^W-PrfW,'.:U^ 1 Fit/ LI i 1 Lt/ LAME PRINCE UNIVERSITY OF N.C. AT CHAPEL HILL 00022085510 ^ ' 6/ Cl4n*/ -^/ /l,pi^^ul^ Z/, I i 24/W I & / -' #1/ 9m Frontispiece—Little, Lame Prince. "it was a boy, a shepherd-boy" X. ALTEMUS FAVORITE SERIES TH E LI TT L E LAME PRINCE and His Traveling Cloak A Parable For Old And Yoitng by Miss Mulock Author of "Adventures of a Brownie, "John Halifax Gentlemen." WITH TWENTY- FOUR ILLUSTRATIONS P H I L A D E L P H I A HENRY ALTEMUS COMPANY ALTEMUS' ILLUSTRATED FAVORITE SERIES FOR YOUNG PEOPLE. .. 1. ^SOP'S FABLES, with 62 illustrations .. 2. ALICE'S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND, with 42 illustrations .. 3. ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES, with 75 illustrations .. 4. ARABIAN NIGHTS ENTERTAINMENTS, with 130 illustrations .. 5. BUNYAN'S PILGRIM'S PROGRESS, with 46 illustrations .. 6. CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS AND THE DISCOVERY OF AMERICA, with 70 illustrations .. 7. EXPLORATION AND ADVENTURES IN AFRICA, with 80 illustrations . 8. GRIMM'S FAIRY TALES, with 50 illustrations . 9. GULLIVER'S TRAVELS, with 50 illustrations .10. LITTLE LAME PRINCE, with 24 illustrations .11. MOTHER GOOSE'S RHYMES, JINGLES AND FAIRYTALES, with 234 illustrations .12. ROBINSON CRUSOE. HIS STRANGE AND SURPRISING ADVENTURES, with 70 illustrations .13. THE STORY OF THE FROZEN SEAS, with 70 illustrations. .14. THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS AND WHAT ALICE FOUND THERE, with 50 illustrations .15. WATER BABIES, by CHARLES KINGSLEY, with 84 illustrations .16. WOOD'S NATURAL HISTORY, with 80 illustrations .17. RIP VAN WINKLE, with 45 illustrations .18. TALES FROM SHAKESPEARE, with 60 illustrations Price 40 Cents Each Henry Altemus Company Philadelphia Copyright 1900, by Henry Altemus ILLUSTRATIONS. Page "They canio, walking two and two, with their coronets on their heads" Frontispiece. The Little Lame Prince 7 "The Crown-Prince, as he was called, tried to seem pleased " 9 "She stretched herself on tip-toe by the help of her stick, and gave the little Prince three kisses" 21 "The doctors came, and each gave a different opinion, and ordered a different mode of treat- ment" 33 "Sliding down to the foot of the throne, he began playing with the golden lions that supported it" 37 "People noticed there, carried in a footman's arms, a pretty little boy" 41 "There was seen a great tall black horse, ridden by a man carrying before him on the saddle a woman and a child " 51 "His grand funeral had been a mere pretense"... 55 " He mounted to the top of the tower" 57 "Oh, I want somebody — dreadfully, dreadfully !".. 63 " Dropping her cane, she laid those two tiny hands on his shoulders" 65 (in) iv Illustrations. PAGE " ' What a muddle your Royal Highness is sitting in,' said she, sharply" 71 " He sat down on the floor, looking at the empty shelves" 91 "The cloak rose, slowly and steadily, till it nearly touched the sky-light" 97 "He felt something queer and hard fixing itself to the hridge of his nose" 109 "A rocking-horse had come, packed on the back of the other" 115 "Prince Dolor made a snatch at the topmost twig of the tallest tree" 125 "The shepherd lad evidently took it for a large bird, and shading his eyes, looked up at it "... 131 "Taking the Prince's slate, she wrote, ' You are a King'" 151 " The eyes were shut, and the long gray beard lay over the breast" 167 " There was a grand revolution" 179 "Thev went down on their knees before him, offer- ing him the crown on a velvet cushion " 191 "He lifted up his thin, slender hand" 211 A psiltl v^^; THE LITTLE LAME PRINCE. CHAPTER I. Yes, he was the most beautiful Prince that ever was Lorn. Of course, being a prince, people said this; but it was true besides. When lie looked at the candle his eyes had an ex- pression of earnest inquiry quite startling (7) The Little Lame Prince. in a new-born baby. His nose — there was not much of it, certainly, but what there was seemed an aquiline shape ; his com- plexion was a charming, healthy purple; he was round and fat, straight-limbed and long — in fact, a splendid baby, and every- body was exceedingly proud of him, espe- cially his father and mother, the King and Queen of ISTomansland, who had waited for him during their happy reign of ten years — now made happier than ever, to themselves and their subjects, by the appearance of a son and heir. The only person who was not quite happy was the King's brother, the heir-presump- tive, who would have been king one day had the baby not been born. But as his Majesty was very kind to him, and even rather sorry for him — insomuch that at the Queen's re- quest he gave him a dukedom almost as big as a county — the Crown-Prince, as he The Little Lame Prince. it was called, tried to seem pleased also ; and let us hope he succeeded. The Prince's christening was to be a A IJk ' !,i wmm *m A "The Crown-Prince, as he was called, tried to seem pleased." grand affair. According to the custom of the country, there were chosen for him four-and-twenty godfathers and godmothers, 10 The Little Lame Prince. who each had to give him a name, and promise to do their utmost for him. "When he came of age, he himself had to choose the name — and the godfather or godmother — that he liked best, for the rest of his days. Meantime all was rejoicing. Subscrip- tions were made among the rich to give pleasure to the poor : dinners in town-halls for the working-men ; tea-parties in the streets for their wives ; and milk and bun feasts for the children in the school-rooms. For Nomansland, though I can not point it out in any map, or read of it in any history, was, I believe, much like our own or many another country. As for the Palace — which was no differ- ent from other palaces — it was clean "turned out of the windows," as people say, with the preparations going on. The only quiet place in it was the room which, though the Prince was six weeks old, his mother the ^>sC; The Little Lame Prince. 11 I* Queen Lad never quitted. Nobody said elie was ill, however — it would have been so inconvenient; and as she said nothing about it herself, but lay pale and placid, giving no trouble to any body, nobody thought much about her. All the world was absorbed in admiring the baby. The christening-day came at last, and it was as lovely as the Prince himself. All the people in the Palace were lovely too — or thought themselves bo — in the elegant new clothes which the Queen, who thought of every body, had taken care to give them, from the ladies-in-waiting down to the poor little kitchen-maid, who looked at herself in her pink cotton gown, and thought, doubt- less, that there never was such a pretty girl as she. By six in the morning all the royal house- hold had dressed itself in its very best; and then the little Prince was dressed in IV»J3 12 The Little Lame Prince. his best — his magnificent christening-robe; which proceeding his Royal Highness did not like at all, but kicked and screamed like any common baby. When he had a little calmed down, they carried him to be looked at by the Queen his mother, who, though her royal robes had been brought and laid upon the bed, was, as every body well knew, quite unable to rise and put them on. She admired her baby very much; kissed and blessed him, and lay looking at him, as she did for hours sometimes, when he was placed beside her fast asleep ; then she gave him up with a gentle smile, and, saying she hoped he would be very good, that it would be a very nice christening, and all the guests would enjoy themselves, turned peace- fully over on her bed, saying nothing more to any body. She was a very uncomplain- ing person, the Queen — and her name was Dolorez. The Little Lame Trincc. 13 Every thing went on exactly as if she had been present. All, even the King himself, had grown used to her absence ; for she was not strong, and for years had not joined in any gayeties. She always did her royal duties, but as to pleasures, they could go on quite well without her, or it seemed so. The company arrived: great and notable persons in this and neighboring countries; also the four-and-twenty godfathers and god- mothers, who had been chosen with care, as the people who would be most useful to his Royal Highness should he ever want friends, which did not seem likely. "What such want could possibly happen to the heir of the powerful monarch of Nomansland ? They came, walking two and two, with their coronets on their heads — being dukes and duchesses, princes and princesses, or the like ; they all kissed the child, and pro- nounced the name which each had given 14 The Little Lame Prince. him. Then the four-and-twenty names were shouted out with great energy by six her- alds, one after the other, and afterward written down, to be preserved in the state records, in readiness for the next time they were wanted, which would be either on his Royal Highness's coronation or his funeral. Soon the ceremony was over, and every body satisfied; except, perhaps, the little Prince himself, who moaned faintly under his christening robes, which nearly smoth- ered him. In truth, though very few knew, the Prince in coming to the chapel had met with a slight disaster. His nurse — not his ordinary one, but the state nurse-maid — an elegant and fashionable young lady of rank, whose duty it was to carry him to and from the chapel, had been so occupied in arrang- ing her train with one hand, while she held the baby with the other, that she stumbled The Little Lame Prince. 15 and let him fall, just at the foot of the marble staircase. To bo sure, she contrived to pick him up again the next minute ; and the accident was so slight it seemed hardly ■worth speaking of. Consequently nobody did speak of it. The baby bad turned deadly pale, but did not cry, so no person a step or two behind could discover any thing wrong; afterward, even if he had moaned, the silver trumpets were loud enough to drown his voice. It would have been a pity to let any thing trouble such a day of felicity. So, after a minute's pause, the procession had moved on. Such a procession ! Her- alds in blue and silver ; pages in crimson and gold; and a troop of little girls in daz- zling white, carrying baskets of flowers, which they strewed all the way before the nurse and child — finally the four-and-twenty godfathers and godmothers, as proud as 16 The Little Lame Prince. possible, and so splendid to look at that they would have quite extinguished their small godson — merely a heap of lace and muslin with a baby face inside — had it not been for a canopy of white satin and ostrich feathers which was held over him wherever he was carried. Thus, with the sun shining on them through the painted windows, they stood; the King and his train on one side, the Prince and his attendants on the other, as pretty a sight as ever was seen out of fairy- land. "It's just like fairyland," whispered the eldest little girl to the next eldest, as she shook the last rose out of her basket ; " and I think the only thing the Prince wants now is a fairy godmother." " Does he ?" said a shrill but soft and uot unpleasant voice behind; and there was seen among the group of children some- The Little Lame Prince. 17 body — not a child, yet no bigger than a child — somebody whom nobody had seen before, and who certainly had not been in- vited, for she had no christening clothes on. She was a little old woman dressed all in gray : gray gown ; gray hooded cloak, of a material excessively fine, and a tint that seemed perpetually changing, like the gray of an evening sky. Her hair was gray, and her eyes also — even her complexion had a soft gray shadow over it. But there was nothing unpleasantly old about her, and her smile was as sweet and childlike as the Prince's own, which stole over his pale little face the instant she came near enough to touch him. "Take care! Don't let the baby fall again." The grand young lady nurse started, flushing angrily. " Who spoke to me ? How did any 18 The Little Lame Prince. body know? — I mean, what business has any body — ?" Then, frightened, but still speaking in a much sharper tone than I hope young ladies of rank are in the habit of speaking — " Old woman, you will be kind enough not to say 'the baby,' but ' the Prince.' Keep away ; his Royal Highness is just going to sleep." " Nevertheless I must kiss him. I am his godmother." "You!" cried the elegant lady nurse. " You ! !" repeated all the gentlemen and ladies in waiting. "You! ! !" echoed the heralds and pages — and they began to blow the silver trum- pets in order to stop all further conversa- tion. The Prince's procession formed itself for rcturning- -the Kino; and his train having already moved off toward the palace — but on the topmost step of the marble stairs 20 The Little Lame Prince. "Nevertheless I know her Majesty well, and I love her and her child. And — since you dropped him on the marble stairs (this she said in a mysterious whisper, which made the young lady tremble in spite of her anger) — I choose to take him for my own, and be his godmother, ready to help him whenever he wants me." "You help him!" cried all the group, breaking into shouts of laughter, to which the little ^old woman paid not the slightest attention. Her soft gray eyes were fixed on the Prince, who seemed to answer to the look, smiling again and again in the causeless, aimless fashion that babies do smile. " His Majesty must hear of this,"' said a gentleman-in-waiting. " His Majesty will hear quite enough news in a minute or two," said the old woman, Badly. And again stretching up to the 22 The Little Lame Prince. J)olor, in memory of your mother Do- lorez." " In memory of!" Every body started at the ominous phrase, and also at a most terrible breach of etiquette which the old woman had committed. In Nomansland, neither the king nor the queen were sup- posed to have any Christian name at all. They dropped it on their coronation-day, and it was never mentioned again till it was engraved on their coffins when they died. " Old woman, you are exceedingly ill- bred," cried the eldest lady-in-waiting, much horrified. " How you could know the fact passes my comprehension. But even if you did not know it, how dared you pre- sume to hint that her most gracious Majesty is called Dolorez ?" " Was called Dolorez," said the old wo- man, with a tender solemnity. The first gentleman, called the Gold- The Little Lame Prince. 23 stick-in-waiting, raised it to strike her, and all the rest stretched out their hands to seize her ; but the gray mantle melted from between their fingers like air; and, before any body had time to do any thing more, there came a heavy, muffled, startling sound. The great bell of the palace — the bell which was only heard on the death of some one of the Royal family, and for as many times as he or she was years old — began to toll. They listened, mute and horror- stricken. Some one counted : one — two — three — four — up to nine-and-twcnty — just the Queen's age. It was, indeed, the Queen. Her Majesty was dead ! In the midst of the festivities she had slipped away, out of her new hap- piness and her old sufferings, not few nor small. Sending away all her women to see the grand sight — at least they said after- 24 The Little Lame Prince. ward, in excuse, that she had done so, and 'it was very like her to do it — she had turned with her face to the window, whence one could just see the tops of the distant mountains — the Beautiful Mountains, as they were called — where she was born. So gazing, she had quietly died. When the little Prince was carried back to his mother's room, there was uo mother to kiss him. And, though he did not know it, there would be for him no mother's kiss any more. As for his godmother — the little old woman in gray who called herself so — whether she melted into air, like her gown when they touched it, or whether she flew out of the chapel window, or slipped through the doorway among the bewildered crowd, nobody knew — nobody ever thought about her. Only the nurse, the ordinary homely one, The Little Lame Prince. 25 coming out of the Prince's nursery in the middle of the night in search of a cordial to quiet his continual moans, saw, sitting in the doorway, something which she would have thought a mere shadow, had she not seen shining out of it two eyes, gray and soft and sweet. She put her hand before her own, screaming loudly. When she took them away, the old woman was gone. ^ --. 26 The Little Lame Prince. CHAPTER II. Every body was very kind to the poor little Prince. I think people generally are kind to motherless children, whether princes or peasants. He had a magnificent nursery, and a regular suite of attendants, and was treated with the greatest respect and state. Nobody was allowed to talk to him in silly baby language, or dandle him, or, above all, to kiss him, though perhaps some people did it surreptitiously, for he was such a sweet baby that it was difficult to help it. It could not be said that the Prince missed his mother — children of his age can not do that ; but somehow after she died every thing seemed to go wrong with him. From a beautiful baby he became sickly and pale,, seeming to have almost ceased growing, The Little Lame Prince. 27 especially in his legs, which had been so fat and strong. But after the day of his chris- tening they withered and shrank; he no longer kicked them out either in passion or play, and "when, as he got to be nearly a year old, his nurse tried to make him stand upon them, he only tumbled down. This happened so many times that at last people began to talk about it. A prince, and not able to stand on his own legs! What a dreadful thing ! what a misfortune for the country ! Rather a misfortune to him also, poor little boy ! but nobody seemed to think of that, And when, after a while, his health revived, and the old bright look came back to his sweet little face, and his body grew larger and stronger, though still his legs remained the same, people continued to speak of him in whispers, and with grave shakes of the head. Every body knew, 28 The Little Lame Prince. though nobody said it, that something, it f was impossible to guess what, was not quite right with the poor little Prince. Of course, nobody hinted this to the King his father: it does not do to tell great people any thing unpleasant. And besides, his Majesty took very little notice of his son, or of his other affairs, beyond the necessary duties of his kingdom. People had said he would not miss the Queen at all, she having been so long an invalid, but he did. After her death he never was quite the same, lie established himself in her empty rooms, the only rooms in the palace whence one could see the Beautiful Mountains, and was often observed looking at them as if he thought she had flown away thither, and that his longing could bring her back again. And by a curious coincidence, which nobody dared inquire into, he desired that the Prince might be called, not by any of the four-and- The Little Lame Prince. 20 twenty grand names given him by hie god- fathers and godmothers, but by the identical name mentioned by the little old woman in gray — Dolor, after his mother Dolorez. Onee a week, according to established state custom, the Prince, dressed in his very best, was brought to the King his father for half an hour, but his Majesty was generally too ill and too melancholy to pay much heed to the child. Only once, when he and the Crown- Prince, who was exceedingly attentive to his royal brother, were sitting together, with Prince Dolor playing in a corner of the room, dragging himself about with his arms rather than his legs, and sometimes trying feebly to crawl from one chair to another, it seemed to strike the father that all was not right with his son. "How old is his Royal Highness ?" said he suddenly to the nurse. 30 The Little Lame Prince. " Two years, three months, and five days, please your Majesty." " It does not please me," said the King, with a sigh. " He ought to be far more for- ward than he is now — ought he not, brother? You, who have so many children, must know. Is there not something wrong about him ?" " Oh, no," said the Crown-Prince, ex- changing meaning looks with the nurse, who did not understand at all, but stood frightened and trembling with the tears in her eyes. " Nothing to make your Majesty at all uneasy. No doubt his Royal High- ness will outgrow it in time." " Outgrow — what ?" "A slight delicacy — ahem ! — in the spine; something inherited, perhaps, from his dear mother." "Ah, she was always delicate; but she was the sweetest woman that ever lived. Come here, my little son." j.-f'L The Little Lame Prince. 31 And as the Prince turned round upon his father a small, sweet, grave face — so like his mother's — his Majesty the King smiled and held out his arms. Put when the boy came to him, not running like a hoy, hut wriggling awkwardly along the floor, the royal countenance clouded over. " I ought to have been told of this. It is terrible — terrible! And for a prince, too. Send for all the doctors in my kingdom im- mediately." They came, and each gave a different opinion, and ordered a different mode of treatment. The only thing they agreed in was what had been pretty well known be- fore, that the Prince must have been hurt when he was an infant — let fall, perhaps, so as to injure his spine and lower limbs. Did nobody remember ? No, nobody. Indignantly, all the nurses denied that any such accident had hap- 32 The Little Lame Prince. pened, was possible to have happened, until the faithful country nurse recollected that it really had happened on the day of the christening. For which unluckily good memory all the others scolded her so se- verely that she had no peace of her life, and soon after, by the influence of the young lady nurse who had carried the baby that fatal day, and who was a sort of connection of the Crown-Prince — being his wife's sec- ond cousin once removed — the poor woman was pensioned off, and sent to the Beautiful Mountains, from whence she came, with or- ders to remain there for the rest of her days. But of all this the King knew nothing, for, indeed, after the first shock of finding out that his son could not walk, and seemed never likely to walk, he interfered very lit- tle concerning him. The whole thing was too painful, and his Majesty never liked The Little Lame Prince. 33 painful things. Sometimes lie inquired after Prince Dolor, and they told liini Lis Royal Highness was going on as well as could be expected, which really was the case. For, after worrying the poor child and perplexing themselves with one remedy " The doctors came, and each gave a different opinion, and ordered a different mode of treatment." after another, the Crown-Prince, not wish- ing to offend any of the differing doctors, had proposed leaving him to Nature ; and Nature, the safest doctor of all, had come to his help, and done her best. He could not walk, it is true; his limbs were mere v ; -> 34 The Little Lame Prince. useless appendages to his body; but the body itself was strong and sound. And his face Avas the same as ever — -just his mother's face, one of the sweetest in the world. Even the King, indifferent as he was, sometimes looked at the little fellow with sad tenderness, noticing how cleverly he learned to crawl and swing himself about by his arms, so that in his own awkward way he was as active in motion as most children of his age. " Poor little man ! he does his best, and he is not unhappy — not half so unhappy as I, brother," addressing the Crown-Prince, who was more constant than ever in his at- tendance upon the sick monarch. " If any- thing should befall me, I have appointed you as Regent. In case of my death, you will take care of my poor little boy ?" Certainly, certainly ; but do not let us im- The Little Lame Prince. 35 agino any such misfortune. I assure your Majesty — everybody will assure you — that it is not in the least likely." lie knew, however, and everybody knew, that it was likely, and soon after it actually did happen. The King died as suddenly and quietly as the Queen had done — indeed, in her very room and bed ; and Prince Dolor was left without either father or mother — as sad a thing as could happen, even to a prince. lie was more than that now, though. He was a king. In Nbmansland, as in other countries, the people were struck with grief one day and revived the next. " The king is dead — long live the king!" was the cry that rang through the nation, and almost before his late Majesty had been laid beside the Queen in their splendid mausoleum, crowds came thronging from all parts to the royal palace, eager to see the new monarch. 36 The Little Lame Prince. They did see him — the Prince Regent took care they should — sitting on the floor of the council-chamber, sucking his thumb ! And when one of the gentlemen-in-waiting lifted him up and carried him — fancy carry- ing a king ! — to the chair of state, and put the crown on his head, he shook it off again, it was so heavy and uncomfortable. Sliding down to the foot of the throne, he began playing with the golden lions that supported it, stroking their paws and putting his tiny fingers into their eyes, and laughing — laugh- ing as if he had at last found something to amuse him. " There's a fine king for you !" said the first lord-in-waiting, a friend of the Prince Regent's (the Crown-Prince that used to be, who, in the deepest mourning, stood silently beside the throne of his young nephew. He was a handsome man, very grand and clever-looking). " What a king ! who can The Little Lame Prince. 37 never stand to receive his subjects, never walk in processions, who to the last day of his life will have to be carried about like a baby. Very unfortunate !" " Sliding down to the foot of the throne, he began play- ing with the golden lions that supported it." " Exceedingly unfortunate," repeated the * second lord. " It is always bad for a na- tion when its king is a child ; but such a child — a permanent cripple, if not worse." " Let us hope not worse," said the first lord 38 The Little Lame Prince. in a very hopeless tone, and looking toward the Regent, who stood erect and pretended to hear nothing. " I have heard that these sort of children with very large heads, and great broad foreheads and staring eyes, are — well, well, let us hope for the best and be prepared for the worst. In the mean time — " " I swear," said the Crown-Prince, com- ing forward and kissing the hilt of his sword — " I swear to perform my duties as Regent, to take all care of his Royal Highness — his Majesty, I mean," with a grand bow to the little child, who laughed innocently back again. " And I will do my humble best to govern the country. Still, if the country has the slightest objection — " But the Crown-Prince being generalissi- mo, and having the whole army at his beck and call, so that he could have begun a civil war in no time, the countr} T had, of course, not the slightest objection. The Little Lame Prince. 39 So the King and Queen slept together in peace, and Prince Dolor reigned over the land — that is, his uncle did; and every body said what a fortunate thing it was tor the poor little Prince to have such a clever uncle to take care of him. All things went on as usual; indeed, after the Regent had brought his wife and her seven sons, and es- tablished them in the palace, rather better than usual. For they gave such splendid entertainments and made the capital so lively that trade revived, and the country was said to be more flourishing than it had been for a century. Whenever the Regent and his sons ap- peared, they were received with shouts — " Long live the Crown-Prince !" " Long live the Royal family!" And, in truth, they were very fine children, the whole seven of them, and made a great show when they rode out together on seven beau- wm 40 The Little Lame Prince. tiful horses, one height above another, clown to the youngest, on his tiny black pony, no bigger than a large clog. As for the other child, his Royal High- ness Prince Dolor — for somehow people soon ceased to call him his Majesty, which seemed such a ridiculous title for a poor little fellow, a helpless cripple, with only head and trunk, and no legs to speak of — he was seen very seldom by any body. Sometimes people daring enough to peer over the high wall of the palace garden noticed there, carried in a footman's arms, or drawn in a chair, or left to play on the grass, often with nobody to mind him, a pretty little boy, with a bright, intelligent face and large, melancholy eyes — no, not exactly melancholy, for they were his mo- ther's, and she was by no means sad-minded, but thoughtful and dreamy. They rather perplexed people, those childish eyes ; they 42 The Little Lame Prince. prise — the child never talked much — that every naughty person in the palace was rather afraid of Prince Dolor. lie could not help it, and perhaps he did not even know it, being no better a child than many other children, but there was something about him which made bad peo- ple sorry, and grumbling people ashamed of themselves, and ill-natured people gentle and kind. I suppose because they were touched to see a poor little fellow who did not in the least know what had befallen him or what lay before him, living his baby life as happy as the day was long. Thus, whether or not he Avas good himself, the sight of him and his affliction made other people good, and, above all, made every body love him — so much so, that his uncle the Regent began to feel a little uncomfort- able. Now I have nothing to say against uncles The Little Lame Prince. 43 in general. They are usually very excellent people, and very convenient to little boys and girls. Even the "cruel uncle" of " The Babes in the Wood " I believe to be quite an exceptional character. And this " cruel uncle " of whom I am telling; was, I hope, an exception too. lie did not mean to be cruel. If any body had called him so, he would have re- sented it extremely : lie Would have said that what lie did was done entirely for the good of the country. But he was a man who had always been accustomed to con- sider himself first and foremost, believing that whatever he wanted was sure to be right, and therefore he ought to have it. So he tried to get it, and got it too, as peo- ple like him very often do. Whether they enjoy it when they have it is another ques- tion. Therefore he went one day to the council- 44 The Little Lame Prince. ^:§ chamber, determined on making a speech, and informing the ministers and the country at large that the young King was in failing health, and that it would be advisable to send him for a time to the Beautiful Moun- tains. Whether he really meant to do this, or whether it occurred to him afterward that there would be an easier way of attain- ing his great desire, the crown of Romans- land, is a point which I can not decide. But soon after, when he had obtained an order in council to send the King away — which was done in great state, with a guard of honor composed of two whole regiments of soldiers — the nation learned, without much surprise, that the poor little Prince — nobody ever called him king now — had gone a much longer journey than to the Beautiful Mountains. lie had fallen ill on the road and died within a few hours ; at least so declared the The Little Lame Prince. 45 physician in attendance and the nurse who had been sent to take care of him. They brought his coffin back in great state, and buried it in the mausoleum with his parents. So Prince Dolor was seen no more. The country went into deep mourning for him, and then forgot him, and his uncle reigned in his stead. That illustrious personage accepted his crown with great decorum, and wore it with great dignity to the last. But whether lie enjoyed it or not there is no evidenee to show. 46 The Little Lame Prince. CHAPTER III. And what of the little lame Prince, whom every body seemed so easily to have for- gotten ? Not every body. There were a few kind souls, mothers of families, who had heard his sad story, and some servants about the palace, who had been familiar with his sweet ways — these many a time sighed and said " Poor Prince Dolor !" Or, looking at the Beautiful Mountains, which were visible all over Nomansland, though few people ever visited them, " AVell, perhaps his Royal Highness is better where he is than even there." They did not know — indeed, hardly any body did know — that beyond the moun- tains, between them and the sea, lay a tract The Little Lame Prince. 47 of country, barren, level, bare, except for short, stunted grass, and here and there a patch of tiny flowers. Not a hush — not a tree — not a resting-place for bird or beast was in that dreary plain. In summer, the sunshine fell upon it hour after hour with a blinding glare; in winter, the winds and rains swept over it unhindered, and the snow came down steadily, noiselessly, cover- ing it from end to end in one great white sheet, which lay for days and weeks un- marked by a single footprint. Not a pleasant place to live in — and no- body did live there, apparently. The only sign that human creatures had ever been near the spot was one large round tower which rose up in the centre of the plain, and might be seen all over it — if there had been any body to see, which there never was. Rose right up out of the ground, as if it had grown of itself, like a mushroom. Z&2] 48 The Little Lame Prince. But it was not at all mushroom-like ; on the contrary, it was very solidly built. In form it resembled the Irish round towers, which have puzzled people for so long, nobody be- ing able to find out when, or by whom, or for what purpose they were made; seemingly for no use at all, like this tower. It was circular, of very firm brickwork, with neither doors nor windows, until near the top, when you could perceive some slits in the wall through which one might possibly creep in or look out. Its height was nearly a hundred feet, and it had a battlemented parapet, showing sharp against the sky. As the plain was quite desolate — almost like a desert, only without sand, and led to nowhere except the still more desolate sea- coast — nobody ever crossed it. Whatever mystery there was about the tower, it and the sky and the plain kept their secret to themselves. The Little Lame Prince. 49 It was a very great secret indeed — a state secret — which none but so clever a man as the present King of Nomansland would ever have thought of. How he carried it out, undiscovered, I can not tell. People said, long afterward, that it was by means of a gang of condemned criminals, who were set to work, and executed immediately after they had done, so that nobody knew anything, or in the least suspected the real fact. And what was the fact? Why, that this tower, which seemed a mere mass of ma- sonry, utterly forsaken and uninhabited, was not so at all. Within twenty feet of the top some ingenious architect had planned a perfect little house, divided into four rooms — as by drawing a cross within a circle you will see might easily be done. By making sky-lights, and a few slits in the walls for windows, and raising a peaked 50 The Little Lame Prince. roof which was hidden by the parapet, here was a dwelling complete, eighty feet from the ground, and as inaccessible as a rook's nest on the top of a tree. A charming place to live in! if you oiue got up there, and never wanted to come down again. Inside — though nobody could have looked inside except a bird, and hardly even a bird new past that lonely tower — inside it was furnished with all the comfort and elegance imagi nable ; with lots of books and toys, and every thing that the heart of a child could desire. For its only inhabitant, ex- cept a nurse, of course, was a poor solitary child. One winter night, when all the plain was white with moonlight, there was seen cross- ing it a great tall black horse, ridden by a man also big and equally black, carrying before him on the saddle a woman and a " Carrying before him a woman and child." (51) The Little Lame Prince. 53 child. The woman — she had a sad, fierce look, and no wonder, for she was a criminal under sentence of death, but her sentence had boon changed to almost as severe a punishment. She was to inhabit the lonely tower with the child, and was allowed to live as long as the child lived — no longer. This, in order that she might take the utmost care of him ; for those who put him there were equally afraid of his dying and of his living. And yet he was only a little gentle boy, with a sweet, sleepy smile — he had been very tired with his long journey — and clinging arms, which held tight to the man's neck, for he was rather frightened, and the face, black as it was, looked kindly at him. And he was very helpless, with his poor, small, shriveled legs, which could neither stand nor run away — for the little forlorn boy was Prince Dolor. He had not been dead at all — or buried 54 The Little Lame Prince. either. His grand funeral had been a mere pretense: a wax figure having been put in his place, while he himself was spirited away under charge of these two, the con- demned woman and the black man. The latter was deaf and dumb, so could neither tell nor repeat any thing. "When they reached the foot of the tower, there was light enough to see a huge chain dangling from the parapet, but dangling only half way. The deaf-mute took from his saddle-wallet a sort of ladder, arranged in pieces like a puzzle, fitted it together, and lifted it up to meet the chain. Then he mounted to the top of the tower, and slung from it a sort of chair, in which the woman and the child placed themselves and were drawn up, never to come down again as long as they lived. Leaving them there, the man descended the ladder, took it to pieces again and packed it in his pack, The Little Lame Prince. 55 mounted the horse, and disappeared across the plain. Every month they used to watch for him, appearing like a speck in the distance. lie fastened his horse to the foot of the tower, and climbed it, as before, laden with pro- "His grand funeral had been a mere pretense." visions and many other things. lie always saw the Prince, so as to make sure that the child was alive and well, and then went away until the following month. While his first childhood lasted, Prince Dolor was happy enough. lie had every CS 56 The Little Lame Prince. luxury that even a prince could need, and the one thing wanting — love — never having known, he did not miss. His nurse was very kind to him, though she was a wicked woman. But either she had not been quite so wicked as people said, or she grew Letter through being shut up continually with a little innocent child, who was dependent upon her for every comfort and pleasure of his life. It was not an unhappy life. There was nobody to tease or ill-use him, and he was never ill. lie played about from room to room — there were four rooms, parlor, kitchen, his nurse's bedroom, and his own; learned to crawl like a fly, and to jump like a frog, and to run about on all-fours almost as fast as a puppy. In fact, he was very much like a puppy or a kitten, as thought- less and as merry — scarcely ever cross, though sometimes a little weary. u He mounted to the top of the tower." (67) The Little Lame Prince, 59 As he grew older, ho occasionally liked to be quiet for a while, and then lie would sit at the slits of windows — which were, how- ever, much bigger than they looked from the bottom of the tower — and watch the sky above and the ground below, with the storms sweeping over and the sunshine coming and going, and the shadows of the clouds running races across the blank plain. By and by he began to learn lessons — not that his nurse had been ordered to teach him, but she did it partly to amuse herself. She was not a stupid woman, and Prince Dolor was by no means a stupid boy; so they got on very well, and his con- tinual entreaty, " What can I do ? what can you find me to do ?" was stopped, at least for an hour or two in the day. It was a dull life, but he had never known any other; anyhow, he remembered no other, and he did not pity himself at all. 60 The Little Lame Prince. Not for a long time, till he grew quite a big little boy, and could read quite easily. Then he suddenly took to books, which the deaf-mute brought him from time to time — books which, not being acquainted with the literature of Nbmansland, I can not de- scribe, but no doubt they were very inter- esting; and they informed him of every thing in the outside world, and filled him with an intense longing to see it. From this time a change came over the boy. He began to look sad and thin, and to shut himself up for hours without speak- ing. For his nurse hardly spoke, and what- ever questions he asked beyond their ordi- nary daily life she never answered. She had, indeed, been forbidden, on pain of death, to tell him any thing about himself, who he was, or what he might have been. He knew he was Prince Dolor, because she always addressed him as " My Prince," and The Little Lame Prince. 61 "Your Royal Highness," but what :i prince was ho had not the least idea. He had no idea of any thing in the world, except what he found in his books. He sat one day surrounded by them, hav- ing built them up round him like a little castle wall. He had been reading them half the day, but feeling all the while that to read about things which you never can see is like hearing about a beautiful dinner while you are starving. For almost the first time in his life he grew melancholy ; his hands fell on his lap; he sat gazing out of the window-slit upon the view outside — the view he had looked at every day of his life, and might look at for endless days more. !N"ot a very cheerful view — -just the plain and the sky — but he liked it. He used to think, if he could only fly out of that win- dow, up to the sky or down to the plain, how nice it would be ! Perhaps when he 62 The Little Lame Prince. died — his nurse had told him once in anger that he would never leave the tower till he died — he might be able to do this. Not that he understood much what dying meant, but it must be a change, and any change seemed to him a blessing. " And I wish I had somebody to tell me all about it — about that and many other things ; somebody that would be fond of me, like my poor white kitten." Here the tears came into his eyes, for the boy's one friend, the one interest of his life, had been a little white kitten, which the deaf-mute, kindly smiling, once took out of his pocket and gave him — the only living creature Prince Dolor had ever seen. For four weeks it was his constant plaything and companion, till one moonlight night it took a fancy for wandering, climbed onto the parapet of the tower, dropped over and disappeared. It was not killed, he hoped, WY The Little Lame Prince. G3 for cats have nine lives; indeed, he al- most fancied he saw it pick itself up and scamper away ; but he never caught sight of it more. Oh, I want somebody — dreadfully, dreadfully I" " Yes, I wish I had something better than a kitten — a person, a real live person, who would be fond of me and kind to me. Oh, I want somebody — dreadfully, dreadfully!" As he spoke, there sounded behind him 64 The Little Lame Prince. a slight tap-tap-tap, as of a stick or a cane, and twisting himself round, tie saw --what do you think he saw ? Nothing either frightening or ugly, but still exceedingly curious. A little woman, no bigger than he might himself have been had his legs grown like those of other chil- dren; but she was not a child — she was an old woman. Her hair was gray, and her dress was gray, and there was a gray shadow over her wherever she moved. But she had the sweetest smile, the prettiest hands, and when she spoke it was in the softest voice imaginable. " My dear little boy" — and dropping her cane, the only bright and rich thing about her, she laid those two tiny hands on his shoulders — " my own little boy, I could not come to you until you had said you wanted me ; but now you do want me, here I am." " And you are very welcome, madam," The Little Lame Prince. 65 replied the Prince, trying to speak politely, as princes always did in hooks; " and I am exceedingly obliged to yon. May I ask who you are ? Perhaps my mother ?" For ilTW «.•!■' ■„;,. 1:1 1 J! ti "Dropping her cane, she laid those two tiny hands on his shoulders." he knew that little boys usually had a mo- S^jjf ther, and had occasionally wondered what had become of his own. "No," said the visitor, with a tender, 5 66 The Little Lame Prince. half-sad smile, putting back the hair from his forehead, and looking right into his eyes — " No, I am not your mother, though she was a dear friend of mine ; and you are as like her as ever you c<*.: be." "Will you tell her to come and see me, then ?" " She can not; but I dare say she knows about you. And she loves you very much — and so do I ; and I want to help you all I can, my poor little boy." "Why do you call me poor?" asked Prince Dolor, in surprise. The little old woman glanced down on his legs and feet, which he did not know were different from those of other children, and then at his sweet, bright face, which, though he knew not that either, was ex- ceedingly different from many children's faces, which are often so fretful, cross, sul- len. Looking at him, instead of sighing, The Little Lame Prince. 07 she smiled. " I beg your pardon, my Prince," said she. " Yes, I am a prince, and my name is Dolor ; will you tell me yours, madam ?" The little old woman laughed like a chime of silver hells. " I have not got a name — or, rather, I have so many names that I don't know which to choose. However, it was I who gave you yours, and you will belong to me all your days. I am your godmother." "Hurrah!" cried the little Prince; "I am glad I belong to you, for I like you very much. Will you come and play with me?" So they sat down together and played. By and by they began to talk. " Are you very dull here ?" asked the little old woman. "Not particularly, thank you, godmother. I have plenty to eat and drink, and my les- 68 The Little Lame Prince. sons to do, and my books to read — lots of books." " And you want nothing ?" "Nothing. Yes — perhaps — If you please, godmother, could you bring me just one more thing ?" " What sort of thing ?" " A little boy to play with." The old woman looked very sad. " Just the thing, alas, which I can not give you. My child, I can not alter your lot in any way, but I can help you to bear it." " Thank you. But why do you talk of bearing it? I have nothing to bear." " My poor little man !" said the old woman, in the very tenderest tone of her tender voice. " Kiss me !" " What is kissing ?" asked the wondering child. His godmother took him in her arms and embraced him many times. By and by he The Little Lame Prince. 69 kissed her back again — at first awkwardly and shyly, then with all the strength of his warm little heart, " You arc better to cuddle than even my white kitten, I think. Promise me that you will never go away." " I must; but I will leave a present be- hind me — something as good as myself to amuse you — something that will take you wherever you want to go, and show you all that you wish to see." « What is it ?" " A traveling-cloak." The Prince's countenance fell. " I don't want a cloak, for I never go out. Some- times nurse hoists me onto the roof, and carries me round by the parapet; but that is all. I can't walk, you know, as she does." " The more reason why you should ride ; and besides, this travelings V>ak — " " Hush ! — she's coming." 70 The Little Lame Prince. There sounded outside the room door a heavy step and a grumpy voice, and a rattle of plates and dishes. " It's my nurse, and she is bringing my dinner ; but I don't want dinner at all — I only want you. Will her coming drive you away, godmother ?" " Perhaps ; but only for a little while. Never mind ; all the bolts and bars in the world couldn't keep me out. Pd fly in at the window, or down through the chimney. Only wish for me, and I come." " Thank you," said Prince Dolor, but almost in a whisper, for he was very uneasy at what might happen next. His nurse and his godmother — what would they say to one another ? how would they look at one an- other ? — two such different faces : one harsh- lined, sullen, cross, and sad ; the other sweet and bright and calm as a summer evenino- before the dark begins. The Little Lame Trince. 71 When the door was flung open, Prince Dolor shut his eyes, trembling nil over; opening them again, he saw he need fear nothing — his lovely old godmother had "' What a muddle your Royal Highness is sitting in,' said she, sharply." melted away just like the rainbow out of the sky, as he had watched it many a time. Nobody but his nurse was in the room. " What a muddle your Royal Highness is sitting in," said she, sharply. "Such a 72 The Little Lame Prince. heap of untidy books ; and what's this rub- bish?" knocking a little bundle that lay beside them. " Oh, nothing, nothing — give it me !" cried the Prince, and, darting after it, he hid it under his pinafore, and then pushed it quickly into his pocket. Rubbish as it was, it was left in the place where she sat, and might be something belonging to her — his dear, kind godmother, whom already he loved with all his lonely, tender, passionate heart. It was, though he did not know this, his wonderful traveling-cloak. The Little Lame Prince. 73 CHAPTER IV. And what of the traveling-cloak ? What sort of cloak was it, and what good did it do the Prince ? Stay, and I'll tell yon all abont it. Outside it was the commonest-looking bundle imaginable — shabby and small ; and the instant Prince Dolor touched it, it grew smaller still, dwindling down till he could put it in his trousers pocket, like a hand- kerchief rolled up into a ball. He did this at once, for fear his nurse should see it, and kept it there all day — all night, too. Till after his next morning's lessons he had no opportunity of examining his treasure. When he did, it seemed no treasure at all; but a mere piece of cloth — circular in form, dark green in color — that is, if it had 74 The Little Lame Prince. any color at all, being so worn and shabby, though not dirty. It had a split cut to the centre, forming a round hole for the neck — and that was all its shape; the shape, in fact, of those cloaks which in South Amer- ica are called ponchos — very simple, but most graceful and convenient. Prince Dolor had never seen any thing like it. In spite of his disappointment, he examined it curiously ; spread it out on the floor, then arranged it on his shoulders. It felt very warm and comfortable; but it was so exceedingly shabby — the only shabby thing that the Prince had ever seen in his life. " And what use will it be to me ?" said he, sadly. " I have no need of outdoor clothes, as I never go out. Why was this given me, I wonder ? and what in the world am I to do with it? She must be a rather funny person, this dear godmother of mine." The Little Lame Prince. 75 Nevertheless, because she was his god- mother, and had given him the cloak, he folded it carefully and put it away, poor and shahby as it was, hiding it in a safe eor- ner of his toy-cupboard, which his nurse never meddled with. lie did not want her to find it, or to laugh at it or at his godmother — as he felt sure she would if she knew all. There it lay, and by and by he forgot all about it; nay, I am sorr.y to say that, being but a child, and not seeing her again, he almost forgot his sweet old godmother, or thought of her only as he did of the angels or fairies that he read of in his books, and of her visit as if it had been a mere dream of the night. There were times, certainly, when he re- called her : of early mornings, like that morning when she appeared beside him, and late evenings, when the gray twilight reminded him of the color of her hair and 76 The Little Lame Prince. her pretty soft garments ; above all, when, waking in the middle of the night, with the stars peering in at his window, or the moonlight shining across his little bed, he would not have been surprised to see her standing beside it, looking at him with those beautiful tender eyes, which seemed to have a pleasantness and comfort in them different from any thing he had ever known. But she never came, and gradually she slipped out of his memory — only a boy's memory, after all ; until something hap- pened which made him remember her, and want her as he had never wanted any thing before. Prince Dolor fell ill. He caught — his nurse could not tell how — a complaint com- mon to the people of Nomansland, called the doldrums, as unpleasant as measles or any other of our complaints ; and it made The Little Lame Prince. 77 him restless, cross, and disagreeable. Even when a little better, he was too weak to en- joy any thing, but lay all day long on his sola, fidgeting his nurse extremely — while, in her intense terror lest he might die, she fidgeted him still more. At last, seeing he really was getting well, she left him to him- self — which he was most glad of, in spite of his dullness and dreariness. There he lay, alone, quite alone. Now and then an irritable fit came over him, in which he longed to get up and do something, or go somewhere — would have liked to imitate his white kitten — jump down from the tower and run away, taking the chance of whatever might happen. Only one thing, alas! was likely to happen; for the kitten, he remembered, had four active legs, while he — " I wonder what my godmother meant when she looked at my legs and sighed so 78 The Little Lame Prince. bitterly? I wonder why I can't walk straight and steady like my nurse — only I wouldn't like to have her great, noisy, clumping shoes. Still it would be very nice to move about quickly — perhaps to fly, like a bird, like that string of birds I saw the other day skimming across the sky, one after the other." These were the passage-birds — the only living creatures that ever crossed the lonely plain ; and he had been much interested in them, wondering whence they came and whither they were going. " How nice it must be to be a bird ! If legs are no good, why can not one have wings ? People have wings when they die — perhaps; I wish I were dead, that I do. I am so tired, so tired; and nobody cares for me. Nobody ever did care for me, ex- cept perhaps my godmother. Godmother, dear, have you quite forsaken me ?" The Little Lame Prince. 79 lie stretched himself wearily, gathered himself up, and dropped his Lead upon his hands; as lie did so, he felt somebody kiss him at the hack of his neck, and, turning, found that lie was resting, not on the sofa- pillows, but on a warm shoulder — that of the little old woman clothed in gray. How glad he was to see her ! How he looked into her kind eyes and felt her hands, to sec if she were all real and alive ! then put both his arms round her neck, and kissed her as if he would never have done kissing. " Stop, stop !" cried she, pretending to be smothered. " I see you have not forgotten my teachings. Kissing is a good thing — in moderation. Only just let me have breath to speak one w r ord." "A dozen!" he said. " Well, then, tell me all that has happened to you since I saw you — or, rather, since you saw me, which is quite a different thing." iM 80 The Little Lame Prince. " Nothing has happened — nothing ever does happen to me," answered the Prince, dolefully. " And are you very dull, my boy ?" " So dull that I was just thinking whether I could not jump down to the bottom of the tower, like my white kitten." " Don't do that, not being a white kitten." " I wish I were ! — I wish I wore any thing but what I am." " And you can't make yourself any differ- ent, nor can I do it either. You must be content to stay just what you are." The little old woman said this — very firmly, but gently, too — with her arms round his neck and her lips on his forehead. It was the first time the boy had ever heard any one talk like this, and he looked up in surprise — but not in pain, for her sweet manner softened the hardness of her words. '" Now, my Prince — for you are a prince, The Little Lame Prince. 81 and must behave as such — let us see what we can do ; how much I can do for yon, or show you how to do for yourself. Where is your traveling-cloak ?" Prince Dolor blushed extremely. " I — I put it away in the cupboard ; I suppose it is there still." "You have never used it; you dislike it?" He hesitated, not wishing to be impolite. " Don't you think it's — just a little old and shabby for a prince?" The old woman laughed — long and loud, though very sweetly. " Prince, indeed ! Why, if all the princes in the world craved for it, they couldn't get it, unless I gave it them. Old and shabby [ It's the most valuable thing imaginable ! Very few ever have it; but I thought I would give it to you, because — because you are different from other people." 82 The Little Lame Prince. " Am I ?" said the Prince, and looked first with curiosity, then with a sort of anxiety, into his godmother's face, which was sad and grave, with slow tears begin- ning to steal down. She touched his poor little legs. " These are not like those of other little boys." " Indeed ! — my nurse never told me that." "Very likely not. But it is time you were told; and I tell you, because I love you." " Tell me what, dear godmother?" " That you will never be able to walk or run or jump or play — that your life will be quite different to most people's lives ; but it may be a very happy life for all that. Do not be afraid." "I am not afraid," said the boy; but he turned very pale, and his lips began to quiver, though he did not actually cry — he was too old for that, and, perhaps, too proud. The Little Lame Prince. 83 Though not wholly comprehending, lie began dimly to guess what his godmother meant. He had never seen any real live boys, but he had seen pictures of them run- ning and jumping; which he had admired and tried hard to imitate, but always failed. Now he began to understand why he failed, and that he always should fail — that, in fact, he was not like other little boys ; and it was of no use his wishing to do as they did, and play as they played, even if he had them to play with. His was a separate life, in which he must find out new work and new pleasures for himself. The sense of the inevitable., as grown-up people call it — that we can not have things as we want them to be, but as they are, and that we must learn to bear them and make the best of them — this lesson, which every body has to learn soon or late — came, alas! sadly soon, to the poor b"oy. He fought 84 The Little Lame Prince. against it for a while, and then, quite over- come, turned and sobbed bitterly in his godmother's arms. She comforted him — I do not know how, except that love always comforts; and then she whispered to him, in her sweet, strong, cheerful voice — "Never mind!" " No, I don't think I do mind — that is, I won't mind," replied he, catching the courage of her tone and speaking like a man, though he was still such a mere boy. " That is right, my Prince ! — that is being like a prince. Now we know exactly where we are; let us put our shoulders to the wheel and — " " We are in Hopeless Tower" (this was its name, if it had a name), " and there is no wheel to put our shoulders to," said the child, sadly. " You little matter-of-fact goose ! Well for you that you have a godmother called — " The Little Lame Prince. 85 " What ?" he eagerly asked. " Stuft-and-nonsense." " Stuff-and-nonsense ! What a funny name !" "Some people give it me, but they are not my most intimate friends. These call me — never mind what," added the old woman, with a soft twinkle in her eyes. " So as you know me, and know me well, you may give me any name you please ; it doesn't matter. But I am your godmother, child. I have few godchildren; those I have love me dearly, and find me the great- est blessing in all the world." "I can well believe it," cried the little lame Prince, and forgot his troubles in look- ing at her — as her figure dilated, her eyes grew lustrous as stars, her very raiment brightened, and the whole room seemed filled with her beautiful and beneficent presence like light. 86 The Little Lame Prince. He could have looked at her forever — half in love, half in awe; but she sud- denly dwindled down into the little old woman all in gray, and, with a malicious twinkle in her eyes, asked for the traveling- cloak. " Bring it out of the rubbish cupboard, and shake the dust off it, quick!" said she to Prince Dolor, who hung his head, rather ashamed. " Spread it out on the floor, and wait till the split closes and the edges turn up like a rim all round. Then go and open the sky-light — mind, I say open the sky-light — set yourself down in the middle of it, like a frog on a water-lily leaf; say ' Abraca- dabra, dum dum dum,' and — see what will happen !" The Prince burst into a fit of laughing. It all seemed so exceedingly silly ; he won- dered that a wise old woman like his god- mother should talk such nonsense. The Little Lame Prince. H7 " Stuff-and-nonsense, you mean," said she, answering, to his great alarm, his unspoken thoughts. " Did I not tell you some people called me by that name ? Never mind ; it doesn't harm me." And she laughed — her merry laugh — as childlike as if she were the Prince's age instead of her own, whatever that might be. She certainly was a most extraordinary old woman. " Believe me or not, it doesn't matter," said she. " Here is the cloak : when you want to go traveling on it, say Abracadabra, dum dam dum ; when you want to come back again, say Abracadabra, turn turn ti. That's all; good-by." A puff of pleasant air passing by him, and making him feel for the moment quite strong and well, was all the Prince was con- scious of. His most extraordinary god- mother was gone. 88 The Little Lame Prince. " Really now, how rosy your Royal High- ness's cheeks have grown ! You seem to have got well already," said the nurse, en- tering the room. " I think I have," replied the Prince, very gently — he felt gently and kindly even to his grim nurse. " And now let me have my dinner, and go you to your sewing as usual." The instant she was gone, however, tak- ing with her the plates and dishes, which for the first time since his illness he had satisfactorily cleared, Prince Dolor sprang down from his sofa, and with one or two of his frog-like jumps, not graceful, but con- venient, he reached the cupboard where he kept his toys, and looked everywhere for his traveling-cloak. Alas ! it was not there. While he was ill of the doldrums, his nurse, thinking it a good opportunity for The Little Lame Prince. 89 putting things to rights, had made a grand clearance of all his " rubbish " — as she con- sidered it: his beloved headless horses, broken carts, sheep without feet, and birds without wings — all the treasures of his baby days, Avhich he could not bear to part with. Though he seldom played with them now, he liked just to feel they were there. They were all gone ! and with them the traveling-cloak. He sat down on the floor, looking at the empty shelves, so beautifully clean and tidy, then burst out sobbing as if his heart would break. But quietly — always quietly. He never let his nurse hear him cry. She only laughed at him, as he felt she would laugh now. " And it is all my own fault," he cried. " I ought to have taken better care of my godmother's gift. Oh, godmother, forgive me ! I'll never be so careless again. I 90 The Little Lame Prince. don't know what the cloak is exactly, but I am sure it is something precious. Help me to find it again. Oh, don't let it be stolen from me — don't, please !" " Ha, ha, ha !" laughed a silvery voice. " Why, that traveling-cloak is the one thing in the world which nobody can steal. It is of no use to any body except the owner. Open your eyes, my Prince, and see what you shall see." His dear old godmother, he thought, and turned eagerly round. But no; he only beheld, lying in a corner of the room, all dust and cobwebs, his precious traveling- cloak. Prince Dolor darted toward it, tumbling several times on the way, as he often did tumble, poor boy ! and pick himself up again, never complaining. Snatching it to his breast, he hugged and kissed it, cobwebs and all, as if it had been something alive. 92 The Little Lame Prince. CHAPTER V. If any reader, big or little, should wonder whether there is a meaning in this story deeper than that of an ordinary fairy tale, I will own that there is. But I have hidden it so carefully that the smaller people, and many larger folk, will never find it out, and meantime the book may be read straight on, like " Cinderella," or " Blue-Beard," or " Hop-o'-my Thumb," for what interest it has, or what amusement it may bring. Having said this, I return to Prince Dolor, that little lame boy whom many may think so exceedingly to be pitied. But if you had seen him as he sat patiently untying his wonderful cloak, which was done up in a very tight and perplexing parcel, using skillfully his deft little hands, and knitting The Little Lame Prince. 93 hia brows with firm determination, while his eyes glistened with pleasure and energy and eager anticipation — if you had beheld him thus, you might have changed your opinion. When avc see people suffering or unfor- tunate, we feel very sorry for them ; but when we see them bravely bearing their sufferings, and making the best of their mis- fortunes, it is quite a different feeling. "We respect, we admire them. One can respect and admire even a little child. When Prince Dolor had patiently untied all the knots, a remarkable thing happened. The cloak began to undo itself. Slowly un- folding, it laid itself down on the carpet, as flat as if it had been ironed ; the split joined with a little sharp crick-crack, and the rim turned up all round till it was breast-high ; for meantime the cloak had grown and grown, and become quite large enough for 94 The Little Lame Prince. one person to sit in it as comfortable as if in a boat. The Prince watched it rather anxiously; it was such an extraordinary, not to say a frightening thing. However, he was no coward, but a thorough boy, who, if he had been like other boys, would doubtless have grown up daring and adventurous — a sol- dier, a sailor, or the like. As it was, he could only show his courage morally, not physically, by being afraid of nothing, and by doing boldly all that it was in his narrow powers to do. And I am not sure but that in this way he showed more real valor than if he had had six pairs of proper legs. He said to himself, " What a goose I am ! As if my dear godmother would ever have given me anything to hurt me. Here goes!" So, with one of his active leaps, he sprang right into the middle of the cloak, where he The Little Lame Prince. 0" squatted down, wrapping his arms tight round his knees, for they shook a little and his heart heat fast. But there he sat, steady and silent, waiting for what might happen next. Nothing did happen, and he began to think nothing would, and to feel rather dis- appointed, when he recollected the words he had been told to repeat — " Abracadabra, dum dum dum !" He repeated them, laughing all the while, they seemed such nonsense. And then — and then — Now I don't expect any body to believe what I am going to relate, though a good many wise people have believed a good many sillier things. And as seeing's believ- ing, and I never saw it, I can not be ex- pected implicitly to believe it myself, except in a sort of a way; and yet there is truth in it — for some people. 96 The Little Lame Prince. The cloak rose, slowly and steadily, at first only a few inches, then gradually higher and higher, till it nearly touched the sky- light. Prince Dolor's head actually bumped against the glass, or would have done so had he not crouched down, crying, "Oh, please don't hurt me!" in a most melancholy voice. Then he suddenly remembered his god- mother's express command — " Open the sky- light!" Regaining his courage at once, without a moment's delay he lifted up his head and began searching for the bolt — the cloak meanwhile remaining perfectly still, bal- anced in the air. But the minute the win- dow was opened, out it sailed — right out into the clear, fresh air, with nothing between it and the cloudless blue. Prince Dolor had never felt any such delicious sensation before. I can under- " The cloak rose slowly and steadily." (97) The Little Lame Prince. 99 stand it. Can not yon ? Did you never think, in watching the rooks going home singly or in pairs, oaring their way across the calm evening sky till they vanish like black dots in the misty gray, how pleasant it must feel to be up there, quite out of the noise and din of the world, able to hear and see every thing down below, yet troubled by nothing and teased by no one — all alone, bur perfectly content ? Something like this was the happiness of the little lame Trince when he got out of Hopeless Tower, and found himself for the first time in the pure open air, with the sky above him and the earth below. True, there was nothing but earth and sky; no houses, no trees, no rivers, moun- tains, seas — not a beast on the ground, or a bird in the air. But to him even the level plain looked beautiful ; and then there was the glorious arch of the sky, with a little 100 The Little Lame Prince. young moon sitting in the west like a baby queen. And the evening breeze was so sweet and fresh — it kissed him like his god- mother's kisses ; and by and by a few stars came out — first two or three, and then quan- tities — quantities ! so that when he began to count them he was utterly bewildered. By this time, however, the cool breeze had become cold; the mist gathered; and as he had, as he said, no outdoor clothes, poor Prince Dolor was not very comfortable. The dews fell damp on his curls — he began to shiver. " Perhaps I had better go home," thought he. But how ? For in his excitement the other words which his godmother had told him to use had slipped his memory. They were only a little different from the first, but in that slight difference all the impor- tance lay. As he repeated his " Abraca- The Little Lame Prince. 101 dabra," trying ever so many other syllables after it, the cloak only went faster and faster, skimming on through the dusky, empty air. The poor little Prince began to feel frightened. "What if this wonderful travel- ing-cloak should keep on thus traveling, perhaps to the world's end, carrying with it a poor, tired, hungry boy, who, after all, was beginning to think there was something very pleasant in supper and bed ? " Dear godmother," he cried pitifully, "do help me ! Tell me just this once and I'll never forget again." Instantly the words came rushing into his head — "Abracadabra, turn turn ti!" "Was that it ? Ah ! yes — for the cloak be- gan to turn slowly. He repeated the charm again, more distinctly and firmly, when it gave a gentle dip, like a nod of satisfaction, and immediately started back, as fast as ever, in the direction of the tower. 102 The Little Lame Prince. He reached the sky-light, which he found exactly as he had left it, and slipped in, cloak and all, as easily as he had got out. He had scarcely reached the floor, and was still sitting in the middle of his travel- ing-cloak — like a frog on a water-lily leaf, as his godmother had expressed it — when he heard his nurse's voice outside. " Bless us ! what has become of your Royal Highness all this time ? To sit stu- pidly here at the window till it is quite dark, and leave the sky-light open, too. Prince ! what can you be thinking of? You are the silliest boy I ever knew." " Am I ?" said he, absently, and never heeding her crossness ; for his only anxiety was lest she might find out any thing. She would have been a very clev per- son to have done so. The instant Prince Dolor got ofi" it, the cloak folded itself up into the tiniest possible parcel, tied all its The Little Lame Prince. 103 own knots, and rolled itself of its own ac- cord into the farthest and darkest corner of the room. If the nurse had seen it, which she didn't, she would have taken it for a mere bundle of rubbish not worth noticing. Shutting the sky-light with an angry bang, she brought in the supper and lit the candles with her usual unhappy expression of countenance. But Prince Dolor hardly saw it ; he only saw, hid in the corner where nobody else could see it, his wonderful traveling-cloak. And though his supper was not particularly nice, he ate it heartily, scarcely hearing a word of his nurse's grumbling, which to-night seemed to have taken the place of her sullen silence. " Poor woman !" he thought, when he paused a minute to listen and look at her with those quiet, happy eyes, so like his mother's. " Poor woman ! she hasn't got a traveling-cloak!" 104 The Little Lame Prince. And when he was left alone at last, and crept into his little bed, where he lay awake a good while, watching what he called his " sky-garden," all planted with stars, like flowers, his chief thought was—" I must be up very early to-morrow morning, and get my lessons done, and then I'll go traveling all over the world on my beautiful cloak." So next day he opened his eyes with the sun, and went with a good heart to his les- sons. They had hitherto been the chief amusement of his dull life; now, I am afraid, he found them also a little dull. But he tried to be good — I don't say Prince Dolor always was good, but he generally tried to be — and when his mind went wan- dering after the dark, dusty corner where lay his precious treasure he resolutely called it back again. " For," he said, " how ashamed my god- The Little Lame Prince. 105 mother would be of me if I grew up a stupid boy." But the instant lessons were done, and he was alone in the empty room, he crept across the floor, undid the shabby little bundle, his fingers trembling with eager- ness, climbed on the chair, and thence to the table, so as to unbar the sky-light — he forgot nothing now — said his magic charm, and was away out of the window, as chil- dren say, " in a few minutes les£ than no time." Nobody missed him. He was accustomed to sit so quietly always that his nurse, though only in the next room, perceived no differ- ence. And besides, she might have gone in and out a dozen times, and it would have been just the same ; she never could have found out his absence. For what do you think the clever god- mother did ? She took a quantity of moon- 106 The Little Lame Prince. shine, or some equally convenient material, and made an image, which she set on the window-sill reading, or by the table draw- ing:, where it looked so like Prince Dolor that any common observer would never have guessed the deception ; and even the boy would have been puzzled to know which was the image and which was him- self. And all this while the happy little fellow was away, floating in the air on his magic cloak, and seeing all sorts of wonderful things — or they seemed wonderful to him, who had hitherto seen nothing at all. First, there were the flowers that grew on the plain, which, whenever the cloak came near enough, he strained his eyes to look at; they were very tiny, but very beau- tiful — white saxifrage, and yellow lotus, and ground-thistles, purple and bright, with many others the names of which I do not The Little Lame Prince. 107 know. No more did Prince Dolor, though he tried to find them out by recalling any pictures he had seen of them. But he was too far oil"; and though it was pleasant enough to admire them as brilliant patches of color, still he would have liked to examine them all. lie was, as a little girl I know once said of a playfellow, " a very examining hoy." " I wonder," he thought, " whether I could see better through a pair of glasses like those my nurse reads with, and takes such care of. How I would take care of them, too, if I only had a pair!" Immediately he felt something queer and hard fixing itself to the bridge of his nose. It was a pair of the prettiest gold spectacles ever seen; and looking downward, he found that, though ever so high above the ground, he could see every minute blade of grass, every tiny bud and flower — nay, even the insects that walked over them. I s >'f 108 The Little Lame Prince. " Thank you, thank you !" he cried, in a gush of gratitude — to any body or every body, but especially to his dear godmother, whom he felt sure had given him this new present. He amused himself with it for ever so long, with his chin pressed on the rim of the cloak, gazing down upon the grass, every square foot of which was a mine of wonders. Then, just to rest his eyes, he turned them up to the sky — the blue, bright, empty sky, which he had looked at so often and seen nothing. Now surely there was something. A long, black, wavy line, moving on in the distance, not by chance, as the clouds move apparently, but deliberately, as if it were alive. He might have seen it before — he almost thought he had; but then he could not tell what it was. Looking at it through his spectacles, he discovered that it really /'!. vt,; "r* ' $] "A rocking-horse had come, packed on the hack of the other." a race, such as I read of or see in pictures. ?%. What a lot of things there are that I should like to do ! But first I should like to go fhi and see the world. I'll try." Apparently it was his godmother's plan 116 The Little Lame Prince. always to let him try, and try hard, before lie gained any thing. This day the knots that tied up his traveling-cloak were more than usually troublesome, and he was a full half-hour before he got out into the open air, and found himself floating merrily over the top of the tower. Hitherto, in all his journeys, he had never let himself go out of sight of home, for the dreary building, after all, was home — he remembered no other; but now he felt sick of the very look of his tower, with its round smooth walls and level battlements. " Off we go !" cried he, when the cloak stirred itself with a slight, slow motion, as if waiting his orders. " Any where — any where, so that I am away from here, and out into the world." As he spoke, the cloak, as if seized sud- denly with a new idea, bounded forward The Little Lame Prince. 117 and went skimming through the air, faster than the very fastest railway train. " Gee-up, gee-up !" cried Prince Dolor, in great excitement. " This is us good as riding a race." And he patted the cloak as if it had been a horse — that is, in the way he supposed horses ought to be patted — and tossed his head hack to meet the fresh breeze, and pulled his coat-collar up and his hat down, as he felt the wind grow keener and colder — colder than any thing he had ever known. " What does it matter though ?" said he. " I'm a boy, and boys ought not to mind any thing." Still, for all his good-will, by and by he began to shiver exceedingly; also, he had come away without his dinner, and he grew frightfully hungry. And to add to every thing, the sunshiny day changed into rain, 118 The Little Lame Prince. and being high up, in the very midst of the clouds, he got soaked through and through in a very few minutes. " Shall I turn back ?" meditated he. " Suppose I say '-Abracadabra ?' " Here he stopped, for already the cloak gave an obedient lurch, as if it were expect- ing to be sent home immediately. " No — I can't — I can't go back ! I must go forward and see the world ! But oh ! if I had but the shabbiest old rug to shelter me from the rain, or the driest morsel of bread and cheese, just to keep me from starving ! Still, I don't much mind ; I'm a prince, and ought to be able to stand any thing. Hold on, cloak, we'll make the best of it." It was a most curious circumstance, but no sooner had he said this than he felt steal- ing over his knees something warm and soft; in fact, a most beautiful bearskin, The Little Lame Prince. 119 which folded itself round him quite natu- rally, and cuddled him up as closely as if he had been the cub of the kind old mother- bear that once owned it. Then feeling in his pocket, which suddenly stuck out in a marvelous way, he found, not exactly bread and cheese, nor even sandwiches, but a packet of the most delicious food he had ever tasted. It was not meat, nor pudding, but a combination of both, and it served him excellently for both. He ate his din- ner with the greatest gusto imaginable, till he grew so thirsty he did not know what to do. " Couldn't I have just one drop of water, if it didn't trouble you too much, kindest of godmothers?" For he really thought this want was be- yond her power to supply. All the water which supplied Hopeless Tower was pumped up with difficulty from a deep artesian well 120 The Little Lame Prince. — there were such things known in ISTo- mansland — which had been made at the foot of it. But around, for miles upon miles, the desolate plain was perfectly dry. And above it, high in air, how could he expect to find a well, or to get even a drop of water ? lie forgot one thing — the rain. While he spoke, it came on in another wild burst, as if the clouds had poured themselves out in a passion of crying, wetting him certainly, but leaving behind, in a large glass vessel which he had never noticed before, enough water to quench the thirst of two or three boys at least. And it was so fresh, so pure — as water from the clouds always is when it does not catch the Soot from city chim- neys and other defilements — that he drank it, every drop, with the greatest delight and content. Also, as soon as it was empty the rain The Little Lame Prince. 121 filled it again, bo that he was able to wash his face and hands and refresh himself ex- ceedingly. Then the sun came out and dried him in no time. After that he curled himself up under the bearskin rug, and though he determined to he the most wide- awake hoy imaginable, being so exceed- ingly snug and warm and comfortable, Prince Dolor condescended to shut his eyes, just for one minute. The next min- ute he was sound asleep. "When he awoke, he found himself fioat- ing over a country quite unlike any thing he had ever seen before. Yet it was nothing but what most of you children see every day and never notice it — a pretty country landscape, like England, Scotland, France, or any other land you choose to name. It had no particular feat- ures — nothing in it grand or lovely — was simply pretty, nothing more ; yet to Prince 122 The Little Lame Prince Dolor, who had never gone beyond his lonely tower and level plain, it appeared the most charming sight imaginable. First, there was a river. It came tumbling down the hill-side, frothing and foaming, playing at hide-and-seek among the rocks, then bursting out in noisy fun like a child, to bury itself in deep, still pools. After- ward it went steadily on for a while, like a good grown-up person, till it came to an- other big rock, where it misbehaved itself extremely. It turned into a cataract, and went tumbling over and over, after a fash- ion that made the Prince — who had never seen water before, except in his bath or his drinking-cup — clap his hands with delight. " It is so active, so alive ! I like things active and alive !" cried he, and watched it shimmering and dancing, whirling and leap- ing, till, after a few windings and vagaries, it settled into a respectable stream. After The Little Lame Prince. 123 that it went along, deep and quiet ,but flowing steadily on, till it reached a large lake, into which it slipped, and so ended its course. All this the boy saw, either with his own naked eye or through his gold spectacles. lie saw also, as in a picture, beautiful but silent, many other things which struck him with wonder, especially a grove of trees. Only think, to have lived to his age (which he himself did not know, as he did not know his own birthday) and never to have seen trees ! As he floated over these oaks, they seemed to him — trunk, branches, and leaves — the most curious sight imagin- able. " If I could only get nearer, so as to touch them," said he, and immediately the obedient cloak ducked down ; Prince Dolor made a snatch at the topmost twig of the tallest tree, and caught a bunch of leaves in his hand. 124 The Little Lame Prince. Just a bunch of green leaves — such as we see in myriads ; watching them bud, grow, fall, and then kicking them along on the ground as if they were worth nothing. Yet, how wonderful they are — every one of them a little different. I don't suppose you could ever find two leaves exactly alike in form, color, and size — no more than you could find two faces alike, or two char- acters exactly the same. The plan of this world is infinite similarity and yet infinite variety. Prince Dolor examined his leaves with the greatest curiosity — and also a little caterpillar that he found walking over one of them. He coaxed it to take an additional walk over his finger, which it did with the greatest dignity and decorum, as if it, Mr. Caterpillar, were the most important indi- vidual in existence. It amused him for a long time ; and when a sudden gust of wind The Little Lame Prince. 125 blew it overboard, leaves and all, be felt quite disconsolate. " Still there must be many live creatures in the world besides caterpillars. I should like to see a few of them." " Prince Dolor made a snatch at the topmost twig of the tallest tree." The cloak gave a little dip down, as if to say " All right, my Prince," and bore him across the oak forest to a long fertile valley — called in Scotland a strath, and in Eng- 126 The Little Lame Prince. land a weald, but what they call it in the tongue of Nomansland I do not know. It was made up of corn-fields, pasture-fields, lanes, hedges, brooks, and ponds. Also, in it were what the Prince desired to see — a quantity of living creatures, wild and tame. Cows and horses, lambs and sheep, fed in the meadows ; pigs and fowls walked about the farm-yards; and, in lonelier places, hares scudded, rabbits burrowed, and pheasants and partridges, with many other smaller birds, inhabited the fields and woods. Through his wonderful spectacles the Prince could see every thing ; but, as I said, it was a silent picture ; he was too high up to catch any thing except a faint murmur, which only aroused his anxiety to hear more. " I have as good as two pair of eyes," he thought. " I wonder if my godmother would give me a second pair of ears." The Little Lame Prince. 127 Scarcely had he spoken than he found lying on his lap the most curious little par- cel, all done up in silvery paper. And it contained — what do you think ? Actually a pair of silver ears, which, when he tried them on, fitted so exactly over his own that he hardly felt them, except for the differ- ence they made in his hearing. There is something which we listen to daily and never notice. I mean the sounds of the visible world, animate and inanimate. Winds blowing, waters flowing, trees stir- ring, insects whirring (dear me ! I am quite unconsciously writing rhyme), with the va- rious cries of birds and beasts — lowing cat- tle, bleating sheep, grunting pigs, and cack- ling hens — all the infinite discords that somehow or other make a beautiful har- mony. We hear this, and are so accustomed to it that we think nothing of it; but Prince 128 The Little Lame Prince. Dolor, who had lived all his days in the dead silence of Hopeless Tower, heard it for the first time. And oh ! if you had seen his face. He listened, listened, as if he could never have done listening. And he looked and looked, as if he could not gaze enough. Above all, the motion of the animals de- lighted him ; cows walking, horses gallop- ing, little lambs and calves running races across the meadows, were such a treat for him to watch — he that was always so quiet. But, these creatures having four legs, and he only two, the difference did not strike him painfully. Still, by and by, after the fashion of chil- dren — and, I fear, of many big people too — he began to want something more than he had, something that would be quite fresh and new. " Godmother," he said, having now begun The Little Lame Prince. 129 to believe that, whether he saw her or not, he could always speak to her with full con- fidence that she would hear him — " God- mother, all these creatures I like exceed- ingly; hut I should like hotter to see a creature like myself. Couldn't you show me just one little boy ?" There was a sigh behind him — it might have been only the wind — and the cloak re- mained so long balanced motionless in air that he was half afraid his godmother had forgotten him, or was offended with him for asking too much. Suddenly a shrill whistle startled him, even through his silver ears, and looking downward, he saw start up from behind a bush on a common, some- thing — Neither a sheep nor a horse nor a cow — nothing upon four legs. This creature had only two ; but they were long, straight, and strong. And it had a lithe, active body, 130 The Little Lame Prince. and a curly head of black hair set upon its shoulders. It was a boy, a shepherd-boy, about the Prince's own age — but oh ! so dif- ferent. Not that he was an ugly boy — though his face was r almost as red as his hands, and his shaggy hair matted like the backs of his own sheep. He was rather a nice-looking lad ; and seemed so bright and healthy and good-tempered — "jolly " would be the word, only I am not sure if they have such a one in the elegant language of Nbmans- land — that the little Prince watched him with great admiration. " Might he come and play with me ? I would drop down to the ground to him, or fetch him up to me here. Oh, how nice it would be if I only had a little boy to play with me !" But the cloak, usually so obedient to his wishes, disobeyed him now. There were "It was a boy, a shepherd-boy." ( 131 ) The Little Lame Prince. 133 evidently some things which his godmo- ther either could not or would not give. The cloak hung stationary, high in air, never attempting to descend. The shepherd- lad evidently took it for a large bird, and, shading his eyes, looked up at it, making the Prince's heart beat fast. However, nothing ensued. The boy turned round, with a long, loud whistle — seemingly his usual and only way of ex- pressing his feelings. He could not make the thing out exactly — it was a rather mys- terious affair, but it did not trouble him much — he was not an " examining " boy. Then, stretching himself, for he had been evidently half asleep, he began flopping his shoulders with his arms, to wake and warm himself; while his dog, a rough collie, who had been guarding the sheep meanwhile, began to jump upon him, barking with de- light. 134 The Little Lame Prince. " Down, Snap, down ! Stop that, or I'll thrash you," the Prince heard him say; though with such a rough, hard voice and queer pronunciation that it was difficult to make the words out. " Hollo ! Let's warm ourselves by a race." They started off together, boy and dog — barking and shouting, till it was doubtful which made the most noise or ran the fast- est. A regular steeple-chase it was : first across the level common, greatly disturbing the quiet sheep; and then tearing away across country, scrambling through hedges, and leaping ditches, and tumbling up and down over plowed fields. They did not seem to have any thing to run for — but as if they did it, both of them, for the mere pleasure of motion. And what a pleasure that seemed ! To the dog of course, but scarcely less so to the boy. How he skimmed along over the The Little Lame Prince. 135 ground — liis cheeks glowing, and his hair Hying, and his logs — oh, what a pair of legs he had! Prince Dolor watched him with great in- tentness, and in a state of excitement almost equal to that of the runner himself — for a while. Then the sweet, pale face grew a trifle paler, the lips began to quiver, and the eyes to till. "How nice it must be to run like that!" he said softly, thinking that never — no, never in this world — would he be able to do the same. Now he understood what his godmother had meant when she gave him his traveling- cloak, and why he had heard that sigh — he was sure it was hers — when he had asked to see "just one little boy." " I think I had rather not look at him again," said the poor little Trince, drawing himself back into the centre of his cloak, 136 The Little Lame Prince. and resuming his favorite posture, sitting like a Turk, with his arms wrapped round his feeble, useless legs. " You're no good to me," he said, patting them mournfully. " You never will be any good to me. I wonder why I had you at all ; I wonder why I was born at all, since I was not to grow up like other little boys. Why not ?" A question so strange, so sad, yet so often occurring in some form or other in this world — -as you will find, my children, when you are older — that even if he had put it to his mother she could only have answered it, as we have to answer many as difficult things, by simply saying, " I don't know." There is much that we do not know, and can not understand — we big folks no more than you little ones. We have to accept it all just as you have to accept any thing which your parents may tell you, even The Little Lame Prince. 137 though you don't as yet see the reason of it. You may some time, if you do exactly as they tell you, and are content to wait. Prince Dolor sat a good while thus, or it appeared to him a good while, so many thoughts came and went through his poor young mind — thoughts of great bitterness, which, little though he was, seemed to make him grow years older in a few minutes. Then he fancied the cloak began to rock gently to and fro, with a soothing kind of motion, as if ho were in somebody's arms : somebody who did not speak, but loved him and comforted him without need of words; not by deceiving him with false encourage- ment or hope, but by making him see the plain, hard truth in all its hardness, and thus letting him quietly face it, till it grew softened down, and did. not seem nearly so dreadful after all. Through the dreary silence and blank- 138 The Little Lame Prince. ness, for he had placed himself so that he could see nothing but the sky, and had taken oft' his silver ears as well as his gold spectacles — what was the use of either when he had no legs with which to walk or run? — up from below there rose a delicious sound. You have heard it hundreds of times, my children, and so have I. When I was a child I thought there was nothing so sweet; and I think so still. It was iust the sons' of a skylark, mounting higher and higher from the ground, till it came so close that Prince Dolor could distinguish his quiver- ing wings and tiny body, almost too tiny to contain such a gush of music. " Oh, you beautiful, beautiful bird !" cried he ; " I should dearly like to take you in and cuddle you. That is, if I could — if I dared." But he hesitated. The little brown creat- or £522 The Little Lame Prince. 130 ure with its loud heavenly voice almost made him afraid. Nevertheless it also made him happy; and he watched and listened — so absorbed that he forgot all regret and pain, forgot every thing in the world except the little lark. It soared and soared, and he was just wondering if it would soar out of sight, and what in the world he should do when it was gone, when it suddenly closed its wings, as larks do when they mean to drop to the ground. But, instead of dropping to the ground, it dropped right into the little boy's breast. What felicity ! If it would only stay ! A tiny, soft thing to fondle and kiss, to sing to him all day long, and be his playfellow and companion, tame and tender, while to the rest of the world it was a wild bird of the air. What a pride, what a delight ! To have something that nobody else had — some- 140 The Little Lame Prince. thing all his own. As the traveling-cloak traveled on, he little heeded where, and the lark still stayed, nestled down in his bosom, hopped from his hand to his shoulder, and kissed him with its dainty beak, as if it loved him, Prince Dolor forgot all his grief, and was entirely happy. But when he got in sight of Hopeless Tower a painful thought struck him. " My pretty bird, what am I to do with you ? If I take you into my room and shut you up there, you, a wild skylark of the air, what will become of you ? I am used to this, but you are not. You will be so miserable; and suppose my nurse should find you — she who can't bear the sound of singing ? Besides, I remember her once telling me that the nicest thing she ever ate in her life was lark pie !" The little boy shivered all over at the thought. And though the merry lark im- The Little Lame Prince. 141 mediately broke into the loudest carol, as if saying derisively that he defied any body to eat him, still Prince Dolor was very un- easy. In another minute he had made up his mind. " ISTo, my bird, nothing so dreadful shall happen to you if I can help it; I would rather do without you altogether. Yes, I'll try. Fly away, my darling, my beautiful ! Good-by, my merry, merry bird." Opening his two caressing hands, in which, as if for protection, he had folded it he let the lark go. It lingered a minute, perching on the rim of the cloak, and look- ing at him with eyes of almost human ten- derness ; then away it flew, far up into the blue sky. It was only a bird. But some time after, when Prince Dolor had eaten his supper — somewhat drearily, except for the thought that he could not possibly sup off lark pie now — and gone 142 The Little Lame Prince. quietly to bed, the old familiar little bed, where he was accustomed to sleep, or lie awake contentedly thinking — suddenly he heard outside the window a little faint carol — faint but cheerful — cheerful, even though it was the middle of the night. The dear little lark ! it had not flown away after all. And it was truly the most extraordinary bird, for, unlike ordinary larks, it kept hovering about the tower in the silence and darkness of the night, out- side the window or over the roof. When- ever he listened for a moment, he heard it singing still. He went to sleep as happy as a king. The Little Laine Prince. 143 CHAPTER VII. " Happy as a king." How far kingb are happy I cannot say, no more than could Prince Dolor, though he had once been a king himself. But he remembered nothing about it, and there was nobody to tell him, except his nurse, who had been forbidden upon pain of death to let him know any thing about his dead parents, or the king his uncle, or indeed any part of his own history. Sometimes he speculated about himself, whether he had had a father and mother as other little boys had, what they had been like, and why he had never seen them. But, knowing nothing about them, he did not miss them — only once or twice, reading pretty stories about little children and their mothers, who helped them when they were 144 The Little Lame Prince. in difficulty, and comforted them when they were sick, he, feeling ill and dull and lonely, wondered what had become of his mother, and why she never came to see him. Then, in his history lessons, of course he read about kings and princes, and the gov- ernments of different countries, and the events that happened there. And though he but faintly took in all this, still he did take it in a little, and worried his young brain about it, and perplexed his nurse with questions, to which she returned sharp and mysterious answers, which only set him thinking the more. He had plenty of time for thinking. After his last journey in the traveling-cloak, the journey which had given him so much pain, his desire to see the world had some- how faded away. lie contented himself with reading his books, and looking out of the tower windows, and listenine; to his be- The Little Lame Prince. 14^ loved little lark, which had come home with him that day, and never left him again. True, it kept out of the way ; and though his nurse sometimes dimly heard it, and said, " What is that horrid noise outside V she never got the faintest chance of making in into a lark pie. Prince Dolor had his pet all to himself, and though he seldom saw it, he knew it was near him, and he caught continually, at odd hours of the day, and even in the night, fragments of its de- licious song. All during the winter — so far as there ever was any difference between summer and winter in Hopeless Tower — the little bird cheered and amused him. He scarcely needed any thing more — not even his travel- ing-cloak, which lay bundled up unnoticed in a corner, tied up in its innumerable knots. ISTor did his godmother come near him. It seemed as if she had given these treasures 10 146 The Little Lame Prince. and left him alone — to use them or lose them , apply them or misapply them , according to his own choice. That is all we can do with children when they grow into big children old enough to distinguish between right and wrong, and too old to be forced to do either. Prince Dolor was now quite a big boy. Not tall — alas ! he never could be that, with his poor little shrunken legs, which were of no use, only an encumbrance. But he was stout and strong, with great sturdy shoul- ders, and muscular arms, upon which ho could swing himself about almost like a monkey. As if in compensation for his useless lower limbs, Nature had given to these extra strength and activity. His face, too, was very handsome ; thinner, firmer, more manly ; but still the sweet face of his* childhood — his mother's own face. How his mother would have liked to look at him ! Perhaps she did — who knows ? The Little Lame Prince. 147 tf The boy was not a stupid hoy, cither. He could learn almost any thing he chose — and he did choose, which was more than half the battle. lie never gave up his lessons till he had learned them all — never thought it a punishment that he had to work at them, and that they cost him a deal of trouble sometimes. " But," thought he, " men work, and it must be so grand to be a man — a prince, too; audi fancy princes work harder than any body — except kings. The princes I read about generally turn into kings. I wonder" — the boy was always wondering — " Nurse " — and one day he startled her with a sudden question — " tell me — shall I ever be a king ?" The woman stood, perplexed beyond ex- pression. So long a time had passed by since her crime — if it were a crime — and her sentence, that she now seldom thought 148 The Little Lame Prince. of either. Even her punishment — to be shut up for life in Hopeless Tower — she had gradually got used to. Used also to the little lame Prince, her charge — whom at first she had hated, though she carefully did every thing to keep him alive, since upon him her own life hung. But latterly she had ceased to hate him, and, in a sort of way, almost loved him — at least, enough to be sorry for him — an innocent child, im- prisoned here till he grew into an old man, and became a dull, worn-out creature like herself. Sometimes, watching him, she felt more sorry for him than even for herself; and then, seeing she looked a less miserable and ugly woman, he did not shrink from her as usual. He did not now. " Nurse — dear nurse," said he, " I don't mean to vex you, but tell me — what is a king ? shall I ever be one ?-" When she began to think less of herself The Little Lame Prince. 149 and more of the child, the woman's courage increased. The idea came to her — what harm would it be, even if he did know his own history ? Perhaps he ought to know it — for there had been various ups and downs, usurpations, revolutions, and restora- tions in Nbmansland, as in most other coun- tries. Something might happen — who could tell ? Changes might occur. Possibly a crown would even yet bo set upon those pretty, fair curls — which she began to think prettier than ever when she saw the imagi- nary coronet upon them. She sat down, considering whether her oath, never to " say a word " to Prince Dolor about himself, would be broken if she were to take a pencil and write what was to be told. A mere quibble — a mean, mis- erable quibble. But then she was a miser- able woman, more to be pitied than scorned. After long doubt, and with great trepida- 150 The Little Lame Prince. tion, she put her finger to her lips, and taking the Prince's slate — with the sponge tied to it, ready to rub out the writing in a minute — she wrote — " You arc a king." Prince Dolor started. His face grew pale, and then flushed all over; his eyes glistened ; he held himself erect. Lame as he was, any body could see he was born to be a king. " Hush !" said his nurse, as he was begin- ning to speak. And then, terribly fright- ened all the while — people who have done wrong always are frightened — she wrote down In a few hurried sentences his history. How his parents had died — his uncle had usurped his throne, and sent him to end his days in this lonely tower. " I, too," added she, bursting into tears. " Unless, indeed, you could get out into the world, and fight for your rights like a man. The Little Lame Prince. 151 And fight for me also, my Prince, that I may not die in this desolate place." "Poor old nurse!" said the boy, compas- sionately. For somehow, boy as he was, "Taking the Prince's slate, she wrote, 'You are a king.' " when he heard he was born to be a king 1 , he felt like a man — like a king — who could afford to be tender because he was strong. lie scarcely slept that night, and even though he heard his little lark singing in 152 The Little Lame Prince. the sunrise, he barely listened to it. Things more serious and important had taken pos- session of his mind. " Suppose," thought he, " I were to do as she says and go out into the world, no mat- ter how it hurts me — the world of peoples- active people, as active as that boy I saw. They might only laugh at me — poor help- less creature that I am ; but still I might show them I could do something. At any rate, I might go and see if there were any thing for me to do. . Godmother, help me!" It was so long since he had asked her help that he was hardly surprised when he got no answer — only the little lark outside the window sang louder and louder, and the sun rose, flooding the room with light. Frincc Dolor sprang out of bed, and be- gan dressing himself, which was hard work, for he was not used to it— he had always The Little Lame Prince. 153 been accustomed to depend upon his nurse for every thing. "But I must now learn to be independ- ent," thought he. " Faney a king being dressed like a baby !" So he did the best he could — awkwardly but cheerily — and then he leaped to the corner where lay his traveling-eloak, untied it as before, and watched it unrolling itself — which it did rapidly, with a hearty good- will, as if quite tired of idleness. So was Prince Dolor — or felt as if he were. lie jumped into the middle of it, said his charm, and was out through the sky-light imme- diately. " Good-by, pretty lark!" he shouted, as he passed it on the wing, still warbling its carol to the newly risen sun. " You have been my pleasure, my delight; now I must go and work. Siug to old nurse till I come back again. Perhaps she'll hear you — per- 154 The Little Lame Prince. haps she won't — but it will do her good all the same. Good-by!" But, as the cloak hung irresolute in air, he suddenly remembered that he had not determined where to go — indeed, he did not know, and there was nobody to tell him. " Godmother," he cried, in much per- plexity, " you know what I want — at least, I hope you do, for I hardly do myself — take me where I ought to go; show me what- ever I ought to see — never mind what I like to see," as a sudden idea came into his mind that he might see many painful and dis- agreeable things. But this journey was not for pleasure — as before. He was not a baby now, to do nothing but play — big boys do not always play. Nor men neither — they work. Thus much Prince Dolor knew — though very little more. And as the cloak started off, traveling faster than he had ever known it to do — through sky-land and The Little Lame Prince. 15 cloud-land, over freezing mountain-tops, and desolate stretches of forest, and smiling cul- tivated plains, and great lakes that seemed to him almost as shoreless as the sea — he was often rather frightened. But he crouched down, silent and quiet; what was the use of making a fuss? and, wrapping himself up in his hearskin, waited for what was to happen. After some time he heard a murmur in the distance, increasing more and more till it grew like the hum of a gigantic hive of bees. And, stretching his chin over the rim of his cloak, Prince Dolor saw — far, far below him, yet, with his gold spectacles and silver ears on, he could distinctly hear and see — What ? Most of us have some time or other visited a great metropolis — have wandered through its net-work of streets — lost ourselves in its crowds of people — looked up at its tall rows 156 The Little Lame Prince. ,of houses, its grand public buildings, churches, and squares. Also, perhaps, we have peeped into its miserable little back alleys, where dirty children play in gutters all day and half the night — or where men reel tipsy and women fight — where even young boys go about picking pockets, with nobody to tell them it is wrong except the policeman, and he simply takes them off to prison. And all this wretchedness is close behind the grandeur — like the two sides of the leaf of a book. An awful sight is a large city, seen any how, from any where. But, suppose you were to see it from the upper air, where, with your eyes and ears open, you could take in every thing at once ? What would it look like ? How would you feel about it ? I hardly know myself. Do you ? Prince Dolor had need to be a king — that is, a boy with a Tangly nature — to be able The Little Lame Prince. 157 to stand such a sight without being utterly overcome. But he was very much bewil- dered — as bewildered as a blind person who is suddenly made to see. lie gazed down on the city below him, and then put his hand over his eyes. " I can't bear to look at it, it is so beauti- ful — so dreadful. And I don't understand it — not one bit. There is nobody to tell me about it. I wish I had somebody to speak to." " Do you ? Then pray speak to me. I was always considered good at conversa- tion." The voice that squeaked out this reply was an excellent imitation of the human one, though it came only from a bird. No lark this time, however, but a great black and white creature that flew into the cloak, and began walking round and round on the edge of it with a dignified stride, one foot 158 The Little Lame Prince. before the other, like any unfeatherccl biped you could name. "I haven't the honor of your acquaint- ance, sir," said the boy politely. "Ma'am, if you please. I am a mother- bird, and my name is Mag, and I shall be happy to tell you every thing you want to know. For I know a great deal; and I enjoy talking. My family is of great an- tiquity ; we have built in this palace for hun- dreds — that is to say, dozens of years. I am intimately acquainted with the King, the Queen, and the little princes and prin- cesses — also the maids of honor, and all the inhabitants of the city. I talk a good deal, but I always talk sense, and I dare say I should be exceedingly useful to a poor lit- tle ignorant boy like you." " I am a prince," said the other gently. " All right. And I am a magpie. You will find me a most respectable bird." 160 The Little Lame Prince. all. One half the people seemed so happy and busy — hurrying up and down the full streets, or driving lazily along the parks in their grand carriages, while the other half were so wretched and miserable. " Can't the world be made a little more level ? I would try to do it if I were the king." "But you're not the king; only a little goose of a boy," returned the Magpie loftily. " And I'm here not to explain things, only to show them. Shall I show you the royal palace?" It was a very magnificent palace. It had terraces and gardens, battlements and tow- ers. It extended over acres of ground, and had in it rooms enough to accommodate half the city. Its windows looked in all directions, but none of *them had any par- ticular view — except a small one, high up toward the roof, which looked onto the The Little Lame Prince. 101 Beautiful Mountains. But since the Queen f^L died there it had been closed, hoarded up, indeed, the Magpie said. It was so little and inconvenient that nobody cared to live in it. Besides, the lower apartments, which had no view, were magnificent — worthy of being inhabited by his Majesty the King. " I should like to see the King," said Prince Dolor. But what followed was so important that I must take another chapter to tell it in. 11 162 The Little Lame Prince. &** CHAPTER VIII. "What, I wonder, would be most people's idea of a king ? What was Prince Dolor's ? Perhaps a very splendid personage, with a crown on his head and a sceptre in his hand, sitting on a throne and judging the people. Always doing right, and never wrong — " The king can do no wrong " was a law laid down in olden times. Never cross or tired or sick or suffering; per- fectly handsome and well-dressed, calm and good-tempered, ready to see and hear every body, and discourteous to nobody ; all things always going well with him, and nothing unpleasant ever happening. This, probably, was what Prince Dolor expected to see. And what did he see? But I must tell you how he saw it. The Little Lame Prince. 163 "Ah," said the Magpie, "no levee to- day. The King is ill, though his Majesty does not wish it to be generally known — it would be so very inconvenient. He can't see you, but perhaps you might like to go and take a look at him in a way I often do ? It is so very amusing." Amusing, indeed I The Prince was just now too much ex- cited to talk much. Was he not o;oing to see the King his uncle, who had succeeded his father and dethroned himself; had stepped into all the pleasant things that he, Prince Dolor, ought to have had, and shut him up in a desolate tower? What was he like, this great, bad, clever man ? Had he got all the things he wanted, which another ought to have had ? And did he enjoy them ? " Nobody knows," answered the Magpie, just as if she had been sitting inside the 164 The Little Lame Prince. Prince's heart, instead of on the top of his shoulder. " He is a king, and that's enough. For the rest, nobody knows." As she spoke, Mag flew down onto the palace roof, where the cloak had rested, set- tling down between the great stacks of chimneys as comfortably as if on the ground. She pecked at the tiles with her beak — truly she was a wonderful bird — and imme- diately a little hole opened, a sort of door, through which could be seen distinctly the chamber below. " Now look in, my Prince. Make haste, for I must soon shut it up again." But the boy hesitated. " Isn't it rude ? — won't they think us intruding ?" " Oh dear no ! there's a hole like this in every palace ; dozens of holes, indeed. Every body knows it, but nobody speaks of it. Intrusion ! Why, though the royal family are supposed to live shut up behind The Little Lame Prince. 105 stone walls ever so tliick, all the world knows that they live in a glass house where every body can see them and throw a stone at them. Now, pop down on your knees, and take a peep at his Majesty !" His Majesty ! The Prince gazed eagerly down into a large room, the largest room he had ever beheld, with furniture and hangings grander than any thing he conld have ever imagined. A stray sunbeam, coming through a crevice of the darkened win- dows, struck across the carpet, and it was the loveliest carpet ever woven — just like a bed of flowers to walk over; only nobody walked over it, the room being perfectly empty and silent. " Where is the King ?" asked the puzzled boy. " There," said Mag, pointing with one wrinkled claw to a magnificent bed, large 166 The Little Lame Prince. enough to contain six people. In the centre of it, just visible under the silken counter- pane — quite straight and still — with its head on the lace pillow, lay a small hgure, something like wax-work, fast asleep — very- fast asleep ! There was a number of spark- ling rings on the tiny yellow hands, that were curled a little, helplessly, like a baby's, outside the coverlet ; the eyes were shut, the nose looked sharp and thin, and the long gray beard hid the mouth and lay over the breast. A sight not ugly nor frighten- ing, only solemn and quiet. And so very silent — two little flies buzzing about the curtains of the bed making the only audible sound. " Is that the King ?" whispered Prince Dolor. " Yes," replied the bird. He had been angry — furiously angry — ever since he knew how his uncle had taken 168 The Little Lame Prince. " What is the matter with him ?" asked the Prince again. " He is dead," said the Magpie, with a croak. "No, there was not the least use in being angry with him now. On the contrary, the Prince felt almost sorry for him, except that he looked so peaceful, with all his cares at rest. And this w T as being dead ? So even kings died? " Well, well, he hadn't an easy life, folk say, for all his grandeur. Perhaps he is glad it is over. Good-by, your Majesty." With another cheerful tap of her beak, Mistress Mag shut down the little door in the tiles, and Prince Dolor's first and last sight of his uncle was ended. He sat in the centre of his traveling-cloak, silent and thoughtful. " What shall we do now ?" said the Mag- pie. " There's nothing much more to be The Little Lame Prince. 169 done with his Majesty, except a fine funeral, which I shall certainly go and see. All the world will. He interested the world ex- ceedingly when he was alive, and he ought to do it now he's dead — just once more. And since he can't hear me, I may as well say that, on the whole, his Majesty is much better dead than alive — if we can only get some body in his place. There'll be such a row in the city presently. Suppose we float up again, and see it all — at a safe distance, though. It will be such fun." ■ « What will be fun ?" " A revolution." Whether any body except a magpie would have called it " fun " I don't know, but it certainly was a remarkable scene. As soon as the cathedral bell began to toll and the minute guns to fire, announcing to the kingdom that it was without a kinc; the people gathered in crowds, stopping at 170 The Little Lame Prince. street corners to talk together. The mur- mur now and then rose into a shout, and the shout into a roar. When Prince Dolor, quietly floating in upper air, caught the sound of their different and opposite cries, it seemed to him as if the whole city had gone mad together. "Long live the King!" "The King is dead — down with the King !" " Down with the crown, and the King, too!" "Hurrah for the Republic!" "Hurrah for no gov- ernment at all !" Such were the shouts which traveled up to the traveling-cloak. And then began — oh, what a scene ! When you children are grown men and women — or before — you will hear and read in books about what are called revolutions — earnestly I trust that neither I nor you may ever see one. But they have hap- pened, and may happen again, in other The Little Lame Prince. 171 countries besides Nbmansland, when wicked kings have helped to make their people wicked too, or out of an unrighteous nation have sprung rulers equally bad; or, without cither of these causes, when a restless coun- try has fancied any change better than no change at all. For me, I don't like changes, unless pretty sure that they are for good. And how good can come out of absolute evil — the horrible evil that went on this night under Prince Dolor's very eyes — soldiers shooting people down by hundreds in the streets, scaffolds erected, and heads dropping off — houses burned, and women and children mur- dered — this is more than I can under- stand. But all these things you will find in his- tory, my children, and must by and by judge for yourselves the right and wrong of them, as far as any body ever can judge. 172 The Little Lame Prince. Prince Dolor saw it all. Things hap- pened so fast one after another that they quite confused his faculties. " Oh, let me go home," he cried at last, stopping his ears and shutting his eyes; " only let me go home !" for even his lonely tower seemed home, and its dreariness and silence absolute paradise after all this. " Good-by, then," said the Magpie, flap- ping her wings. She had been chatting in- cessantly all day and all night, for it was ac- tually thus long that Prince Dolor had been hovering over the city, neither eating nor sleeping, with all these terrible things hap- pening under his very eyes. " You've had enough, I suppose, of seeing the world?" " Oh, I have — I have !" cried the Prince, with a shudder. " That is, till next time. All right, your Royal Highness. You don't know me, but I know you. We may meet again some time." The Little Lame Prince. 173 She looked at him with her clear, pierc- ing eyes, sharp enough to see through every thing, and it seemed as if they changed from bird's eyes to human eyes — the very eyes of his godmother, whom he had not seen for ever so long. But the minute afterward she became only a bird, and with a screech and a chatter, spread her wings and flew away. Prince Dolor fell into a kind of swoon, of utter misery, bewilderment, and ex- haustion, and when he awoke he found himself in his own room — alone and quiet — with the dawn just breaking, and the long rim of yellow light in the horizon glimmering through the window-panes. 174 The Little Lame Prince. CHAPTER IX. When Prince Dolor sat up in bed, trying to remember where he was, whither he had been, and what he had seen the day before, he perceived that his room was empty. Generally his nurse rather worried him by breaking his slumbers, coming in and " setting things to rights," as she called it Now the dust lay thick upon chairs and tables; there was no harsh voice heard to scold him for not getting up immediately — which, I am sorry to say, this boy did not al- ways do. For he so enjoyed lying still, and thinking lazily about every thing or nothing, that, if he had not tried hard against it, he would certainly have become like those celebrated "Two little men Who lay in their bed till the clock struck ten." The Little Lame Prince 175 It was striking ten now, and still no nurse was to be seen. lie was rather relieved at first, for he felt so tired ; and besides, when he stretched out his arm, he found to his dismay that he had gone to bed in his clothes. Very uncomfortable lie felt, of course; and just a little frightened. Especially when he began to call and call again, but nobody answered. Often lie used to think how nice it would be to get rid of his nurse and live in this tower all by himself — like a sort of monarch, able to do every thing he liked, and leave undone all that he did not want to do ; but now that this seemed really to have happened, he did not like it at all. " Nurse — dear nurse — please come back !" he called out. " Come back, and I will be the best boy in all the land." And when she did not come back, and 176 The Little Lame Prince. nothing but silence answered his lamentable call, he very nearly began to cry. " This won't do," he said at last, clashing the tears from his eyes. " It's just like a baby, and I'm a big boy — shall be a man some day. What has happened, I wonder ? I'll go* and see." He sprang out of bed — not to his feet, alas ! but to his poor little weak knees, and crawled on them from room to room. All the four chambers were deserted — not for- lorn or untidy, for every thing seemed to have been done for his comfort — the break- fast and dinner things were laid, the food spread in order. He might live " like a prince," as the proverb is, for several days. But the place was entirely forsaken — there was evidently not a creature but himself in the solitary tower. A great fear came upon the poor boy. Lonely as his life had been, he had never The Little Lame Prince. 177 known what it was to be absolutely alone. A kind of despair seized him — no violent anger or terror, but a sort el' patient desola- tion. " What in the world am I to do ?" thought he, and sat down in the middle of the floor, half inclined to believe that it would be better to give up entirely, lay himself down, and die. This feeling, however, did not last long, for he was young and strong, and, I said before, by nature a very courageous boy. There came into his head, somehow or other, a proverb that his nurse had taught him — the people of Nomansland were very fond of proverbs — " For every evil under the sun There is a remedy, or there's none ; If there is one, try to find it — If there isn't, never mind it." "I wonder is there a remedy now, and 12 178 The Little Lame Prince. could I find it?" cried the Prince, jumping up and looking out of the window. No help there. He only saw the broad, bleak, sunshiny plain — that is, at first. But by and by, in the circle of mud that sur- rounded the base of the tower, he perceived distinctly the marks of a horse's feet, and just in the spot where the deaf-mute was accustomed to tie up his great black charger, while he himself ascended, there lay the remains of a bundle of hay and a feed of corn. " Yes, that's it. He has come and gone, taking nurse away with him. Poor nurse ! how glad she would be to go !" That was Prince Dolor's first thought. His second — wasn't it natural ? — was a pas- sionate indignation at her cruelty — at the cruelty of all the world toward him, a poor little helpless boy. Then he determined, forsaken as he was, to try and hold on to The Little Lame Prince. 179 the last, and not to die as long as he could possibly help it. Anyhow, it would be easier to die here than out in the world, among the terrible doings which he had just beheld — from the ^JC Ic^r^r^ " There was a grand revolution." midst of which, it suddenly struck him, the deaf-mute had come, contriving somehow to make the nurse understand that the king was dead, and she need have no fear in going back to the capital, where there was 180 The Little Lame Prince. a grand revolution, and every thing turned upside down. So, of course, she had gone. " I hope she'll enjoy it, miserable woman — if they don't cut off her head too." And then a kind of remorse smote him for feeling so bitterly toward her, after all the years she had taken care of him — grudgingly, perhaps, and coldly; still she had taken care of him, and that even to the last ; for, as I have said, all his four rooms were as tidy as possible, and his meals laid out, that he might have no more trouble than could be helped. " Possibly she did not mean to be cruel. I won't judge her," said he. And after- ward he was very glad that he had so deter- mined. For the second time he tried to dress himself, and then to do every thing he could for himself — even to sweeping up the hearth and putting on more coals. " It's a The Little Lame Prince. 181 funny thing for a prince to have to do," said lie, laughing. " But my godmother once said princes need never mind doing any thing." And then he thought a little of his god- mother. Not of summoning her, or asking her to help him — she had evidently left him to help himself, and he was determined to try his best to do it, being a very proud and in- dependent boy — but he remembered her tenderly and regretfully, as if even she had been a little hard upon him — poor, forlorn boy that he was. But he seemed to have seen and learned so much within the last few days that he scarcely felt like a boy, but a man — until he went to bed at night. When I was a child, T used often to think how nice it would be to live in a little house all by my own self — a house built high up in a tree, or far away in a forest, or half-way up a hill-side — so deliciously alone and inde- 182 The Little Lame Prince. pendent. Not a lesson to learn — but no ! I always liked learning my lessons. Any how, to choose the lessons I liked best, to have as many books to read and dolls to play with as ever I wanted : above all, to be free and at rest, with nobody to tease or trouble or scold me, would be charming. For I was a lonely little thing, who liked quietness — as many children do; which other children, and sometimes grown-up people even, can not understand. And so I can understand Prince Dolor. After his first despair, he was not merely comfortable , but actually happy in his solitude, doing every thing for himself, and enjoying every thing by himself — until bed-time. Then he did not like it at all. ISTo more, I suppose, than other children would have liked my imaginary house in a tree, when they had had sufficient of their own com- pany. The Little Lame Prince, 183 But the Ftincc had to bear it — and lie did bear it, like a prince — for fully live days. All thai, time he got up in the morn- ing and went to bed at night without having spoken to a creature, or, indeed, heard a single sound For even his little lark was silent; and as for his traveling-cloak, cither he never thought about it, or else it had been spirited awa}- — for he made no use of it, nor attempted to do so. A very strange existence it was, those five lonely days. lie never entirely forgot it. It threw him back upon himself, and into himself — in a way that all of us have to learn when we grow up, and are the better for it; but it is somewhat hard learning. On the sixth day Prince Dolor had a strange composure in his look, but he was very grave and thin and white. He had nearly come to the end of his provisions — ■ and what was to happen next ? Get out of 184 The Little Lame Prince. •the tower he could not : the ladder the deaf- mute used was always carried away again; and if it had not been, how could the poor boy have used it ? And even if he slung or flung himself down, and by miraculous chance came alive to the foot of the tower, how could he run away ? Fate had been very hard to him, or so it seemed. He made up his mind to die. Not that he wished to die ; on the contrary, there was a great deal that he wished to live to do; but if he must die, he must. Dying did not seem so very dreadful; not even to lie quiet like his uncle, whom he had entirely for- given now, and neither be miserable nor naughty any more, and escape all those hor- rible things that he had seen going on out- side the palace, in that awful place which was called " the world." " It's a great deal nicer here," said the The Little Lame Prince. 185 poor little Prince, and collected all his pretty things round him : his favorite pictures, which he thought he should like to have near him when he died ; his books and toys — no, he had ceased to care for toys now; he only liked them because he had done so as a child. And there he sat very calm and patient, like a king in his castle, waiting for the end. " Still, I wish I had done something first — something worth doing, that somebody might remember me by," thought he. " Suppose I had grown a man, and had had work to do, and people to care for, and was so useful and busy that they liked me, and perhaps even forgot I was lame ? Then it would have been nice to live, I think." A tear came into the little fellow's eyes, and he listened intently through the dead silence for some hopeful sound. Was there one? — was it his little lark, 186 The Little Lame Prince. whom he had almost forgotten ? ISTo, nothing half so sweet. But it really was something— something which came nearer and nearer, so that there was no mistaking it. It was the sound of a trumpet, one of the great silver trumpets so admired in No- mansland. Not pleasant music, but very bold, grand, and inspiring. As he listened to it the boy seemed to re- call many things which had slipped his memory for years, and to nerve himself for whatever might be going to happen. What had happened was this. The poor condemned woman had not been such a wicked woman after all. Per- haps her courage was not wholly disinter- ested, but she had done a very heroic thing. As soon as she heard of the death and bur- ial of the King, and of the changes that were taking place in the country, a daring idea came into her head — to set upon the The Little Lame Prince. 187 throne of Nomansland its rightful heir. Thereupon Bhe persuaded the deaf-mute to take her away with him, and they galloped like the wind from city to city, spreading every where the news that Prince Dolor's death andhurial had heen an invention con- cocted hy his wicked uncle — that he was alive and well, and the noblest young Prince that ever was born. It was a bold stroke, but it succeeded. The country, weary perhaps of the late King's harsh rule, and yet glad to save it- self from the horrors of the last few days, and the still further horrors of no rule at all, and having no particular interest in the other young princes, jumped at the idea of this Prince, who was the son of their late good King and the beloved Queen Dolorez. " Hurrah for Prince Dolor ! Let Prince Dolor be our sovereign !" rang from end to end of the kingdom. Every body tried to 188 The Little Lame Prince. .remember what a dear baby he once was — how like his mother, who had been so sweet and kind, and his father, the finest-looking king that ever reigned. Nobody remem- bered his lameness — or, if they did, they passed it over as a matter of no conse- quence. They were determined to have him to reign over them, boy as he was — perhaps just because he was a boy, since in that case the great nobles thought they should be able to do as they liked with the country. Accordingly, with a fickleness not con- fined to the people of Nomansland, no sooner was the late King laid in his grave than they pronounced him to have been a usurper; turned all his family out of the palace, and left it empty for the reception of the new sovereign, whom they went to fetch with great rejoicing, a select body of lords, gentlemen, and soldiers traveling The Little Lame Prince. 180 night and day in solemn procession through the country until they reached Hopeless Tower. There they found the Prince, sitting calmly on the floor — deadly pale, indeed, for he expected a quite different end from this, and was 'resolved, if he had to die, to die courageously, like a Prince and a King. But when they hailed him as Prince and King, and explained to him how matters stood, and went down on their knees before him, offering the crown (on a velvet cush- ion, with four golden tassels, each nearly as big as his head) — small though he was and lame, which lameness the courtiers pre- tended not to notice — there came such a glow into his face, such a dignity into his de- meanor, that he became beautiful, king-like. " Yes," he said, " if you desire it, I will be 3 r our king. And I will do my best to make my people happy." 190 The Little Lame Prince. Then there arose, from inside and outside the tower, such a shout as never yet was heard across the lonely plain. Prince Dolor shrank a little from the deafening sound. "How shall I be able to rule all this great people ? You forget, my lords, that I am only a little boy still." " Not so very little," was the respectful answer. " We have searched in the records, and found that your Royal Highness — your Majesty, I mean — is precisely fifteen years old." " Am I ?" said Prince Dolor ; and his first thought was a thoroughly childish pleasure that he should now have a birthday, with a whole nation to keep it. Then he remem- bered that his childish days were done. He was a monarch now. Even his nurse, to whom, the moment he saw her, he had held out his hand, kissed it reverently, and called him ceremoniously " his Majesty the King." ''They went down on their knees before him, offering him the crown on a velvet cushion." ( 191 ) The Little Lame Prince. 193 " A king must be always a king, I sup- pose," said lie half sadly, when, the cere- monies over, ho had been left to himself for just ten minutes, to put off his boy's clothes and be reattired in magnificent robes, be- fore he was conveyed away from his tower to the royal palace. lie could take nothing with him ; indeed, he soon saw that, however politely they spoke, they would not allow him to take any thing. If he was to be their king, he must give up his old life forever. So he looked with tender farewell on his old books, old toys, the furniture he knew so well, and the familiar plain in all its level- ness — ugly yet pleasant, simply because it was familiar. " It will be a new life in a new world," said he to himself; "but I'll remember the old things still. And, oh ! if before I go I could but once see my dear old godmother." 13 194 The Little Lame Prince. "While he spoke he had laid himself down on the bed for a minute or two, rather tired with his grandeur, and confused by the noise of the trumpets which kept playing inces- santly down below. He gazed, half sadly, up to the sky-light, whence there came pour- ing a stream of sun-rays, with innumerable motes floating there, like a bridge thrown between heaven and earth. Sliding down it, as if she had been made of air, came the little old woman in gray. So beautiful looked she — old as she was — that Prince Dolor was at first quite startled by the apparition. Then he held out his arms in eager delight. " Oh, godmother, you have not forsaken me!" " Not at all, my son. You may not have seen me, but I have seen you many a time." "How?" " Oh, never mind. I can turn into any The Little Lame Prince. 195 thing I please, you know. And I have been a bearskin rug, and a crystal goblet — and sometimes I have changed from inani- mate to animate nature, put on feathers, and made myself very comfortable as a bird." "Ha!" laughed the Prince, a new light breaking in upon him, as he caught the infection of her tone, lively and mischievous. " Ha, ha ! a lark, for instance ?" " Or a magpie," answered she, with a capital imitation of Mistress Mag's croaky voice. " Do you suppose I am always sentimental, and never funny? If any thing makes you happy, gay, or grave, don't you think it is more than likely to come through your old godmother ?" " I believe that," said the boy tenderly, holding out his arms. They clasped one another in a close embrace. Suddenly Prince Dolor looked very anx- ious. " You will not leave me, now that I 196 The Little Lame Prince. am a king ? Otherwise I had rather not be a king at all. Promise never to forsake me!" The little old woman laughed gayly. " Forsake you ? that is impossible. But it is just possible you may forsake me. ISTot probable, though. Your mother never did, and she was a queen. The sweetest queen in all the world was the Lady Dolorez." " Tell me about her," said the boy eagerly. " As I get older I think I can understand more. Do tell me." " Not now. You couldn't hear me for the trumpets and the shouting. But when you are come to the palace, ask for a long- closed upper room, which looks out upon the Beautiful Mountains ; open it and take it for your own. Whenever you go there you will always find me, and we will talk together about all sorts of things." " And about my mother?" The Little Lame Prince. 197 The little old woman nodded — and kept nodding and smiling to herself many times, as the boy repeated over and over again the sweet words he had never known or under- stood — " my mother — my mother." " Now I must go," said she, as the trum- pets blared louder and louder, and the shouts of the people showed that they would not endure any delay. " Good-by, Good-by ! Open the window and out I Prince Dolor repeated gayly the musical rhyme — but all the while tried to hold his godmother fast. Vain, vain ! for the moment that a knock- ing was heard at his door the sun went be- hind a eloud, the bright stream of dancing motes vanished, and the little old woman with them — he knew not where. So Prince Dolor quitted his tower — which he had entered so mournfully and 198 The Little Lame Prince. ignominiously as a little helpless baby car- ried in the deaf-mute's arms — quitted it as the great king of Ionian si and. The only thing he took away with him was something so insignificant that none of the lords, gentlemen, and soldiers who es- corted him with such triumphant splendor could possibly notice it — a tiny bundle, which he had found lying on the floor just where the bridge of sunbeams had rested. At once he had pounced upon it, and thrust it secretly into his bosom, where it dwindled into such small proportions that it might have been taken for a mere chest-comforter, a bit of flannel,. or an old pocket-handker- chief. It was his traveling-cloak ! The Little Lame Prince. 190 CHAPTER X. Did Prinee Dolor become a great king ? Was he, though little more than a boy, " the father of his people," as all kings ought to be ? Did his reign last long — long and happy ? and what were the principal events of it, as chronicled in the history of No- mansland ? Why, if I were to answer all these ques- tions I should have to write another book. And I'm tired, children, tired — as grown-up people sometimes are, though not always with play. (Besides, I have a small person belonging to me, who, though she likes ex- tremely to listen to the word-of-mouth story of this book, grumbles much at the writing of it, and has run about the house clapping her hands with joy when mamma told her gfBs Ip^^Vy* 200 The Little Lame Prince. that it was nearly finished. But that is neither here nor there.) I have related, as well as I could, the his- tory of Prince Dolor, but with the history of Nomansland I am as yet unacquainted. If any body knows it, perhaps he or she will kindly write it all down in another book. But mine is done. However, of this I am sure, that Prince Dolor made an excellent king. Nobody ever does any thing less well, not even the commonest duty of common daily life, for having such a godmother as the little old woman clothed in gray, whose name is — well, I leave you to guess. Nor, I think, is any body less good, less capable of both work and enjoyment in after-life, for having been a little unhappy in his youth, as the Prince had been. I can not take upon myself to say that he was always happy now — who is ? — or that The Little Lame Prince. 201 l'"^-// he had no cares; just show me the person who is quite free from them ! But when- ever people worried and bothered him — as they did sometimes, with state etiquette, state squabbles, and the like, setting up themselves and pulling down their neigh- bors — he would take refuge in that upper room which looked out on the Beautiful Mountains, and, laying his head on his godmother's shoulder, become calmed and at rest. Also, she helped him out of any difficulty which now and then occurred — for there never was such a wise old woman. When the people of ISTomansland raised the alarm — as sometimes they did — for what people can exist without a little fault-finding? — and began to cry out, " Unhappy is the na- tion whose king is a child," she would say to him gently, " You are a child. Accept the fact. Be humble — be teachable. Lean 202 The Little Lame Prince. upon the wisdom of others till you have ■' ,| gained your own." He did so. He learned how to take ad- vice before attempting to give it, to obey before he could righteously command. He assembled round him all the good and wise of his kingdom — laid all its affairs before them, and was guided by their opinions until he had maturely formed his own. This he did sooner than any body would have imagined who did not know of his godmother and his traveling-cloak — two secret blessings, which, though many guessed at, nobody quite understood. Nor did they understand why he loved so the little upper room, except that it had been his mother's room, from the window of which, as people remembered now, she had used to sit for hours watching the Beautiful Mountains. Out of that window he used to fly — not The Little Lame Prince. 203 very often; as ho grew older, the labors of state prevented the frequent use of his traveling-cloak; still he did use it some- times. Only now it was less for his own pleasure and amusement than to see some- thing or investigate something for the good of the country. But he prized his god- mother's gift as dearly as ever. It was a comfort to him in all his vexations; an en- hancement of all his joys. It made him almost forget his lameness — which was never cured. However, the cruel things which had been once foreboded of him did not happen. His misfortune was not such a heavy one after all. It proved to be of much less in- convenience, even to himself, than had been feared. A council of eminent surgeons and mechanicians invented for him a wonderful pair of crutches, with the help of which, though he never walked easily or grace- 204 The Little Lame Prince. fully, he did manage to walk so as to be quite independent. And such was the love his people bore him that they never heard the sound of his crutches on the marble palace- floors without a leap of the heart, for they knew that good was coming to them when- ever he approached them. Thus, though he never walked in proces- sions, never reviewed his troops mounted on a magnificent charger, nor did any of the tilings which make a show monarch so much appreciated, he Avas able for all the duties and a great many of the pleasures of his rank. When he held his levees, not standing, but seated on a throne ingeni- ously contrived to hide his infirmity, the people thronged to greet him ; when he drove out through the city streets, shouts followed him wherever he went — every countenance brightened as he passed, and his own, perhaps, was the brightest of all. The Little Lame Prince. 20i First, because, accepting his affliction as inevitable, lie took it patiently; second, because, being a brave man, he bore it bravely, trying to forget himself, and live out of himself, and in and for other people. Therefore other people grew to love him so well that I think hundreds of his subjects might have been found who were almost ready to die for their poor lame King. He never gave them a queen. When they implored him to choose one, he replied that his country was his bride, and he de- sired no other. But, perhaps, the real reason was that he shrank from any change ; and that no wife in all the world would have been found so perfect, so lovable, so tender to him in all his weaknesses, as his beautiful old godmother. His four-and-twenty other godfathers and godmothers, or as many of them as were still alive, crowded around him as soon as 206 The Little Lame Prince. he ascended the throne. He was very civil to them all, but adopted none of the names they had given him, keeping to the one by which he had been always known, though it had now almost lost its meaning ; for King Dolor was one of the happiest and cheerfulest men alive. He did a good many things, however, un- like most men and most kings, which a little astonished his subjects. First, he pardoned the condemned woman who had been his nurse, and ordained that from henceforward there should be no such thing as the punish- ment of death in JSTomansland. All capital criminals were to be sent to perpetual im- prisonment in Hopeless Tower and the plain round about it, where they could do no harm to any body, and might in time do a little good, as the woman had done. Another surprise he shortly afterward gave the nation. He recalled his uncle's The Little Lame Prince. 207 family, who had fled away in terror to another country, and restored them to all their honors in their own. By and by he chose the eldest son of his eldest cousin (who had been dead a year), and had him educated in the royal palace, as the heir to the throne. This little prince was a quiet, unobtrusive boy, so that every body won- dered at the King's choosing him when there were so many more; but as he grew into a fine young fellow, good and brave, thry agreed that the King judged more wisely than they. "Not a lame prince, either," his Majesty observed one day, watching him affection-' ately ; for he was the best runner, the high- est leaper, the keenest and most active sportsman in the country. " One can not make one's self, but one can sometimes help a little in the making of somebody else. It is well." 208 The Little Lame Prince. This was said, not to any of Lis great lords and ladies, but to a good old woman — his first homely nurse — whom he had sought for far and wide, and at last found in her cottage among the Beautiful Mountains. lie sent for her to visit him once a year, and treated her with great honor until she died. He was equally kind, though some- what less tender, to his other nurse, who, after receiving her pardon, returned to her native town and grew into a great lady, and I hope a good one. But as she was so grand a personage now, any little faults she had did not show. Thus King Dolor's reign passed, year after year, long and prosperous. Whether he were happy — " as happy as a king" — is a question no human being can decide. But I think he was, because he had the power of making every body about him happy, and did it too ; also because he was The Little Lame Prince. 200 his godmother's godson, and could shut himself up with her whenever he liked, in that quiet little room in view of the Beauti- ful Mountains, which nobody else ever saw or cared to see. They were too far off, and the city lay so low. But there they were, all the time. No change ever came to them ; and I think, at any day throughout his long reign, the King would sooner have lost his crown than have lost sight of the Beautiful Mountains. In course of time, when the little Prince, his cousin, was grown into a tall young man, capable of all the duties of a man, his Majesty did one of the most extraordinary acts ever known in a sovereign beloved by his people and prosperous in his reign. He announced that he wished to invest his heir with the royal purple — at any rate, for a time — while he himself went away on a distant journey, whither he had long desired to go. 14 210 The Little Lame Prince. Every body marveled, but nobody op- posed him. Who could oppose the good King, who was not a young king now ? And besides, the nation had a great ad- miration for the young Regent — and, pos- sibly, a lurking pleasure in change. So there was fixed a day when all the people whom it would hold assembled in the great square of the capital, to see the young Prince installed solemnly in his new duties, and undertaking his new vows. He was a very fine young fellow : tall and straight as a poplar-tree, with a frank, hand- some face — a great deal handsomer than the King, some people said, but others thought differently. However, as his Ma- jesty sat on his throne, with his gray hair falling from underneath his crown, and a few wrinkles showing in spite of his smile, there was something about his countenance which made his people, even while they "He lifted up his thin, slender hand." (211) The Little Lame Prince. 213 shouted, regard him with a tenderness mixed with awe. lie lifted up his thin, slender hand, and there came a silence over the vast crowd immediately. Then he spoke, in his own accustomed way, using no grand words, but saying what he had to say in the simplest fashion, though with a clearness that struck their ears like the first song of a bird in the dusk of the morning. " My people, I am tired : I want to rest. I have had a long reign, and done much work — at least, as much as I was able to do. Many might have done it better than I — but none with a better will. Now I leave it to others ; I am tired, very tired. Let me go home." There arose a murmur — of content or dis- content none could well tell; then it died down again, and the assembly listened silently once more. " I am not anxious about you, my people 214 The Little Lame Prince. — my children," continued the King. "You are prosperous and at peace. I leave you in good hands. The Prince Regent will be a fitter king for you than I." " No, no, no !" rose the universal shout — and those who had sometimes found fault with him shouted louder than any body. But he seemed as if he heard them not. " Yes, yes," said he, as soon as the tumult had a little subsided : and his voice sounded firm and clear ; and some very old people, who boasted of having seen him as a child, declared that his face took a sudden change, and grew as young and sweet as that of the little Prince Dolor. " Yes, I must go. It is time for me to go. Remember me some- times, my people, for I have loved you well. And I am going a long way, and I do not think I shall come back any more." He drew a little bundle out of his breast pocket — a bundle that nobody had ever v< ** The Little Lame Prince. 215 seen before. It was small and shabby- looking, and tied up with many knots, which untied themselves in an instant. With a joyful countenance, he muttered over it a few half-intelligible words. Then, so suddenly that even those nearest to his Majesty could not tell how it came about, the King was away — away — floating right up in the air — upon something, they knew not what, except that it appeared to be as safe and pleasant as the wings of a bird. And after him sprang a bird — a dear little lark, rising from whence no one could say, since larks do not usually build their nests in the pavement of city squares. But there it was, a real lark, singing far over their heads, louder and clearer, and more joyful as it vanished further into the blue sky. Shading their eyes, and straining their ears, the astonished people stood until the whole vision disappeared like a speck in the 216 The Little Lame Prince. clouds — the rosy clouds that overhung the Beautiful Mountains. Then they guessed that they should see their beloved King no more. Well-beloved as he was, he had always been somewhat of a mystery to them, and such he remained. But they went home, and, accept- ing their new monarch, obeyed him faithfully for his cousin's sake. King Dolor was never again beheld or heard of in his country. But the good he had done there lasted for years ; he was long missed and deeply mourned — at least, so far as any body could mourn one who was gone on such a happy journey. Whither he went, or who went with him, it is impossible to say. But I myself believe that his godmother took him on his travel- ing-cloak to the Beautiful Mountains. What he did there, orwhere he is now, who can tell? I can not. But one thing I am quite sure of, that, wherever he is, he is perfectly happy. And so, when I think of him, am I. GALOPOFF, THE TALKING PONY By TUDOR JENK5, Author of " Imagination*," " The Century World'! Fair Hook," " The Boys' Book of Ex- ploration," etc., etc. Pictures by Howard R. Cort. A story for young folks, told In the captivating style that has made Mr. Jenks' name a household word wherever there are English-speak- ing boys and girls. The book is delightful reading; as enjoyable as " Black Beauty," or "Alice in Wonderland." 12 mo, cloth, $1.00 "caps and capers" By GABRIELLE E. JACKSON, Author of " Pretty roily Perkins," " Denise and Ned Toodles," " By Love's Sweet Rule.," etc., etc. Pictures by C. M. Relyea. A story of boarding-school life, far above the average of such stories. Toinette Reeve, who has scarcely known the influence of a happy home or tender mother's love, is taken from a school where the posses- sion of money atones for shortcomings in character, and is placed with sensible, loving instructors who are not one whit behind their charges in the spirit of good fellowship. 12mo, cloth, $1.00 THE LITTLE LADY— HER BOOK By ALBERT BIGELOW PAINE. Author of " The Hollow Tree," " The Veep Woods," " The Arkansaw Bear," etc., etc. Pictures by Mabel L. Humphrey, Louise L. Heustis and others. The Little Lady, who lives with the Big Man and the Little Woman in the House of Many Windows, is a dainty little girl to whom the Big Man tells stories and sings songs; just such stories and songs as chil- dren love. Then there are walks and excursions and many adventures, which the Little Woman shares with them. 12 mo, cloth, $1.00 TOMMY FOSTER'S ADVENTURES By FRED A. OBER, Author of " The Silver City," " Montezuma's Gold Mines," " Crusoe's Island," " Tht Knockabout Club Books," etc., etc. Pictures by Stanley M. Arthur. It is worth while for boys to read such a book as this, and girls, too, for that matter. Tommy is a sturdy American boy who has a glorious tine in the Southwest among the Navajo, Zuni, Moqui and Pueblo Indians. Boylike, he gets into a "scrape," but a young Indian becomes his friend and later shares his adventures. The author has lived among the scenes he describes ; and there is plenty of fun and incident. 12 mo, cloth, $1.00 FOLLY IN FAIRYLAND By CAROLYN WELLS, Author of " Story of Betty." " Idle Idyls," " The Merry Go Round," " AC the Sign of the Sphinx," etc., etc. Handsomely Illustrated. A remarkable book for boys and girls, fully as fascinating as the other justly popular books of this author. 12mo, cloth, $1.00 Henry Alteram Company, Philadelphia STEPHEN, A SOLDIER OF THE CROSS By FLORENCE MORSE KINGSLEY Author of "Titus," "Paul," "The Cross Triumphant," etc. Cloth, Illustrated in Colors, $1.00 The story of Stephen is little known; only the last day of his mortal life stands out with any clearness in the writings of past ages. The ancient alchemists are said to have possessed the power of resurrecting from the ashes of a perished flower a dim ghost of the flower itself. Mrs. Kingsley has gathered the dust of this vanished life and huilt from it an image of its forgotten beauty. PAUL, A HERALD OF THE CROSS By FLORENCE MORSE KINGSLEY Author of "Titus," "Stephen," "Cross Triumphant," etc. Cloth, Illustrated in Colors, $1.00 This vivid and picturesque narrative of the life and times of Paul brilliantly portrays the Great Apostle of Christianity. In the story the author has interwoven some account of the great world that lay without the confines of the Holy Land ; the world lying in wretchedness and sin, into which Christ had bidden his disciples to carry the glad tidings and healing message of the Cross. THE CROSS TRIUMPHANT By FLORENCE MORSE KINGSLEY Author of "Titus," "Stephen," "Paul." etc. Cloth, Illustrated in Colors, $1.00 Phannias, a " child of the law "— Nazarite, priest and warrior— amid the scenes of the recent life and death of Jesus witnesses the conflict between the Law and the Cross. Three women of widely- varying character influence him at times, and throughout this story of that eventful era realistic pictures of its life and times are reproduced. WINGS AND FETTERS A STORY FOR GIRLS By FLORENCE MORSE KINGSLEY Author of "Titus," "Stephen," "Paul," etc. Cloth, Illustrated, $1.00 The heroine is an attractive young woman of nineteen, who sacrifices a life of ease to care for an invalid aunt and her daughter. An old mansion which still remains to the family is made habit- able, and a new life begins for the three. With the transformation of the old house comes the discovery that a swarm of bees have made its home in the roof. The girls take up bee culture and the story moves on smoothly until an un- expected legacy brings about a pleasant ending. Henry Altemus Company, Philadelphia FOR PREY AND SPOILS, OR THE BOY BUCCANEER By FRED A. OBER Compelled against his will to join a band of freebooters, adventures come thick and last to the hero ; and there are enough hairbreadth escapes woven into the story to satisfy the most exacting of boy readers. Cloth, Illustrated, $1.00 DOUGHNUTS AND DIPLOMAS By GABRIELLE E. JACKSON Mrs. Jackson is known as a writer of delightful stories, and this is one of her best. It will win the appreciation of all readers. Cloth, Illustrated, $1.00 GYPSY, THE TALKING DOG By TUDOR JENKS It is well to read all that Mr. Jenlcs tells us about animals that talk, and it is hard not to believe in the clever dog's feats. Cloth, Illustrated, $1.00 FOLLY IN THE FOREST By CAROLYN WELLS This time Folly visits the Forest of the Past, where she meets and is enter- tained by the famous Animals of Mythology, History and Literature. Cloth, Illustrated, $ 1 00 POLLY PERKINS* ADVENTURES By E. LOUISE LIDDELL Nothing could be more delightful than the rare, bright fun of these chapters. Cloth, Illustrated, $1.00 WINGS AND FETTERS A STORY FOR GIRLS By FLORENCE MORSE K1NGSLEY Author of "Titus," "Stephen," "Paul," etc. The heroine sacrifices a life of ease to care for an invalid aunt and her daughter. Cloth, Illustrated, $1.00 RATAPLAN, A ROGUE ELE- PHANT, AND OTHER STORIES By ELLEN VELVIN, F. Z. S. Books that help ns to a more intimate acquaintance with the habits, traits and characteristics of animals are very welcome. Illustrations in Color. Cloth, $1.25 Net; Postage, 13 Cents Additional Henry Altemus Company, Philadelphia J1LTEMUS' ILLUSTRATED YOUNG PEOPLE'S HISTORIES i£? & & By Edward S. Ellis, A.M. These volumes are written with all the fascinating skill, graphic power and impressive presentation of facts that have won world-wide fame for Mr. Elli , who is confessedly the most brilliant and popular of living wricers for boys. They are full and accurate in their statements : open- ing with the first glimmerings of history, the events are brought down to the present ; the subject matter is arranged in true historical proportions; the incidents are told with vivid and graceful power ; the pages are luminous with truth, with patriotism, and all the charming style of the most delightful romance. They contain no superfluous words, neither are they ''written down" to the presumed capacity of learners, important facts and apposite comments are furnished, and as much detail as is available for schools or for the general reader. In the hands of Mr. Ellis history becomes as fas- cinating as romance. The text is not statistical, but ample reference tables and voluminous indices are found in their proper places in each volume. In the case of important wars, the way in which they began and ended is clearly presented, and enough detail supplied to show the spirit in which they were carried on. Handsomely printed on fine super-calendered paper from large, clear type, and profusely illustrated in the highest style of art, with handsome frontispieces, portraits of the great makers of history, and superb illustrations of leading events and incidents, from rare historical paintings and en- gravings, they present the handsomest and most interesting series of histories ever prepared for young readers. Henry Altemus Company, Philadelphia J1LTEMUS' ILLUSTRATED YOUNG PEOPLE'S HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES By Edward S. Ellis, A. M. It is appropriate that the initial work of this series should be that of our own country. From a few struggling colon- ies strung along the Atlantic seaboard, with a population of less than three millions, it has expanded in a little more than a century to an area that stretches from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and from the frozen regions of the North to the Gulf of Mexico, with almost a hundred million inhabi- tants. No nation or country has so fascinating and instructive a history as that of the United States. Strange adventures and marvelous achievement crowd its pages ; and the attainments shown in the fields of education, of discovery, of invention, of literature, of a^t and science are wonderful and unprecedented. This volume enables every boy and girl to make them- selves familiar with the leading facts in our history from the discovery of America to the present time. It will make them, if possible, more patriotic, and w'll stimulate an interest in deeper historical study. The full text of the Constitution of '.ne United States and tables of the Presidents are given ; also the area and popu- lation cf each state and territory, with the derivation of its name and the date of its admission into the Union. These, with an exhaustive index, round out the volume to generous proportions. I2mo, cloth, ornamental, 38O pages, 164 illustrations. $1.00. J1LTEMUS' ILLUSTRATED YOUNG PEOPLE'S HISTORY OF ENGLAND & & By Edward S. Ellis, A. M. No history can be more absorbing and instructive to youths and adults than the History of England, and the aim of this volume is to enable them to easily acquire a knowledge of the leading facts in the building of the stupendous British Empire, whose full history, teeming with mighty events and spanning twenty centuries, re- quires volumes for the telling. It is not intended that this shall take the place of the larger works — Hume, Macaulay, Freeman, Froude, and others — but instead to note the towering landmarks which mark the sweep of the empire along the road of discovery, conquest, progress, development, civilization, learning, art, literature, science and Christianity. Yet, it is a comprehen- sive survey of the advancement of a horde of wild savages, conquered by the Romans before the Christian Era, to the proud position of the foremost Christian Power of the Old World, and its perusal will arouse an interest that can only be satisfied by a deeper and more extended study of the Auglo-Saxon race, the dominant factor in the future devel- opment and progress of the world. Valuable reference tables, showing a list of the sovereigns of England, its colonies and dependencies, with dates and modes of acquisition, area, population, etc., are incorpor- ated into the volume. I2mo, cloth, ornamental, 330 pages, 164 illustrations. $1.00. Henry Altemus Company, Philadelphia jiLTEMUS' ILLUSTRATED YOUNG PEOPLE'S HISTORY OF FRANCE & & By Edward S. Ellis, A.M. At present France appears to be a republic ; she has been an aristocracy, a monarchy, an absolute despotism, and a commune. She has been ruled by savages, and by men claiming to be civilized, yet who were less worthy to rule than savages. Her throne has been filled by monsters of villainy and by wise and good statesmen. She produced the greatest military genius the world ever saw ; her scholars, scientists, discoverers, philosophers, poets, dramatists, historians, novelists, essayists, sculptors and painters have never been surpassed. No nation has been more humiliated than France; none has been exalted to more dizzy heights of glory. Her dreams have turned into realities, and her realities have dissolved into visions. In blood and flame she has gone down to despair and then leaped to heights that have caused the world to wonder. France is a wonderful nation, and her history is instructive, for it includes every system of govern- ment that the ingenuity of man can devise. It is full of warnings, too, and of instructive lessons for American youths, lessons of absorbing interest and of amazing length and breadth. I2mo, cloth, ornamental, 355 pages. 115 illustrations. #1.00. Henry Altemus Company, Philadelphia jiLTEMUS' ILLUSTRATED YOUNG PEOPLE'S HISTORY OF GERMANY ® & & By Edward S. Ellis, A. M. The long, varied and wonderfully interesting his- tory of Germany, begins in the dim legends of the savages who roamed the wilderness between the Alps and the Baltic, and stretches across two thousand years to the German Empire of to-day and its population of more than fifty millions. The record of Germany, now among the foremost Powers of the globe, is one of valiant achievement on the battlefield, of patient suffering under grind- ing tyranny, of grim resolution and heroic en- deavor, and of grand triumphs in art, science, literature, diplomacy. It is a story of patriotic toil, sacrifice and daring. The story is as instructive as impressive ; and, as in former volumes in this series, the author has laboriously winnowed the wheat from the chaff, and has set forth such leading facts as will enable youth- ful readers to gain an intelligent idea of the chief incidents in the history of the German Empire from the dawn of its first authentic records to the present time. I2rno cloth, ornamental, 320 pages, 115 illustrations. fi.oc*. Henry Altemus Company, Philadelphia ALTEMUS' ILLUSTRATED YOUNG PEOPLE'S HISTORY OF ROME & & By Edward S. Ellis, A. M. The shriveled Rome of to-day is but a faint shadow of the stupendous empire whose mailed legions made the earth tremble beneath their tread; but the story of its grandeur can never be lost, and shall influence mankind through all ages to come. Its magnificence has never been surpassed ; its heroism and sacrifices have touched the limit of human endeavor. The story of Rome, the Imperial City ; Rome, the mis- tress of the world, ruling one hundred millions of people from her seat upon the Seven Hills, is at once a narrative of human greatness and weakness, of heroic achievement, of virtue and crime, of progress and retrogression, of power, corruption, decay, and the crash of overwhelming ruin. There are dim, misty beginnings, and then the teeming centuries sweep on, with other nations trampled into the dust, and the Roman cohorts ground to powder by them in turn. The story sounds the whole gamut of a nation's birth, youth, manhood, old age, and death. The volume is not mere biography and the records of battles, for history is more than that, but in addition to these features it sets forth events and their connections, the influence of foreign conquests, and gives, besides, a com- prehensive survey of the religion, manners and customs of the times. I2mo, cloth, ornamental. 300 pages, nearly 100 illustrations. % 1. 00. J1LTEMUS' ILLUSTRATED YOUNG PEOPLES HISTORY OF GREECE j& & & & By Edward S. Ellis, A. M. In tracing back the development of the present civilized nations, there is an unbroken line by which we reach the Romans. Still back of them and down their line, we reach the Greeks, whose history forms one of the most fascinating and instructive narratives in the annals of mankind. We know very little of their early history, yet, by digging deep into the ground we find remains of ancient strongholds and cities ; mighty tombs, with not only the dust of dead warriors in them, but swords, ornaments and pottery as well ; and from these we can paint vague pictures of the Mythical or Heroic Age of Greece. At best these are but shadow pictures, for only here and there do lines of reality show at all, but there is a splendor about them and a love- liness that the world cannot afford to lose. These men of Greece became exceedingly skilled in the arts. Famous painters and sculptors arose among them, and mighty poets and teachers whose writings still remain among the most wonderful ever produced by man. It is impossible not to catch the inspiration of the author as he traces the history of this wonderful people from pre- historic to modern times. I2mo, cloth, ornamental, 300 pages, about 100 illustrations. 1 1. 00. Henry Altemus Company, Philadelphia ALTEMUS' Young People's Library. Price, 50 Cents Each. ROBINSON CRUSOE : His Life and Strange Surprising Adventures. With 70 beautiful illustrations by Walter Paget. Arranged for young readers. "Theie exists no work, either of instruction or entertainment, which has been more generally read, and universally admired." — Waiter Scott. ALICE'S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND. With 42 illustrations by John Tenniel. "This is Carroll's immortal story." — AthentBUm. "The most delightful of children's stories. Elegant and deli- cious nonsense " — Saturday Review. THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS AND WHAT ALICE FOUND THERE. (A companion to Alice in Wonderland.) With 50 illustrations by John Tenniel. " Not A whit inferior to its predecessor in grand extravagance of imagination, and delicious allegorical nonsense." — Quarterly Review. BUNYAN'S PILGRIM'S PROGRESS. With 50 full-page and text illustrations. Pilgrim's Progress is the most popular story book in the world. With the exception of the Bible it has been translated into more languages than any other book ever printed. A CHILD'S STORY" OF THE BIBLE. With 72 full-page illustrations. Tells in simple language and in a form fitted for the hands of the younger members of the Christian flock, the tale of God's dealings with his Chosen People under the Old Dispensation, with its foreshadowings of the coming of that Messiah who was to make all mankind one fold under one Shepherd. ALTEMUS' YOUNG PEOPLE'S LIBRARY. A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. With 49 illustrations. God has implanted in the infant's heart a desire to hear of Jesus, and children are early attracted and sweetly riveted by the won- derful Story of the Master from the Manger to the Throne. In this little book we have brought together from Scripture every incident, expression and description within the verge of their com- prehension, in the effort to weave them into a memorial garland of their Saviour. THE FABLES OF vESOP. Compiled from the best ac- cepted sources. With 62 illustrations. The fables of /Esop are among the very earliest compositions of this kind, and probably have never been surpassed for point and brevity, as well as for the practical good sense they display. In their grotesque grace, in their quaint humor, in their trust in the simpler virtues, in their insight into the cruder vices, in their inno- cence of the fact of sex, /Esop's Fables are as little children — and for that reason will ever find a home in the heaven of little chil- dren's souls. THE SWISS FAMILY ROBINSON, or the Adventures of a Shipwrecked Family on an Uninhabited Island. With 50 illustrations. A remarkable tale of adventure that will interest the boys and girls. The father of the family tells the tale and the vicissitudes through which he and his wife and children pass, the wonderful discoveries they make, and the dangers they encounter. It is a standard work of adventure that has the favor of all who have read it. CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS AND THE DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. With 70 illustrations. It is the duty of every American lad to know the story of Chris- topher Columbus. In this book is depicted the story of his life and struggles ; of his persistent solicitations at the courts of Eu- rope, and his contemptuous receptions by the learned Geographical Councils, until his final employment by Queen Isabella. Records the day-by-day journeyings while he was pursuing his aim and his perilous way over the shoreless ocean, until he " gave to Spain a New World." Shows his progress through Spain on the occasion of his first return, when he was received with rapturous demon- strations and more than regal homage. His displacement by tbo AI.TEMUS' YOUNG PEOPLE'S LIBRARY. Odjeas, Ovandos and Bobadilas ; his last return in chains, and the story of his death in poverty and neglect. THE STORY OF EXPLORATION AND DISCOVERY IN AFRICA. With So illustrations. Records the adventures, privations, sufferings, trials, dangers and discoveries in developing the "Dark Continent," from the early days of Bruce and Mungo Park down to Livingstone and Stanley and the heroes of our own times. The reader becomes carried away by conflicting emotions ol wonder and sympathy, and feels compelled to pursue the story, which he cannot lay down. No present can be more acceptable than such a volume as this, where courage, intrepidity, resource and devotion are so pleasantly mingled. It is very fully illustra- ted with pictures worthy of the book. GULLIVER'S TRAVELS INTO SOME REMOTE RE- GIONS OF THE WORLD. With 50 illustrations. In description, even of the most common-place things, his power is often perfectly marvellous. Macaulay says of Swift: " Under a plain garb and ungainly deportment were concealed some of the choicest gifts that ever have been bestowed on any of the children of men — rare powers of observation, brilliant art, grotesque inven- tion, humor of the most austere flavor, yet exquisitely delicious, eloquence singularly pure, manly and perspicuous." MOTHER GOOSE'S RHYMES, JINGLES AND FAIRY TALES. With 300 illustrations. " In this edition an excellent choice has been made from the standard fiction of the little ones. The abundant pictures are well- drawn and graceful, the effect frequently striking and always deco- rative." — Ci-itic. ■ " Only to see the book is to wish to give it to every child one knows."- — Queen. LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. Compiled from authoritative sources. With portraits of the Presidents ; and also of the unsuccessful candidates for the office ; as well as the ablest of the Cabinet officers. This book should be in every home and school library. It tells, in an impartial way, the story of the political history of the United States, from the first Constitutional convention to the last Presi» ALTEMUS' YOUNG PEOPLE'S LIBRARY. dential nominations, it is just the book for intelligent boys, and it will help to make them intelligent and patriotic citizens. THE STORY OF ADVENTURE IN THE FROZEN SEA. With 70 illustrations. Compiled from authorized sources. We here have brought together the records of the attempts to reach the North Pole. Our object being to recall the stories of the early voyagers, and to narrate the recent efforts of gallant adven- turers of various nationalities to cross the " unknown and inacces- ible " threshold ; and to show how much can be accomplished by indomitable pluck and steady perseverance. Portraits and numer- ous illustrations help the narration. ILLUSTRATED NATURAL HISTORY. By the Rev. J. G. Wood. With 80 illustrations. Wood's Natural History needs no commendation. Its author has done more than any other writer to popularize the study. His work IS known and admired overall the civilized world. The sales of his work* in England and America have been enormous. The illustrations in this edition are entirely new, striking and life-like. A CHILD'S HISTORY OF ENGLAND. By Charles Dickens. With 50 illustrations. Dickens grew tired of listening to his children memorizing the old fashioned twaddle that went under the name of English his- tory. He thereupon wrote a book, in his own peculiarly happy style, primarily for the educational advantage of his own children, but was prevailed upon to publish the work, and make its use gen- eral. Its success was instantaneous and abiding. BLACK BEAUTY; The Autobiography of a Horse. By Anna Sewell. With 50 illustrations. This new illustrated edition is sure to command attention. Wherever children are, whether boys or girls, there this Autobiog- raphy should be. It inculcates habits of kindness to all members of the animal creation. The literary merit of the book is excellent. THE ARABIAN NIGHTS' ENTERTAINMENTS. With 50 illustrations. Contains the most favorably known of the stories. The text is somewhat abridged and edited for the young. It forms an excellent introduction to those immortal tales which have helped so long to keep the weary world young. ALTEMUS' YOUNG PEOPLE'S LIBRARY ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES. By Hans Christian An- dersen. With 77 illustrations. The spirit of high moral teaching, and the delicacy of sentiment, feeling and expression that pervade these tales make these won- derful creations not only attractive to the young, but equally accept- able to those of mature years, who are able to understand their real significance and appreciate the depth of their meaning. GRIMM'S FAIRY TALES. With 50 illustrations. These tales of the Brothers Grimm have carried their names into every household of the civilized world. The Tales are a wonderful collection, as interesting, from j lit- erary point of view, as they are delightful as stories. GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR; A History for Youth. By Nathaniel Hawthorne. With 60 illustrations. The story of America from the landing of the Puritans to the acknowledgment -without reserve of the Independence of the United States, told with all the elegance, simplicity, grace, clear- ness and force for which Hawthorne is conspicuously noted. FLOWER FABLES. By Louisa May Alcott. With colored and plain illustrations. A series of very interesting fairy tales by the most charming of American story-tellers. AUNT MARTHA'S CORNER CUPBOARD. By Mary and Elizabeth Kirby. With 60 illustrations. Stories about Tea, Coffee, Sugar, Rice and Chinaware, and other accessories of the well-kept Cupboard. A book full of in- terest for all the girls and many of the boys. WATER -BABIES; A Fairy Tale for a Land-Baby. By Charles Kingsley. With 94 illustrations. " Come read me my riddle, each good little man ; If you cannot read it, no grown-up folk can." BATTLES OF THE WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE. By Prescott Holmes. With 70 illustrations. A graphic and full history of the Rebellion of the American Col- onies from the yoke and oppression of England, with the causes ALTEMUS' YOUNG PEOPLE'S LIBRARY. that led thereto, and including an account of the second war with Great Britain, and the War with Mexico. BATTLES OF THE WAR FOR THE UNION. By Prescott Holmes. With 80 illustrations. A correct and impartial .account of the greatest civil war in the annals of history. Both of these histories of American wars are a necessary part of the education of all intelligent American boys and girls. YOUNG PEOPLE'S HISTORY OF THE WAR WITH SPAIN. By Prescott Holmes. With 89 illustrations. This history of our war with Spain, in 1898, presents in a plain, easy style the splendid achievements of our army and navy, and the prominent figures that came into the public view during that period. Its glowing descriptions, wealth of anecdote, accuracy of statement and profusion of illustration make it a most desirable gift book for young readers. HEROES OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. By Hart well James. With 65 illustrations. The story of our navy is one of the most brilliant pages in the world's history. The sketches and exploits contained in this vol- ume cover our entire naval history from the days of the honest, rough sailors of Revolutionary times, with their cutlasses and boarding pikes, to the brief war of 1898, when our superbly ap- pointed warships destroyed Spain's proud cruisers by the merci- less accuracy of their fire. MILITARY HEROES OF THE UNITED STATES. By Hartwell James. With 97 illustrations. In this volume the brave lives and heroic deeds of our military heroes, from Paul Revere to Lawton, are told in the most captiva- ting manner. The material for the work has been gathered from the North and the South alike. The volume presents all the im- portant facts in a manner enabling the young people of our united and prosperous land to easily become familiar with the command- ing figures that have arisen in our military history. UNCLE TOM'S CABIN; or Life Among the Lowly. By Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe. With 90 illustrations. ALTEMUS* YOUNG PEOPLE'S LIBRARY. The unfailing interest in the famous old story suggested the need of an edition specially prepared for young readers, and elaborately illustrated. This edition completely fills that want. RIP VAN WINKLE. A LEGEND OF THE HUDSON. By Washington Irving. With 46 illustrations. In this edition the passages illustrated come directly opposite their respective illustrations. A CHILD'S GARDEN OF VERSES. By Robert Lotus Stevenson. With 120 illustrations. The handsomest edition of these charming verses ever pub- lished. ANIMAL STORIES FOR LITTLE PEOPLE. With 50 illustrations. The animals do the talking. ROMULUS, the Founder of Rome. By Jacob Abbott. With 49 illustrations. In a plain and connected narrative, the author tells the stories of the founder of Rome and his great ancestor, .Eneas. These are of necessity somewhat legendary in character, but are pre- sented precisely as they have come down to us from ancient times. They are prefaced by an account of the life and inventions of Cad- mus, the " Father of the Alphabet," as he is often called. CYRUS THE GREAT, the Founder of the Persian Empire. By Jacob Abbott. With 40 illustrations. For nineteen hundred years, the story of the founder of the an- cient Persian empire has been read by every generation of man- kind. The story of the life and actions of Cyrus, as told by the author, presents vivid pictures of the magnificence of a monarchy that rose about five hundred years before the Christian era, and rolled on in undisturbed magnitude and glory for many centuries. ADVENTURES IN TOYLAND. By Edith King Hull. With 70 illustrations by Alice B. Woodward. The sayings and doings of the dwellers in toyland, related by one of them to a dear little girl. It is a delightful book for chil- dren, and admirably illustrated. 8 ALTEMUS' VOUNG PEOPLE'S LIBRARY. DARIUS THE GREAT, King of the Medes and Persians. By Jacob Abbott. With 34 illustrations. No great exploits marked the career of this monarch, who was at one time the absolute sovereign of nearly one-half of the world. He reached his high position by a stratagem, and left behind him no strong impressions of personal character, yet, the history of his life and reign should be read along with those of Cyrus, Csesar, Hannibal and Alexander. XERXES THE GREAT, King of Persia. By Jacob Ab- bott. With 39 illustrations. For ages the name of Xerxes has been associated in the minds of men with the idea of the highest attainable human magnificence and grandeur. He was the sovereign of the ancient Persian em- pire at the height of its prosperity and power. The invasion of Greece by the Persian hordes, the battle of Thermopylae, the burn- ing of Athens, and the defeat of the Persian galleys at Salamis are chapters of thrilling interest. THE ADVENTURES OF A BROWNIE. By Miss Mulock, author of John Halifax, Gentleman, etc. With 18 illustrations. One of the best of Miss Murlock's charming stories for children. All the situations are amusing and are sure to please youthful readers. ALEXANDER THE GREAT, King of Macedon. By Jacob Abbott. With 51 illustrations. Born heir to the throne of Macedon, a country on the confines of Europe and Asia, Alexander crowded into a brief career of twelve years a brilliant series of exploits. The readers of to-day will find pleasure and profit in the history of Alexander the Great, a potentate before whom ambassadors and princes from nearly all the nations of the earth bowed in humility. PYRRHUS, King of Epirus. By Jacob Abbott. With 45 illustrations. The story of Pyrrhus is one of the ancient narratives which has been told and retold (of many centuries in the literature, eloquence and poetry of all civilized nations. While possessed of extraordi- nary ability as a military leader, Pyrrhus actually accomplished Bothing, but did mischief on a gigantic scale. He was naturally ALTEMUS' YOUNG PEOPLE'S LIBRARY. of a noble and generous spirit, but only succeded in perpetrating crimes against the peace and welfare of mankind. HANNIBAL, the Carthaginian. By Jacob Abbott. With 27 illustrations. Hannibal's distinction as a warrior was gained during the des- perate contests between Rome and Carthage, known as the Punic wars. Entering the scene when his country was engaged in peace- ful traffic with the various countries of the known world, he turned its energies into military aggression, conquest and war, becoming himself one of the greatest military heroes the world has ever known. MIXED PICKLES. By Mrs. E. M. Field. With 31 illus- trations by T. Pym. A remarkably entertaining story for young people. The reader is introduced to a charming little girl whose mishaps while trying to do good are very appropriately termed " Mixed Pickles." JULIUS CAESAR, the Roman Conqueror. By Jacob Ab- bott. With 44 illustrations. The life and actions of Julius Caesar embrace a peiiod in Roman history beginning with the civil wars of Marius and Sylla and end- ing with the tragic deaih of Ccesar Imperator. The work is an accurate historical account of the l.fe and times of one of the great military figures in history, i 1 fact, it is history itself, and as such is especially commended to the readers of the present generation. ALFRED THE GREAT, of England. By Jacob Abbott. With 40 illustrations. In a certain sense, Alfred appears in history as the founder of the British monarchy : his predecessors having governed more like savage chieftains than English kings. The work has a special value for young readers, for the character of Alfred was that of an honest, conscientious and far-seeing statesman. The romantic story of Godwin furnishes the conclilurng chapter of the volume, WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR, of England. By Jacob Abbott. With 43 illustrations. The life and times of William of Normandy have always been a fruitful theme for the historian. War and pillage and conquest were at least a part of the everyday business of men iu both Eng- ALTEMUS* YOUNG PEOPLE'S LIBRARY. land and France : and the story of William as told by the author of this volume makes some of the most fascinating pages in his- tory. It is especially delightful to young readers. HERNANDO CORTEZ, the Conqueror of Mexico. By Jacob Abbott. With 30 illustrations. In this volume the author gives vivid pictures of the wild and adventurous career of Cortez and his companions in the conquest of Mexico. Many good motives were united with those of ques- . tionable character, in the prosecution of his enterprise, but in those days it was a matter of national ambition to enlarge the boundaries of nations and to extend their commerce at any cost. The career of Cortez is one of absorbing interest. THE LITTLE LAME PRINCE. By Miss Mulock. With 24 illustrations. The author styles it "A Parable for Old and Young." It is in her happiest vein and delightfully interesting, especially to youthful readers. MARY, QUEEN OF SCOTS. By Jacob Abbott. With 45 illustrations. The story of Mary Stuart holds a prominent place in the present series of historical narrations. It has had many tellings, for the melancholy story of the unfortunate queen has always held a high place in the estimation of successive generations of readers. Her story is full of romance and pathos, and the reader is carried along by conflicting emotions of wonder and sympathy. QUEEN ELIZABETH, of England. By Jacob Abbott. With 49 illustrations. In strong contrast to the story of Mary, Queen of Scots, is that of Elizabeth, Queer, of England. They were cousins, yet im- placable foes. Elizabeth's reign was in many ways a glorious one, and her successes gained her the applause of the world. The stirring tales of Drake, Hawkins and other famous mariners of her time have been incorporated into the story of Elizabeth's life and reign. KING CHARLES THE FIRST, of England. By Jacob Abbott. With 41 illustrations. The well-known figures in the stormy reign of Charles I. are brought forward in this narrative of his life and times. It is his- tory told in the most fascinating manner, and embraces the early ALTRMUS* VOVNO PEOPLE'S LIBRARY. II HTe of Charles ; the court of James I.; struggles between Charles and the Parliament; the Civil war; the trial and execution of the king. The narrative is impartial and holds the attention of the reader. KING CHARLES THE SECOND, of England. By Jacob Abbott. With 38 illustrations. Beginning with his infancy, the life of the " Merry Monarch " is related in the author's inimitable style. His reign was signal- ized by many disastrous events, besides those that related to his personal troubles and embarrassments. There were unfortunate wars ; naval defeats ; dangerous and disgraceful plots and con- spiracies. Trouble sat very lightly on the shoulders of Charles II., however, and the cares of state were easily forgotten in the society of his court and dogs. THE SLEEPY KING. By Aubrey Hopwood and Seymoui Hicks. With 77 illustrations by Maud Trelawney. A charmingly-told Fairy Tale, full of delight and entertain- ment. The illustrations are original and striking, adding greatlj to the interest of the text. MARIA ANTOINETTE, Queen of France. By John S. G Abbott. With 42 illustrations. The tragedy of Maria Antoinette is one of the most mournful in the history of the world. " Her beauty dazzled the whole king- dom," says Lamartine. Her lofty and unbending spirit undei unspeakable indignities and atrocities, enlists and holds the sympa thies of the readers of to-day, as it has donti in the past. MADAME ROLAND, A Heroine of the French Revolution, By Jacob Abbott. With 42 illustrations. The French Revolution developed few, if any characters more worthy of notice than that of Madame Roland. The absence of playmates, in her youth, inspired her with an insatiate thirst for knowledge, and books became her constant companions in ever)' unoccupied hour. She fell a martyr to the tyrants of the French Revolution, but left behind her a career full of instruction tha' never fails to impress itself upon the reader. JOSEPHINE, Empress of France. By Jacob Abbott With 40 illustrations. 12 ALTEMUS* YOUNG PEOPLE'S LIBRARY. Maria Antoinette beheld the dawn of the French Revolution ; Madame Roland perished under the lurid glare of its high noon ; Josephine saw it fade into darkness. She has been called the " Star of Napoleon ; " and it is certain that she added luster to his brilliance, and that her persuasive influence was often exerted to win a friend or disarm an adversary. The lives of the Empress Josephine, of Maria Antoinette, and of Madame Roland are especially commended to young lady readers. TALES FROM SHAKESPEARE. By Charles and Mary Lamb. With 80 illustrations. The text is somewhat abridged and edited for young people, but a clear and definite outline of each play is presented. Such episodes or incidental sketches of character as are not absolutely necessary to the development of the tales are omitted, while the many moral lessons that lie in Shakespeare's plays and make them valuable in the training of the young are retained. The book is winning, help- ful and an effectual guide to the ' ' inner shrine ' ' of the great dramatist. HENRY ALTEMUS COMPANY'S NEW PUBLICATIONS. ALTEMUS' ILLUSTRATED YOUNG PEOPLE'S HIS- TORY OF THE UNITED STATES. By Edward S. Ellis, A. M. 121T10, cloth, ornamental, 380 pages, 164 illustrations, $1.00. It is appropriate that the initial work of this series should be that of our own country. From a few struggling colonies strung along the Atlantic seaboard, with a population of less than three millions, it has expanded in a little more than a century to an area that stretches from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and from the frozen regions of the North to the Gulf of Mexico, with almost a hundred million inhabitants. This volume enables every boy and girl to make themselves familiar with the leading facts in our history from the discovery of America to the present lime. It will make them, if possible, more patriotic, and will stimulate an interest in deeper historical study. The full text of the Constitution of the United States and tables of the Presidents are given ; also the area and population of each state and territory, with the derivation of its name and the date of its admission into the Union. These, with an exhaustive index, round out the volume to generous proportions. HENRY ALTEMUS COMPANY'S NEW FURT.TCATIONS. IJ ALTEMUS' ILLUSTRATED YOUNG PEOPLE'S HIS- TORY OF ENGLAND. By Edward S. Ellis, A. M. 121110,, cloth, ornamental, 330 pages, 164 illustrations, $1.00. No history can be more absorbing and instructive to youths and adults than the History of England, and the aim of this volume is to enable them to easily acquire a knowledge of the leading facts in the building of the stupendous British Empire, whose full history, teeming with mighty events and spanning twenty centuries, requires volumes for the telling. It is not intended that this shall take the place of the larger works — Hume, Macaulay, Freeman, Froude, and others — but instead to note the towering landmarks which mark the sweep of the empire along the road of discovery, conquest, progress, development, civilization, learning, art, literature, science and Christianity. Yet, it is a comprehensive survey of the advancement of a horde of wild savages, conquered by the Romans before the Christian Era, to the proud position of the foremost Christian Power of the Old World. Valuable reference tables, showing a list of the sovereigns of England, its colonies and dependencies, with dates and modes of acquisition, area, population, etc., are incorporated into the volume. ALTEMUS' ILLUSTRATED YOUNG PEOPLE'S HIS- TORY OF FRANCE. By Edward S. Ellis, A. M. 121110, cloth, ornamental, 355 pages, 115 illustrations, #1.00. France is a wonderful nation, and her history is instructive, for it includes every system of government that the ingenuity of man can devise. It is full of warnings, too, and of instructive lessons for American youths, lessons of absorbing interest and of amazing length and breadth, ALTEMUS' ILLUSTRATED YOUNG PEOPLE'S HIS- TORY OF GERMANY. By Edward S. Ellis, A. M. l2mo, cloth, ornamental, 320 pages, 115 illustrations, $1.00. The record of Germany, now among the foremost Powers of the globe, is one of valiant achievement on the battlefield, of patient suffering under grinding tyranny, of grim resolution and heroic endeavor, and of grand triumphs in art, science, literature, diplo- macy. It is a story of patriotic toil, sacrifice and daring. 14 HENRY ALTEMUS COMPANY'S NEW PUBLICATIONS. ALTEMUS' ILLUSTRATED YOUNG PEOPLE'S HIS- TORY OF ROME. By Edward S. Ellis, A. M. i2mo., cloth, ornamental, 300 pages, 100 illustrations, $1.00. The shriveled Rome of to-day is but a faint shadow of the stu- pendous empire whose mailed legions made the earth tremble be- neath their tread; but the story of its grandeur can never be lost, and shall influence mankind through all ages to come. Its mag- nificence has never been surpassed; its heroism and sacrifices have touched the limit of human endeavor. ALTEMUS' ILLUSTRATED YOUNG PEOPLE'S HIS- TORY OF GREECE. By Edward S. Ellis, A. M. 121110,, cloth, ornamental, 300 pages, 100 illustrations, $1.00. We know very little of the early history of the Greeks ; yet, by digging deep into the ground, we find remains of ancient strong- holds and cities ; mighty tombs, with not only the dust of dead warriors in them, but swords, ornaments and pottery as well ; and from these we can paint vague pictures of the Mythical or Heroic Age of Greece. GALOPOFF, THE TALKING PONY. By Tudor Jenks, author of " Imaginotions," "The Century World's Fair Book," "The Boys' Book of Exploration," etc., etc. Pictures by Howard R. Cort. i2mo, cloth, 244 pages, $1.00. A story for young folks, told in the captivating style that has made Mr. Jenks' name a household word wherever there are Eng- lish-speaking boys and girls. The book is delightful reading ; as enjoyable as " Black Beauty," or "Alice in Wonderland." CAPS AND CAPERS. By Gabrielle E. Jackson, author of "Pretty Polly Perkins," " Denise and Ned Toodles," "By Love's Sweet Rule," etc., etc. Pictures by C. M. Relyea. i2mo, cloth, 292 pages, $1.00. A story of boarding-school life, far above the average of such stories. Toinette Reeve, who has scarcely known the influence of a happy home or tender mother's love, is taken from a school where HENRY ALTEMUS COMPANY'S NEW PUBLICATIONS. 15 the possession of money atones for shortcomings in character, and is placed with sensible, loving instructors who arc not one whit be- hind their charges in the spirit of good fellowship. THE LITTLE LADY— HER BOOK. By Albert Bigelow Paine, author of "The Hollow Tree," "The Deep Woods," "The Arkansaw Bear," etc., etc. Pictures by Mabel L. Humphrey, Louise L. Heustis and others. 121110, cloth, 315 pages, $1.00. The Little Lady, who lives with the Big Man and the Little Woman in the House of Many Windows, is a dainty little girl to whom the Big Man tells stories and sings songs ; just such stories and songs as children love. Then there are walks and excursions and many adventures, which the Little Woman shares with them. TOMMY FOSTER'S ADVENTURES. By Fred A. Ober, author of "The Silver City," "Montezuma's Gold Mines," "Crusoe's Island," " The Knockabout Club Books," etc., etc. Pictures by Stanley M. Arthur. 1 21110, cloth, 248 pages, $1.00. It is worth while for boys to read such a book as this, and girls, too, for that matter. Tommy is a sturdy American boy who has a glorious time in the Southwest among the Navajo, Zuni, Moqui and Pueblo Indians. Boylike, he gets into a "scrape," but a young Indian becomes his friend and later shares his adventures. The author has lived among the scenes he describes; and there is plenty of fun and incident. FOLLY IN FAIRYLAND. By Carolyn Wells, author of "Story of Betty," "Idle Idyls'," "The Merry Go Round," " At the Sign of the Sphinx," etc., etc. Pictures by Wallace Morgan. 121110, cloth, 260 pages, $1.00. If a little girl or boy who loves fairies (and what child doesn't ?) wants to go to Fairyland, and find out how they live there, what their houses are like, and what they do to amuse themselves, just read this book and be transported into the very heart of Fairyland itself. Every well-known personage of nursery lore eagerly helped to make Folly's trip to Fairyland a success, and this delightful matter, told in Miss Wells' own crisp and original manner, with frequent interspersions of her rhythmical, jingly rhymes, goes to make up the gayest, jolliest child's book of the season. HENRY ALTEMUS COMPANY'S NEW PUBLICATIONS. FOLLY IN THE FOREST. By Carolyn Wells, author of " Folly in Fairyland," etc. Pictures by Reginald B. Birch. i2mo, cloth, 282 pages, $1.00. Regarded by many as Miss Weds' best work. In this charming volume Folly meets and talks with the famous animals and birds of Mythology, History and Literature. ; /PSY, THE TALKING DOG. By Tudor Jenks, author of " Galopoff, the Talking Pony," etc. Pictures by Reginald B. Birch. i2tno, cloth, $1.00. If Gypsy, the talking dog, had not met Galopoff, the talking pony, this story could not have been written, and boys and girls everywhere would have lost a most enjoyable book. DOUGHNUTS AND DIPLOMAS. By Gabrielle E. Jack- son, author of "Caps and Capers," etc. Pictures by C. M. Relyea. i2mo, cloth, $1.00. All of Mrs. Jackson's books are delightful reading, especially for girls, and this volume, with its determined and purposeful, yet lovable, heroine is no exception to the rule. FOR PREY AND SPOILS; OR, THE BOY BUCCANEER. By Fred. A. Ober, author of "Tommy Foster's Adven- tures," etc. Fully illustrated. 121110, cloth, $1.00. Mr. Ober is the best authority on Spanish-America we have, and a story of pirates and their haunts could not be in better hands. This, his latest story, is at once thrilling, humorous and instructive. RATAPLAN. A ROGUE ELEPHANT, AND OTHER STORIES. By Ellen Velvin, F. Z. S., author of "Tales Told at the Zoo," "Jack's Visit," etc. Illustrations in color by Gustave Verbeek. i2mo, cloth, $1.25 net; postage, 13 cents. Books that help us to a more intimate acquaintance with the habits, traits and characteristics of animals are very welcome. The latest addition to this literature is a volume of spirited and well-told stories from the pen of Ellen Velvin, a writer of many successful books for children, a magazinist of acknowledged abil- ity, and a Fellow of the Zoological Society, (London.) ;