his ship, and said : 
 
 " If I had only known that there was nobody but a little girl 
 on board ! I thought, of course, he had a boat-load of pirates." 
 
 Corette asked a great many questions about everything that 
 had happened on the ship, for she had heard the noise and con- 
 fusion as she sat below in the little boat ; but her companion was 
 disposed to be silent, and said very little in reply. 
 
 When the trip was over, and they had reached the island, the 
 Reformed Pirate made his boat fast, and taking little Corette by 
 the hand, he walked up to the house of the Practicing Wizard. 
 
 This was a queer place. It was a great rambling house, one 
 story high in some places, and nine or ten in other places ; and 
 then, again, it seemed to run into the ground and re-appear at a 
 short distance — the different parts being connected by cellars and 
 basements, with nothing but flower-gardens over them. 
 
 Corette thought she had never seen such a wonderful build- 
 ing; but she had not long to look at the outside of it, for her 
 
58 THE FLOATING PRINCE AND OTHER FAIRY TALES. 
 
 companion, who had been there before, and knew the ways of the 
 place, went up to a little door in a two-story part of the house 
 and knocked. Our friends were admitted by a dark cream-colored 
 slave, who informed them that the Practicing Wizard was en^aofed 
 with other visitors, but that he would soon be at leisure. 
 
 So Corette and the Reformed Pirate sat down in a handsome 
 room, full of curious and wonderful things, and, in a short time, 
 they were summoned into the Practicing Wizard's private office. 
 
 " Glad to see you," said he, as the reformed Pirate entered. 
 " It has been a long time since you were here. What can I do for 
 you, now? Want to know something about the whereabouts of 
 any ships, or the value of any cargoes?" 
 
 " Oh, no ! I'm out of that business now," said, the other. " I've 
 come this time for something entirely different. But I'll let this 
 little girl tell you what it is. She can do it a great deal better 
 than I can." 
 
 So Corette stepped up to the Practicing Wizard, who was a 
 pleasant, elderly man, with a smooth white face, and a constant 
 smile, which seemed to have grown on his face instead of a beard, 
 and she told him the whole story of the fairy sisters and their 
 cottaee, of her great desire to see it, and of the difficulties in the 
 way. 
 
 "I know all about those sisters," he said; "I don't wonder 
 you want to see their house. You both wish to see it?" 
 
 " Yes," said the Reformed Pirate ; " I might as well go with 
 her, if the thing can be done at all." 
 
 "Very proper," said the Practicing Wizard, "very proper in 
 deed. But there is only one way in which it can be done. You 
 must be condensed." 
 
 "Does that hurt?" asked Corette. 
 
 " Oh, not at all ! You'll never feel it. For the two it will be 
 
THE REFORMED PIRATE. 59 
 
 one hundred and eighty ducats," said he, turning to the Reformed 
 Pirate; "we make a reduction when there are more than one." 
 
 "Are you willing?" asked the Reformed Pirate of Corette, as 
 he put his hand in his breeches' pocket. 
 
 "Oh, yes!" said Corette, "certainly I am, if that's the onl/ 
 way." 
 
 Whereupon her good friend said no more, but pulled out a 
 hundred and eighty ducats and handed them to the Practicing 
 Wizard, who immediately commenced operations. 
 
 Corette and the Reformed Pirate were each seated in a laro-e 
 
 o 
 
 easy chair, and upon each of their heads the old white-faced gen- 
 tleman placed a little pink ball, about the size of a pea. Then 
 he took a position in front of them. 
 
 " Xow then," said he, " sit perfectly still. It will be over in 
 a few minutes," and he lifted up a long thin stick, and, pointing it 
 toward the couple, he began to count: "One, two, three, four " 
 
 As he counted, the Reformed Pirate and Corette began to 
 shrink, and by the time he had reached fifty, they were no bigger 
 than cats. But he kept on counting until Corette was about three 
 and a half inches high, and her companion about five inches. 
 
 Then he stopped, and knocked the pink ball from each of 
 their heads with a little tap of his long stick. 
 
 " There we are," said he, and he carefully picked up the little 
 creatures and put them on a table in front of a looking-glass, that 
 they might see how they liked his work. 
 
 It was admirably done. Every proportion had been perfectly 
 kept. 
 
 "It seems to me that it could n't be better," said the Con- 
 densed Pirate, looking at himself from top to toe. 
 
 " No," said the Practicing Wizard, smiling rather more than 
 usual, "I don't believe it could." 
 
CO THE FLOATING PRINCE AND OTHER FAIRY TALES. 
 
 " But how are we to get away from here ?" said Corette to 
 her friend. ''A little fellow like you can't sail that big boat." 
 
 " ' IT SEEMS TO ME THAT IT COULD N'T BE BETTER,' SAID THE CONDENSED PIRATE." 
 
 "No," replied he, ruefully, "that's true; I could n't do it 
 But perhaps, sir, you could condense the boat." 
 
 " Oh, no !" said the old gentleman, " that would never do. 
 Such a little boat would be swamped before you reached shore, if 
 a big fish did n't swallow you. No, I'll see that you get away 
 safely." 
 
 So saying, he went to a small cage that stood in a wi ; ', 
 and took from it a pigeon. 
 
 "This fellow will take you," said he. "He is very strong and 
 swift, and will go ever so much faster than your boat." 
 
THE REFORMED PIRATE. 6 1 
 
 Next he fastened a belt around the bird, and to the lower 
 part of this he hung a little basket, with two seats in it. He then 
 lifted Corette and the Condensed Pirate into the basket, where 
 they sat down opposite one another. 
 
 " Do you wish to go directly to the cottage of the fairy sis- 
 ters?" said the old gentleman. 
 
 " Oh, yes !" said Corette. 
 
 So he wrote the proper address on the bill of the pigeon, and 
 opening the window, carefully let the bird fly. 
 
 "I'll take care of your boat," he cried to the Condensed Pi- 
 rate, as the pigeon rose in the air. " You'll find it all right, when 
 you come back." 
 
 And he smiled worse than ever. 
 
 The pigeon flew up to a great height, and then he took flight 
 in a straight line for the Fairy Cottage, where he arrived before 
 his passengers thought they had half finished their journey. 
 
 The bird alighted on the ground, just outside of the boundary 
 fence ; and when Corette and her companion had jumped from the 
 basket, he rose and flew away home as fast as he could go. 
 
 The Condensed Pirate now opened a little gate in the fence, 
 and he and Corette walked in. They went up the graveled path, 
 ind under the fruit-trees, where the ripe peaches and apples 
 hung as big as peas, and they knocked at the door of the fairy 
 sisters. 
 
 When these two little ladies came to the door, they were 
 amazed to see Corette. 
 
 "Why, how did you ever?" they cried. "And if there is n't 
 our old friend, the Reformed Pirate !" 
 
 "Condensed Pirate, if you please," said that individual. 
 'There's no use of my being reformed while I'm so small as this. 
 I could n't hurt anybody if I wanted to." 
 
62 THE FLOATING PRINCE AND OTHER FAIRY TALES. 
 
 "Well, come right in, both of you," said the sisters, "and tell 
 us all about it." 
 
 So they went in, and sat in the little parlor, and told their 
 story. The fairies were delighted with the whole affair, and in- 
 sisted on a long visit, to which our two friends were not at all 
 opposed. 
 
 They found everything at this cottage exactly as they had 
 been told. They ate the daintiest little meals off the daintiest lit- 
 tle dishes, and they thoroughly enjoyed all the delightful little 
 things in the little place. Sometimes, Corette and the fairies would 
 take naps in little hammocks under the trees, while the Condensed 
 Pirate helped the little man drive up the little cows, or work in 
 the little garden. 
 
 On the second day of their visit, when they were all sitting on 
 the little portico after supper, one of the sisters, thinking that the 
 Condensed Pirate might like to have something to do, and know- 
 ing how he used to occupy himself, took from her basket a little 
 half-knit tidy, with the needles in it, and asked him if he cared to 
 amuse himself with that. 
 
 "No, ma'am!" said he, firmly but politely. "Not at present. 
 If I find it necessary to reform again, I may do something of the 
 kind, but not now. But I thank you, all the same." 
 
 After this, they were all very careful not to mention tidies to 
 him. 
 
 Corette and her companion stayed with the fairies for more 
 than a week. Corette knew that her father and mother did not 
 expect her at home for some time, and so she felt quite at liberty 
 to stay as long as she pleased. 
 
 As to the sisters, they were delighted to have their visitors 
 with them. 
 
 But, one day, the Condensed Pirate, finding Corette alone, led 
 
THE REFORMED PIRATE. 63 
 
 her with great secrecy to the bottom of the pasture field, the 
 very outskirts of the fairies' domain. 
 
 "Look here," said he, in his lowest tones. "Do you know, 
 little Corette, that things are not as I expected them to be here? 
 Everything is very nice and good, but nothing appears very small 
 to me. Indeed, things seem to be just about the right size. How 
 does it strike you ?" 
 
 "Why, I have Deen thinking the same thing," said Corette. 
 "The sisters used to be such dear, cunning little creatures, and 
 now they're bigger than I am. But I don't know what can be 
 done about it. 
 
 "I know," said the Condensed Pirate. 
 
 "What?" asked Corette. 
 
 " Condense 'em," answered her companion, solemnly. 
 
 "Oh! But you could n't do that!" exclaimed Corette. 
 
 " Yes, but I can— at least, I think I can. You remember those 
 two pink condensing balls?" 
 
 "Yes," said Corette. 
 
 "Well, I've got mine." 
 
 "You have!" cried Corette. "How did you get it?" 
 
 "Oh! when the old fellow knocked it off my head, it fell on 
 the chair beside me, and I picked it up and put it in my coat-pocket. 
 It would just go in. He charges for the balls, and so I thought I 
 might as well have it." 
 
 " But do you know how he works them ?" 
 
 "Oh yes!" replied the Condensed Pirate. "I watched him. 
 What do you say? Shall we condense this whole place?" 
 
 "It won't hurt them," said Corette, "and I don't really think 
 they would mind it." 
 
 "Mind it! No!" said the other. "I believe they'd like it.'' 
 So it was agreed that the Fairy Cottage, inmates and grounds 
 
64 THE FLOATING PRINCE AND OTHER FAIRY TALES. 
 
 should be condensed until they were, relatively, as small as they 
 used to be. 
 
 That afternoon, when the sisters were taking a nap, and the 
 little man was at work in the barn, the Condensed Pirate went up 
 Into the garret of the cottage and got out on the roof. Then he 
 climbed to the top of the tallest chimney, which overlooked every- 
 thing on the place, and there he laid his little pink ball. 
 
 He then softly descended, and, taking Corette by the hand, 
 (she had been waiting for him on the portico), he went down to 
 the bottom of the pasture field. 
 
 When he was quite sure that he and Corette were entirely 
 outside of the fairies' grounds, he stood up, pointed to the ball 
 with a long, thin stick which he had cut, and began to count: 
 " One, two, three ■ " 
 
 And as he counted the cottage began to shrink. Smaller and 
 smaller it became, until it got to be very little indeed. 
 
 " Is that enough ?" said the Condensed Pirate, hurriedly, be- 
 tween two counts. 
 
 "No," replied Corette. "There is the little man, just come 
 out of the barn. He ought to be as small as the sisters used to 
 be. I'll tell you when to stop." 
 
 So the counting went on until Corette said, "Stop!" and the 
 cottage was really not much higher than a thimble. The little 
 man stood by the barn, and seemed to Corette to be just about 
 the former size of the fairy sisters ; but, in fact, he was not quite 
 a quarter of an inch high. Everything on the place was small in 
 oroportion, so that when Corette said "Stop !" the Condensed Pi- 
 rate easily leaned over and knocked the pink ball from the chim- 
 ney with his long stick. It fell outside of the grounds, and frs 
 picked it up and put it in his pocket. 
 
 Then he and Ccette stood and admired everything! I* was 
 
THE REFOkMED PIRATE. 65 
 
 charming ! It was just what they had imagined before they came 
 there. While they were looking with delight at the little fields, and 
 trees, and chickens, — so small that really big people could not have 
 seen them, — and at the cute little house, with its vines and portico, 
 the two sisters came out on the little lawn. 
 
 When they saw Corette and her companion, they were as- 
 tounded. 
 
 " Why, when did you grow big again ?" they cried. " Oh ! 
 how sorry we are ! Now you cannot come into our house and 
 live with us any longer." 
 
 Corette and the Condensed Pirate looked at each other, as 
 much as to say, " They don't know they have been made so 
 little." 
 
 Then Corette said : " We are sorry too. I suppose we shall 
 have to go away now. But we have had a delightful visit." 
 
 " It has been a charming one for us," said one of the sisters, 
 "and if we only had known, we would have had a little party be- 
 fore you went away : but now it is too late." 
 
 The Condensed Pirate said nothing. He felt rather guilty 
 about the matter. He might have waited a little, and yet he could 
 not have told them about it. They might have objected to be 
 condensed. 
 
 " May we stay just a little while and look at things ?" asked 
 Corette. 
 
 ,: Yes," replied one of the fairies; "but you must be very 
 careful not to step inside the grounds, or to stumble over on our 
 place. You might do untold damage." 
 
 So the two little big people stood and admired the fairy cot- 
 tage and ail about it, for this was indeed the sight they came to 
 see ; and then they took leave of their kind entertainers, who would 
 have been glad to have them stay longer, but were really trembling 
 
66 THE FLOATING PRINCE AND OTHER FAIRY TAIES. 
 
 with apprehension lest some false step or careless movement might 
 ruin their little home. 
 
 As Corette and the Condensed Pirate took their way through 
 the woods to their home, they found it very difficult to get along, 
 they were so small. When they came to a narrow stream, which 
 Corette would once have jumped over with ease, the Condensed 
 Pirate had to make a ferry-boat of a piece of bark, and paddle 
 himself and the little girl across. 
 
 " I wonder how the fairies used to come down to us," said 
 Corette, who was struggling along over the stones and moss, hang- 
 ing on to her companion's hand. 
 
 " Oh ! I expect they have a nice smooth path somewhere 
 through the woods, where they can run along as fast as they 
 please; and bridges over the streams." 
 
 "Why did n't they tell us of it?" asked Corette. 
 
 "They thought it was too little to be of any use to us. Don't 
 you see? — they think we're big people and would n't need their 
 path." 
 
 " Oh, yes !" said Corette. 
 
 In time, however, they got down the mountain and out of the 
 woods, and then they climbed up on one of the fences and ran 
 along the top of it toward Corette's home. 
 
 When the people saw them, they cried out : " Oh, here come 
 our dear little fairies, who have not visited us for so many days !" 
 But when they saw them close at hand, and perceived that they 
 were little Corette and the Pirate who had reformed, they were 
 dumbfounded. 
 
 Corette did not stop to tell them anything; but still holding 
 her companion's hand, she ran on to her parents' house, followed 
 by a crowd of neighbors. 
 
 Corette's father and mother could hardly believe that this little 
 
THE REFORMED PIRATE. 07 
 
 being was their daughter, but there was no mistaking her face and 
 her clothes, and her voice, although they were all so small ; and 
 when she had explained the matter to them, and to the people 
 who tilled the house, they understood it all. They were overcome 
 with joy to have their daughter back again, little or big. 
 
 When the Condensed Pirate went to his house, he found the 
 door locked, as he had left it, but he easily crawled in through a 
 crack. He found everything of an enormous size. It did not look 
 like the old place. He climbed up the leg of a chair and got on 
 a table, by the help of the table-cloth, but it was hard work. He 
 found something to eat and drink, and all his possessions were in 
 order, but he did not feel at home. 
 
 Days passed on, and while the Condensed Pirate did not feel 
 any better satisfied, a sadness seemed to spread over the country, 
 and particularly over Corette's home. The people grieved that 
 they never saw the fairy sisters, who indeed had made two or 
 three visits, with infinite trouble and toil, but who could not make 
 themselves observed, their bodies and their voices being sc very 
 small. 
 
 And Corette's father and mother grieved. They wanted their 
 daughter to be as she was before. They said that Sweet Marjo- 
 ram Day was very near, but that they could not look forward to 
 it with pleasure. Corette might go out to the fields, but she could 
 only sit upon some high place, as the fairies used to sit. She 
 could not help in the gathering. She could not even be with the 
 babies; they would roil on her and crush her. So they mourned. 
 
 It was now the night before the great holiday. Swee„ JV'e.r- 
 jo:\m Eve had not been \ very gay time, and the people did not 
 expect to have much fun the next 'ay. How could they :f the 
 fairy sisters did not come? Corette felt badly, for she had never 
 told that the sisters had been condensed, and the Condensed Pi- 
 
68 THE FLOATING PRINCE AND OTHER FAIRY TALES. 
 
 rate, who had insisted on her secrecy, felt worse. That night he 
 lay in his great bed, really afraid to go to sleep on account of rats 
 and mice. 
 
 He was so extremely wakeful that he lay and thought, and 
 chought, and thought for a long time, and then he got up and 
 dressed and went out. 
 
 It was a beautiful moonlight night, and he made his way di- 
 rectly to Corette's house. There, by means of a vine, he climbed 
 up to her window, and gently called her. She was not sleeping 
 well, and she soon heard him and came to the window. 
 
 He then desired her to bring him two spools of fine thread. 
 
 Without asking any questions, she went for the thread, and 
 very soon made her appearance at the window with one spool in 
 her arms, and then she went back for another. 
 
 " Now, then," said the Condensed Pirate, when he had thrown 
 the spools down to the ground, "will you dress yourself and wait 
 here at the window until I come and call for you ?" 
 
 Corette promised, for she thought he had some good plan in 
 his head, and he hurried down the vine, took up a spool under 
 each arm, and bent his way to the church. This building had a 
 high steeple which overlooked the whole country. He left one of 
 his spools outside, and then, easily creeping with the other under 
 one of the great doors, he carried it with infinite pains and labor 
 up into the belfry. 
 
 There he tied it on his back, and getting 1 out °f a window, be- 
 gan to climb up the outside of the steeple. 
 
 It was not hard for him to do this, for the rough stones gave 
 him plenty of foot-hold, and he soon stood on the very tip-top of 
 the steeple. He then took tight hold of one end of the thread on 
 his spool and let the spool drop. The thread rapidly unrolled, and 
 the spool soon touched the ground. 
 
 
THE REFORMED PIRATE. 
 
 THE CONDENSED PIRATE CLIMBS UP THE OUTSIDE OF THE STEEPLE. 
 
;o THE FLOATING PRINCE AND OTHER FAIRY TALES. 
 
 Now our friend took from his pocket the pink ball,- and pass- 
 ing the end of the thread through a little hole in the middle of it, 
 he tied it firmly. Placing the ball in a small depression on the 
 top of the steeple, he left it there, with the thread hanging from 
 it, and rapidly descended to the ground. There he took the other 
 spool and tied the end of its thread to that which was hanging 
 from the steeple. 
 
 He now put down the spool and ran to call Corette. When 
 she heard his voice, she clambered down the vine to him. 
 
 "Now, Corette," he said, "run to my house and stand on the 
 beach, near the water, and wait for me." 
 
 Corette ran off as he had asked, and he went back to his 
 spool. He took it up and walked slowly to his house, carefully 
 unwinding the thread as he went. The church was not very far 
 from the sea-shore, so he soon joined Corette. With her assist- 
 ance he then unwound the rest of the thread, and made a little 
 coil. He next gave the coil to Corette to hold, cautioning her to 
 be very careful, and then he ran off to where some bits of wood 
 were lying, close to the water's edge. Selecting a little piece of 
 thin board, he pushed it into the water, and taking a small stick 
 in his hand, he jumped on it, and poled it along to where Corette 
 was standing. The ocean here formed a little bay where the water 
 was quite smooth. 
 
 " Now, Corette," said the Condensed Pirate, " we must be very 
 careful. I will push this ashore, and you must step on board, let- 
 ting out some of the thread as you come. Be sure not to pull it 
 tight. Then I will paddle out a little way, and as I push, you 
 must let out more thread." 
 
 Corette did as she was directed, and very soon they were 
 standing on the little raft a few yards from shore. Then her com- 
 panion put down his stick, and took the coil of thread. 
 
THE REFORMED PIRATE. Jl 
 
 "What are you going to do?" asked Corette. She had wanted 
 to ask before, but there did not seem to be time. 
 
 "Well," said he, "we can't make ourselves any bigger — at 
 least, I don't know how to do it, and so I'm going to condense 
 the whole country. The little pink ball is on top of the steeple, 
 which is higher than anything else about here, you know. I can't 
 knock the ball off at the proper time, so I've tied a thread to it 
 to pull it off. You and I are outside of the place, on the water, 
 so we won't be made any smaller. If the thing works, everybody 
 will be our size, and all will be right again." 
 
 " Splendid !" cried Corette. " But how will you know when 
 things are little enough?" 
 
 " Do you see that door in my house, almost in front of us ? 
 Well, when I was of the old size, I used just to touch the top of 
 that door with my head, if I did n't stoop. When you see that the 
 door is about my present height, tell me to stop. Now then !" 
 
 The Condensed Pirate began to count, and instantly the whole 
 place, church, houses, fields, and of course the people who were in 
 bed, began to shrink ! He counted a good while before Corette 
 thought his door would fit him. At last she called to him to stop. 
 He glanced at the door to feel sure, counted one more, and pulled 
 the thread. Down came the ball, and the size of the place was 
 fixed ! 
 
 The whole of the sweet marjoram country was now so small 
 that the houses were like bandboxes, and the people not more 
 than four or five inches high — excepting some very tall people who 
 were six inches. 
 
 Drawing the ball to him, the Condensed Pirate pushed out 
 some distance, broke it from the thread, and threw it into the 
 water. 
 
 " No more condensing !" said he. He then paddled himself 
 
72 THE EL O A TING PRINCE AND OTHER EAIRY TALES. 
 
 and Corette ashore, and running to his cottage, threw open the 
 door and looked about him. Everything was just right! Every- 
 thing fitted ! He shouted with joy. 
 
 It was just daybreak when Corette rushed into her parents' 
 house. Startled by the noise, her father and mother sprang out 
 of bed. 
 
 "Our daughter! Our darling daughter!" they shouted, "and 
 she has her proper size again ! ! " 
 
 In an instant she was clasped in their arms. 
 
 When the first transports of joy were over, Corette sat down 
 and told them the whole story — told them everything. 
 
 " It is all right," said her mother, " so that we are all of the 
 same size," and she shed tears of joy. 
 
 Corette's father ran out to ring the church-bell, so as to wake 
 up the people and tell them the good news of his daughter's re- 
 storation. When he came in, he said : 
 
 "I see no difference in anything. Everybody is all right." 
 
 There never was such a glorious celebration of Sweet Marjo- 
 ram Day as took place that year. 
 
 The crop was splendid, the weather was more lovely than 
 usual, if such a thing could be, and everybody was in the gayest 
 humor. 
 
 But the best thing of all was the appearance of the fairy 
 sisters. When they came among the people, they all shouted as 
 if they had gone wild. And the good little sisters were so over- 
 joyed that they could scarcely speak. 
 
 "What a wonderful thing it is to find that we have grown tc 
 our old size again! We were here several times lately, but some- 
 how or other we seemed to be so very small that we could n't 
 make you see or hear us. But now it's all right. We have forty- 
 two new games ! " 
 
THE REFORMED PIRATE. 
 
 And at that, the crop being all in, the whole country, with a 
 shout of joy, went to work to play. 
 
 There were no gayer people to be seen than Corette and the 
 Condensed Pirate. Some of his friends called this good man by 
 his old name, but he corrected them. 
 
 " I am reformed, all the same," he said, "but do not call me 
 by that name. I shall never be able to separate it from its asso- 
 ciations with tidies. And with them I am done for ever. Owing 
 to circumstances, I do not need to be depressed." 
 
 The captain of the ship never stopped off the coast for a load 
 of tidies. Perhaps he did not care to come near the house of his 
 former captor, for fear that he might forget himself again, and take 
 the ship a second time. But if the captain had come, it is not 
 likely that his men would have found the cottage of the Condensed 
 Pirate, unless they had landed at the very spot where it stood. 
 
 And it so happened that no one ever noticed this country 
 after it was condensed. Passing ships could not come near enough 
 to see such a very little place, and there never were any very 
 good roads to it by land. 
 
 But the people continued to be happy and prosperous, and 
 they kept up the celebration of Sweet Marjoram Day as gayly as 
 when they were all ordinary-sized people. 
 
 In the whole country there were only two persons, Corette 
 and the Pirate, who really believed that they were condensed. 
 
HUCKLEBERRY. 
 
 MORE than a hundred and sixty-eight years ago, there 
 lived a curious personage called " Old Riddler." His 
 real name was unknown to the people in that part of 
 the country where he dwelt; but this made no difference, for the 
 name given him was probably just as good as his own. Indeed, I 
 am quite sure that it was better, for it meant something, and very 
 few people have names that mean anything. 
 
 He was called Old Riddler for two reasons. In the first 
 place, he was an elderly man ; secondly, he was the greatest fel- 
 tow to ask riddles that you ever heard of. So this name fitted 
 him very well. 
 
 Old Riddler had some very peculiar characteristics, — among 
 others, he was a gnome. Living underground for the greater part 
 of his time, he had ample opportunities of working out curious and 
 artful riddles, which he used to try on his fellow-gnomes ; and if 
 they liked them, he would go above ground and propound his co- 
 nundrums to the country people, who sometimes guessed them, but 
 not often. 
 
 The fact is, that those persons who wished to be on good 
 terms with the old gnome never guessed his riddles. They knew 
 that they would please him better by giving them up. 
 
 He took such a pleasure in telling the answers to his riddles 
 that no truly kind-hearted person would deprive him of it by try- 
 ing to solve them 
 
 74 
 
HUCKLEBERR V. 75 
 
 "You see," as Old Riddler used to say, when talked to on the 
 subject, " if I take all the trouble to make up these riddles, it's no 
 more than fair that I should be allowed to give the answers." 
 
 So the old gnome, who was not much higher than a two-year 
 old child, though he had quite a venerable head and face, was very 
 much encouraged by the way the people treated him, and when a 
 person happened to be very kind and appreciative, and gave a 
 good deal of attention to one of his conundrums, that person 
 would be pretty sure, before long, to feel giad that he had met 
 Old Riddler. 
 
 There were thousands of ways in which the gnomes could 
 benefit the country-folks, especially those who had little farms or 
 gardens. Sometimes Old Riddler, who was a person of great in- 
 fluence in his tribe, would take a company of gnomes under the 
 garden of some one to whom he wished to do a favor, and they 
 would put their little hands up through the earth and pull down 
 all the weeds, root-foremost, so that when the owner went out in 
 the morning, he would find his garden as clear of weeds as the 
 bottom of a dinner-plate. 
 
 Of course, any one who has habits of this kind must eventu- 
 ally become a general favorite, and this was the case with Old 
 Riddler. 
 
 One day he made up a splendid riddle, and, after he had told 
 it to all the gnomes, he hurried up to propound it to some human 
 person. 
 
 He was in such haste that he actually forgot his hat, although 
 it was late in the fall, and he wore his cloak. He had not gone 
 far through the fields before he met a young goose-girl, named 
 Lois. She was a poor girl, and was barefooted ; and as Old Rid- 
 dler saw her in her scanty dress, standing on the cold ground, 
 watching her geese, he thought to himself : " Now I do hope that 
 
?6 THE FLOATING PRINCE AND OTHER FAIRY TALES. 
 
 girl has wit enough to understand my riddle, for I feel that I would 
 like to get interested in her." 
 
 So, approaching Lois, he made a bow and politely asked her: 
 " Can you tell me, my good little girl, why a ship full of sailors, at 
 the bottom of the sea, is like the price of beef?" 
 
 The goose-girl began to scratch her head, through the old 
 handkerchief she wore instead of a bonnet, and tried to think of 
 the answer. 
 
 " Because it's ' low,' " said she, after a minute or two. 
 
 "Oh, no!" said the gnome. "That's not it. You can give it 
 up, you know, if you can't think of the answer." 
 
 " I know !" said Lois. " Because it's sunk." 
 
 "Not at all," said Old Riddler, a little impatiently. "Now 
 come, my good girl, you'd much better give it up. You will just 
 hack at the answer until you make it good for nothing." 
 
 "Well, what is it?" said Lois. 
 
 " I will tell you," said the gnome. " Now, pay attention to 
 the answer: Because it has gone down. Don't you see?" asked 
 the old fellow, with a gracious smile. 
 
 " Yes, I see," said the goose-girl, scratching her head again ; 
 "but my answer was nearly as good as yours." 
 
 " Oh, dear me !" said Old Riddler, " that won't do. It's of no 
 ase at all to give an answer that is nearly good enough. It must 
 be exactly right, or it's worthless. I am afraid, young girl, that 
 you don't care much for riddles." 
 
 "Yes I do," said the goose girl; "I make 'em." 
 
 " Make them ?" exclaimed Old Riddler, in great surprise. 
 
 " Yes," replied Lois, " I'm out here all day with these geese, 
 and I have n't anything else to do, and so I make riddles. Do 
 you want to hear one of them ?" 
 
 "Yes, I would like it very much indeed," said the gnome. 
 
 
HUCKLEBERRY. 
 
 77 
 
 "Well, then, here's one: "If the roofs of houses were flat in- 
 stead of slanting, why would the rain be like a chained dog?" 
 "Give it up," said Old Riddler. 
 
 DON T YOU SEE? ASKED THE OLD FELLOW. 
 
 te Because it could n't run off," answered Lois. 
 
 " Very good, very good," said the gnome. " Why, that's nearly 
 as good as some of mine. And now, my young friend, did n't 
 you feel pleased to have me give up that riddle and let you tell 
 me the answer, straight and true, just as you knew it ought 
 to be?" 
 
J8 THE FLOATING PRINCE AND OTHER FAIRY TALES. 
 
 " Oh, yes !" said the goose-girl. 
 
 " Well, then," continued Old Riddler, " remember this : What 
 pleases you will often please other people. And never guess ano- 
 ther riddle." 
 
 Lois, although a rough country girl, was touched by the ola 
 man's earnestness and his gentle tones. 
 
 " I never will," said she. 
 
 " That's a very well-meaning girl," said Old Riddler to himself 
 as he walked away, "although she has n't much polish. I'll come 
 sometimes and help her a little with her conundrums." 
 
 Old Riddler had a son named Huckleberry. He was a smart, 
 bright young fellow, and resembled his father in many respects. 
 When he went home, the old gnome told his son about Lois, and 
 tried to impress on his mind the same lesson he had taught the 
 young girl. Huckleberry was a very good little chap, but he was 
 quick-witted and rather forward, and often made his father very 
 angry by guessing his riddles ; and so he needed a good deal of 
 parental counsel. 
 
 Nearly all that night Huckleberry thought about what his 
 father had told him. But not at all as Old Riddler intended he 
 should. 
 
 "What a fine thing it must be," said Huckleberry to himself 
 "to go out into the world and teach people things. I'm going to 
 try it myself." 
 
 So, the next day, he started off on his mission. The first 
 person he saw was a very small girl playing under a big oak-tree. 
 
 When the small girl saw the young gnome, she was fright- 
 ened and drew back, standing up as close against the tree as she 
 could get. 
 
 But up stepped Master Huckleberry, with all the airs and 
 graces he could command. 
 
HUCKLEBERR\ 79 
 
 " Can you tell me, my little miss," said he, " why an elephant 
 with a glass globe of gold-fish tied to his tail is like a monkey 
 with one pink eye and one of a mazarine blue?" 
 
 "No," said the small girl, "I don't know. Go away!'' 
 
 " Oh," said Huckleberry, " perhaps that's too hard for you. I 
 know some nice little ones, in words of one syllable. Why is a 
 red man with a green hat like a good boy who has a large duck 
 in a small pond?" 
 
 "Go away!" said the small girl. "I came here to pick flow- 
 ers. I don't know riddles." 
 
 " Perhaps that one was too easy," said Huckleberry, kindly. 
 "I have all sorts. Here is one with longer words, divided into 
 syllables. I'll say it slowly for you : What is the dif-fer-ence be- 
 tween a mag-nan-i-mous ship-mate and the top-most leaf-let on 
 your grand-mo-ther's bar-ber-ry bush?" 
 
 " I have n't got any grandmother," said she. 
 
 "Oh, well!" any grandmother will do," said Huckleberry. 
 
 " I can't guess it," said the small girl, who was now beginning 
 to lose her fear of the funny little fellow. "I never guessed any 
 riddles. I'm not old enough." 
 
 "Very well, then," said Huckleberry, "I'll tell you what I'll 
 do. Let's sit down here under the tree, and I'll tell you one of 
 father's riddles, and give you the answer. His riddles are better 
 than mine, because none of mine have any answers. I don't put 
 answers to them, for I can never think of any good ones. I met 
 a boy once, and told him a lot of my riddles ; and he learned them 
 and went about asking people to guess them ; and when the peo- 
 ple gave them up, he could n't tell them the answers, because 
 there were none, and that made everybody mad. He told one of 
 the riddles to his grandmother, — I think it was the one about the 
 pink-eyed monkey and the wagon-load of beans " 
 
80 THE FLOATING PRINCE AND OTHER FAIRY TALES. 
 
 " No," said the small girl ; " the elephant and the gold-fish was 
 the other part of the pink-eyed monkey one." 
 
 THE BOY AND HIS GRANDMOTHER. 
 
 "Oh, it don't make any difference," said Huckleberry. "I 
 don't join my riddles together the same way every time. Some- 
 times I use the gold-fish and elephant with the last part of one 
 riddle, and sometimes with another. As there's no answer, it don't 
 matter. I begin a good many of my best riddles with the elephant, 
 for it makes a fine opening. But, as I was going to tell you, this 
 boy told one of my riddles to his grandmother, and she liked it 
 very much; but when she found out that there was no answer to 
 it, she gave him a good box on the ear, and that boy has never 
 liked me since. But now I'll tell you a story. That is, it's like 
 a story, but it's really a riddle. Father made it, and everybody 
 thinks it's one of his best. There was once a fair lady of renown 
 who was engaged to be married to a prince. And when the wed- 
 ding-day came round — they were to be married in one of the 
 
HUCKLEBERRY. 
 
 prince's palaces in the mountains — she was so long getting dresse<J 
 — you see she dressed in one of her father's palaces, down in the 
 valley — that she was afraid she would be late ; so as soon as her 
 veil was pinned on, she ran down to the stables, threw a wolf-skin 
 on the back of one of the fieriest of the chargers, and springing 
 on him, she dashed away. She was n't used to harnessing horses, 
 and was in such a hurry that she forgot all about the bridle, and 
 so, as she was dashing away, she found she could n't steer the 
 
 THE FAIR LADY OF RENOWN. 
 
 animal, and he did n't go any where near the prince's palace, but 
 galloped on, and on, and on, every minute taking her farther and 
 farther away from where she wanted to go. She could n't turn 
 the charger, and she could n't stop him, though she tore off pieces 
 of her veil and tried to put them around his nose, but it was no 
 good. So when the wedding-party had waited, and waited, and 
 waited, the prince got angry and married another lady, and no- 
 body knows where the fair lady of renown went to, although 
 there are some people who say that she's a-galloping yet, and 
 trying to get her veil around the charger's nose. Now, why was 
 i that that fair lady of renown never married? Answer: Be- 
 
82 THE FLOATING PRINCE AND OTHER FAIRY TALES. 
 
 cause she had no bridal. You can say either bri-d-a-1 or bri-d-1-e, 
 because they both sound alike, and if she had had either one of 
 them, she would have been married. This is a pretty long riddle, 
 but it's easier than mine, because it's all fixed up right, with the 
 answer to it and everything. You like it better than mine, don't 
 you?" 
 
 The small girl did not answer, and when Huckleberry looked 
 around, he saw that she was asleep. 
 
 "Poor little thing!" said Huckleberry, softly, to himself. "I 
 guess I gave her a little too much riddle to begin with. Her 
 mind is n't formed enough yet. But it's pretty hard on me. I 
 wanted to teach somebody something, and here she's gone to sleep. 
 I wish I could find that goose-girl. If father could teach her some- 
 thing, I'm sure I could." 
 
 So he went walking through the fields, and pretty soon he saw 
 Lois, standing among her geese, who were feeding on the grass. 
 
 Huckleberry skipped up to her as lively as a cricket. 
 
 " Can you tell me," said he, " why an elephant with a glass 
 globe of gold-fish tied to his tail is like the Lord High Admiral 
 of the British Isles?" 
 
 "Was the globe of gold-fish all the elephant owned?" asked 
 the goose-girl, thoughfully. 
 
 "Yes," said Huckleberry. "But I don't see what that 's got 
 to do with it." 
 
 "Then the answer is," said Lois, without noticing this last 
 remark, "because all his property is entailed." 
 
 "Well, I de-clare!" cried Huckleberry, opening his eyes as 
 wide as they would go, "if you did n't guess it! Why, I did n't 
 know it had an answer." 
 
 " I wish it had n't had an answer," said the goose-girl, sud- 
 denly stamping her foot. " I wish there had never been any 
 
HUCKLEBERRY. 83 
 
 answer to it in the whole world. It was only yesterday that I 
 promised Old Riddler that I would never guess another riddle, and 
 here I 've done it! It 's too bad!" 
 
 " I don't think it is," cried Huckleberry, waving his little cap 
 around by the tassel. " It 's all very well for father not to want 
 people to guess his riddles, because they 've got answers and he 
 knows what they are. But I would never have known that any of 
 mine had an answer if you had n't guessed this one. If you had 
 had a riddle like this one, would n't you have been glad to have 
 some one tell you the answer?" 
 
 " Yes, I would," said Lois. 
 
 " Well, then, my good girl, remember this : If a thing gives 
 you pleasure, it 's very likely that it will give somebody else 
 pleasure. So let somebody else have a chance, and the next time 
 you hear a riddle that you think the owner has no answer for, 
 guess it for him, if you can." Good-by !" 
 
 And away went Master Huckleberry, skipping and singing and 
 snapping his fingers and twirling his cap, until he came to a wide 
 crack in the ground, when he rolled himself up like a huckleberry 
 dumpling, and went tumbling and bouncing down into the under- 
 ground home of the gnomes. 
 
 "Get out of the way!" said he to the gnomes he passed, 
 as he proudly strode to his father's apartments. " I 'm going to 
 make a report. For the first time in my life I 've taught some- 
 body something." 
 
 When Huckleberry left her, the goose-girl stood silently in 
 the midst of her geese. Her brow was overcast. 
 
 " How 's anybody to do two things that can't both be done ?" 
 she exclaimed at last. " I '11 have nothing more to do with riddles 
 as long as I live." 
 
THE GUDRA'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 THE Gudra' s daughter was named Volma. She was thirteen 
 years old, and had never been to school. Her kind 
 mother had taught her all she knew. 
 
 But as there are many people who do not know what a 
 Gudra is, I will state, at once, that a Gudra is a giant dwarf. 
 Volma's father belonged to a nation of dwarfs, who dwelt among 
 the mountains. These little people were seldom over three feet 
 in height, but the Gudra — the giant among them — was between 
 five and six feet high, and broad and stout in proportion. He was 
 a powerful lord among his people, and his size and courage gave 
 him additional importance and influence. He was very proud of 
 his superior stature and his high position, and this pride was the 
 reason why his daughter, Volma, had never been to school. He 
 considered her far above such a thing as going to school with the 
 dwarf children of the country, 
 
 Volma resembled her father, in stature, and, at the time of 
 this story, was as large as an ordinary girl of her age. She was 
 very, good and gentle, and would have been glad to go to school, 
 but this her haughty father would not allow. One day, Volma's 
 mother — who was quite a small woman, even for a dwarf — began 
 to talk about her daughter's want of education. 
 
 " Education !" cried the Gudra, " I intend she shall have an 
 education. But I do not intend that she shall waste years in 
 84 
 
THE GUDRA S DAUGHTER. 85 
 
 poring over books and parchments. She is a girl with a fine 
 mind, like mine. She can take in learning instantly. Even now, 
 she is a head higher than any woman in the country." 
 
 "But does that make it any more easy for her to learn?" 
 asked her mother. 
 
 " Of course it does !" exclaimed the Gudra. " She is superior, 
 in every way, to any other child in the nation. She shall have an 
 education, but she shall have it all at once. I am sure that her 
 mind is capable of taking in an excellent education in a week." 
 
 This made the Gudra's wife exclaim, in astonishment, "My!" 
 
 " Of course it is !" cried the Gudra ; and then, taking up a 
 heavy hammer, he struck a large bell which hung in his room. 
 This was his manner of summoning his attendants. 
 
 One stroke brought the attendant of the first rank, two 
 strokes him of the second, and so on. 
 
 The one stroke brought in old Krignock, the head-councilor. 
 
 " Krignock !" said the Gudra, " you have known me for a 
 very long time — ever since I was born. Did you ever know me 
 to fail in anything?" 
 
 " Most noble sir," said Krignock, " I never did." 
 
 "There now," cried the Gudra, turning to his wife. "Did 
 you hear that. I never have failed in anything, and I don't 
 intend to do it now." 
 
 "But how do you expect to manage this matter?" asked his 
 wife. 
 
 " I don't know yet," said the Gudra. " But I '11 do it," 
 
 The next day, the Gudra told his wife that he had decided 
 to give his daughter her education among the ordinary men and 
 women of the world ; that their methods of learning must be 
 better than those of the dwarfs, and that as Volma was now quite 
 old enough to be a learned little princess, he should take her to 
 
86 
 
 THE FLOATING PRINCE AND OTHER FAIRY TALES. 
 
 the part of the world where ordinary people live, and have her 
 immediately educated. 
 
 "Am I to go?" asked his wife. 
 
 "No," said the Gudra. "I do not wish any one to suppose 
 that she has so small a mother. I will take Krignock, half a 
 dozen servants, and the Curious One. That will be enough. We 
 shall soon be back." 
 
 THE GUDRA AND HIS DAUGHTER START ON THEIR JOURNEY. 
 
 '<But will it not be dangerous," asked his wife, "to travel 
 with the child and so few attendants?" 
 
 "Dangerous!" roared the Gudra, indignantly, "am / not 
 going?" 
 
 The next day they started. They went on foot, for the 
 dwarfs have no horses. The Gudra and his daughter marched 
 
THE G UDRA ' S DA UGHTER. 8 7 
 
 first, then came Krignock, then the attendants in single file, and 
 at the rear of all walked the Curious One. This was a young 
 fellow, not quite three feet high, and dressed entirely in white. 
 He had a small head, which was absolutely bald. He was a full- 
 grown dwarf, but had never had any hair on his head. To add 
 to his peculiar appearance, he wore a glass cap. This allowed 
 the sun to shine on his head, to keep it warm, and, in time 
 of storms, it protected his pate from snow and rain. He was 
 very proud of this cap, which was his own invention. 
 
 The duty of the Curious One was to find out things, and 
 tell them to the Gudra. He was excellent at this business, being 
 of an investigating turn of mind, and very fond of telling what 
 he knew ; and, on this account, the Gudra liked always to have 
 him near at hand. He now walked last, so that he could see 
 everything that the rest of the company might happen to do. 
 
 Having marched for the greater part of a day, with frequent 
 rests, the Gudra and his party drew near a large city. As they 
 approached it, they saw, walking toward them, an Ordinary Man. 
 
 "Ho, ho!" cried the Gudra, "here is one of them! And 
 now, Krignock, tell me, am I not larger and taller than this 
 person, who, I suppose, is about as big as any of them ?" 
 
 " Exalted sir," replied Krignock, " it seems to me — it really 
 does seem to me — that you are rather taller, and somewhat stouter 
 than this person." 
 
 "I thought so, myself," said the Gudra, drawing himself up, 
 " Indeed, I supposed, before I saw any of them, that I was larger 
 than the men of this place." 
 
 The Ordinary Man now drew quite near, and was much 
 amazed to see the company of dwarfs, who composed the train 
 of the Gudra and his daughter. He stood still and looked at 
 them. 
 
THE FLOATING PRINCE AND OTHER FAIRY TALES. 
 
 A happy idea came into the Gudra's head. "We shall want 
 some one to guide us about the great city," said he to his head- 
 councilor. "Let us engage this person, if he is acquainted with 
 the place." 
 
 The Ordinary Man, when Krignock proposed that he should 
 become their guide, immediately consented. He was not rich, and 
 was glad to get a job. He was also well acquainted with the 
 city, having lived there all his life. The Gudra promised to pay 
 him well. 
 
 "In the first place," said the Ordinary Man, when these 
 arrangements had been made, "a party of your rank should not 
 walk into the city. It would not be considered dignified. It would 
 be well if you would sit here and rest, while I go and bring 
 animals for your proper conveyance." 
 
 So the Gudra and his company sat down by the road-side, 
 and the Ordinary Man returned to the city, where he went to one 
 of his relatives, who kept a camel-stable, and hired a string of 
 eleven camels. On these animals in single file, one person on 
 each camel, the Gudra and the Ordinary Man leading, with the 
 Curious One bringing up the rear, the party entered the town, 
 As they slowly filed through the streets, a crowd of people col- 
 lected and followed them. The Gudra was very proud when he 
 saw the curiosity of the citizens. 
 
 "I thought I should attract attention," he said to himself. 
 It was generally supposed that this was a dwarf- show, in 
 charge of the Gudra and the Ordinary Man ; and the little people 
 on the camels were regarded with great interest, especially the 
 Curious One, who was very conspicuous as he sat on the tallest 
 camel, with his glass cap glistening in the sun. The party was 
 conducted to one of the best inns, where all were sumptuously 
 lodged. 
 
THE GUDRA' S DAUGHTER. 89 
 
 The next day, early in the morning, the Gudra summoned 
 the guide, and told him his object in visiting the city. 
 
 " I suppose there are teachers of eminence in this place," 
 said he. 
 
 "Oh yes, good sir!" replied the other. "There are persons 
 here who can teach anything from alchemy to zoology, ^nd there 
 are also excellent schools. 
 
 " Which is the best school ?" asked the Gudra. 
 
 "The very best?" said the other. 
 
 " Yes, certainly," replied the Gudra sharply ; " of course I 
 mean the very best." 
 
 " Well, then," said the Ordinary Man, " the very best school 
 is the one where the young prince, the only son of the reigning 
 Prince of the city, is educated. In it are all our most learned 
 professors, and there is a class for every branch of education. 
 But the young prince is the only pupil in the school. He is the 
 only one in each class, and all the apartments, and apparatus, and 
 books, and all the professors and tutors are for him alone." 
 
 " That is the very school I want," cried the Gudra. " It is 
 just what I am looking for." 
 
 " But it would be impossible for you to get youi daughter 
 into that school," said the Ordinary Man. " It was established 
 solely for the young prince, and his father will allow no one else 
 to enter it. Some of our highest grandees have asked that their 
 children might be permitted to share the instruction of the young 
 prince, in this most admirable school, but they have always been 
 denied the privilege." 
 
 "That makes no difference," said the Gudra. "/ have lever 
 ^sked. I shall do so instantly. I shall write a letter to the r \nce 
 of the city, tell him who I am, and ask that my daughter be 
 allowed to study in this school, where everything seems to be 
 
90 THE FLOATING PRINCE AND OTHER FAIRY TALES. 
 
 brought together in such a manner that an education can be 
 obtained, by a girl like Volma, in a very short time." 
 
 Without further ado, the Gudra wrote the letter, and the 
 Ordinary Man was ordered to have it conveyed to the Prince. 
 
 That same day the answer came. The Prince positively 
 refused to allow any child, with the exception of his son, to enter 
 his school. 
 
 Now, indeed, was the Gudra angry. No one had ever seen 
 him storm around the room as he now stormed. He vowed he 
 would send to the king of his country, borrow an army, and carry 
 his daughter into the Prince's school at the point of the sword. 
 
 "I am afraid," said the Ordinary Man, "that an army of 
 dwarfs would have but a small chance against the soldiers of our 
 Prince. And he has plenty of them." 
 
 The Gudra could not help thinking that there was sound 
 sense in this remark, but that did not make him feel in any better 
 humor. He called for his head-councilor. 
 
 " Krignock !" he cried, " did you ever know me to fail in any- 
 thing ?" 
 
 " Never, most eminent sir," replied Krignock ; " I never did, 
 indeed." 
 
 "Well, then," said the Gudra, striding up and down the floor, 
 "I shall not fail now." 
 
 Poor Volma was greatly terrified and troubled at all this, and 
 begged her father to take her home. She would be perfectly 
 satisfied, she said, to learn from her mother and the ordinary 
 teachers of dwarf-land. But her father would listen to nothing of 
 the kind. He stalked up and down the floor, still vowing he 
 would succeed in what he had resolved to do, although he did 
 not seem to have any idea how to go about it. 
 
 Two or three days now passed, during which the Gudra fumed 
 
THE GUDRA'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 91 
 
 and strode about; little Volma sat at the windows and eazed out 
 at the strange sights of the great city, and the Curious One went 
 everywhere, looking at everything, and coming back, in the even- 
 ing, to tell his master what he had seen and heard. He heard a 
 
 *' I SHALL NOT FAIL NOW," SAID THE GUDRA. 
 
 great deal — not very complimentary — about himself, and even that 
 he told the Gudra. 
 
 During one of his walks he wandered into a suburb of the 
 city. He wanted to see if anything in particular was going on 
 there. Coming to a place where two roads began, one of which 
 seemed about as interesting as the other, he was in great doubt 
 as to which way he should go. He would not, upon any account, 
 miss anything worth seeing by going the wrong way. While still 
 ^nable to decide which road to take, he saw a person approaching 
 
92 tHE FLOATING PRINCE AND OTHER FAIRY TALES. 
 
 him who seemed to be a traveler. He was dusty and travel- 
 worn. 
 
 "Sir!" cried the Curious One, can you tell me where these 
 roads lead?" 
 
 "I am sorry to say that I cannot," replied the other; "I a^i 
 a stranger here; I never saw the city before." 
 
 "Indeed!" cried the Curious One; "where did you come 
 from ?" 
 
 "I came from the land of the giants," said the othei. 
 
 "The giants!" exclaimed the Curious One. "Why, what 
 were you doing there? Were you not afraid they would kill 
 you ?" 
 
 "Oh no!" replied the other, smiling; "they would not kill me. 
 I am one of them." 
 
 " You !" cried the Curious One. " You ! Why you are no 
 bigger than an ordinary man." 
 
 " That is probably true," said the other, "lama dwarf giant." 
 
 The Curious One opened his eyes, as wide as they would 
 go. He was too much astonished to say a word. 
 
 "Yes," said the other, "my countrymen and my family are 
 all giants. I am the only dwarf among them. I am so much 
 smaller and weaker than any of them, that I can do none of 
 the great things they do. And so, somewhat disheartened by 
 my inferior position, I thought I would journey to this city, of 
 which I have heard a great deal, in the hope that something 
 would happen to raise my spirits." 
 
 " Do you know ?" cried the Curious One, " this is the most 
 wonderful thing! My master, who lately came to visit the city, 
 is a giant dwarf! And he is just about your size!" 
 
 "That is rather remarkable," said the other. "A giant dwarf'. 
 I should like to see him." 
 
THE GUDRA' S DAUGHTER 93 
 
 " You can do that easily enough," said the Curious One. 
 " Come with me, and I '11 take you to him. He has n't looked 
 at many rare sights yet, and I know he will be glad to see you." 
 
 The Dwarf Giant smiled, and consented to go with the Curious 
 One ; not so much, however, to please the Gudra, as to see for 
 "kmself what a giant dwarf looked like. On the way to the inn 
 the Curious One (who had lost all interest in the two roads, 
 now that he had found something so well worth seeing and 
 showing) told the Dwarf Giant why his master had come tc the 
 city, and what had happened since his arrival. 
 
 " Perhaps you can help him." 
 
 "I doubt that very much," said the dwarf giant. "I am 
 seldom successful in anything I undertake. But I am perfectly 
 willing to try." 
 
 When they arrived at the inn, the Gudra appeared glad to 
 see the Dwarf Giant, and immediately poured into his ears the 
 story of his troubles and the affronts to which he had been 
 subjected, to which the other listened as silently and patiently 
 as if he had not heard it all before. When the long recital 
 was finished, the Ordinary Man was summoned, and a consulta- 
 tion between the three was begun. 
 
 As little Volma sat and gazed at them, while they were 
 talking together, she said to herself: 
 
 "They look just like three brothers." 
 
 The Gudra was in favor of carrying out his object by means 
 of some kind of force. He proposed that he should challenge 
 the Prince to single combat, and thus decide the matter, The 
 others opposed this, the Dwarf Giant saying that, if he were in 
 the Gudra's place, he would be afraid to undertake such a combat, 
 fcr he had been told that the Prince was a brave soldier and 
 a good fighter. The Ordinary Man, also, thought the plan was 
 
94 THE FLOATING PRINCE AND OTHER FAIRY TALES. 
 
 a poor one. He proposed that they should all three go to the 
 Prince, and lay the matter before him, in person. It was often 
 much better to do things in this way than to write letters. 
 
 This proposition was agreed to, and the next day the three, 
 accompanied by little Volma, proceeded to die Prince's palace. 
 They were admitted, and the Prince gave them an audience. 
 They found him on his throne, in a magnificent and spacious 
 hall ; and, as it happened to be a holiday, the little prince was 
 sitting on a cushion by the side of his father's throne. 
 
 The Prince requested them to make known their business, 
 and the Gudra, drawing himself up as tall as possible, began 
 to state what he wanted, and how dissatisfied he was with the 
 answer to his letter. During this speech, the little prinoJE 
 beckoned to Volma, and, moving to one side, made room for her 
 on his cushion. So she sat down beside him, and they soon 
 began to talk to each other, but in a very low tone. 
 
 "You, then," said the Prince, addressing the Gudra, when he 
 had finished, "are a giant dwarf, and you," turning to his com- 
 panions, " are a dwarf giant and an ordinary man ?" 
 
 The three assented. 
 
 "Well," continued the Prince, with a smile, "I really do not 
 see very much difference between you. I have heard the giant 
 dwarf. Now, I would like to know what this dwarf giant and 
 the ordinary man have to say." 
 
 The Dwarf Giant said that, of course, the prince had a good 
 right to decide who should go to the school he had himself 
 founded, and who should not go. But he thought it would be 
 doing a very great favor to the Gudra, and especially to the 
 Gudra's daughter, — who, in his eyes, was a very charming little 
 girl, — if the Prince would allow her to study with his son. He 
 put the matter entirely on this ground. 
 
THE GUDRA' S DAUGHTER. 95 
 
 The Ordinary Man thought that, while the proposed arrange- 
 ment would be of advantage to the little girl and the Gudra, 
 it would also be of advantage to the Prince, who, when his son 
 was grown up, would probably be very glad to know that there 
 was, in a country not a day's march away, a young lady of noble 
 birth, who was also admirably educated. 
 
 At this, the prince and the others turned and looked at Volma 
 and the little prince, as they sat side by side. But the two 
 children were now so busy talking that they did not notice this, 
 nor had they heard a word that had been said. 
 
 "Well," said the Prince, "I will carefully consider what all 
 of you have said, and will send an answer some time to-morrow." 
 So saying, he dismissed his visitors, first drawing little Volma 
 toward him and taking a good, long look at her pretty and good- 
 humored countenance. In everything but stature, Volma resembled 
 her mother. 
 
 After they had departed, — the Gudra a little discontented, for 
 he had wanted his answer on the spot, — the Prince proceeded 
 to consider the proposition that had been made to him. He 
 would not have taken more than a minute to make his decision, 
 had it not been that the dwarf giant was one of the party that 
 asked the favor. He cared nothing for the Gudra and his dwarfs ; 
 but it would be a bad thing for him to be drawn into a quarrel 
 with the giants, who would not take long to destroy his city, 
 if they should happen to go to war with him. And, although 
 this dwarf giant was very peaceful and reasonable in his remarks, 
 there was no knowing that the quarrelsome Gudra would not 
 be able to prevail upon him to enlist his countrymen in his 
 cause. 
 
 So the Prince considered and considered, and the next morn- 
 ing he had not finished considering. He walked over to his son's 
 
96 THE FLOATING PRINCE AND OTHER FAIRY TALES. 
 
 great school-house, that he might consult some of the professors 
 in the matter. While standing in one of the large lecture-rooms, 
 the Prince happened to spy a little creature, dressed in white 
 and wearing a glass cap, who was creeping about among the 
 benches and desks. 
 
 "Hello! What is that?" cried the Prince, and he ordered 
 his attendants to seize the creature. The Curious One was very 
 nimble, but he was soon surrounded and caught. When the Prince 
 saw him, he laughed heartily, and asked him who he was and 
 what he was doing there. The Curious One did not hesitate a 
 moment, but told the Prince all about himself, and also informed 
 him that he had visited the palace, and afterward the school, to 
 try to hear something that would give him an idea of what 
 the Prince's decision would be in regard to his master's proposi- 
 tion, so that he could run back and take the Gudra some early 
 news. But, he was sorry to say, he had n't found out any- 
 thing yet. 
 
 "Then your business," said the Prince, "is to see and hear 
 all you can, and tell all you hear and see?" 
 
 "That is it, Estimable Prince," replied the Curious One. 
 
 "And to pry into other people's affairs?" continued the 
 Prince. 
 
 \ have to do that sometimes," returned the little fellow. 
 - Well, you must not come prying here," said the Prince, 
 1 and I shall punish you for doing so this time. I might send 
 you to prison, but I will let you off with a slighter punishment 
 than that." 
 
 He then called to him the Professor of Motto-Painting, and 
 ordered him to paint a suitable motto on the top of the Curious 
 One's bald head. 
 
 The Professor immediately took a little pot of black paint, 
 
THE GUDRA'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 97 
 
 and, with a fine brush, he quickly painted a motto on the smooth, 
 white pate of the Curious One. The glass cap was then replaced, 
 and the motto, which was beautifully painted, was seen to show 
 quite plainly through the top of the cap. All the professors 
 
 THE PROFESSOR OF MOTTO-PAINTING PAINTS A MOTTO ON THE CURIOUS ONE'S HEAD. 
 
 gathered around to see the motto, and they, as well as the 
 Prince, laughed very heartily when they read it. 
 
 The Prince then called his son and told him to read the 
 motto. 
 
 "You must understand," he said to him, "that this is not 
 done to annoy, or to make fun of this little person. It is a 
 punishment, and may do him more good than locking him up 
 in a cell." 
 
 The moment the Curious One was releas,_, he ran into the 
 
 7 
 
gS THE FLOATING PRINCE AND OTHER FAIRY TALES. 
 
 street, and asked the first person he met to please read the 
 motto that was painted on his head, and tell him what it was. 
 The man read it, and burst out laughing, but he would not tell 
 him what the motto was. Many other people were asked, but 
 come of them said there was nothing there, and others simply 
 laughed and walked away. 
 
 Devoured by his desire to know what the motto was, the 
 Curious One ran to the inn, feeling sure that his friends would 
 relieve his anxiety ; but they laughed, just as the others had 
 done, and even little Volma told him there was nothing- there. 
 This he did not believe, for he had felt the paint on his skin, 
 and so he went to his room and, holding a looking-glass over 
 his head, tried to read the motto. There was something there, — 
 that he could see plainly enough, — but the words appeared in 
 the glass, not only to be written backward, but upside down, for 
 the Professor had stood behind him when he painted them. So 
 he had to give it up in despair, and for the rest of his stay 
 in the city he wandered about, vainly trying to get some one to 
 tell him what was written on his head. This was the only thing 
 that he now wished to find out. 
 
 "Why do n't you wash it off if it gives you so much trouble?" 
 isked the Ordinary Man. "A little oil would quickly remove it." 
 
 "Wash it off!" cried the Curious One. "Then I should 
 never know what it was ! I would not wash it off for the world." 
 
 After the Prince had consulted with the professors, he con- 
 cluded, solely because he was afraid of offending the giants, to 
 agree to the Gudra's proposal. 
 
 "It will not matter so very much," he said, "as he only 
 wishes his daughter to attend the school for one week, it seems." 
 
 The Ordinary Man was very much opposed to this plan of 
 petting- an education in a week, He thought it was too short 
 
THE GUDRA'S DAUGHTER. 99 
 
 a time, not only for Volma, but for himself, for he wished his 
 engagement to last as long as possible. But the Gudra would 
 not listen to any objections. His daughter had an extraordinary 
 mind, and a week was long enough for her. He took her to 
 the school, and desired each Professor to tell her, in turn, all 
 about the branch of learning he taught, and thus get through 
 with the matter without loss of time. Then, each day, while his 
 daughter was in school, he and his party, in company with the 
 Dwarf Giant, and under the guidance of the Ordinary Man, visited 
 all the sights and wonders of the city. 
 
 As for Volma, she did not study anything, as children gene- 
 rally study. She went from room to room, asking questions, 
 listening to explanations, and paying the strictest attention to the 
 manner in which the little prince studied and recited his lessons. 
 The professors did not pretend to tell her, as the Gudra had 
 desired, all about their different branches. They knew that would 
 be folly. But they gave her all the information they could, and 
 were astonished to find that she had already learned so much 
 from her mother. 
 
 In exactly a week, the Gudra brought his visit to a close. 
 He took leave of the Prince, giving him a diamond, handsomer 
 than any among his treasures; he bade the Dwarf Giant good-by; 
 and then, with his party mounted on the eleven camels, he rode 
 away until he came to the mountains, where, paying the Ordinary 
 Man twice as much as he had promised, he left him to return 
 to the city with the animals, and proceeded, for the rest of the 
 journey, on foot. 
 
 " There now !" he cried to his wife, when he had reached 
 home. "Did not I tell you I never failed in anything? My 
 daughter has been to the best school in the world, and her educa 
 tion is finished." 
 
IOO THE FLOATING PRINCE AND OTHER FAIRY TALES. 
 
 " My dear Volma," said her mother to her, when they were 
 alone, "what did you learn in the great city?" 
 
 THE CURIOUS ONE READS HIS MOTTO. 
 
 "Oh, mother dear!" said Volma, "I learned ever so much. I 
 learned, for one thing, that the largest dwarf is no bigger than 
 
THE GUDRA'S DAUGHTER. \Q\ 
 
 the smallest giant, and that neither of them is larger than an 
 ordinary man. And, at the school, I learned that it takes years 
 and years to study properly all that I should know. And I have 
 found out how the little prince studies, and how he recites, and I 
 have a list of the books and parchments and other things that 
 I need for my education. And now, dear mother, we will get 
 these things, and we will study them together here at home." 
 
 This they did, and gradually, little Volma became very well 
 educated. Every year, the young prince came to see her, and, 
 when she was about twenty years old, he married her, and took 
 her away to the great city, of which he was now ruler. Volma's 
 mother used to make her long visits, but her father seldom came 
 to see her. He liked to stay where he was bigger than any- 
 body else. 
 
 The Dwarf Giant went home in very good spirits. He had 
 found out that a very small giant is as large as an ordinary man, 
 and that satisfied him, 
 
 As for the Curious One, as soon as he reached home, he 
 gathered together a lot of small looking-glasses, and so arranged 
 them that, by having one reflect into another, and that into another, 
 and so on, he at last saw the reflection of the top of his head, 
 with the letters thereon, right side up, and in their proper order, 
 and he read these words : 
 
 "There is nothing here?" 
 
 "Now, what does that mean?" he cried. "Did that Motto- 
 Professor mean hair or brains?" 
 
 He never found out. 
 
THE EMERGENCY MISTRESS. 
 
 JULES VATERMANN was a wood-cutter, and a very good 
 one. He always had employment, for he understood his 
 business so well, and was so industrious and trustworthy, 
 that every one in the neighborhood where he lived, who wanted 
 wood cut, was glad to get him to do it. 
 
 Jules had a very ordinary and commonplace life until he was 
 a middle-aged man, and then something remarkable happened to 
 him. It happened on the twenty-fifth January, in a very cold 
 winter. Jules was forty-five years old, tnat year, and he remem- 
 bered the day of the month, because in the morning, before he 
 started out to his work, he had remarked that it was just one 
 month since Christmas. 
 
 The day before, Jules had cut down a tall tree, and he had 
 been busy all the morning sawing it into logs of the proper length 
 and splitting it up and making a pile of it. 
 
 When dinner-time came round, Jules sat down on one of 
 the logs and opened his basket. He had plenty to eat, — good 
 bread and sausage, and a bottle of beer, for he was none of 
 your poor wood-cutters. 
 
 As he was cutting a sausage, he looked up and saw some- 
 aing coming from behind his wood-pile. 
 
 At first, he thought it was a dog, for it was about the right 
 size for a small dog, but in a moment he saw it was a little 
 man. He was a little man indeed, for he was not more thaa 
 
 I02 
 
THE EMERGENCY MISTRESS. 
 
 io- 
 
 two feet high. He was dressed in brown clothes and wore a 
 peaked cap, and he must have been pretty old, for he had a 
 full white beard. Although otherwise warmly clad, he wore on 
 his feet neither shoes nor stockings, and came hopping along 
 through the deep snow as if his feet were very cold. 
 
 JULES AND THE LITTLE MAN. 
 
 When he saw this little old man, Jules said never a word. 
 He merely thought to himself: "This is some sort of a fairy- 
 man." 
 
 But the little old person came close to Jules, and drawing up 
 one foot, as if it was so cold that he could stand on it no 
 longer, he said: 
 
104 THE FLOATING PRINCE AND OTHER FAIRY TALES. 
 
 " Please, sir, my feet are almost frozen." 
 
 " Oh, ho !" thought Jules, " I know all about that. This is 
 one of the fairy-folks who come in distress to a person, and who 
 if that person is kind to them, make him rich and happy ; but 
 if he turns them away, he soon finds himself in all sorts of misery. 
 I shall be very careful." And then he said aloud : " Well, sir, 
 what can I do for you ?" 
 
 " That is a strange question," said the dwarf. " If you were 
 to walk by the side of a deep stream, and were to see a man 
 sinking in the water, would you stop and ask him what you could 
 do for him?" 
 
 " Would you like my stockings ?" said Jules, putting down 
 his knife and sausage, and preparing to pull off one of his boots. 
 " I will let you have them ?" 
 
 "No, no!" said the other. "They are miles too big for me." 
 
 "Will you have my cap or my scarf in which to wrap your 
 feet and warm them ?" 
 
 " No, no !" said the dwarf. " I do n't put my feet in caps and 
 scarfs." 
 
 "Well, tell me what you would like," said Jules. "Shall I 
 make a fire ?" 
 
 " No, I will not tell you," said the fairy-man. " You have 
 kept me standing here long enough." 
 
 Jules could not see what this had to do with it. He was 
 getting very anxious. If he were only a quick-witted fellow, so as 
 to think of exactly the right thing to do, he might make his for- 
 tune. But he could think of nothing more. 
 
 " I wish, sir, that you would tell me just what you would like 
 for your cold feet," said Jules, in an entreating tone, "for I shall 
 be very glad to give it to you, if it is at all possible." 
 
 "If your ax were half as dull as your brain," said the dwarf, 
 
THE EMERGENCY MISTRESS. 1 05 
 
 'you would not cut much wood. Good-day!" — and he skipped 
 away behind the wood-pile. 
 
 Jules jumped up and looked after him, but he was gone. 
 These fairy-people have a strange way of disappearing. 
 
 Jules was not married and had no home of his own. He 
 lived with a good couple who had a little house and an only 
 daughter, and that was about the sum of their possessions. The 
 money Jules paid for his living helped them a little, and they 
 managed to get along. But they were quite poor. 
 
 Jules was not poor. He had no one but himself to support, 
 and he had laid by a sum of money to live on when he should 
 be too old to work. 
 
 But you never saw a man so disappointed as he was that 
 evening as he sat by the fire after supper. 
 
 He had told the family all about his meeting with the dwarf, 
 and lamented again and again that he had lost such a capital 
 chance of making his fortune. 
 
 "If I only could have thought what it was best to do !' ; he 
 said, aorain and again. 
 
 " I know what I should have done," said Selma, the only 
 daughter of the poor couple, a girl about eleven years old. 
 
 "What?" asked Jules, eagerly. 
 
 '• I should have just snatched the little fellow up, and rubbed 
 his feet and wrapped them in my shawl until they were warm," 
 said she. 
 
 " But he would not have liked that," said Jules. " He was an 
 old man and very particular." 
 
 " I would not care," said Selma ; " I would n't let such a little 
 fellow stand suffering in the snow, and I would n't care how old 
 he was." 
 
 "I hope you'll never me°t any of these fairy people/' said 
 
106 THE FLOATING PRINCE AND OTHER FAIRY TALES. 
 
 Jules. " You 'd drive them out of the country with your roughness, 
 and we might all whistle for our fortunes." 
 
 Selma laughed and said no more about it. 
 
 Every day after that, Jules looked for the dwarf-man, but he 
 did not see him again. Selma looked for him, too, for her 
 curiosity had been much excited ; but as she was not allowed 
 to go to the woods in the winter, of course she never saw him. 
 
 But, at last, summer came ; and, one day, as she was walking 
 by a little stream which ran through the woods, whom should 
 she see, sitting on the bank, but the dwarf-man ! She knew him 
 in an instant, from Jules' descriptions. He was busily engaged 
 in fishing, but he did not fish like any one else in the world. 
 He had a short pole, which was floating in the water, and in 
 his hand he held a string which was fastened to one end of the 
 po 1 e. 
 
 When Selma saw what the old fellow was doing, she burst 
 out laughing. She knew this was not very polite, but she could 
 not help it. 
 
 "What's the matter?'' said he, turning quickly toward her. 
 
 "I'm sorry I laughed at you, sir," said Selma, "but that's 
 no way to fish." 
 
 " Much you know about it," said the dwarf. " This is the 
 only way to fish. You let your pole float, with a piece of bait 
 on a hook fastened to the big end of the pole. Then you fasten 
 a line to the little end. When a fish bites, you haul in the pole 
 by means of the string." 
 
 " Have you caught anything yet ?" asked Selma. 
 
 " No, not yet," replied the dwarf. 
 
 " Well, I 'm sure I can fish better than that. Would you 
 mind letting me try a little while?" 
 
 " Not at all — not at all !" said the dwarf, handing - the line to 
 
THE EMERGENCY MISTRESS. \oj 
 
 Selma. " If you think you can fish better than I can, do it by 
 all means." 
 
 Selma took the line and pulled in the pole. Then she unfas- 
 tened the hook and bait which was on the end of the pole, and 
 tied it to the end of the line, with a little piece of stone for a 
 sinker. She then took up the pole, threw in the line, and fished 
 like common people. In less than a minute she had a bite, and, 
 giving a jerk, she drew out a fat little fish as long as her hand. 
 
 " Hurrah!" cried the little old man, giving a skip in the air; 
 and then, turning away from the stream, he shouted, " Come 
 here !" 
 
 .Selma turned around to see to whom he was calline, and 
 she perceived another gnome, who w r as running toward them. 
 When he came near, she saw that he was much younger than 
 the fisher-gnome. 
 
 "Hello!" cried the old fellow, "I've caught one." 
 
 Selma was amazed to hear this. She looked at the old gnome, 
 who was taking the fish off the hook, as if she were astonished 
 that he could tell such a falsehood. 
 
 "What is this other person's name?" said she to him. 
 
 " His name," said the old gnome, looking up, " is Class 60, H." 
 
 " Is that all the name he has ?" asked Selma, in surprise. 
 
 " Yes. And it is a very good name. It shows just who and 
 what he is." 
 
 "Well, then, Mr. Class 60, H," said Selma, "that old — person 
 did not catch the fish. I caught it myself." 
 
 "Very good! Very good!" said Class 60, H, laughing and 
 clapping his hands. " Capital ! See here !" said he, addressing the 
 older dwarf, and he knelt down and whispered something in his 
 ~ar. 
 
 " Certainly," said the old gnome. " That 's just what I was 
 
108 THE FLOATING PRINCE AND OTHER FAIRY TALES. 
 
 thinking of. Will you mention it to her? I must hurry and show 
 this fish while it is fresh," — and, so saying, he walked rapidly away 
 with the little fish, and the pole and tackle. 
 
 " My dear Miss," said Class 60, H, approaching Selma, "would 
 you like to visit the home of the gnomes, — to call, in fact, on the 
 Queen Dowager of all the Gnomes?" 
 
 " Go down underground, where you live ?" asked Selma. 
 "Would it be safe down there, and when could I get back 
 again ?" 
 
 " Safe, dear miss ! Oh, perfectly so ! And the trip will not 
 take you more than a couple of hours. I assure you that you will 
 be back in plenty of time for supper. Will you go, if I send a 
 trusty messenger for you ? You may never have another chance 
 to see our country." 
 
 Selma thought that this was very probable, and she began to 
 consider the matter. 
 
 As soon as Class 60, H, saw that she was really trying to 
 make up her mind whether or not to go, he cried out: 
 
 " Good ! I see you have determined to go. Wait here five 
 minutes and the messenger will be with you," and then he rushed 
 off as fast as he could run. 
 
 " I did n't say I would go," thought Selma, " but I think I 
 will." 
 
 In a very few minutes, Selma heard a deep voice behind her 
 say: "Well, are you ready?" 
 
 Turning suddenly, she saw, standing close to her, a great 
 black bear ! 
 
 Frightened dreadfully, she turned to run, but the bear called 
 out: "Stop! You needn't be frightened. I'm tame." 
 
 The surprise of hearing a bear speak overcame poor Selma's 
 terror; she stopped, and looked around. 
 
THE EMERGENCY MISTRESS. 109 
 
 Come back," said the bear; "I will not hurt you in the least. 
 I am sent to take you to the Queen Dowager of the Gnomes, i 
 don't mind your being frightened at me. I'm used to it. But I 
 am getting a little tired of telling folks that I am tame," and he 
 yawned wearily. 
 
 " You are to take me ?" said Selma, still a little frightened, 
 and very certain that, if she had known a bear was to be sent for 
 her, she never would have consented to go. 
 
 "Yes," said the bear. "You can get on my back and I will 
 give you a nice ride. Come on ! Don't keep me waiting, please." 
 
 There was nothing to be done but to obey, for Selma did not 
 care to have a dispute with a bear, even if he were tame, and so 
 she got upon his back, where she had a very comfortable seat, 
 holding fast to his long hair. 
 
 The bear walked slowly but steadily into the very heart of the 
 forest, among the great trees and the rocks. It was so lonely and 
 solemn here that Selma felt afraid again. 
 
 " Suppose we were to meet with robbers," said she. 
 
 "Robbers!" said the bear, with a laugh. "That's good! Rob- 
 bers, indeed! You needn't be afraid of robbers. If we were to 
 meet any of them, you would be the last person they'd ever meet." 
 
 "Why?" asked Selma. 
 
 " I 'd tear 'em all into little bits," said the bear, in a tone which 
 quite restored Selma's confidence, and made her feel very glad that 
 she had a bear to depend upon in those lonely woods. 
 
 It was not very long before they came to an opening in a 
 bank of earth, behind a great tree. Into this the bear walked, for 
 it was wide enough, and so high that Selma did not even have to 
 lower her head, as they passed in. They were now in a long wind- 
 ing passage, which continually seemed as if it was just coming to 
 an end, but which turned and twisted, first one way and then 
 
 mm 
 
HO THE FLOATING PRINCE AND OTHER FAIRY TALES. 
 
 — . __^_ 
 
 another, and always kept going down and down. Before long they 
 began to meet gnomes, who very respectfully stepped aside to let 
 them pass. They now went through several halls and courts, cut 
 in the earth, and directly, the bear stopped before a door. 
 
 " You get off here," said the bear ; and, when Selma had slid 
 
 ROBBERS ! SAID THE BEAR. ' THAT S GOOD ! ROBBERS, INDEED ! 
 
 from his back, he rose up on his hind legs and gave a great knock 
 with the iron knocker on the door. Then he went away. 
 
 In a moment, the door opened, and there stood a little old 
 gnome-woman, dressed in brown, and wearing a lace cap. 
 
 "Come in!" she said; and Selma entered the room. "The 
 Queen Dowager will see you in a few minutes," said the little old 
 
THE EMERGENCY MISTRESS. Ill 
 
 woman. " I am her housekeeper. I'll go and tell her you're here, 
 and, meantime, it would be well for you to get your answers all 
 ready, so as to lose no time." 
 
 Selma was about to ask what answers she meant, but the 
 housekeeper was gone before she could say a word. 
 
 The room was a curious one. There were some little desks 
 and stools in it, and in the center stood a great brown ball, some 
 six or seven feet in diameter. While she was looking about at 
 these things, a little door in the side of the ball opened, and out 
 stepped Class 60, H. 
 
 " One thing I did n't tell you," said he, hurriedly. " I was 
 afraid if I mentioned it you would n't come. The Queen Dowager 
 wants a governess for her grandson, the Gnome Prince. Now, 
 please don't say you can't do it, for I'm sure you'll suit exactly. 
 The little fellow has had lots of teachers, but he wants one of a 
 different kind now. This is the school-room. That ball is the globe 
 where he studies his geography. It's only the under part of the 
 countries that he has to know about, and so they are marked out 
 on the inside of the globe. What they want now is a special 
 teacher, and after having come here, and had the Queen Dowager 
 notified, it would n't do to back out, you know." 
 
 " How old is the Prince ?" asked Selma. 
 
 "About seventy-eight," said the gnome. 
 
 "Why, he's an old man," cried Selma. 
 
 "Not at all, my dear miss," said Class 60, H. "It takes a long 
 time for us to get old. The Prince is only a small boy ; if he were a 
 human boy, he would be about five years old. I don't look old, do I ?" 
 
 " No," said Selma. 
 
 "Well, I'm three hundred and fifty-two, next Monday. And as 
 for Class 20, P, — the old fellow you saw fishing, — he is nine hundred 
 and sixty." 
 
112 THE FLOATING PRINCE AND OTHER FAIRY TALES. 
 
 " Well, you are all dreadfully old, and you have yery funny 
 names," said Selma. 
 
 "In this part of the world," said the other, "all gnomes, except 
 those belonging to the nobility and the royal family, are divided 
 into classes, and lettered. This is much better than having names, 
 for you know it is very hard to get enough names to go around, 
 so that every one can have his own. But here comes the house- 
 keeper," and Class 60, H, retired very quickly into the hollow 
 globe. 
 
 " Her Majesty will see you," said the housekeeper ; and she 
 conducted Selma into the next room, where on a little throne, 
 with a high back and rockers, sat the Queen Dowager. She 
 seemed rather smaller than the other gnomes, and was very much 
 wrinkled and wore spectacles. She had white hair, with little curls 
 on each side, and was dressed in brown silk. 
 
 She looked at Selma over her spectacles. 
 
 "This is the applicant?" said she. 
 
 " Yes, this is she," said the housekeeper. 
 
 " She looks young," remarked the Queen Dowager. 
 
 " Very true," said the housekeeper, " but she cannot be any 
 older at present." 
 
 " You are right," said Her Majesty ; " we will examine her." 
 
 So saying, she took up a paper which lay on the table, and 
 which seemed to have a lot or items written on it. 
 
 " Get ready," said she to the housekeeper, who opened a large 
 blank-book and made ready to record Selma's answers. 
 
 The Queen Dowager read from the paper the first question : 
 
 " What are your qualifications ?" 
 
 Selma, standing there before this little old queen and this little 
 old housekeeper, was somewhat embarrassed, and a question like 
 this did not make her feel any more at her ease. She could not 
 
THE EMERGENCY MISTRESS. 
 
 "3 
 
 think what qualifications she had. As she did not answer at once, 
 the Queen Dowager turned to the housekeeper and said: 
 
 "Put down, 'Asked, but not given.'" 
 
 The housekeeper set that down, and then she jumped up and 
 looked over the list of questions. 
 
 "We must be careful," said she, in a whisper, to the Queen 
 Dowager, "what we ask her. It won't do to put all the questions 
 to her. Suppose you try number twenty-eight?" 
 
 "All right," said Her Majesty; and, when the housekeeper 
 had sat down again by her book, she addressed Selma and asked: 
 
 "Are you fond of children?" 
 Yes, ma'am," said Selma. 
 
 Good!" cried the Queen Dowager, "that is an admirable 
 answer." 
 
 And the housekeeper nodded and smiled at Selma, as if she 
 was very much pleased. 
 
 " ■ Eighty-two ' would be a good one to ask next," suggested 
 the housekeeper. 
 
 Her Majesty looked for "Eighty-two," and read it out: 
 
 " Do you like pie ?" 
 
 "Very much, ma'am," said Selma. 
 
 "Capital! capital!" said Her Majesty. "That will do. I see 
 no need of asking her any other questions. Do you ?" said she, 
 turning to the housekeeper. 
 
 " None whatever," said the other. " She answered all but one, 
 and that one she did n't really miss." 
 
 " There is no necessity for any further bother," said the Queen 
 Dowager. '■ She is engaged." 
 
 And then she arose from the throne and left the room. 
 
 "Now, my dear girl," said the housekeeper "I will induct 
 you into your duties. Thev are simple." 
 
114 THE FLOATING PRINCE AXD OTHER FAIRY TALES. 
 
 "But I should like to know,'' said Selma, "if I'm to stay 
 here all the time. I can't leave my father and mother " 
 
 "Oh! you won't have to do that," interrupted the house- 
 keeper. "You will take the Prince home with you." 
 
 "Home with me?" exclaimed Selma. 
 
 "Yes. It would be impossible for you to teach him properly 
 here. We want him taught Emergencies — that is, what to do in 
 case of the various emergencies which may arise. Nothing of the 
 kind ever arises down here. Everything goes on always in the 
 usual way. But on the surface of the earth, where he will often 
 go, when he grows up, they are very common, and you have been 
 selected as a proper person to teach him what to do when any of 
 them occur to him. By the way, what are your terms " 
 
 "I don't know," said Selma. "Whatever you please." 
 
 " That will suit very well, — very well indeed," said the house- 
 keeper. "I think you are just the person we want." 
 
 "Thank you," said Selma; and just then a door opened and 
 the Queen Dowager put in her head. 
 
 "Is she inducted?" she asked. 
 
 " Yes," said the housekeeper. 
 
 "Then here is the Prince," said the Queen Dowagfer, enterine 
 the room and leading by the hand a young gnome about a foot 
 high. He had on a ruffled jacket and trousers, and a little peaked 
 cap. His royal grandmother led him to Selma. 
 
 " You will take him," she said, " for a session of ten months. 
 At the end of that time we shall expect him to be thoroughly 
 posted in emergencies. While he is away, he will drop all his 
 royal titles and be known as Class Si, Q. His parents and I have 
 taken leave of him. Good-bye !" 
 
 And she left the room, with her little handkerchief to her 
 eyes. 
 
THE EMERGENCY MISTRESS. 1 1 5 
 
 " Now, then," said the housekeeper, " the sooner you are off, 
 the better. The bear is waiting." 
 
 So saying, she hurried Selma and the Prince through the 
 school-room, and, when they opened the door, there stood the bear, 
 all ready. Selma mounted him, and the housekeeper handed up the 
 Prince, first kissing him good-bye. Then off they started. 
 
 The Prince, or, as he must now be called, Class 81, Q, was a 
 very quiet and somewhat bashful little fellow ; and, although Selma 
 talked a good deal to him, on the way, he did not say much. The 
 bear carried them to the edge of the woods, and then Selma took 
 the little fellow in her arms and ran home with him. 
 
 It may well be supposed that the appearance of their daughter 
 with the young gnome in her arms greatly astonished the worthy 
 cottagers, and they were still more astonished when they heard her 
 story. 
 
 "You must do your best, my dear," said her mother, "and this 
 may prove a very good thing for you, as well as for this little master 
 here." 
 
 Selma promised to do as well as she could, and her father said 
 he would try and think of some good emergencies, so that the little 
 fellow could be well trained. 
 
 Everybody seemed to be highly satisfied, even Class 81, Q, 
 himself, who sat cross-legged on a wooden chair, surveying every- 
 thing about him ; but when Jules Vatermann came home, he was 
 very much dissatisfied, indeed. 
 
 "Confound it!" he said, when he heard the story. "I should 
 have done all this. That should have been my pupil, and the good 
 luck should have been mine. The gnome-man came first to me, 
 and, if he had waited a minute, I should have thought of the right 
 thing to do. I could teach that youngster far better than you, 
 Selma. What do vou know about emergencies?" 
 
1 1 6 THE FLOATING PRINCE AND OTHER FAIRY TALES. 
 
 Selma and her parents said nothing. Jules had been quite 
 cross-grained since the twenty-fifth of January, when he had met 
 the o-nome, and they had learned to pay but little attention to his 
 fault-finding and complaining. 
 
 The little gnome soon became quite at home in the cottage, 
 and grew very much attached to Selma. He was quiet, but sen- 
 sible and bright, and knew a great deal more than most children 
 of five. Selma did not have many opportunities to educate him in 
 her peculiar branch. Very commonplace things generally happened 
 in the cottage. 
 
 One day, however, the young gnome was playing with the cat, 
 and began to pull her tail. The cat, not liking this, began to scratch 
 Class 81, O. At this, the little fellow cried and yelled, while the 
 cat scratched all the more fiercely. But Selma, who ran into the 
 room on hearing the noise, was equal to the emergency. She 
 called out, instantly: 
 
 " Let go of his tail !" 
 
 The gnome let go, ancl the cat bounded away. 
 
 The lesson of this incident was then carefully impressed on 
 her pupil's mind by Selma, who now thought that she had at last 
 begun to do her duty by him. 
 
 A day or two after this, Selma was sent by her mother on 
 an errand to the nearest village. As it would be dark before she 
 returned, she did not take the little gnome with her. About sun- 
 set, when Jules Vatermann returned from his work, he found the 
 youngster playing by himself in the kitchen. 
 
 Instantly, a wicked thought rushed into the mind of Jules. 
 Snatching up the young gnome, he ran off with him as fast as he 
 could go. As he ran, he thought to himself: 
 
 " Now is my chance. I know what to do, this time. I '11 just 
 keep this young rascal and make his people pay me a pretty sum 
 
THE EMERGENCY MISTRESS. 117 
 
 for his ransom. I 11 take him to the city, where the gnomes never 
 go, and leave him there, in safe hands, while I come back and 
 make terms. Good for you, at last, Jules!" 
 
 So, on he hurried, as fast as he could go. The road soon 
 led him into a wood, and he had to go more slowly. Poor little 
 Class 81, Q, cried and besought Jules to let him go, but the hard- 
 hearted wood-cutter paid no attention to his distress. 
 
 Suddenly, Jules stopped. He heard something, and then he 
 saw something. He began to tremble. A great bear was coming 
 along the road, directly toward him ! 
 
 What should he do ? He could not meet that dreadful crea- 
 ture. He hesitated but a moment. The bear was now quite near, 
 and, at the first growl it gave, Jules dropped the young gnome, 
 and turned and ran away at the top of his speed. The bear 
 started to run after him, not noticing little Class 81, Q, who was 
 standing in the road ; but as he passed the dwarf, who had never 
 seen any bear except the tame one which belonged to the gnomes, 
 and who thought this animal was his old friend, the little fellow 
 seized him by the long hair on his legs and began to climb up 
 on his back. 
 
 The bear, feeling some strange creature on him, stopped and 
 looked around. The moment the young gnome saw the fiery eyes 
 and the glittering teeth of the beast, he knew that he had made a 
 mistake ; this was no tame bear. 
 
 The savage beast growled, and, reaching back as far as he 
 could, snapped at the little fellow on his back, who quickly got 
 over on the other side. Then the bear reached back on that side, 
 and Class 81, Q, was obliged to slip over again. The bear became 
 very angry, and turned around and around in his efforts to get at 
 the young gnome, who was nearly frightened to death. He could 
 not think what in the world he should do. He could only remem- 
 
Il8 THE FLOATING PRINCE AND OTHER FAIRY TALES. 
 
 ber that, in a great emergency, — but not quite as bad a one as 
 this, — his teacher had come to his aid with the counsel, " Let go 
 of his tail." He would gladly let go of the bear's tail, but the 
 bear had none — at least, none that he could see. So what was he 
 to do? "Let go of his tail!" cried the poor little fellow, to him- 
 self. "Oh, if he only had a tail!" 
 
 Before long, the bear himself began to be frightened. This 
 was something entirely out of the common run of things. Never 
 before in his life had he met with a little creature who stuck to 
 him like that. He did not know what might happen next, and so 
 he ran as hard as he could go toward his cave. Perhaps his wife, 
 the old mother-bear, might be able to get this thing off. Away he 
 dashed, and, turning sharply around a corner, little Class Si, O, 
 was jolted off, and was glad enough to find himself on the ground, 
 with the bear running away through the woods. 
 
 The little fellow rubbed his knees and elbows, and, finding 
 that he was not at all hurt, set off to find the cottage of his friend 
 Selma, as well as he could. He had no idea which way to go, 
 for the bear had turned around and around so often that he 
 had become quite bewildered. However, he resolved to trudge 
 along, hoping to meet some one who could tell him how to go 
 back to Selma. 
 
 After a while, the moon rose, and then he could see a little 
 better; but it was still quite dark in the woods, and he was 
 beginning to be very tired, when he heard a noise as if some 
 one was talking. He went toward the voice, and soon saw a 
 man sitting on a rock by the road-side. 
 
 When he came nearer, he saw that the man was Jules, who 
 was wailing and moaning and upbraiding himself. 
 
 "Ah me!"' said the conscience-stricken wood-cutter, "Ah me! 
 J am a wretch indeed. I have given myself up into the power 
 
THE EMERGENCY MISTRESS. 1 1 9 
 
 of the Evil One. Not only did I steal that child from his home, 
 and from the good people who have always befriended me, but I 
 have left him to be devoured by a wild beast of the forest. What- 
 ever shall I do ? Satan himself has got me in his power, through 
 my own covetousness and greed. How — oh ! how — can I ever get 
 away from him ?" 
 
 The little gnome had now approached quite close to Jules, and, 
 running up to him, he said: 
 
 " Let go of his tail ! " 
 
 If the advice was good for him in an emergency, it might be 
 good for others. 
 
 Jules started to his feet and stood staring at the youngster he 
 had thought devoured. 
 
 "Whoever would have supposed," said he, at last, " that a little 
 heathen midget like that, born underground, like a mole, would ever 
 come to me and tell me my Christian duty. And he's right, too. 
 Satan would never have got hold of me if I had n't been holding 
 to him all these months, hoping to get some good by it. I'll do 
 it, my boy. I'll let go of his tail, now and forever." And, without 
 thinking to ask Class 81, O, how he got away from the bear, he 
 took him up in his arms and ran home as fast as he could go. 
 
 During the rest of the young gnome's stay with Selma, he had 
 several other good bits of advice in regard to emergencies, but 
 none that was of such general application as this counsel to let go 
 of a cat's tail, or the tail of anything else that was giving him 
 trouble. 
 
 At the expiration of the session, the Queen Dowager was 
 charmed with the improvement in her grandson. Having examined 
 him in regard to his studies, she felt sure that he was now per- 
 fectly able to take care of himself in any emergency that might 
 occur to him. 
 
120 THE FLOATING PRINCE AND OTHER FAIRY TALES. 
 
 On the morning after he left, Selma, when she awoke, saw 
 lying on the floor the little jacket and trousers of her late pupil. 
 At first, she thought it was the little fellow himself; but when she 
 jumped up and took hold of the clothes, she could not move them. 
 They were filled with gold. 
 
 This was the pay for the tuition of Class 81, Q. 
 
THE SPRIG OF HOLLY. 
 
 ONE Christmas, there was a great scarcity of holly in that 
 part of the country where Colin and his little sister Dora 
 lived. Everybody decorated their houses with Christmas 
 greens, and as holly-branches and berries were particular favorites 
 that year, Colin and Dora wished very much to get some to put up 
 among the clusters of evergreens which their father had arranged 
 over the big fire-place in their parlor at home. But not a leaf 
 or sprig of holly could they find. 
 
 " I tell you, Dora," said Colin, " we are too late. All the people 
 have been out here, and have picked every bit of holly they could 
 see. We ought not to have waited so long. It is almost Christ- 
 mas now, and of course the persons who wanted holly came and 
 got it a good while ago. I know one thing: I'm not going to 
 put off picking holly, next year. I'm coming out into the woods 
 before anybody else." 
 
 "Yes, indeed," said little Dora. 
 
 They wanted so much to find some holly, that they did not 
 give up the search, although they had been wandering about so 
 long. They had found an evergreen bush with some berries on it; 
 but it was not holly. All at once, Colin saw a fine twig of holly, 
 with several great leaves and some berries as red as ripe cherries, 
 waving gently about by the side of a great tree. It seemed as if 
 it must be the only sprig on some little bush. 
 
 Without saying a word, Colin dashed forward toward the big 
 
122 THE FLOATING PRINCE AND OTHER FAIRY TALES. 
 
 tree, followed closely by little Dora ; but when they reached the 
 holly, they found that it was not on a bush at all, but was held by 
 a little dwarf, who had been waving it over his head to attract 
 their attention. 
 
 " Hello ! " cried the dwarf. " Don't you want a nice sprig of 
 holly?" 
 
 Colin did not answer at first. He was too much astonished, 
 and as for Dora, she just stood close to her brother, holding tight 
 to his hand. The dwarf did not appear to be big enough to do 
 them any harm, but he was such a strange creature that it is no 
 wonder Colin hesitated before speaking to him. He wore a high 
 cap, a funny little coat, and his breeches and shoes and stockings 
 were all in one piece and fitted very tightly indeed. 
 
 " You do want some holly, don't you ? " he said. 
 
 " Yes," said Colin, " I want some very much. We have been 
 looking everywhere for it, but could n't find a bit." 
 
 "There isn't any more than this," said the dwarf. "This is 
 the last sprig in the whole forest. And it's splendid, too. There's 
 been no holly like it in this country for years and years and years. 
 Look what big leaves it has, and see how bright and shiny they are, 
 and what a fine bunch of berries is on it ! It's very different from 
 that piece of bush you have in your hand. That's not hoily." 
 
 " I know it is n't," said Colin, " but I thought it might do, per- 
 haps, if we did n't find any real holly." 
 
 " But it won't do," said the dwarf. " Nothing will do for holly 
 but holly. That's been settled long ago. You can have this, if 
 you'll pay me for it." 
 
 "How much do you want?" asked Colin. 
 
 " One year of your life," said the dwarf. 
 
 If Colin and Dora were astonished before, they were ever so 
 much more astonished now. 
 
THE SPRIG OF HOLLY. 
 
 123 
 
 "Why — what do you mean by that?" stammered Colin. 
 " I mean," said the dwarf, " that for one year you are to belong 
 to me, and do everything I tell you to do." 
 
 THIS IS THE LAST SPRIG IN THE WHOLE FOREST. 
 
 "I won't agree to that," said Colin, who had now recovered 
 his spirits. " It's too much to ask." 
 
124 THE FLOATING PRINCE AND OTHER FAIRY TALES. 
 
 " Yes, indeed," said little Dora, clinging closer to her brother. 
 
 "Well, then," said the dwarf, "what do you say to six months? 
 I will let you have the sprig for six months of your life." 
 
 " No," answered Colin, " that's too much, too." 
 
 " How would a month suit you ? " asked the dwarf. " That's 
 not a long time." 
 
 " Indeed it is a long time," answered Colin. " I should think 
 it was a dreadfully long time, if I had to do everything you told 
 me to do, for a month." 
 
 "Yes, indeed," said little Dora. 
 
 "Well, then," said the dwarf, "suppose I say a week. Nothing 
 could be more reasonable than that. I'll let you have this splendid 
 sprig of holly, — the only one you can get anywhere, — if you will 
 agree to belong to me for only one week." 
 
 " No," said Colin. 
 
 " A day, then," said the dwarf. " I'll let you have it if you '11 
 be mine for one day." 
 
 Colin did not answer. He stopped to think. What could the 
 dwarf want with him for one day ? He might tell him to do some- 
 thing very hard and very wrong. Perhaps he would make him 
 commit a burglary. That could be done in less than a day. 
 
 While this conversation was going on, two little dwarfs, much 
 smaller than the one with the holly-sprig, were crouching behind a 
 mound of earth on which the larger dwarf was standing, and en- 
 deavoring, in all sorts of ways, to catch Dora's eye. They had a 
 doll-baby, which they held up between them, trying to make her 
 look at it. They seemed unwilling to show themselves boldly, pro- 
 bably because they were afraid of the larger dwarf; but they whis- 
 pered, as loud as they dared : 
 
 "Oh, little girl, don't you want this doll? It's a splendid one, 
 with wiggle-y legs and arms. You can have it for just one year 
 
THE SPRIG OF HOLLY. 125 
 
 of your life. Or, if you will be ours for six months, you can take 
 it. Look at it ! You can have it for just one month of your life. 
 Or a week — a short, little week ! " 
 
 But neither Dora nor Colin saw or heard these earnest little 
 creatures, and directly Colin looked up and said: 
 
 " Xo, I won't agree to it for a day." 
 
 " Well, then," said the dwarf, " I won't be hard on you. WilJ 
 you agree to an hour?" 
 
 Colin thought that in an hour he might be made to do some 
 thing he did n't like at all. Nobody could tell what these dwarj t 
 could set a boy to doing. So he said: 
 
 " Xo, not an hour." 
 
 "A minute, then," said the dwarf. 
 
 Colin hesitated. That was not a long time, but he might be 
 made to fire a gun or do something very dangerous in a min.ite. 
 
 " Xo, sir," said he. 
 
 " A second ? w cried the dwarf. 
 
 " I might strike Dora in a second," thought Colin, and he sung 
 out: 
 
 " No, I won't." 
 
 " Well, then, will you take it for nothing ? " asked th«j dwarf. 
 
 " Oh, yes," said Colin. " I '11 take it for nothing." 
 
 "Here it is," said the dwarf, "and I am very glad, indeed, to 
 give it to you." 
 
 "Well!" exclaimed Colin, in surprise. " You are a curious 
 fellow ! But I 'm very glad to get the holly. We 're ever so much 
 obliged." 
 
 "Yes, indeed," said Dora, and she fairly jumped for joy. 
 
 The two little dwarfs were now nearly frantic in their endeavors 
 to make Dora look at their doll. They still were afraid to call 
 out, but they whispered as loud as they could: 
 
126 THE FLOATING PRINCE AND OTHER FAIRY TALES. 
 
 " Oh, ho \ little girl ! Look here ! You can have this doll for 
 one short week of your life. For a day ! For an hour ! One 
 minute ! A second ! Half a second ! For one millionth part of a 
 second ! For the twenty-millionth part of a half second ! Or for 
 nothing at all ! You can have it for nothing !" 
 
 But Dora heard not a word that they said, and never looked 
 L-C them. 
 
 "Why are you so glad to give me the holly?" said Colin to 
 the dwarf. " And if you wanted me to have it, why did n't you 
 give it to me at first?" 
 
 "Oh, I couldn't do that," said the little fellow. "We always 
 have to try to get all the work we can out of the boys we offer 
 that holly to, and I 'm glad you did n't make a bargain, because, 
 if you had, I do n't know what in the world I should have set you 
 to doing. I offered it to a boy last year, and he agreed to do 
 what I told him for six months. He would n't engage for longer 
 than that, for his summer holidays would begin at the end of that 
 time. And I know he thought he 'd rather work for me than go 
 to school. Well, I had a dreadful time with that boy. After the 
 first week or two, I could n't think of a thing for him to do. He 
 had done everything that I wanted. I would tell him to go and 
 play, and he would come back in an hour or two, and say, ' I ve 
 done playing; what shall I do next?" And then I 'd have to shake 
 my fist at him, and look as cross as I could, and tell him that if 
 he did n't go play and stay playing, I would do something dreadful 
 to him. But of course that sort of thing would n't do very long, 
 and so I had to find work for him until his time was up. It nearly 
 wore me out. I think that if he had agreed for a year, it would 
 have driven me crazy." 
 
 "But how did you come to have the holly sprig, if this boy 
 earned it?" asked Colin. 
 
THE SPRIG OF HOLLY. 
 
 127 
 
 "Oh, the first thing I told him to do, after his bargain was 
 made, was to give me back that holly. We have to do that, or 
 else we could n't keep on hiring boys." 
 
 " I call that cheating," said Colin. 
 
 "Yes, indeed," said little Dora. 
 
 "I suppose it is," said the dwarf, "if you look at it in a 
 certain light. But we won't talk about that now. You have the 
 hclly-sprig, and I have no right to ask you to give it back to 
 me. You can take it home, and I shall never see it again. 
 Hurrah! Good-bye!" 
 
 And he made one jump backward, behind the big tree, and 
 was gone. 
 
 Colin and Dora now hurried home, very happy, indeed, for 
 no such sprig of holly had they ever seen as this which the dwarf 
 had given them. It would look splendidly over the fire-place ! 
 
 The two little dwarfs ran after them as fast as they could. 
 
 "Where had we got to?" said one to the other, just as they 
 caught up to Colin and Dora. 
 
 "We were at 'nothing,'" said the other. 
 
 " All right, then, we won't go back on the bargain." 
 
 Then they both ran in front of the children, and holding up 
 the doll between them, tn^y called out: 
 
 " Little girl ! will you have this doll for nothing- ?" 
 
 Colin and Dora stopped short. This was truly a most aston- 
 ishing sight. 
 
 " Look at its legs and arms," said the larger dwarf. " See 
 how they wiggle ! You can make it sit down. Will you take it 
 for nothing?" 
 
 Dora did not hesitate. 
 
 " Yes, indeed," said she. 
 
 Thrusting the doll into her hands, the two little dwarfs crave a 
 
128 THE FLOATING PRINCE AND OTHER FAIRY TALES. 
 
 wild shout, and rushed away, with the long tails which they had to 
 their bonnets waving in the wind as they ran. 
 
 The children then hurried home as fast as they could, and 
 when they had told their story and shown their gifts, great was 
 the surprise and delight of everybody; for no one had ever seen 
 such a large-leaved and bright-berried sprig of holly as the one 
 the dwarf gave Colin, or so fine a doll, with such remarkably 
 wiggle-y arms and legs, as the one the little dwarfs gave Dora. 
 
 "The thing that pleases me most about it all," said their 
 father, " is Colin's steady refusal to make a rash bargain, even for 
 a very short time. Colin, my boy, I think you are to be trusted." 
 
 " Yes, indeed," said little Dora, hugging her doll, and looking 
 proudly into her brother's face. 
 
THE MAGICIAN'S DAUGHTER 
 
 HIGH-BORN BOY. 
 
 T 
 
 HERE was once a great castle which belonged to a magi- 
 cian. It stood upon a high hill, with a wide court-yard in 
 -*- front of it, and the fame of its owner spread over the 
 whole land. He was a very wise and skillful magician, as well as 
 a kind and honest man, and people of all degrees came to him, 
 to help him out of their troubles. 
 
 But he gradually grew very old, and at last he died. His 
 only descendant was a daughter, thirteen years of age, named Fila- 
 mina, and everybody wondered what would happen, now that the 
 great magician was dead. 
 
 But one day, Filamina came out on the broad front steps of 
 the castle, and made a little speech to all the giants, and afrits, 
 and fairies, and genii, and dwarfs, and gnomes, and elves, and 
 pigmies, and other creatures of that kind, who had always been in 
 the service of the old magician, to do his bidding when some 
 wonderful thing was to be accomplished. 
 
 "Now that my poor father is dead," said she, "I think it is 
 my duty to carry on the business. So you will all do what I tell 
 
 9 129 
 
130 THE FLOATING PRINCE AND OTHER FAIRY TALES. 
 
 you to do, just as you used to obey my father. If any persons 
 come who want anything done, I will attend to them." 
 
 The giants and fairies, and all the others, were very glad to 
 hear Filamina say this, for they all liked her, and they were tired 
 of being idle. 
 
 Then an afrit arose from the sunny stone on which he had 
 been lying, and said that there were six people outside of the gaf~ 
 
 W//W I M 
 
 lfwi\# 
 
 THE SIX APPLICANTS WHO WISHED TO BE HELPED OUT OF TROUBLE. 
 
 who had come to see if there was a successor to the magician, 
 who could help them out of their trouble. 
 
 "You can bring them into the Dim-lit Vault," said Filamina, 
 "but, first, I will go in and get ready for them." 
 
 The Dim-lit Vault was a vast apartment, with a vaulted ceil- 
 ing, where the old magician used to see the people who came to 
 him. All around the walls or shelves, and on stands and tables, 
 in various parts of the room, were the strange and wonderful in- 
 struments of maeic that he used. 
 
THE MA GICIAN'S DA UGHTER. 1 3 1 
 
 There was a great table in the room, covered with parchments 
 and old volumes of magic lore. At one end of the table was the 
 magician's chair, and in this Filamina seated herself, first piling 
 several cushions on the seat, to make herself high enough. 
 
 " Now, then," said she, to the afrit in attendance, " everything 
 seems ready, but you must light something to make a mystic 
 smell. That iron lamp at the other end of the room will do. Do 
 you know what to pour into it?" 
 
 The afrit did not know, but he thought he could find some- 
 thing, so he examined the bottles on the shelves, and taking down 
 one of them, he poured some of its contents into the lamp and 
 lighted it. In an instant there was an explosion, and a piece of 
 the heavy lamp just grazed the afrit's head. 
 
 "Don't try that again," said Filamina. "You will be hurt. 
 Let a ghost come in. He can't be injured." 
 
 So a ghost came in, and he got another iron lamp, and tried 
 the stuff from another bottle. This blew up, the same as the 
 other, and several pieces of the lamp went right through the 
 ghost's body, but of course it made no difference to him. He tried 
 again, and this time he found something which smelt extremely 
 mystical. 
 
 "Now call them in," said Filamina, and the six persons who 
 were in trouble entered the room. Filamina took a piece of paper 
 and a pencil, and asked them, in turn, what they wished her to 
 do for them. The first was a merchant, in great grief because he 
 had lost a lot of rubies, and he wanted to know where to find 
 them. 
 
 " How many of them were there ? " asked Filamina of the un- 
 lucky merchant. 
 
 "Two quarts," said the merchant. "I measured them a few 
 days ago. Each one of them was as large as a cherry." 
 
132 THE FLOATING PRINCE AND OTHER FAIRY TALES. 
 
 "A big cherry?" asked Filamina. 
 
 " Yes," said the merchant. " The biggest kind of a cherry." 
 
 "Well," said Filamina, putting all this down on her paper, 
 " you can come again in a week, and I will see what I can do for 
 you." 
 
 The next was a beautiful damsel who had lost her lover. 
 
 "What kind of a person is he?" asked Filamina. 
 
 " Oh," said the beautiful damsel, " he is handsomer than tongue 
 can tell. Tall, magnificent, and splendid in every way. He is more 
 graceful than a deer, and stronger than a lion. His hair is like 
 flowing silk, and his eyes like the noon-day sky." 
 
 " Well, don't cry any more," said Filamina. " I think we shall 
 soon find him. There can't be many of that kind. Come again 
 in a week, if you please." 
 
 The next person was a covetous king, who was very anxious 
 to possess the kingdom next to his own. 
 
 " The only difficulty is this," he said, his greedy eyes twinkling 
 as he spoke, "there is an old king on the throne, and there is a 
 very young heir — a mere baby. If they were both dead, I would 
 be the next of kin, and would have the kingdom. I don't want 
 to have them killed instantly. I want something that will make them 
 sicker, and sicker, and sicker, till they die." 
 
 "Then you would like something suitable for a very old man, 
 and something for a very young child?" said Filamina. 
 
 "That is exactly it," replied the covetous king. 
 
 "Very well," said Filamina; "come again in a week, and I 
 will see what I can do for you." 
 
 The covetous king did not want to wait so long, but there 
 was no help for it, and he went away. 
 
 Next came forward a young man, who wanted to find out how 
 to make gold out of old iron bars and horseshoes. He had tried 
 
THE MA G I CI AN' S DA UGHTER. 1 3 3 
 
 many different plans, but could not succeed. After him came a 
 general, who could never defeat the great armies which belonged 
 to the neighboring nations. He wished to get something which 
 would insure victory to his army. Each of these was told to 
 come again in a week, when his case would be attended to. 
 
 The last person was an old woman, who wanted to know a 
 good way to make root-beer. She had sold root-beer for a long 
 time, but it was not very good, and it made people feel badly, so 
 that her custom was falling off. It was really necessary, she 
 said, for her to have a good business, in order that she might 
 support her sons and daughters, and send her grandchildren to 
 school. 
 
 " Poor woman !" said Filamina. " I will do my best for you. 
 Do you live far away?" 
 
 " Oh, yes," said the old woman, " a weary way." 
 
 "Well, then, I will have you taken home, and I will send for 
 you in a week." 
 
 Thereupon, calling two tall giants, she told them to carry the 
 old woman home in a sedan-chair, which they bore between them. 
 
 When the visitors had all gone, Filamina called in her servants 
 and read to them the list she had made. 
 
 "As for this merchant," she said, "some of you gnomes ought 
 to find his rubies. You are used to precious stones. Take a big 
 cherry with you, and try to find two quarts of rubies of that size. 
 A dozen fairies can go and look for the handsome lover of the 
 beautiful damsel. You '11 be sure to know him if you see him. A 
 genie can examine the general's army and see what 's the matter 
 with it. Four or five dwarfs, used to working with metals, can 
 take some horseshoes and try to make gold ones of them. Do 
 any of you know of a good disease for an old person, and a 
 good disease for a baby?" 
 
I 3 4 THE FLOATING PRINCE AND OTHER EAIRY TALES. 
 
 An elf suggested rheumatism for the old person, and Filamina 
 herself thought of colic for the baby. 
 
 "Go and mix me," she said to an afrit, "some rheumatism 
 and some colic in a bottle. I am going to make that greedy 
 king take it himself. As for the root-beer," she continued, "those 
 of you who think you can do it, can take any of the stuff you 
 find' on the shelves here, and try to make good root-beer out 
 of it. To-morrow, we will see if any of you have made beer 
 that is really good. I will give a handsome reward to the one 
 who first finds out how it ought to be made." 
 
 Thereupon, Filamina went up to her own room to take a nap, 
 while quite a number of fairies, giants, dwarfs and others set to 
 work to try and make good root-beer. They made experiments 
 with nearly all the decoctions and chemicals they found on the 
 shelves, or stored away in corners, and they boiled, and soaked, 
 and mixed, and stirred, until far into the night. 
 
 It was a moonlight night, and one of the gnomes went from 
 the Dim-lit Vault, where his companions were working away, into 
 the court-yard, and there he met the ghost, who was gliding 
 around by himself. 
 
 " I '11 tell you what it is," said the gnome, " I do n't want to 
 be here to-morrow morning, when that stuff is to be tasted. 
 They 're making a lot of dreadful messes in there. I 'm going to 
 run away, till it's all over." 
 
 " It does n't make any difference to me," said the ghost, " for 
 I would n't be asked to drink anything ; but, if you 're going^ to 
 run away, I do n't mind going with you. I have n't got anything 
 to do." 'So off the two started together, out of the great gate. 
 
 "Hold up!" soon cried the gnome, who was running as fast 
 as his little legs would carry him. " Can't you glide slower ? I 
 can't keep up with you?" 
 
THE MA GIC/AJV'S DA UGHTER. 1 3 5 
 
 "You ought to learn to glide," said the ghost, languidly. 
 "It's ever so much easier than walking." 
 
 " When I 'm all turned into faded smoke," said the gnome, a 
 Ktle crossly, "I'll try it; but I can't possibly do it now." 
 
 So the ghost glided more slowly, and the two soon came to 
 tne cottage of a wizard and a witch, who lived near the foot of 
 the hill, where they sometimes got odd jobs from the people, who 
 were going up to the magician's castle. As the wizard and his 
 wife were still up, the gnome and his companion went in to see 
 them and have a chat. 
 
 " How are you getting on ? " said the ghost, as they all sat 
 around the fire. "Have you done much incanting lately?" 
 
 "Not much," said the wizard. " We thought we would get a 
 good deal of business when the old man died ; but the folks seem 
 to go up to the castle the same as ever." 
 
 "Yes," said the gnome, "and there's rare work going on up there 
 now. They're trying to make root-beer for an old woman, and 
 you never saw such a lot of poisonous trash as they have stewed up." 
 
 "They can't make root-beer!" sharply cried the witch. "They 
 don't know anything about it. There is only one person who has 
 that secret, and that one is myself." 
 
 " Oh, tell it to me ! " exclaimed the gnome, jumping from his 
 chair. "There's to be a reward for the person who can do it 
 right, and " 
 
 " Reward ! " cried the witch. " Then I'm likely to tell it to you, 
 indeed ! When you're all done trying, I'm going to get that re 
 ward myself." 
 
 "Then I suppose we might as well bid you good-night," said 
 the gnome, and he and the ghost took their departure. 
 
 "I'll tell you what it is," said the latter, wisely shaking his 
 head, " those people will never prosper ; they're too stingy " 
 
I $6 THE FLOATING PRINCE AND OTHER FAIRY TALES. 
 
 "True," said the gnome, and just at that moment they met a 
 pigwidgeon, who had been sent from the castle a day or two be- 
 fore on a long errand. He, of course, wanted to know where the 
 gnome and the ghost were going; but when he heard their story, 
 he said nothing, but kept on his way. 
 
 " OH, TELL IT TO ME ! '' EXCLAIMED THE GNOME. 
 
 When he reached the castle, he found that all the beer had 
 been made, and that the busy workers had just brought out the 
 various pots and jars into the court-yard to cool. The pigwidgeon 
 took a sniff or two at the strange stuff in some of the jars, and 
 then he told about the gnome and the ghost running away. When 
 he mentioned the reason of their sudden departure, the whole as- 
 semblage stood and looked at each other in dismay. 
 
 "I never thought of that," said a tall giant; "but it's just what 
 will happen. We shall have to taste those mixtures, and I should n't 
 wonder a bit if half of them turned out to be poison. I'm going!" 
 
THE MA GICIAJST S DA UGHTER. 1 3 7 
 
 And so saying, he clapped on his hat, and made one step right 
 over the court-yard wall. In an instant, every giant, genie, dwarf, 
 fairy, gnome, afrit, elf, and the rest of them, followed him out of 
 the gate or over the wall, and swarming down the hill, they dis 
 appeared toward all quarters of the compass. 
 
 All but one young hobgoblin. He had a faithful heart, and 
 he would not desert his mistress. He stayed behind, and in the 
 morning, when she came down, he told her what had happened. 
 
 "And they have all deserted me," she said, sadly, "but you." 
 
 The hobgoblin bowed his head. His head was a great deal 
 too larcre, and his le^s and arms were dancdy, but he had an 
 honest face. 
 
 " Perhaps they were wise," she said, looking into the pots and 
 jars. " It might have killed them. But they were cowards to run 
 away, instead of telling me about it ; and I shall make you Ruler 
 of the Household, because you are the only faithful one." 
 
 The hobgoblin was overwhelmed with gratitude, and could 
 scarcely say a word. 
 
 " But I can never get along without any of them," said Fila- 
 mina. " We must go and look for them ; some may not be far 
 away. We will lock the gate and take the key. May I call you 
 Hob?" 
 
 The hobgoblin said she certainly might, if she'd like it. 
 
 "Well, then, Hob," said she, "you must go and get a chair, 
 for we can't reach the big lock from the ground." 
 
 So Hob ran and got a chair, and brought it outside. They 
 pulled the gate shut, and, standing on the chair, and both using 
 all their force, they turned the big key, which the hobgoblin then 
 took out, and carried, as they both walked away. 
 
 " You ought to be careful of the key," said Filamina, " for, if you 
 lose it, we shall not be able to get back. Have n't you a pockft?" 
 
138 THE FLOATING PRINCE AND OTHER FAIRY TALES. 
 
 "Not one big enough," said the hobgoblin: "but you might 
 slip it down my back. It would be safe there." 
 
 So Filamina took the key and slipped it down his back. It 
 was so big that it reached along the whole of his spine, and it was 
 very cold ; but he said never a word. 
 
 They soon came to the cottage of the wizard, and there they 
 stopped, to ask if anything had been seen of the runaways. The 
 witch and the wizard received them very politely, and said that they 
 had seen a gnome and a ghost, but no others. Then Filamina 
 told how her whole household, with the exception of the faithful 
 hobgoblin, had gone off and deserted her; and, when she had 
 finished her story, the witch had become very much excited. Draw- 
 ing her husband to one side, she said to him : 
 
 " Engage our visitors in conversation for a time. I will be 
 back directly." 
 
 So saying, she went into a little back-room, jumped out of 
 the window, and ran as fast as she could to the castle. 
 
 "Just to think of it!" she said to herself, as she hurried 
 along. "That whole castle empty! Not a creature in it! Such 
 a chance will never happen again ! I can rummage among all 
 the wonderful treasures of the old magician. I shall learn more 
 than I ever knew in my life ! " 
 
 In the meantime, the wizard, who was a very kindly person, 
 talked to Filamina and the hobgoblin about the wonders of Na- 
 ture, and told them of his travels in various parts of the earth, 
 all of which interested Filamina very much ; and, as the hobgoblin 
 was ever faithful to his mistress, he became just as much inter- 
 ested as he could be. 
 
 . When the witch reached the castle, she was surprised to find 
 the great gate locked. She had never thought of that. " I didn't 
 see either of them have the key," she said to herself, "and it is 
 
THE MAGICIAN'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 139 
 
 too big to put in anybody's pocket. Perhaps they 've hidden it 
 under the step. 
 
 So she got down on her knees, and groped about under the 
 great stone before the gate. But she found no key. Then she 
 saw the chair which had been left by the gate. 
 
 THE WITCH SEARCHES FOR THE KEY. 
 
 "Oho!" she cried. "That's it! They put the key on the 
 ledge over the gate, and had the chair to stand on ! " 
 
 She then quickly set the chair before the gate and stood up 
 on it. But she could not yet reach the ledge, so she got up on 
 the back. She could now barely put her hands over the ledge, 
 and while she was feeling for the key, the chair toppled and fell 
 over, leaving her hanging by her hands. She was afraid to drop, 
 for she thought she would hurt herself, and so she hung, kicking 
 and calling for help. 
 
 just then, there came up a hippogriff, who had become peni- 
 
 -*- 
 
I40 THE FLOATING PRINCE AND OTHER FAIRY TALES. 
 
 tent, and determined to return to his duty. He was amazed to see 
 the witch hanging in front of the gate, and ran up to her. 
 
 "Aha!" he cried. "Trying to climb into our castle, are you? 
 You 're a pretty one ! " 
 
 THE HIPPOGRIFF GAINS THE SECRET. 
 
 "Oh, Mr. Hippogriff," said the witch, "I can explain it all to 
 you, if I can only get down. Please put that chair under me. I'll 
 do anything for you, if you will." 
 
THE MA GICIAN ' S DA UGHTER. 1 4 1 
 
 The hippogriff reflected. What could she do for him ? Then 
 he thought that perhaps she knew how to make good root-beer. 
 So he said he would help her down if she would tell him how 
 to make root-beer. 
 
 " Never !" she cried. " I am going to get the reward P~- 'hat 
 myself. Anything but that!" 
 
 "Nothing but that will suit me," said the hippogriff, "and if 
 you don't choose to tell me, I'll leave you hanging there until the 
 giants and the afrits come back, and then you will see what you 
 will get." 
 
 This frightened the witch very much, and in a few moments 
 she told the hippogriff that, if he would stretch up his long neck, 
 she would whisper the secret in his ear. So he stretched up his 
 neck, and she told him the secret. 
 
 As soon as he had heard it, he put the chair under her, and 
 she got down, and ran home as fast as she could go. 
 
 She reached the cottage none too soon, for the wizard was 
 finding it very hard to keep on engaging his visitors in conversation. 
 
 Filamina now rose to go, but the witch asked her to stay a 
 little longer. 
 
 " I suppose you know all about your good father's business," 
 said she, "now that you are carrying it on alone?" 
 
 "No," said Filamina, "I don't understand it very well; but I 
 try to do the best that I can." 
 
 "What you ought to do," said the witch, "is to try to find 
 one or two persons who understand the profession of magic, and 
 have been, perhaps, carrying it on, in a small way, themselves. 
 Then they could do all the necessary magical work, and you would 
 be relieved of the trouble and worry." 
 
 " That would be very nice," said Filamina, " if I could find such 
 persons." 
 
142 THE FLOATING PRINCE AND OTHER I AIRY TALES. 
 
 Just then a splendid idea came into the head of the hobgob- 
 lin. Leaning toward his mistress, he whispered, " How would these 
 two do ? " 
 
 "Good!" said Filamina, and turning to the worthy couple, she 
 said, "Would you be willing to take the situation, and come to 
 the castle to live?" 
 
 The witch and the wizard both said that they would be per- 
 fectly willing to do so. They would shut up their cottage, and 
 come with her immediately, if that would please her. Filamina 
 thought that would suit exactly, and so the cottage was shut up, 
 and the four walked up to the castle, the witch assuring Filamina 
 that she and her husband would find out where the runaways 
 were, as soon as they could get to work with the magical instru- 
 ments. 
 
 When they reached the gate, and Filamina pulled the key 
 from the hobgoblin's back, the witch opened her eyes very wide. 
 
 " If I had known that," she said to herself, " I need not have 
 lost the reward." 
 
 All now entered the castle, and the penitent hippogriff, who 
 had been lying in a shadow of the wall, quietly followed them. 
 
 The wizard and the witch went immediately into the Dim-lit 
 Vault, and began with great delight to examine the magical instru- 
 ments. In a short time the wizard came hurrying to call Filamina. 
 
 " Here," he said, when he had brought her into the room, 
 " is a myth-summoner. With this, you can bring back all your 
 servants. You see these rows of keys, of so many colors. Some 
 are for fairies, some for giants, some for genii, and there are 
 some for each kind of creature. Strike them, and you will see 
 what will happen." 
 
 Filamina immediately sat down before the key-board of this 
 strange machine, and ran her fingers along the rows of keys. In 
 
THE MA GICIAN'S DA UGHTER. 1 4 3 
 
 a moment, from all directions, through the air, and over the earth, 
 came giants, fairies, afrits, genii, dwarfs, gnomes, and all the rest 
 of them. They did no: wish to come, but there was nothing for 
 them but instant obedience when the magic keys were struck 
 which summoned them. 
 
 They collected in the court-yard, and Filamina stood in the 
 door-way and surveyed them. 
 
 " Don't you all feel ashamed of yourselves ?" she said. 
 
 No one answered, but all hung their heads. Some of the 
 giants, great awkward fellows, blushed a little, and even the ghost 
 seemed ill at ease. 
 
 "You needn't be afraid of the beer now," she said, "I am 
 going to have it all thrown away ; and you need n't have been 
 afraid of it before. If any of you had been taken sick, we would 
 have stopped the tasting. As you all deserted me, except this 
 good hobgoblin, I make him Ruler of the Household, and you are 
 to obey him. Do you understand that?" 
 
 All bowed their heads, and she left them to their own reflec- 
 tions. 
 
 "The next time they run away," said the faithful Hob, "you 
 can bring them back before they go." 
 
 In a day or two, the messengers which Filamina had sent out 
 to look for the lost rubies, and the lost lover, to inquire into the 
 reason why the general lost his battles, and to try and find out how 
 horseshoes could be changed into gold, returned and made their 
 reports. They had not been recalled by the myth-summoner, be- 
 cause their special business, in some magical manner, disconnected 
 them from the machine. 
 
 The gnomes who had been sent to look for the rubies, re- 
 ported that they had searched everywhere, but could not find two 
 quarts of rubies, the size of cherries. They thought the merchant 
 
144 THE FLOATING PRINCE AND OTHER FAIRY TALES. 
 
 must have made a mistake, and that he should have said currants. 
 The dwarfs, who had endeavored to make gold out of horseshoes, 
 simply stated that they could not do it; they had tried every 
 possible method. The genie who had gone to find out why the 
 general always lost his battles reported that his army was so much 
 smaller and weaker than those of the neighboring countries that 
 it was impossible for him to make a good fight ; and the fairies 
 who had searched for the lost lover said that there were very few 
 persons, indeed; who answered to the description given by the 
 beautiful damsel, and these were all married and settled. 
 
 Filamina, with the witch and the wizard, carefully considered 
 these reports, and determined upon the answers to be given to 
 the applicants when they returned. 
 
 The next, day, there rode into the court-yard of the castle a 
 high-born boy. He was somewhat startled by the strange crea- 
 tures he saw around him, but he was a brave fellow, and kept 
 steadily on until he reached the castle door, where he dismounted 
 and entered. He was very much disappointed when he heard that 
 the great magician was dead, for he came to consult him on an 
 important matter. 
 
 When he saw Filamina, he told her his story. He was the 
 son of a prince, but his father and mother had been dead for 
 some time. Many of the people of the principality to which he was 
 heir urged him to take his seat upon the throne, because they 
 had been so long without a regular ruler; while another large 
 party thought it would be much wiser for him to continue his 
 education until he was grown up, when he would be well prepared 
 to enter upon the duties of his high position. He had been 
 talked to a great deal by the leaders of each of these parties, 
 and, not being able to make up his mind as to what he should 
 do, he had come here for advice. 
 
THE MAGICIAN'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 145 
 
 GIANTS BRING IN THE SEDAN-CHAIR. (See page 133.) 
 
 uum 
 
146 THE FLOATIXG PRINCE AND OTHER FAIRY TAIES. 
 
 "Is the country pretty well ruled now?" asked Filamina, after 
 considering the matter a moment. 
 
 "Oh, yes," answered the high-born boy; "there are persons, 
 appointed by my father, who govern everything all right. It 's 
 only the name of the thing that makes some of the people dis~ 
 contented. All the principalities in our neighborhood have regular 
 princes, and they want one, too." 
 
 " I '11 tell you what I would do," said Filamina. " I would just 
 keep on going to school, and being taught things, until I was 
 grown up, and knew everything that a prince ought to know. 
 Then you could just manage your principality in your own way. 
 Look at me ! Here am I with a great castle, and a whole lot of 
 strange creatures for servants, and people coming to know things, 
 and I can do hardly anything myself, and have to get a wizard 
 and a witch to come and manage my business for me. I 'm sure 
 J would n't get into the same kind of a fix if I were you." 
 
 " I do n't believe," said the high-born boy, " that I could have 
 had any better advice than that from the very oldest magician in 
 the world. I will do just what you have said." 
 
 Filamina now took her young visitor around the castle to show 
 him the curious things, and when he heard of the people who 
 were coming the next day, to know what had been done for them, 
 he agreed to stay and see how matters would turn out. Filamina's 
 accounts had made him very much interested in the various cases. 
 
 At the appointed time, all the persons who had applied for 
 magical assistance and information assembled in the Dim-lit Vault. 
 Filamina sat at the end of the table, the high-born boy had a seat 
 at her right, while the witch and the wizard were at her left. The 
 applicants stood at the other end of the table, while the giants, 
 afrits, and the rest of the strange household grouped themselves 
 around the room. 
 
THE MA GICIAN'S DA UGHTER. 1 47 
 
 "Some of these cases," said Filamina, "I have settled myself, 
 and the others I have handed over to these wise persons, who are 
 a wizard and a witch. They can attend to their patients first." 
 
 The high-born boy thought that she ought to have said 
 "clients," or "patrons," but he was too polite to speak of it. 
 
 The wizard now addressed the merchant who had lost the 
 rubies. 
 
 " How do you know that you lost two quarts of rubies ?" 
 said he. 
 
 "I know it," replied the merchant, "because I measured them 
 in two quart pots." 
 
 "Did you ever use those pots for anything else?" asked 
 the wizard. 
 
 "Yes," said the merchant; "I afterward measured six quarts 
 of sapphires with them." 
 
 ••Where did you put your sapphires when you had measured 
 them ?" 
 
 " I poured them into a peck jar," said the merchant. 
 
 "Did they fill it?" asked the wizard. 
 
 " Yes ; I remember thinking that I might as well tie a cloth 
 over the top of the jar, for it would hold no more." 
 
 " Well, then," said the wizard, " as six quarts of sapphires will 
 not fill a peck jar, I think you will find your rubies at the bottom 
 of the jar, where you probably poured them when you wished to 
 use the quart pots for the sapphires." 
 
 " I should n't wonder," said the merchant. " I'll go right home 
 and see." 
 
 He went home, and sure enough, under the six quarts of 
 sapphires, he found his rubies. 
 
 "As for you," said the wizard to the general who always lost 
 his battles, "your case is very simple: your army is too weak. 
 
i/ + 3 THE FLOATING PRINCE AND OTHER FAIRY TALES. 
 
 What you want is about twelve giants, and this good young lady 
 says she is willing to furnish them. Twelve giants, well armed with 
 iron clubs, tremendous swords and long spears, with which they 
 could reach over moats and walls, and poke the enemy, would 
 make your army almost irresistible." 
 
 "Oh, yes," said the general, looking very much troubled, "that 
 is all true ; but think how much it would cost to keep a dozen 
 enormous giants ! They would eat more than all the rest of the 
 army. My king is poor ; he is not able to support twelve giants." 
 
 "In that case," said the wizard, "war is a luxury which he 
 cannot afford. If he cannot provide the means to do his fighting 
 i the proper way, he ought to give it up, and you and he should 
 employ your army in some other way. Set the soldiers at some 
 profitable work, and then the kingdom will not be so poor." 
 
 The general could not help thinking that this was very good 
 advice, and when he went home and told his story, his king agreed 
 with him. The kingdom lay between two seas, and the soldiers 
 were set to work to cut a canal right through the middle of the 
 country, from one sea to the other. 
 
 Then the ships belonging to the neighboring kingdoms were 
 allowed to sail through this canal, and charged a heavy toll. In 
 this way the kingdom became very prosperous, and everybody 
 agreed that it was a great deal better than carrying on wars and 
 always being beaten. 
 
 The wizard next spoke to the young man who wanted to 
 know how to make gold out of horseshoes. 
 
 " I think you will have to give up your idea," he declared. 
 "The best metal-workers here have failed in the undertaking, and 
 I myself have tried, for many years, to turn old iron into gold, but 
 never could do it. Indeed, it is one of the things which magicians 
 cannot do. Are you so poor that you are much in need of gold?" 
 
THE MAGICIAN'S DAUGHTER. 1 49 
 
 " Oh, no," said the young man. " I am not poor at all. But 
 I would like very much to be able to make gold whenever I please." 
 
 "The best thing you can do," said the wizard, " if you really 
 wish to work in metals, is to make horseshoes out of gold. This 
 will be easier than the other plan, and will not worry your mind 
 so much." 
 
 The young man stood aside. He did not say anything, but 
 he looked very much disappointed. 
 
 This ended the wizard's cases, and Filamina now began to do 
 her part. She first called up the greedy king who wanted the 
 adjoining kingdom. 
 
 "Here is a bottle," she said, "which contains a very bad dis- 
 ease for an old person and a very bad one for a child. When- 
 ever you feel that you would like the old king and the young 
 heir, who stand between you and the kingdom you want, to be sick, 
 take a good drink from the bottle." 
 
 The greedy king snatched the bottle, and, as soon as he reached 
 home, he took a good drink, and he had the rheumatism and the 
 colic so bad that he never again wished to make anybody sick. 
 
 "As for you," said Filamina to the beautiful damsel who had 
 lost her lover, " my fairy messengers have not been able to find 
 any person, such as you describe, who is not married and settled. 
 So your lover must have married some one else. And, as you 
 cannot get him, I think the best thing you can do is to marry 
 this young man, who wanted to make horseshoes into gold. Of 
 course, neither of you will get exactly what you came for, but it 
 will be better than going away without anything." 
 
 The beautiful damsel and the young man stepped aside and 
 talked the matter over, and they soon agreed to Filamina's plan, 
 and went away quite happy. 
 
 " I am dreadfully sorry," said Filamina to the old woman who 
 
150 THE FLOATING PRINCE AND OTHER FAIRY TALES. 
 
 wanted to know how to make good root-beer, and who sat in the 
 sedan-chair which had been sent for her, "but we have tried our 
 best to find out how to make good root-beer, and the stuff we 
 brewed was awful. I have asked this learned witch about it, and 
 she says she does not now possess the secret. I have also offered 
 a reward to any one who can tell me how to do it, but no one 
 seems to want to try for it." 
 
 At this moment, the penitent hippogriff came forward from a 
 dark corner where he had been sitting, and said: "I know what 
 you must use to make good root-beer." 
 
 "What is it?" asked Filamina. 
 
 " Roots," said the hippogriff. 
 
 " That's perfectly correct," said the witch. " If a person will 
 use roots, instead of all sorts of drugs and strange decoctions, 
 they will make root-beer that is really good." 
 
 A great joy crept over the face of the old woman, and again 
 and again she thanked Filamina for this precious secret. 
 
 The two giants raised her in her sedan-chair, and bore her 
 away to her home, where she immediately set to work to brew 
 root-beer from roots. Her beer soon became so popular that she 
 was enabled to support her sons and daughters in luxury, and to 
 give each of her grandchildren an excellent education. 
 
 When all the business was finished, and the penitent hippogriff 
 had been given his reward, Filamina said to the high-born boy: 
 
 "Now it is all over, and everybody has had something done 
 for him or for her." 
 
 " No," said the other, " I do not think so. Nothing has been 
 done for you. You ought not to be left here alone with all these 
 creatures. You may be used to them, but I think they're horrible. 
 You gave me some advice which was very good, and now I am 
 going to give you some, which perhaps you may like. I think you 
 
THE MAGICIAN'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 1^1 
 
 ought to allow this wizard and this witch, who seem like very 
 honest people, to stay here and carry on the business. Then you 
 could leave this place, and go to school, and learn all the things 
 
 FILAMIXA AND THE HIGH-BORN BOY RIDE AWAY. 
 
 that sfirls know who don't live in old magical castles. After a 
 while, when you are grown up, and I am grown up, we could be 
 married, and we could both rule over my principality. What do 
 you think of that plan ?" 
 
152 THE FLOATING PRINCE AND OTHER FAIRY TALES. 
 
 "I think it would be v^ry nice," said Filamina, "and I really 
 believe I will do it." 
 
 It was exactly what she did do. The next morning, her white 
 horse was brought from the castle stables, and side by side, and 
 amid the cheers and farewells of the giants, the dwarfs, the gnomes, 
 the fairies, the afrits, the genii, the p'gwidgeons, the witch, the 
 wizard, the ghosts, the penitent hippogriff, and the faithful hob- 
 goblin, Filamina and the high-born boy rode away to school. 
 
DERIDO; OR, THE GIANT'S QUILT. 
 
 THERE was once a giant who had a patch-work quilt, and 
 this is the way he got it: 
 One warm morning, the giant, whose name was De- 
 rido, was very tired, and laid down under a tree to take a nap. 
 The tree was a palm-tree, and, having a great tuft of leaves at 
 the top of a tall stem, it could not be expected to give enough 
 shade for a full-sized giant; but Derido, when he laid down, put 
 his head in the small spot of shade that the palm-leaves afforded, 
 and as for the rest of his body, he did not care. After a while, 
 the sun got higher and higher, and the spot of shade moved 
 nearer and nearer the base of the tree, and poor Derido's up- 
 turned face was soon exposed to the full blaze of the fiery sun. 
 But being very tired, he slept soundly, and knew nothing about 
 either sunshine or shade. 
 
 Derido was a good, kind, honorable giant— not very old, but 
 large for his age, and had been noted, from the time when he 
 was a very little boy, no bigger than a horse, for being always 
 ready to help other people. It was the exercise of this trait of 
 his character that had made him so tired this warm morning. 
 
 For about a week, he had been absent from home on various 
 errands of benevolence. Among other things, he conferred a great 
 benefit upon the people of a certain country by bringing to jus- 
 
 i53 
 
154 THE FLOATING PRINCE AND OTHER FAIRY TALES. 
 
 tice an old sorceress, who, for many years, had been worrying and 
 tormenting the whole population. When Derido heard of this, he 
 resolved to have her punished, and so he caught her napping, one 
 day, and took her to a friend of his, who was a magician, and 
 had her turned into a sewing-woman, and compelled, for the rest 
 of her life, to make shirts at the rate of two loaves of bread a 
 piece, and if there were frills to the bosoms, a penny-roll extra. 
 It must be admitted that this was very hard on the old witch, but 
 she was so extremely malicious and depraved that she deserved 
 the worst she could get. 
 
 When the giant had got through with this business, he had 
 gone to the assistance of the king of a small country, who had 
 but few soldiers, and whose dominions were invaded by a power- 
 ful king, with a large army. Derido arrived just as a battle was 
 about to commence, and instantly saw that the little army had 
 not a shadow of a chance. 
 
 So he went straight to the king of the small country, and 
 asked to be made Head General of his forces. The king imme- 
 diately consented, and put his army under command of the giant. 
 
 " But," said the king, " how will the enemy know you to be 
 the Head General? I have no feathers or sashes or medals big 
 enough for you." 
 
 " Never mind," said Derido ; " when we get to work they will 
 find out I 'm General, without any sashes and feathers." 
 
 So, at the head of his little army, Derido marched right close 
 down in front of the enemy. When the commanders of the large 
 army saw that Derido was among their opponents, they began to 
 change their minds about having a battle, and sent a flag of 
 truce to him. 
 
 " Do you belong to this army ?"■ asked the man who bore 
 the flag-. 
 
DERIDO; OR, THE GIANTS QUILT. 1 55 
 
 " Oh ! yes/' said Derido, " I 'm Head General." 
 
 The man then galloped back to his king, and reported. Di- 
 rectly he returned with his flag. 
 
 " His Majesty begs me to assure you that he has had a 
 very pleasant journey through part of your king's dominions, and 
 is sorry he can't stay longer, but pressing affairs call him im- 
 mediately home." 
 
 "Oh! he mustn't go until I see him," said Derido. "Ask 
 him to come over." 
 
 So the king of the invaders thought he had better come, 
 and Derido said to him : 
 
 "I'm sorry to see you are in such a hurry to return. You 
 surely cannot have got all you wanted of our king." 
 
 "Oh! yes, yes," said the other; "we only wanted a little 
 trip — just a little trip." 
 
 " You 're entirely too modest," said the giant. " Now, I 'm 
 pretty sure I know what you came for. You heard that our 
 people had a great quantity of corn in the public granaries that 
 they could neither use nor sell. I believe that you came to buy 
 that corn, but you do n't like to say so." 
 
 "Now I come to think of it, I do want some corn," said the 
 king: "I'll take all you've got to spare. Just send it over to 
 my camp, and I '11 have the money ready. Good-day :" and he 
 turned to go, but just happening to think of something, he came 
 back, and said to Derido: "Is this a permanent situation that 
 you 've got?" 
 
 "Yes," said the giant; "whenever there's war, I'm Head 
 General of this army." 
 
 " Good-day," said the king ; "I do n't know when I shall be 
 able to get around this way again. Remember mc to your king;' 
 and off he went. 
 
156 THE FLOATING PRINCE AND OTHER FAIRY TALES. 
 
 Every man of the invading army went home with a great 
 bao- of corn on his back, and when the inhabitants of the small 
 kino-dom saw a cart-load of gold dumped down into the public 
 vaults, they were so delighted that they had a grand celebration, 
 and all the children had holiday; all the toy and candy shops 
 were declared free, and the boys and girls went in and took just 
 what they liked best, and the king paid for it all. 
 
 On his way home from this kingdom, the giant had tired 
 himself still more, but this time it was for his own gratification. 
 Coming along by the sea-shore, he found a great anchor. Think- 
 ing it might be of use some day, he picked it up and hung it to 
 his belt. Then it struck him that it would be a good idea to go 
 a-fishing, and, accordingly, he stopped at a fishing village and 
 bouo-ht about two miles of stout rope. He then walked some dis- 
 tance further on, to where the sea was very deep, and where it 
 was a great place for whales. Going out on the top of a high 
 promontory, and having tied his anchor to the end of the rope, 
 he stood and watched for a whale to come up and blow. He 
 soon saw one, about a mile and a half off, and whirling the anchor 
 around his head, he let it fly, and it went clear out to the end 
 of the rope and sunk into the sea, with the line right over the 
 whale's back. The giant pulled in, ever so quick, hoping to hook 
 his fish when he jerked the anchor up against him, but the old 
 whale slipped from under the rope, and went swimming away, witr 
 as much of a smile on his face as it is possible for a whale to 
 have. Poor Derido had to haul in his anchor, which was trouble- 
 some to do, for it continually caught on things at the bottom, and 
 when he got it in at last, he determined that the next whale should 
 not escape him so easily. He then broke off one of the flukes of 
 the anchor, and bent the other one out straight, so that it and the 
 shank were like one long piece of iron. When he had sharpened 
 
DERIDO ; OR, THE GIANTS QUILT. 157 
 
 the arrow-headed end of the fluke, he had a first-rate harpoon — 
 that is, for a person of his size. So he stood again and watched 
 for a whale, and when one rose, he sent his harpoon whizzing 
 through the air, and aimed it so truly that it went deep into the 
 whale's fat side and hooked him tight. But the giant had a very 
 hard time hauling him in. The whale was a good big one, and he 
 struggled, and jerked, and pulled back, nearly hard enough to 
 move a church ; but Derido was a match for him. He went to 
 work like a good fellow, and hauled in his rope, hand over hand, 
 and there was nothing for the whale to do but to come too. When 
 he got his fish into shallow water, Derido waded in, and, picking 
 him up, slung him over his shoulder and carried him high and 
 dry on shore, where he let him flop and roll until he got used 
 to being out of the water. When the whale got thus far, he died. 
 
 It was afternoon by this time, and so the giant took his 
 whale on his back, and having gathered up his fishing-cord and 
 harpoon, he started for home. Derido lived in his mother's castle, 
 and he thought that she would be very glad to see him bring 
 home so much nice fish. But after he had walked about an hour 
 or two, he began to think that he would not take Iris whale home. 
 
 "If I do," he said to himself, "I know just what will happen. 
 There will be roast whale to-morrow, and cold whale the next 
 day, and after that, whale-hash for a day or two more. No, I 
 won't take it home ; I'll give it to somebody who needs it more 
 than we do." 
 
 He had not gone far before he saw a man standing on a high 
 rock, with a stone in his hand, looking about him in every direction. 
 The giant stopped and asked him what he was trying to do. 
 
 " Why," said the man, " perhaps a bird may fly by after a 
 while, and if it does, I shall throw this stone at it, and if I hit 
 It we shall have it for supper." 
 
158 THE FLOATING PRINCE AND OTHER FAIRY TALES. 
 
 " We" said the giant, " who are we ? " 
 
 "Why, myself, and my wife, and our five children," said the 
 man ; " who should we be but us ? " 
 
 "Well, do you pretend to say that one of those small birds 
 which fly about here will be enough supper for seven people ? " 
 asked Derido, putting down the whale. 
 
 " No ; it won't be anything like enough, but we often have 
 to put up with as little. The children eat all they can pick 
 from a bird, and then my wife and I suck the bones." 
 
 " Upon my word," said the giant, " I shouldn't think any of 
 you would get very fat on that sort of living. It is too bad that 
 you should have such miserable fare, and so I will give you this 
 whale that I have just caught. You can have some of it right 
 away for your suppers, and if you cut the rest up and dry it, it 
 will last your whole family for a year or two." 
 
 " People don't eat whale," said the man. 
 
 " How do you know ?" asked the giant. " Did you ever hear 
 of any one who had tasted it and didn't like it ? Did you ever 
 try it yourself? I should think a person as badly off as you 
 would be glad to try whale-meat, before you say it's not eatable." 
 
 " I don't want to try it," said the man, looking about to see 
 if he could find a bird. " People would laugh if they saw me cut- 
 ting up a whale for food. But I'll tell you what I will do ; I'll 
 take the skin for a carpet for our best room. We have n't got 
 any carpet on it." 
 
 " Not if I know it," said the giant, throwing his fish back on 
 his shoulder, "no whale for you to-day, my friend." And he marched 
 off, provoked that he had stopped to talk to su;h a blockhead of 
 a man. 
 
 It soon became dark, and as the sky was cloudy, and there 
 was no moon, it was very dark indeed. The giant had greaf 
 
DERIDO; OR, THE GIANTS QUILT. 159 
 
 difficulty in keeping on his journey, for he could not see a step 
 before him. Directly he walked into a river, and wet his legs 
 badly, and as he floundered across, he felt very much inclined 
 to throw the whale away, for he had trouble enough in getting 
 along without having to carry that heavy fish. But he did hate 
 to waste anything, and so he carried it on, wandering to what 
 use he could put it. Directly a thought struck him. 
 
 "The old thing is full of oil," said he to himself, "and I 
 have a great mind to light it." 
 
 No sooner said than done. He had just run against a tall 
 vouno- tree, so he drew his sword and cut it down, and trim- 
 ming off the top, he ran the trunk into the whale's mouth, and 
 down into its body, so as to make a handle. Then he cut off 
 the tail, and the oil came bubbling out. Taking from his pocket 
 a flint and steel and some tinder, he lighted some dry leaves, 
 made a blaze, and set fire to the tail-end of the whale. The oil 
 blazed quite lively, as the giant held it up by the trunk of the 
 tree, and soon it was burning so brightly that he could see just 
 as well as he wanted to. Shouldering his great torch, he marched 
 off gayly. The whale burnt fiercer and fiercer, the lower the flame* 
 got down, and soon the whole country around the giant, as he 
 strode along, was as bright as day. The cocks commenced to 
 crow, the birds to sing, and the grasshoppers and beetles got up 
 and began to look for their breakfasts. As to the owls and 
 nighthawks, they all went to bed, and the giant walked on with 
 the whale over his shoulder, blazing away like a young volcano. 
 When daylight appeared, the whale was nearly all burned up, and 
 he threw it away, very glad that he had been able to make such 
 a good use of it. As the sun rose, the clouds passed away, and 
 everything was bright and lovely. So when the giant reached the 
 palm-tree that we mentioned before, he sat down and ate a few 
 
160 THE FLOATING PRINCE AND OTHER FAIRY TALES. 
 
 bushels of crackers he had in his pocket, and then thought he 
 would take a nap. This place was dry, and the sun was warm; 
 so he put his head in the shade and went to sleep ; and the 
 shade had moved and his face had been in the sunshine for about 
 an hour, when a princess came riding by. 
 
 Her name was Falema, and she was very unhappy. She was 
 unhappy because she was going to be married in a day or two. 
 She was not grieving because she did not love the young king, 
 Gctntalor, to whom she was engaged, but because the wedding was 
 to come off before she was ready. The young king was a very 
 fine fellow, but he was nearly always at war. In a day or two 
 he was to have a short peace, and he wanted to get married 
 before he had to go to war again. So Falema's father had settled 
 it that the wedding was to come off the day that Gantalor's peace 
 should commence. Falema was not ready for this great affair. 
 There had been such short notice, that only part of her dresses 
 were made up, and it distressed her greatly to think that she 
 would not make a proper appearance in her husband's palace, if 
 she should be married so soon. So she was unhappy, and had 
 gone out that morning on her pony, attended by her ladies and 
 a few slaves, to see if the fresh air would do her good. When 
 she suddenly came upon the giant lying under the tree, she was 
 frightened, but some of her people told her it was Derido, and 
 that he would hurt nobody. So then she began to pity him, lying 
 there with his face all exposed to the sun. 
 
 " It's dreadful," said she. " He will get freckled." 
 So she took out her handkerchief, and all her ladies took out 
 their handkerchiefs, and they spread them over such parts of the 
 giant's face as they could reach ; but they did not begin to cover 
 it. Then they tried their sun-umbrellas, but they did not amount 
 to very much, either. 
 
DERIDO ; OR, THE GIANTS QUTLT. 161 
 
 u If he had his head over there, near the root of that tree," 
 said one of the ladies, " he would be all right." 
 
 " Well, let's wake him up," said the Princess, " and make him 
 move." 
 
 So they pushed at him, and thumped at him, the Princess, 
 ladies, slaves, and all, but they did not disturb him in the least. 
 
 One of the slaves proposed to stick him a little with their 
 spears, but the Princess would not allow that. 
 
 " Well," said another of the ladies, " we can't move him, and 
 we can't move the tree, so we had better go on and let him 
 alone." 
 
 " I don't know about moving the tree," said the Princess. 
 " Here, you slaves, just take your swords, and cut down that palm- 
 tree, and be very careful it don't fall on the giant." 
 
 So the slaves took their swords, and cut down the tree, and, 
 as they were very careful, it did not fall on the giant. 
 
 Then, by the Princess's orders, they cut about half of the trunk 
 off, and the upper part, with the broad-spreading leaves above, 
 looked very much like an enormous umbrella. 
 
 " Now stick it up somewhere, near him," said the Princess, 
 "so that it will shade his head." 
 
 They tried it in several places, but nowhere would it shade 
 his whole face; so one of the ladies suggested that they should 
 stick the tree into his mouth, which was stretched open quite 
 wide enough for the purpose. 
 
 This suggestion being approved of, the slaves climbed up and 
 put it into his mouth, and it stood up nicely and shaded his whole 
 face. Then the Princess and her retinue rode off. 
 
 After a little while, the giant began to dream that he was 
 cutting a new tooth. It made him uneasy, and he soon awoke. 
 When he saw the upper part of a palm-tree sticking out of his 
 
1 62 THE FLOATIXG PRINCE AND OTHER FAIRY TALES. 
 
 mouth, he was at first afraid that he had swallowed the roots, and 
 the rest of it, but he soon found that it was not so. He took it 
 out, and sat up ; and then he saw, at a distance, the Princess and 
 her party returning-. 
 
 So he imagined that they had something to do with the mat- 
 ter, and he laid down quickly, and put the palm umbrella back in 
 his mouth, and made believe to be asleep. 
 
 When the Princess came up, she said : " Well ! if the poor 
 giant isn't asleep yet. I am glad he is more comfortable than he 
 was." 
 
 And then she was going to ride away, but the giant put out 
 his hand, and caught her up in it, horse and all. 
 
 She was very much frightened at this, and screamed, and all 
 her people ran away ; but the giant sat up, and looked so good- 
 humored, and spoke so kindly, that the Princess soon became 
 quieted, and the people came back and stood near her. 
 
 Derido put the Princess, horse and all, on his knee, and she 
 smoothed her hair down, and fixed her ribbons straight, and began 
 to talk to her big acquaintance. 
 
 She told him how she had had the palm-tree stuck up in his 
 mouth, and they both laughed very much, and the giant was much 
 obliged. It must have been comical to hear them laughing, for 
 there was about as much difference in their voices, as there is 
 between a cherry-stone and a prize pumpkin. Then Falema, who 
 loved dearly to talk, went on, and told the giant why she was 
 unhappy. 
 
 " That's too bad," said Derido. " And he won't wait until your 
 dresses are finished, eh? How many have you got done?" 
 
 " Only about forty," said the Princess, " and there never was 
 anybody married out of our family with less than a hundred new 
 dresses." 
 
DERIDO; OR, THE GIANT'S QUILT. 163 
 
 "And how long would it take to finish them all?" asked the 
 
 giant. 
 
 " Oh ! it would take three or four days more, for I've got ail 
 the seamstresses in the kingdom, and they work as hard as ever 
 they can, and they can't do any more, unless they work at night, 
 and you know I won't allow that." 
 
 " Certainly not," said Derido. " Poor things, it would kill them, 
 sooner or later. I will tell you what I will do for a kind young 
 lady like you. You say that the young King Gantalor is only 
 anxious to have the wedding so soon because his peace is to. 
 commence in a day or two?" 
 
 " That's it," said Falema. " If this last war of his had continued 
 a little longer, I should have been ready." 
 
 "Well now," said the giant, "this is what I will do: I will go 
 to-morrow, and make war against him, and I'll fight him until your 
 dresses are done." 
 
 "O, you dear, good giant!" cried Falema. " But you mustn't 
 kill or wound him." 
 
 "I'll not hurt a hair of his head," said Derido. "But how 
 shall I know when your dresses are done?" 
 
 " Oh ! I will send you some of the pieces that are left," re- 
 plied the Princess, "and then you may be sure that they are done; 
 for as long as dresses are making, the pieces are always want' 1 
 for covering cord and for little gores, and such things." 
 
 " Certainly," said the giant, " and to shrivel up for trimmings." 
 
 "Shrivel up!" said the Princess, laughing, "you mean flute." 
 
 " Perhaps I do," said Derido. " But I must go now, and you 
 must not forget to send me the pieces when all is ready." 
 
 So the Princess was put down, and she galloped away home 
 with the good news, and that day she treated all her seamstresses 
 to wine and cake, and a linsey-woolsey short-gown a piece. 
 
I 64 THE FLOATING PRINCE AND OTHER FAIRY TALES. 
 
 Early the next morning, the giant appeared before the palace 
 of Gantalor, where his army was all drawn up, ready to be dis- 
 missed for a short furlough. The royal treasurer was there, with 
 his money-bags, to pay them off, and the soldiers were just going 
 to stack their spears in the courtyard. 
 
 "Halloo!" said the giant; "what's up now?" 
 
 " Oh ! you see," said the young king, " we are about to have 
 a short peace, and my men are going home for a while." 
 
 "That's bad," said Derido, "for I came here to make war on 
 you." 
 
 " Is that so ?" said Gantalor ; and then, turning to his army, 
 he shouted : " Put away those money-bags ! 'Tention battalions ! 
 Shoulder spears ! By the right flank, wheel ! Forward, march !" 
 And springing on his horse, he put himself at the head of his 
 army. 
 
 " It seems to me that you are in an awful hurry," said Derido. 
 "This is no place to fight, but I know of a splendid battle-ground, 
 and I will show you where it is." 
 
 So the giant led the way, and Gantalor and his whole army 
 went after him, to the good place for a battle that he had spoken 
 of. After marching a long time, Gantalor called out: 
 
 "Halloo there, Derido! I should think that by this time we 
 had gone far enough." 
 
 " Oh ! no," replied the giant, " we havn't got there yet. Don't 
 be impatient. It's an excellent place that I am taking you to, and 
 it's a great deal better to do things right, while you are about it." 
 
 "Oh! yes," said the king, who was very fair in all his deal- 
 ings, "certainly, I want to have things all right, while we are 
 about them." 
 
 So they marched on until they came to a beautiful level plain, 
 and the giant said that was the place, and Gantalor agreed that 
 
DERIDOj OR, THE GIANTS QUILT. 165 
 
 it was a very good place indeed for a battle. Then the giant 
 chose his position, and the king chose his, and then it was night, 
 and the giant said they would begin to go to work early in the 
 morning. The king was all ready to fight right away, but the 
 giant d?d not approve of night battles, and so they all encamped 
 until morning. 
 
 Early the next day the young king arose, and the first thing 
 he saw was the giant hard at work earning great rocks, and 
 piling them up in a line on the place he had chosen. 
 
 "Halloo!" cried Gantalor, "what are you doing there?" 
 " Making a fort," said the giant. 
 
 "O bother!" cried the king; "we don't want a fort. It will 
 take ever so long to build one." 
 
 "It's all very well for you folks to talk that way," said 
 Derido. "There are thousands of you, and only one of me. 
 What do you suppose I should do if you were to get around in 
 my rear ?" 
 
 "That's so," said the king. "I suppose you must have a fort. 
 But hurry up with it." 
 
 The giant went to work, and spent the whole morning piling 
 rocks; and Gantalor, supposing that his intended father-in-law 
 might think it strange that he was not on hand on the wedding- 
 day, wrote and sent him a letter, explaining why the ceremony 
 would have to be postponed for a little while. After dinner the 
 young king went out to see how the giant was coming on, and he 
 found that he was not half done. 
 
 "Halloo!" cried he; "how long are you going to keep me 
 waiting here? I thought you'd be done by this time." 
 
 "It's very easy to talk," said the giant, "but if you really felt 
 in such a hurry, as you say you do, you would send some of 
 those lazy soldiers of yours to help me." 
 
1 66 THE FLOATING PRINCE AND OIHER FAIRY TALES. 
 
 " That's so," said Gantalor. "Here, you lazy soldiers, every 
 one of you take a spade and help this giant build his fort. We'll 
 never have a battle if we go on this way." 
 
 Then all the soldiers took spades, and they went to work 
 to help the giant, and by night the fort was done. 
 
 It was a fine, large, high fort, and the spaces between the 
 rocks were all nicely filled in with earth and smoothed over. By 
 the time it was done, night came on, and they all encamped and 
 slept well till morning. Early the next day, the young king got 
 up, and saw the giant walking around the outside of his fort. 
 
 "Why don't you get in, and let us begin?" cried Gantalor. 
 "That's a good fort you've got now." 
 
 "Yes," said Derido. "When it gets a deep ditch around it, it 
 will be as good a fort as I ever saw." 
 
 "Ditch!" cried the enraged young king. "I don't know what 
 it is you will want next ! I'm not going to wait here until you 
 make a ditch." 
 
 "Why, of course I must have a ditch," cried the giant, loud 
 enough to be heard a mile or two. "Didn't you say we were going 
 to have this thing all right, while we were about it? Just answer 
 me that, if you please ! And I'd like to know what's to hinder 
 your soldiers from walking right up to my fort, in the night while 
 I'm asleep, and climbing over, if I haven't a ditch ! " 
 
 "Well," said Gantalor, "I suppose you ought to have a ditch. 
 Here, you lazy soldiers, take every one of you a spade, and dig 
 the giant a ditch around his fort, and don't be any longer about it 
 than you can help." 
 
 So they all went to work, and dug the ditch, and that took 
 until afternoon ; and then a canal had to be made, nearly a mile 
 long, to bring water from the river to fill the ditch, and then <t 
 was night, and they all slept well until morning. 
 
DERIDO; OR, THE GIANTS QUILT. 167 
 
 Very early indeed, the giant got up, and smoothed over a 
 large patch of soft earth, right in the middle of his fort, and tak- 
 ing a great sharp-pointed stick, he wrote on the ground, in huge 
 letters : 
 
 "GONE FOR PROVISIONS BACK SOON." 
 
 Then he stepped over the wall of his fort, ditch and all, and 
 ran home as fast as he could go. When he reached his mother's 
 castle, it was breakfast- time, and he told her his adventures, and 
 she laughed heartily over them, and they had such a pleasant time 
 at the table that they each drank two tubs of coffee, whereas they 
 generally took one. During the morning the giant's mother fixed 
 him up a great basket of provisions, containing seventeen barrels 
 of flour, four of bran flour, nine hundred hams, forty bushels of 
 crackers, one hundred pounds of cheese, a thousand boxes of sar- 
 dines, one hundred dozen lemons, a hundred pounds of sugar, a 
 thousand pounds of dried beef, ten firkins of butter, a thousand 
 bottles of pickles, and ever so many other things that she thought 
 he might want, if the siege held out for a few days. 
 
 These things were tolerably heavy, of course, and Derido did 
 not make very good time going back. It was sunset before he 
 saw his fort in the distance. 
 
 In the morning of that day, not long after the giant had left, 
 the king had got up early, and arranged his troops for the battle. 
 As the giant was not to be seen, they thought, of course, that he 
 was sheltering himself behind his fortifications. So, Gantalor, who 
 was a splendid soldier, drew his men up in line, and put them into 
 position, and marched them here, and marched them there, and 
 took possession of certain positions to the right, and took possession 
 of other positions to the left, and held some of his men in reserve, and 
 put others in the advance, and fixed up tents for hospitals, and got 
 
1 68 THE FLOATING PRINCE AND OTHER FAIRY TALES. 
 
 his portable bridges to the front, and by dinner-time every thing 
 was ready for the grand attack, even to the slight intrenchments 
 necessary to protect certain portions of the army from the giant's 
 missiles, After a hurried dinner, the grand charge was sounded, and 
 the soldiers rushed forward, and they bridged the ditch, and crossed 
 the bridges, and stormed the walls, and waved their flags, and 
 shouted, " Victory ! " and jumped down into the inside, and found 
 written there : 
 
 " GONE FOR PROVISIONS BACK SOON." 
 
 You would better believe that when King Gantalor saw this, 
 he was angry. For a half hour or so, he was so angry that he did 
 not know what to do with himself, but then he cooled down, and 
 remembering that Derido would certainly keep his word, and come 
 back, he drew off his men, and resolved to attack the giant as 
 soon as he returned, and nothing was to be allowed to prevent. 
 
 When Derido got tolerably near the fort, he saw that it had 
 been attacked, and supposing that Gantalor would be mad enough 
 when he found it empty, he thought he had better rest a little ; 
 and so he did, and did not reach his fort until after dark, when 
 the king and all his forces had gone to bed. 
 
 Before daylight the next morning, Gantalor had his men all in 
 position, and when the giant awoke and stood up, Gantalor 
 shouted to him : " Look out there ! We're going to begin ! No 
 more fooling now! Bridges to the front! Stormers, forward, 
 march! Spearmen, ready, aim, fire!" 
 
 And instantly the men with the portable bridges ran down to 
 the ditch, and the storming parties followed them, and the spear- 
 men sent their weapons flying through the air. Then the men 
 with bows aimed their arrows at the giant, and those with cata- 
 pults sent rocks whizzing round his head, and he felt like a boy 
 in a hornet's nest 
 
DERIDOj OR, THE GIANTS QUILT. 169 
 
 He had hardly expected they would commence so soon, and 
 he did not know what to do. As for really fighting- them, he had 
 determined not to do that, or he could have drawn his great 
 sword, and chopped the whole army up fine, in about three-quar- 
 ters of an hour. The stones, and arrows, and spears came 
 thicker and thicker. Numbers of soldiers had crossed the ditch, 
 and were already on top of the walls, and they could take such 
 good aim from their new positions, that several missiles had 
 already struck Derido in the face. A spear hit him on the side 
 of the nose. 
 
 "There!" he cried. "If that nasty thing had gone in my 
 eye, it would have made me mad." 
 
 He had provided himself with no ammunition whatever, and 
 now that the fighting was getting to be at such close quarters, he 
 looked for something with which to defend himself. He was so 
 big that it was of no use to try to get behind anything. As he 
 looked around, he saw his pickle-jars, and, breaking a number of 
 them, he commenced hurling handfuls of pickles at his assailants. 
 When a pickle hit a man in the face, the man howled, I can tell 
 you ; and, for a while, Derido kept the enemy back with these 
 sour missiles. But a thousand jars of pickles will not last a giant 
 long, when he uses them in that way, and the supply was soon 
 exhausted. And now the soldiers were coming in on all sides. 
 Gantalor was on the walls, shouting to his men and waving his 
 sword above his head, and Derido was hit by something or other 
 every moment, and as the men were nearer, the hits were harder. 
 There was nothing for him to throw, but great hard things, which 
 might kill people ; and so, making a very wry face, Derido ran to 
 the rear-wall, made a skip right over it and the ditch, and eva- 
 cuated the fort. 
 
 What a shout the soldiers then set up ! 
 
lyo THE FLOATING PRINCE AND OTHER FAIRY TALES. 
 
 Gantalor waved his hat and his sword, and if he had had 
 more hands, he would have waved his coat and his boots, and he 
 shouted : " Victory ! victory ! " 
 
 And all the soldiers shouted " Victory ! " till they were hoarse. 
 The excitement was so great, that every man in the army rushed 
 pell-mell into the fort, even the reserve corps and those /eft in 
 charge of the hospital-tents. 
 
 As for the giant, he sat down on the ground outside, and 
 picked the arrows out of his clothes. 
 
 When the enthusiasm had somewhat subsided, Gantalor 
 ordered the seventeen barrels of flour to be piled up, end on end, 
 until they made a high column, and then he got on the top of 
 them, and summoned the giant to deliver himself up. 
 
 " Not to-day, if you please," said Derido ; " I've only changed 
 my base. Now then," he cried, "just let me see any of you fel- 
 lows come out of that fort. You're all my prisoners, every man 
 of you!" And he jumped up, and drew his sword, and com- 
 menced rushing around the outside of the ditch, chopping his 
 sword into the ground, and whirling it over his head in such a 
 terrible way, that Gantalor got down off the flour-barrels in a 
 hurry, and the soldiers crouched down behind the walls, as close 
 as they could get. Not one of them would have dared to climb 
 over the walls while that terrible giant was slashing his great 
 sword about in that way. When Derido got tired of this exercise, 
 he sat down near the fort and began throwing great stones across 
 it, just grazing the tops of the walls. As all the stones went 
 clear over, they hurt nobody, but if any one had been on top of 
 the walls, it w-ould have been bad for that person. The giant was 
 a good shot with a stone or young rock, and every now and then 
 he made one just scratch the top of the earthworks, causing the 
 dirt and gravel to fly like hailstones. 
 
DERIDO; OR, THE GIANTS QUILT. ij\ 
 
 Gantalor and his army began to think that they had got 
 themselves into a bad fix. It was impossible to get over those 
 walls (there was no entrance-way) while the giant was hurling 
 stone after stone in that style, and all their stores, and provisions, 
 and spare arms were outside, in the camp. 
 
 The giant amused himself in this way for quite a long time, 
 but at last, while turning round, and reaching back for a big stone, 
 he saw a man on horseback riding toward him as fast as he 
 could come. As soon as the man reached him, he handed Derido 
 a big bag, filled with the pieces that were left of the Princess's 
 dresses. 
 
 The moment the giant saw the pieces in the bag, he sprang 
 to his feet, jerked out of his pocket a great white handkerchief, 
 as big as the mainsail of a ship, and sticking his sword into it, he 
 waved it round his head, shouting at the top of his voice: 
 
 "I surrender! I surrender!" 
 
 Gantalor and his men stood up in amazement at the strange 
 sight of the giant surrendering just when he had the best of 
 them ; but they were still more amazed when Derido stepped over 
 the wall, right into their midst, and shouted to the king, while still 
 frantically waving his white flag over his head : 
 
 " Go home, Gantalor, and marry your princess ! Give her my 
 love, and tell her to teach you the value of a peaceful life. If 
 there are any battles to be fought, let me know, and I'll do your 
 fighting for you. As for you, soldiers, you can have my provi- 
 sions ; I shan't need them. I'm going home. The war's over." 
 
 With these words, he jumped over the walls, and strode off 
 home as fast as he could go, his white flag still fluttering over his 
 shoulder. 
 
 Gantalor looked after him for a few minutes, and then he 
 said: 
 
172 THE FLOATING PRINCE AND OTHER FAIRY TALES. 
 
 " If there is a lunatic asylum in the country big enough, that 
 giant ought to be put in it!" 
 
 Then he gave orders to pack up and march home. As he 
 was watching the men break up their camp, he said : 
 
 " A war with the giant has one good thing about it. Look 
 at these hospital-tents ; they haven't been needed at all." 
 
 When the young king reached his palace, he left his men 
 there, and, with a few followers, he went straight on to Falema's 
 father's kingdom. 
 
 When he came near the royal residence, there, on the balcony, 
 he saw the princess, dressed in a lovely gown of pink chenille ; 
 and behind her, in a row, all her seamstresses, in their nice new 
 linsey-woolsey short-gowns, eating calves-foot jelly with golden 
 spoons, to refresh themselves after their hard labors. 
 
 The next day, the young King Gantalor and the Princess 
 Falema were married, and she led him such a happy life, that he 
 never cared to go to war again. And, strange to say, he found 
 that when he did not want to fight anybody, nobody seemed to 
 want to fight him. The officers of his army came to the wedding, 
 and each of them the next day married one of the princess's 
 seamstresses, and each couple had a house and garden given them, 
 and they lived happily, and got very fat. The common soldiers, 
 married anybody that would have them, just like other people, and 
 they each had a house and garden given them, and lived as 
 happily, and got just as fat as the officers. 
 
 As for the giant, he took the pieces of the princess's dresses 
 home to his mother, who made him a patchwork quilt out of 
 them, and he slept under it for a long time; but I think it must 
 be entirely worn out now. 
 
THE CASTLE OF BIM. 
 
 LORIS was a little girl, about eleven years old, who lived with 
 her father, in a very small house among the mountains of a 
 distant land. He was sometimes a wood-cutter, and some- 
 times a miner, or a ploughman, or a stone-breaker. Being an 
 industrious man he would work at anything he could do when 
 a chance offered, but as there was not much work to do in that 
 part of the country, poor Jorn often found it very hard to make 
 a living for himself and Loris. 
 
 One day, when he had gone out early to look for work, 
 Loris was in her little sleeping-room under the roof, braiding her 
 hair. Although she was so poor, Loris always tried to make her- 
 self look as neat as she could, for that pleased her father. She 
 was just tying the ribbon on the end of the long braid, when she 
 heard a knock at the door below. " In one second," she said to 
 herself, " I will go. I must tie this ribbon tightly, for it would 
 never do to lose it." 
 
 And so she tied it, and ran down-stairs to the door; there 
 was no one there. 
 
 "Oh, it is too bad!" cried Loris. "Perhaps it was some one 
 with a job for father. He told me always to be very careful 
 about answering a knock at the door, for there was no knowing 
 .when some one miorht come with a good job, and now some one 
 
 i73 
 
'74 
 
 THE FLO A TJ AG PRINCE AND OTHER FAIRY TALES. 
 
 has come, and gone," cried Loris, looking about in every direction 
 for the person who had knocked. " Oh, there he is ! How could 
 he have got away so far in such a short time ? I must run after 
 him." 
 
 So away she ran as fast as she could, after a man she saw, 
 walking away from the cottage in the direction of a forest. 
 
 J * * * •$:*& fay ^m$L 
 
 LORIS FOLLOWS THE SHORT MAN. 
 
 " Oh, dear !" she said, as she ran, " How fast he walks ! and 
 he is such a short man, too ! He is going right to the hut of 
 Laub, that wicked Laub, who is always trying to get away work 
 from father, and he came first to our house, but thought there was 
 nobody at home." 
 
 Loris ran and ran, but the short man did walk very fast. 
 However, she gradually gained on him, and just as he reached 
 
THE CASTLE OF BIM. 1 75 
 
 Laub'a door, she seized him by the coat. "Stop — sir, please," she 
 said, scarcely able to speak, she was so out of breath. The man 
 turned and looked at her. He was a very short man, indeed, for 
 he scarcely reached to Loris' waist. 
 
 "What do you want?" he said, looking up at her. 
 
 "Oh, sir!" she gasped, "you came to our house first, — and I 
 came to the door — almost as quick as I could — and if it's any 
 work — father wants work — ever so bad." 
 
 " Yes," said the short man, " but Laub wants work too. He 
 is very poor." 
 
 "Yes, sir," said Loris, "but — but you came for father first." 
 
 "True," said the short man, "but nobody answered my Knock, 
 and now I am here. Laub has four young children, and some- 
 times they have nothing to eat. It is never so bad with you, is 
 it?" 
 
 " No, sir," said Loris. 
 
 " Your father has work sometimes, is it not so ?" 
 
 " Yes, sir," answered Loris. 
 
 " Laub is often without work for weeks, and he has four 
 children. Shall I go back with you, or knock here?" 
 
 " Knock," said Loris softly. 
 
 The short man knocked at the door, and instantly, there 
 was heard a great scuffling and hubbub within. Shortly all was 
 quiet, and then a voice said, " Come in." 
 
 " He did not wait so long for me," thought Loris. 
 
 The short man opened the door, and went in, Loris following 
 him. In a bed, in the corner of the room, were four children ; 
 their heads just appearing above a torn sheet which was pulled 
 up to their chins. 
 
 " Hello ! what's the matter?" said the short man, advancing to 
 the bed. 
 
176 THE FLOATING PRINCE AND OTHER FAIRY TALES. 
 
 " Please, sir," said the oldest child, a girl of about the age of 
 Loris, with tangled hair and sharp black eyes, " We are all sick, 
 and very poor, and our father has no work. If you can give us 
 a little money to buy bread " 
 
 "All sick, eh!" said the short man. " Any particular disease?" 
 
 "We don't know about diseases, sir," said the girl, "we've 
 never been to school." 
 
 " No doubt of that," said the man. " I have no money to give 
 you, but you can tell your father that if he will come to the 
 mouth of the Ragged Mine, to-morrow morning, he can have a 
 job of work which will pay him well." So saying he went out. 
 Loris followed him, but he simply waved his hand to her, and in 
 a few minutes was lost in the forest. 
 
 Loris looked sadly after him, and then walked slowly towards 
 her home. 
 
 The moment their visitors had gone, the Laub children sprang 
 out of bed, as lively as crickets. 
 
 "Ha! Ha!" cried the oldest girl, "She came after him to get 
 it, and he wouldn't give it to her, and father's got it. Served her 
 rio^ht the horrid thin^!" and all the children shouted, "Horrid 
 thing !" One of the boys now ran out, and threw a stone after 
 Loris, and then they sat down to finish eating a meat-pie, which 
 had been given them. 
 
 " Well," said Jorn, that evening when Loris told him what 
 had happened. " I'm sorry, for I found but little work to-day, but 
 it can't be helped. You did all you could." 
 
 " No, father," said Loris. " I might have gone to the door 
 quicker." 
 
 " That may be," said Jorn, " and I hope you will never keep 
 any one waiting again." 
 
 Two or three days after this, as Loris was stooping over the 
 
THE CASTLE OF BIM. 177 
 
 fire, in the back room of the cottage, preparing her dinner, she 
 heard a knock. 
 
 Springing to her feet, she dropped the pan she held in her 
 hand, and made a dash at the front door, pulling it open with a 
 tremendous fling. No one should go away this time. 
 
 " Hello ! Ho ! ho !" cried a person outside, giving a skip 
 backwards. "Do you open doors by lightning here?" 
 
 "No, sir," said Loris ; "but I didn't want to keep you 
 waiting." 
 
 "I should think not," said the other; "why I had hardly 
 begun to knock." 
 
 This visitor was a middle-sized man, very slight, and, at first 
 sight, of a youthful appearance. But his hair was either powdered 
 or gray, and it was difficult to know whether he was old or 
 young. His face was long and smooth, and he nearly always 
 looked as if he was just going to burst out laughing. He was 
 dressed in a silken suit of light green, pink, pale yellow and 
 sky blue, but all the colors were very much faded. On his 
 head was stuck a tall orange-colored hat, with a lemon-colored 
 feather. 
 
 "Is your father in?" said this strange personage. 
 
 ' Xo, sir," said Loris. " He will be here this evening, and 
 1 can give him any message you may leave for him." 
 
 " I haven't any message," said the other. " I want to see 
 him." 
 
 "You can see him about sun-set," said Loris, "if you will 
 come then." 
 
 " I don't want to come again. I think I'll wait," said the man. 
 
 Loris said, "very well," but she wondered what he would do 
 all the afternoon. She brought out a stool for him to sit upon, 
 tor it was not very pleasant in the house, and there he sat for 
 
i;8 THE FLOATING PRIXCE AXD OTHER FAIRY TALES. 
 
 some time looking at the chicken-house, where there were no 
 chickens ; and the cow-house, where there was no cow ; and the 
 pig- sty, where there were no pigs. Then he skipped up to the 
 top of a little hillock near by, and surveyed the landscape. 
 Loris kept her eye upon him, to see that he did not go away 
 vithout leaving a message, and went on with her cooking. 
 
 When her dinner was ready she thought it only right to ask 
 him to have some. She did not want to do it, but she could not 
 see how she could help it. She had been taught good manners. 
 So she went to the door, and called him, and he instantly came 
 skipping to her. 
 
 " I thought you might like to have some dinner, sir," she said, 
 " I haven't much, but " 
 
 "Two people don't want much," he said, "where shall we have 
 it ? In the house, or will you spread the cloth out here on the 
 grass ?" 
 
 "There's not much use of spreading a cloth, sir," she said, "I 
 have only one potato, and some salt." 
 
 "That's not a dinner," said the other cheerfully, "a dinner is 
 soup, meat, some vegetables (besides potatoes, and there ought to 
 be two of them, at least), some bread, some cheese, pudding and 
 fruit." 
 
 "But, I haven't got all that, sir," said Loris, with her eyes wide 
 open at this astonishing description of a dinner. 
 
 "Well then, if you haven't got them the next best thing is to 
 go and get them." 
 
 Loris smiled faintly, "I couldn't do that, sir," she said, "I have 
 no money." 
 
 " Well then, if you can't go the next best thing is for me to 
 go. The village is not far away — -just wait dinner a little while 
 for me," and so saying he skipped away at a great pace. 
 
THE CASTLE OF BIM. 
 
 179 
 
 Loris did not wait for him, but ate her potato and salt. "I'm 
 glad he is able to buy his own dinner," she said, " but I'm afraid 
 he won't come back. I wish he had left a message." But she 
 need not have feared. 
 
 In a half-hour the queer man came back, bearing a great 
 basket covered with a cloth. The latter he spread on the ground, 
 and then set out all the things he had said were necessary to make 
 up a dinner. He prepared a place at one end of the cloth for 
 Loris, and one at the other end for himself. 
 
 
 THE NINKUM AND LORIS TAKE DINNER. 
 
 "Sit down," said he, seating himself on the 2frass, "Don't let 
 
 things get cold." 
 
 "I've had my dinner," said Loris. "This is yours." 
 "Whenever you're ready to begin," said the man, lying back 
 
 on the grass and looking placidly up to the sky, " I'll begin. But 
 
 not until then." 
 
l8o THE FLOATING PRINCE AND OTHER FAIRY TALES. 
 
 Loris saw he was in earnest, and, as she was a sensible girl, 
 she sat down at the end of the cloth. 
 
 "That's right," gaily cried the queer man, sitting up again, "1 
 was a little afraid you'd be obstinate and then I should have starved." 
 
 When the meal was over, Loris said, " I never had such a 
 good dinner in my life." 
 
 The man looked at her and laughed. "This is a funny world, 
 isn't it ? " said he. 
 
 "Awfully funny ! " replied Loris, laughing. 
 
 " You don't know what I am, do you ?" said the man to Loris, 
 as she gathered up the dishes and put them, with what was left 
 of the meal, into the basket. 
 
 " No, sir ; I do not," answered Loris. 
 
 " I am a Ninkum," said the other. " Did you ever meet with 
 one before?" 
 
 " No, sir, never," said Loris. 
 
 " I am very glad to hear that," he said. " It's so pleasant to 
 be fresh and novel." And then he went walking around the house 
 again, looking at everything he had seen before. Soon he laid 
 himself down on the grass, near the house, with one leg thrown 
 over the other and his hands clasped under his head. For a 
 long time he lay in this way, looking up at the sky and the 
 clouds. Then he turned his head, and said to Loris, who was 
 sewing by the door-step : 
 
 " Did you ever think how queer it would be if everything 
 in the world were reversed ; if the ground were soft and blue, 
 like the sky, and if the sky were covered with dirt and chips 
 and grass, and if fowls and animals walked about on it, like 
 (lies sticking to a ceiling ?" 
 
 " I never thought of such a thing in my life," said Loris. 
 
 "I often do," said the Ninkum, "It expands the mind." 
 
THE CASTLE OF BIM. 181 
 
 For the whole afternoon the Ninkum lay on his back, and 
 expanded his mind, and then, about sunset Loris saw her father 
 returning. She ran to meet him, and told him of the Ninkum 
 who was waiting to see him. Jorn hurried to the house, for he 
 felt sure that his visitor must have an important job of work for 
 him, as he had waited so long. 
 
 "I am glad you have come," said the Ninkum, "I wanted to 
 see you very much, for two things. The first was that we might 
 have supper. I'm dreadfully hungry, and I know there's enough in 
 that basket for us all. The second thing can wait ; it's business." 
 
 So Loris and the Ninkum spread out the remains of the 
 dinner, and the three made a hearty supper. Jorn was highly 
 pleased ; he had expected to come home to a very different meal 
 from this. 
 
 "Now, then," said the Ninkum, "We'll talk about the business." 
 
 "You have some work for me, I suppose," said Jorn. 
 
 " No," said the Ninkum, " none that I know of. What I want 
 is for you to go into partnership with me." 
 
 "Partnership!" cried Jorn, "I don't understand you. What 
 kind of work could we do together ?" 
 
 " None at all," said the Ninkum, " for I never work. Your 
 part of the partnership will be to chop wood, and mine, and 
 plough, and do just what you do now. I will live here with you, 
 and will provide the food, and the clothes, and the fuel, and the 
 pocket-money for the three of us." 
 
 " But you couldn't live here," cried Loris, " our house is so 
 poor, and there is no room for you." 
 
 "There need be no trouble about that," said the Ninkum, "I 
 can build a room, right here, on this side of the house. I never 
 work," he said to Jorn, "but I hate idleness. So what I want is 
 to go into partnership with a person who will work, — an in- 
 
1 82 THE FLOATING PRINCE AND OTHER FAIRY TALES. 
 
 dustrious person like you. Then my conscience will be at ease. 
 Please agree as quickly as you can, for it's beginning to grow 
 dark, and I hate to walk in the dark." 
 
 Jorn did not hesitate. He agreed instantly to go into 
 partnership with the Ninkum, and the latter, after bidding them 
 good-night, skipped gaily away. 
 
 The next day, he returned with carpenters, and laborers, 
 and lumber, and timber, and furniture, and bedding, and a large 
 and handsome room was built for him, on one side of the house, 
 and he came to live with Jorn and Loris. For several days 
 he had workmen putting a fence around the yard, and building 
 a new cow-house, a new chicken-house, and a new pig-sty. He 
 bought a cow, pigs and chickens, had flowers planted in front 
 of the house, and made everything look very neat and pretty. 
 
 " Now," said he one day to Loris and Jorn as they were 
 eating supper together, " I'll tell you something, I was told to 
 keep it a secret, but I hate secrets ; I think they all ought to be 
 told as soon as possible. Ever so much trouble has been made 
 by secrets. The one I have is this: That dwarf, who came here, 
 and then went and hired old Laub to work in his mine " 
 
 " Was that a dwarf? " asked Loris, much excited. 
 
 "Yes, indeed," said the Ninkum, "a regular one. Didn't you 
 notice how short he was ? Well, he told me all about his coming 
 here. The dwarfs in the Ragged Mine found a deep hole, with 
 lots of gold at the bottom of it, but it steamed and smoked and 
 was too hot for dwarfs. So the king dwarf sent out the one you 
 saw, and told him to hire the first miner he could find, to work 
 in the deep hole, but not to tell him how hot it was until he had 
 made his contract. So the dwarf had to come first for you, Jorn, 
 for you lived nearest the mine, but he hoped he would not find 
 you, for he knew you were a good man. That was the reason he 
 
THE CASTLE OE BIM. 
 
 just gave one knock, and hurried on to Laub's house. And then 
 he told me how Loris ran after him, and how good she was to 
 agree to let him give the work to Laub, when she thought he 
 needed it more than her father. ' Now,' says he to me, ' I want to 
 do something for that family, and I don't know anything better 
 that could happen to a man like Jorn, than to go into partnership 
 with a Ninkum.' " 
 
 At these words, Jorn looked over the well-spread supper-table, 
 and he thought the dwarf was certainlv rieht. 
 
 "So that's the way I came to live here," said the Ninkum, 
 "and I like it first-rate." 
 
 " I wish I could go and see the dwarfs working in their 
 mines," said Loris. 
 
 I'll take you," exclaimed the Ninkum. "It's not a long walk 
 from here. We can go to-morrow." 
 
 Jorn gave his consent, and the next morning Loris and the 
 Ninkum set out for the Ragged Mine. The entrance was a 
 great jagged hole in the side of a mountain, and the inside of the 
 mine had also a very rough and torn appearance. It belonged to 
 a colony of dwarfs, and ordinary mortals seldom visited it, but 
 the Ninkum had no difficulty in obtaining admission. Making 
 their way slowly along the rough and sombre tunnel, Loris and 
 he saw numbers of dwarfs, working with pick and shovel, in 
 search of precious minerals. 
 
 Soon they met the dwarf who had come to Jorn's house, and 
 he seemed glad to see Loris again. He led her about to various 
 parts of the mine, and showed her the heaps of gold and silver and 
 precious stones, which had been dug out of the rocks around them. 
 
 The Ninkum had seen these things before, and so he thought 
 he would go and look for the hot hole, where Laub was working ; 
 that would be a novelty. 
 
1 84 THE FLOATING PRINCE AND OTHER FAIRY TALES. 
 
 He soon found the hole, and just as he reached it, Laub 
 appeared at its opening, slowly climbing up a ladder. 
 
 He looked very warm and tired, and throwing some gold ore 
 upon the ground, from a basket which he carried on his back, he 
 sat down and wiped the perspiration from his forehead. 
 
 THE NINKUM FINDS LAUB IN THE MINE. 
 
 "That is warm work, Laub," said the Ninkum, pleasantly. 
 
 "Warm!" said Laub, gruffly, "hot — hot as fire. Why 
 the gold down at the bottom of that hole burns your fingers 
 when you pick it up. If I hadn't made a contract with these 
 
THE CASTLE OE BUT. 185 
 
 rascally dwarfs to work here for forty-one days, I wouldn't stay 
 here another minute, but you can't break a contract you make 
 with dwarfs." 
 
 "It's a pretty hard thing to have to work here, that is true," 
 said the Ninkum, " but you owe your ill-fortune to yourself. It's 
 all because you're known to be so ill-natured and wicked. When 
 the dwarf was sent to hire a man to come and work in this 
 hole, he had to go to Jorn's house first because that was the 
 nearest place, but he just gave one knock there, and hurried 
 away, hoping he didn't hear, for it would be a pity to have a 
 good man like Jorn working in a place like this. Then he went 
 after you, for he knew you deserved to be punished by this 
 kind of work." 
 
 As the Ninkum said this, Laub's face grew black with rage. 
 
 " So that's the truth ! " he cried, " when I get out of this 
 place, I'll crush every bone in the body of that sneaking Jorn," 
 and, so saying he rushed down into the hot hole. 
 
 " Perhaps I ought not to have told him all that," said the 
 Ninkum, as he walked away, "but I hate secrets, they always 
 make mischief." 
 
 When he joined Loris, the little girl said, "Let ul go out 
 of this place now. I have seen nearly every thing, and it is 
 so dark and gloomy." 
 
 Taking leave of the kind dwarf, the two made their way 
 out of the mine. 
 
 " I do not like such gloomy places any better than you do," 
 said the Ninkum. "Disagreeable things are always happening in 
 them. I like to have things bright and lively. I'll tell you what 
 would be splendid! To make a visit to the castle of Bim." 
 
 " What is that, and where is it ? " asked Loris. 
 
 "It's the most delightful place in the whole world." said the 
 
1 86 THE FLOATIXG PRIXCE AXD OTHER FAIRY TALES. 
 
 Xinkum, "While you're there you do nothing and see nothing 
 but what is positively charming, and every body is just as happy 
 and gay as can be. It's all life and laughter, and perfect de- 
 light. I know you would be overjoyed if you were there." 
 
 "I should like very much to go," said Loris, "if father 
 would let me." 
 
 "I'll go and ask him this minute," said the Xinkum. ''I 
 know where he is working. You can run home, and I will go 
 to him, and then come and tell you what he say>." 
 
 So Loris ran home, and the Xinkum went to the place 
 where Jorn was cutting wood. "Jorn," said the Xinkum, "sup- 
 pose that ever) 7 thing in the world were reversed ; that you 
 chopped wood, standing on your head, and that you split your 
 axe,. instead of the log you struck. Would not that be peculiar?" 
 
 " Such things could not be," said Jorn, " what is the good of 
 talking about them ? " 
 
 " I think a great deal about such matters," said the Xinkum, 
 "They expand my mind, and now, Jorn, reversibly speaking will 
 you let Loris go with me to the castle of Bim ? " 
 
 "Where is that?" asked Jorn. 
 
 "It is not far from here. I think we could go in half a 
 dav. I would gret a horse in the village. 
 
 "And how long would you stay?" 
 
 " Well, I don't know. A week or two, perhaps. Come, now, 
 Jorn, reversibly speaking, may she go ?" 
 
 " Xo, indeed," said Jorn, " on no account shall she go. I 
 could not spare her." 
 
 " All right," said the Xinkum, " I will not keep you from 
 your work any longer. Good-morning." 
 
 As soon as he was out of Jorn's sight, the Xinkum began to 
 run home as fast as he could. 
 
THE CASTLE OF BIM. 1 87 
 
 " Get ready, Loris," he cried, when he reached the house. 
 " Your father says, reversibly speaking, that on every account you 
 must go. He can well spare you." 
 
 "But must we go now?" said Loris. "Cannot we wait until 
 he comes home, and go to-morrow?" 
 
 " No, indeed," said the Ninkum. " There will be obstacles to 
 our starting to-morrow. So let us hasten to the village, and hire 
 a horse. Your father will get along nicely here by himself, and 
 he will be greatly pleased with your improvement when you return 
 from the castle of Bim." 
 
 So Loris, who was really much pleased with the idea of the 
 journey, hastened to get ready, and having put the house-key 
 under the front door-stone, she and the Ninkum went to the 
 village, where they got a horse and started for the castle of Bim. 
 
 The Ninkum rode in front, Loris sat on a pillow behind, and 
 the horse trotted along gaily. The Ninkum was in high good 
 spirits, and passed the time in telling Loris of all the delightful 
 things she would see in the castle of Bim. 
 
 Late in the afternoon, they came in sight of a vast castle, 
 which rose up at the side of the road like a little mountain. 
 
 " Hurrah !" cried the Ninkum, as he spurred the horse. " I 
 knew we were nearly there !" 
 
 Loris was very glad that they had reached the castle, for 
 she was getting tired of riding, and when the Ninkum drew up 
 in front of the great portals, she felt sure that she was going 
 to see wonderful things, for the door, to begin with, was, she 
 felt sure, the biggest door in the whole world. 
 
 "You need not get off," said the porter, who stood by the 
 door, to the Ninkum, who was preparing to dismount, "yOu can 
 ride right in " 
 
 A ccordinglv, the Ninkum and Loris rode rieht in to the castle 
 
1 88 THE FLOATING PRINCE AND OTHER FAIRY TALES. 
 
 through the front door. Inside, they found themselves in a high 
 and wide hall-way paved with stone, which led back to what 
 appeared to be an inner court. Riding to the end of this hall, 
 
 THE GIANT WELCOMES HIS GUESTS. 
 
 they stopped in the door-way there, and looked out. In the 
 centre of the court, which was very large, there stood side by side> 
 and about twenty feet apart, two great upright posts, like the 
 trunks of tall pine trees. Across these, near their tops, rested a 
 
THE CASTLE OF BIM. 1 89 
 
 thick and heavy horizontal pole, and on this pole a giant was 
 practising gymnastics. 
 
 Hanging by his hands, he would draw himself up, until his 
 chin touched the pole. And again and again he did this, until 
 the Ninkum said in a whisper, "Twelve times. I did not think 
 he could do it." 
 
 The giant now drew up his legs, and threw them over the 
 bar, above his head. Then, by a vigorous effort, he turned himself 
 entirely over the bar, and hung beneath it by his hands. After 
 stopping a minute or two to breathe, he drew up his legs 
 again, and putting them under the bar, between his hands as 
 boys do when they " skin the cat," he turned partly over, and 
 hung in this position. 
 
 His face was now turned toward the doorway, and he first 
 noticed his visitors. 
 
 "Hello!" said he to the Ninkum. "Could you do that?" 
 
 " Not on that pole," answered the Ninkum, smiling. 
 
 " I should think not," said the giant, dropping to his feet, 
 and puffing a little. " Ten years ago, when I did not weigh so 
 much, I could draw myself up twenty-seven times. Come in with 
 me and have some supper. Is that your little daughter?" 
 
 " No," said the Ninkum, " I am her guardian for the pre- 
 sent." 
 
 " Ride right up-stairs," said the giant, " My wife is up there 
 and she will take care of the little girl." 
 
 " I am afraid," said the Ninkum, " that my horse cannot jump 
 up those great steps." 
 
 " Of course not," said the giant. " Let me help you up, and 
 then I will go down and bring your horses." 
 
 "Oh, that won't be necessary," said the Ninkum, and Loris 
 lauehed at the idea. 
 
190 THE FLOATING PRINCE AND OTHER FAIRY TALES. 
 
 "You may want to look at the house," said the giant, "and 
 then you will need them." 
 
 "So the giant took the Ninkum and Loris up-stairs, and 
 then came down, and brought up the horses. The upper story 
 was as vast and spacious as the lower part of the castle, and 
 by a window the giant's wife sat, darning a stocking. 
 
 As they approached her, the Ninkum whispered to Loris : 
 "If there were such holes in my stockings I should fall through." 
 The giantess was very glad to see Loris, and she took her up 
 in her hand, and kissed her, very much as a little girl would 
 kiss a canary bird. Then the giant children were sent for — two 
 big boys and a baby girl, who thought Loris was so lovely that 
 she would have squeezed her to death, if her mother had allowed 
 her to take the little visitor in her hands. 
 
 During supper, Loris and the Ninkum sat in chairs with long 
 legs, like stilts, which the giant had had made for his men and 
 women visitors. They had to be very careful, lest they should 
 tip over and break their necks. 
 
 After supper, they sat in the great upper hall, and the 
 giant got out his guitar and sang them a song. 
 
 "I hope there are not many more verses," whispered the 
 Ninkum to Loris, " My bones are almost shaken apart," 
 
 " How did you like that ?" asked the giant, when he had 
 finished. 
 
 "It was very nice," said the Ninkum, "it reminded me of 
 something I once heard before ; I think it was a wagon-load of 
 copper pots, rolling down a mountain, but I am not sure." 
 
 The giant thanked him, and soon after, they all went to bed 
 Loris slept in the room with the giantess, on a high shelf wher« 
 the children could not reach her. 
 
 Just before they went to their rooms the Ninkum said to Lori* 
 
THE CASTLE OF BIM. IQI 
 
 " Do you know that I don't believe this is the Castle of 
 Bim ?" 
 
 "It didn't seem to be like the place you told me about," 
 said Loris, "but what are we to do?" 
 
 " Nothing, but to go to bed," said the Ninkum. " They are 
 very glad to see us, and to-morrow we will bid them good-bye, 
 and push on to the Castle of Bim." 
 
 With this, the Ninkum jumped on his horse, and rode to his 
 room. 
 
 The next day, after they had gone over the Castle and seen 
 all its sights, the Ninkum told the giant that he and Loris must 
 pursue their journey to the Castle of Bim. 
 
 " What is that ?" said the giant, and when the Ninkum 
 proceeded to describe it to him, he became very much interested. 
 
 "Ho! Ho! good wife!" he cried, "Suppose we go with these 
 friends to the Castle of Bim. It must be a very pleasant place, 
 and the exercise will do me good. I'm dreadfully tired of 
 gymnastics. What do you say? We can take the children." 
 
 The giantess thought it would be a capital idea, and so 
 they all put on their hats and caps, and started off, leaving the 
 castle in charge of the giants' servants, who were people of 
 common size. 
 
 They journeyed all that day. Loris and the Ninkum riding 
 ahead, followed by the giant, then by the giantess carrying the 
 baby, and lastly the two giant boys with a basket of provisions 
 between them. 
 
 That night they slept on the ground, under some trees, 
 and the Ninkum admitted that the Castle of Bim was a good 
 deal further off than he had supposed it to be. 
 
 Toward afternoon of the next day they found themselves on 
 some high land, and coming to the edge of a bluff, they saw 
 
I92 THE FLOATING PRINCE AND OTHER FAIRY TALES. 
 
 THE NINKUM AND HIS COMPANY ENTER THE CITY. 
 
THE CASTLE OE BIM. 193 
 
 in the plain below, a beautiful city. The giant was struck with 
 admiration. 
 
 "I have seen many a city," said he, "but I never saw one 
 so sensibly and handsomely laid out as that. The people who 
 built that place knew just what they wanted." 
 
 "Do you see that great building in the centre of the city?'* 
 cried the Ninkum. "Well, that is the Castle of Bim. Let us 
 hurry down." So, away they all started, at their best speed, for 
 the city. 
 
 They had scarcely reached one of the outer gates, when they 
 were met by a citizen on horseback, followed by two or three 
 others on foot. The horseman greeted them kindly, and said that 
 he had been sent to meet them. "We shall be very glad," he 
 said to the Xinkum, "to have you and the little girl come into 
 our city to-night, but if those giants were to enter, the people, 
 especially the children, would throng the streets to see them, and 
 many would unavoidably be trampled to death. There is a great 
 show tent out here, where they can very comfortably pass the 
 night, and to-morrow we will have the streets cleared, and the 
 people kept within doors. Then these great visitors will be made 
 welcome to walk in and view the city." 
 
 The giants agreed to this, and they were conducted to the 
 tent, where they were made very comfortable, while the Ninkum 
 and Loris were taken into the city, and lodged in the house of 
 the citizen who had come to meet them. 
 
 The next day the giants entered the city, and the windows 
 and doors in the streets which they passed through, were 
 crowded with spectators. 
 
 The giant liked the city better and better, as he walked 
 through it. Everything was so admirably pleasing, and in such 
 perfect order, The others enjoyed themselves very much, too, 
 
194 THE FLOATING PRINCE AND OTHER FAIRY TALE*. 
 
 and Loris was old enough to understand the beauty and con- 
 veniences of the things she saw around her. 
 
 Towards the end of the day, the Ninkum came to her. 
 
 " Do you know," said he, " that the Castle of Bim is not 
 here ? That large building is used by the governors of the city. 
 And what a queer place it is ! Everything that they do turns 
 out just right. I saw a man set a rat-trap and what do you 
 think ? He caught the rat ! I could not help laughing. It is 
 very funny." 
 
 " But what are you going to do ? " asked Loris. 
 
 " We will stay here to-night," said the Ninkum, " they are 
 very kind, — and to-morrow we will go on to the Castle of Bim.' 
 
 The next day, therefore, our party again set out on their 
 journey. The Ninkum had told the citizen, who had entertained 
 him, where they were going and his accounts of the wonderful 
 Castle induced this worthy man to go with him. 
 
 "In our city," said he, "we try to be governed in everything 
 by the ordinary rules of common sense. In this way we get along 
 very comfortably and pleasantly, and everything seems to go well 
 with us. But we are always willing to examine into the merits of 
 things which are new to us, and so I would like to go to this 
 curious castle, and come back and report what I have seen to my 
 c ellow-citizens." 
 
 His company was gladly accepted, and all set out in high 
 good humor, the citizen riding by the side of Loris and the 
 Ninkum. 
 
 But when they had gone several miles, the giantess declared 
 that she believed she would go back home. The baby was 
 getting very heavy, and the boys were tired. The giant could 
 tell her about the Castle of Bim when he came home. 
 
 So the giantess turned back with her children, her husband 
 
THE CASTLE OE BIM. 
 
 195 
 
 kissing her good-bye, and assuring her that he would not let 
 her go back by herself if he did not feel certain that no one 
 would molest her on the way. 
 
 The rest of the party now went on at a good pace, the 
 giant striding along as fast as the horses could trot. The Xinkum 
 did not seem to know the way as well as he had said he did. He 
 continually desired to turn to the right, and, when the others in- 
 quired if he was sure that he ought to do this, he said that the 
 best thing a person could do when a little in doubt was to turn to 
 the right. 
 
 The citizen did not like this method of reasoning, and he was 
 about to make an objection to it, when a man was perceived, sit- 
 ting, in doleful plight, by the side of the road. The Ninkum who 
 was very kind-hearted, rode up to him, to inquire what had hap- 
 pened to him, but the moment the man raised his head, and before 
 he had time to say a word, Loris slipped off her horse and threw 
 her arms around his neck. 
 
 "Oh father! father!" she cried. "How came you here?" 
 It was indeed, Jorn, ragged, wounded and exhausted. 
 In a moment everyone set to work to relieve him. Loris ran 
 for water and bathed his face and hands ; the citizen gave him 
 some wine, from a flask ; the giant produced some great pieces of 
 bread and meat; and the Xinkum asked him questions. 
 
 Jorn soon felt refreshed and strengthened, and then he told 
 his story. He had been greatly troubled, when he found that 
 Loris had gone away against his express orders. 
 
 " Why father," cried Loris, at this point, " you said I could go." 
 " Never," said Jorn, " I said you could not go." 
 " Reversibly speaking," said the Ninkum smiling, " he consented, 
 that was the way I put the question to him. If I had not put it 
 in that way, I should have told a lie." 
 
I 9 6 THE FLOATING PRINCE AND OTHER FAIRY TALES. 
 
 Everybody looked severely at the Ninkum, and Loris was 
 very angry, but her father patted her on the head, and went on 
 with his story. He would have followed the Ninkum and his 
 daughter, but he did not know what road they had taken, and as 
 they were on a horse he could not in any case, expect to catch 
 up with them. 
 
 So he waited, hoping they would soon return, but, before long 
 he was very glad that Loris was away 
 
 The wicked Laub, who, in some manner, had found out 
 that he had been made to work in the dwarfs' mine instead of 
 Jorn, who had been considered too good for such disagreeable 
 labor, had become so enraged, that he broke his contract with 
 the dwarfs, and, instead of continuing his work in the mine, 
 had collected a few of his depraved companions, and had made 
 an attack upon Jorn's house. 
 
 The doors had been forced, poor Jorn had been dragged 
 forth, beaten, and forced to fly, while Laub and his companions 
 took possession of the house, and everything in it. 
 
 " But how could you wander so far, dear father ?" asked 
 Loris. 
 
 "It is not far," said Jorn, "our home is not many miles 
 away." 
 
 "Then you have been going in a circle," said the citizen to 
 the Ninkum, "and you are now very near the point you started from." 
 
 "That seems to be the case," said the Ninkum, smiling. 
 
 "But we won't talk about it now," said the citizen. "We 
 must see what we can do for this poor man. He must have his 
 house again." 
 
 " I would have asked the dwarfs to help me," said Jorn, " but 
 I believe they would have killed Laub and the others if they had 
 resisted, and I didn't want any blood shed." 
 
THE CASTLE OF BIM. 1 97 
 
 " No," said the citizen. " I think we can manage it better 
 than that. Our large friend here, will be able to get these 
 people out of your house without killing them." 
 
 " Oh, yes," said the giant, " I'll attend to that." 
 
 Jorn being now quite ready to travel, the party proceeded, 
 and soon reached his house. 
 
 When Laub perceived the approach of Jorn and his friends, 
 he barricaded all the doors and windows, and, with his com- 
 panions prepared to resist all attempts to enter. 
 
 But his efforts were useless. The giant knelt down before the 
 house, and having easily removed the door, he thrust in his arm, and 
 sweeping it around the room, easily caught three of the invaders. 
 
 He then put his other arm through the window of the 
 Ninkum's room, and soon pulled out Laub, taking no notice of 
 his kicks and blows. 
 
 The giant then tied the four rascals in a bunch by the feet, 
 and laid them on the grass. 
 
 " Now," said the citizen to the Ninkum, " as there seems 
 to be nothing more to be done for this good man and his 
 daughter, suppose you tell me the way to the Castle of Bim. I 
 think I can find it, if I have good directions, and I do not wish 
 to waste any more time." 
 
 " I do not know the exact way," answered the Ninkum. 
 
 "What!" cried the other, "have you never been there?" 
 
 " No," said the Ninkum. 
 
 "Well, then, did not the person who told you about it, tell 
 you the way ?" 
 
 "No one ever told me about it," replied the Ninkum. "I 
 have thought a great deal on the subject, and I feel sure that 
 there must be such a place, and the way to find it is to go and 
 look for it." 
 
THE FLOATING PRINCE AND OTHER FAIRY TALES. 
 
 "Well," said the citizen, smiling, "you are a true Ninkum. 
 I suppose we have all thought of some place where everything 
 shall be just as we want it to be, but I don't believe any of 
 us will find that place. I am going home." 
 
 THE GIANT PUTS HIS ARM THROUGH THE DOORWAY. 
 
 "And I too," said the giant, "and on my way I will stop at the 
 Ragged Mine, and leave these fellows to the care of the dwarfs. 
 They will see that they molest honest men no more." 
 
 " And I think I will go too," said the Ninkum, " I liked this 
 place very much, but I am getting tired of it now." 
 
 li That will be a good thing for you to do," said the citizen, 
 who had heard the story of how the Ninkum had been sent to 
 
THE CASTLE OF BIM. 1 99 
 
 jorn and Loris, as a reward. " You have lived for a time with 
 these good people, and have been of some service to them, but I 
 am quite sure they now feel that partnership with a Ninkum is a 
 very dangerous thing, and should not be kept up too long." 
 
 "No doubt that's true," said the Ninkum. "Good-bye, my 
 friends. I will give you my room and everything that is in it." 
 
 " You have been very kind to us," said Loris. 
 
 " Yes," said Jorn, " and you got me work that will last a long 
 time." 
 
 "I did what I could," cried the Ninkum, mounting his horse, 
 and gaily waving his hat around his head, "and, reversibly speak- 
 ing, I took you to the Castle of Bim." 
 
 
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