Half-Hours with Great Story-Tellers

ll. She reached the age of seventeen, without having fallen into any worse scrape than a chimney; by rescuing her from which, a little bird-nesting urchin

tal, she laughed hugely; but when she heard that the city would most likely be abandoned to the mercy of the enemy's soldiery,-why then she laughed immoderately.

a makes! And she squeez

y ma

e laughed, and danced round and round

o it again! It's such

ead; or she would go dancing backwards and forwards and sideways, like a great butterfly. It happened several times, when her father and mother were holding a consultation about her in private, that they were interrupted

the lawn as if he had a hundred years to do it in. Not knowing what disgust meant, for this was one of her peculiarities, she snatched up the toad, and bounded away. She had almost reached her father, and he was holding out his arms to receive her and take from her lips the kiss which hovered on them like butterfly on a rosebud, when a puff of wind blew her aside into the arms of a young page, who had just been receiving a message from his majesty. Now it was no great peculiarity in the princess that once she was set a-going, it always cost her time and trouble to check herself. On this occasion there was no time. She must kiss,-and she kissed the page. She did not mind it much; for she had

und. Sometimes she would fancy she had reached the ground before she actually had, and her feet would go backwards and forwards, running upon nothing at all, like those of a chicken on its back. Then she would laugh like the