any letters for her and put them into the twopenny post; and that she had written to her uncle, who was a police magistrate, and would endeavour to obtain her release now he knew where she was. Mary found very little comfort in this; but, at last, she could not help asking whether it would be any use if she were to write a letter to her mamma, and whether her mamma could not make the emperor release her; for that as to marrying such a hideous and cruel monster, it was out of the question-she would sooner die.

To this the Lady Carlotta, speaking softly through a chink in the wall, that she might not be overheard, replied that she should be extremely happy to do anything in her power for her majesty, but that the gaoler was a very particular man, and, though kind-hearted, he had made a resolution never to do any service for persons who had behaved ill, unless, indeed, they were extremely sorry, and promised faithfully never to do so any more. And though, as the Lady Carlotta observed with great respect, it did not become her to find any fault with her royal mistress, yet she hoped her majesty would pardon her if she remarked that it was better for young persons not to trust to fairies, who, as her majesty had found, were very deceitful, treacherous persons; and that it was wise to be contented with the station in which we are placed; and that good little girls never go anywhere without their mamma's leave. She added, also, that the gaoler would inquire whether her majesty attended to her lessons; whether she was in the habit of getting out of temper, or being conceited; whether she was fond of fine clothes and rich dishes, or could be satisfied with a plain gingham frock, and roast mutton and potatoes for dinner. In particular she remarked that the gaoler had a great dislike to little girls who were troublesome, and did not consult the feelings of the persons who waited on them, or who laughed at persons who were plain and awkward, or who mimicked and made faces at them. To all which he would require a plain and true answer; and that it would be useless to attempt to deceive him. When little Mary heard this, she burst out into a fit of crying; for, indeed, she saw that she had been guilty of all these things, and she felt that there was no chance that the gaoler would do anything for her. She sobbed out that she had been a very naughty girl, and that nobody could love her. And then she cried for her mamma so piteously that the poor Lady Carlotta could not help shedding tears herself, and asked her if she would like to be a queen any longer. To which little Mary, crying as if her heart would break, could only answer, 'No! no! not for the world.' All she wanted was to go home; and that if she could be taken out of the dungeon, without having her head cut off, or being obliged to marry that dreadful giant, she would never be a naughty girl any more, or have anything to say to fairies, or neglect anything her mamma wished her to do.

so much shame for her bad

In short, she showed so much sorrow and conduct, that at last the Lady Carlotta

thought she might speak to the gaoler, and endeavour to persuade him to assist in obtaining her release from the dungeon. But as this was just the time when he was accustomed to come round, and bring the prisoners their bread and water, she thought it better not to talk any longer with little Mary; and withdrawing from the crevice or chink in the wall, she requested her majesty to be silent, and not to take any notice of what had passed for the next hour.

During that hour, Mary, tired out with crying, and with sorrow, and with fright, laid her head down upon the straw and went to sleep, and even dreamed that she was in her little cot with the dimity curtains. But what was her dismay when she awoke and found herself in the dark, dismal dungeon, with no one to speak to, and scarcely any light, for it was now nearly evening. She also felt very hungry, and looking round, she found that the gaoler had been there and had left a pitcher of water and some black bread, which she ate very thankfully, though it was by no means nice. And then she once more began to think how naughty she had been, and how foolish, and how ungrateful, and how all her calamities and evils had been brought upon her by her own fault. She heard also the great clock of the castle strike, and she knew that it could not be long before the dreadful giant, the emperor, would come back, and either cut off her head or insist on marrying her; and indeed she confessed that, bad as this was, she deserved it all for behaving so sillily and wickedly, so that she began sobbing and crying even more than before, until she heard the same soft gentle voice respectfully addressing her out of the wall from the next dungeon. It was the Lady Carlotta; and what was little Mary's surprise to hear from her that the Lady Carlotta had just received an answer from her uncle, and that he had written to the emperor, who had given orders for her immediate release on payment of a large ransom; and that in half an hour the gaoler would come to take her out.

I cannot say but that the thought of being left alone destroyed at first all the pleasure which Mary would otherwise have had in learning that the good and beautiful maid of honour, who had been so kind to her, was about to escape from this dreadful prison. But she soon reproached herself for being so selfish, and only said that she longed to kiss her, and put her arms round her neck, and tell her how much she loved her for all her kindness. She also said, sobbing, that if the Lady Carlotta saw the grand duchess of Griffgrimmini, she begged her to ask that lady's pardon for having behaved so ill to her, and also to say that she was very sorry for having laughed at the prime minister. Little did she think what had become of him, nor, indeed, how, without meaning it, she had tempted him to do wrong, and so had brought him into his crime and his punishment, by putting him out of temper. In fact, she showed so much sorrow, and so much desire to do better for the future, that the Lady Carlotta could not help telling her, that if she could dictate a letter to her mamma, it should be written down

with some pen and ink which Lady Carlotta had by her, and she would endeavour to induce the gaoler to put it into the post, which was the only chance whatever of little Mary being able to escape.

Mary's heart quite leaped at this, though after all there seemed to be very little chance; however, as the good lady had no time to lose, and begged her immediately to say what she should write down, she thus began:

'MY DEAR MAMMA,--I have been a very naughty little girl. I met a fairy under the thorn-bush, who brought me to an island, and made me queen,-what I had always wished to be. But I do not like being queen at all. I have been obliged to ride twice upon a rhinoceros, which bit a man's arm off; and it shook me very much, and I was exceedingly frightened. The people of the island have gone to war with the emperor, who is a giant, and has no hair. And he wants to marry me. He has put me into prison. He is a black man, like Sambo, Mr. Brown's servant, only much taller and very ugly. There is a kind lady, who has been very good to me, and is writing this letter for me. I hope you will forgive me, dear mamma, for going away, and also for all my naughty behaviour. And I shall be much obliged if you would come and take me out of prison. And I hope I shall never be naughty any more.

door close again, and

'Believe me, my dear Mamma,

'Your very affectionate daughter,

MARY BERTHA.'

She had scarcely finished this letter, and told the Lady Carlotta how to direct it, when she heard the door of the next dungeon open, and, without even being able to say 'good bye,' the gaoler commanded the Lady Carlotta to come away immediately, for that there was no time to lose. Little Mary quite shuddered when she heard the now she was left quite alone. And once more she cried and sobbed as she thought of her mamma, and how naughty she had been, and how happy she would be if she could only once more escape, and live all her life in the little cottage. But at last she fell asleep again, and, with her head lying on the heap of straw, she dreamed a most frightful dream. She thought that she was on the back of the dreadful rhinoceros, which was galloping away through a forest, followed by a whole troop of wolves and lions; then the rhinoceros turned suddenly into Hubbub-bubaboo, who came, with the fairy's compliments, to know at what hour her head was to be cut off; but before she could answer, instead of Hubbub-bubaboo, it was the dreadful emperor himself standing before her, with the grand duchess of Griffgrimmini riding on his back, and having the prime minister's head in a silver dish, which she presented to the queen upon her knees. Then she suddenly found herself in the prison, and, looking out of the window, she saw a frightful person in a red robe, with a hatchet in his hand, and close by him the emperor with a wedding ring, which he insisted upon putting through her nose. And then, when she screamed out and refused, he ordered two of his guards, who were giants, to seize her and tie her hands; and in a moment they rushed up to her, caught her by the shoulders, and shook her so

violently that she started up with a loud scream, and, opening her eyes, she saw,-what?-shall I tell you?

Uncle Peter waited for two minutes, while all the little children, with mouths and eyes wide open, entreated him to tell them. 'It was the giant come to cut off her head.' 'It was the gaoler come to let her out.' 'It was her mamma who had come after her.' 'It was the fairy.'

'No,' answered Uncle Peter, slowly, it was neither the giant nor the gaoler, nor her mamma, nor the fairy, but-Martha, her nurse, who was shaking her by the shoulders, and endeavouring to wake her up, as she was lying fast asleep under the thorn-bush by the fairy's ring. Little Mary looked up, and instead of the dark dungeon there was the blue sky and the bright sun. And Martha was laughing quite cheerfully, and wondering why she did not wake up, and telling her that dinner was ready, and her mamma waiting. Little Mary was entirely bewildered. She did not know how quickly persons who have anything to do with fairies are carried about from one place to another, and how many things happen to them in a very short space of time. And she did not like to tell Martha where she had been, or what had happened to her. Indeed, her joy was so great that she could scarcely speak; so she followed Martha into the cottage, and as soon as she saw her mamma she ran up to her, put her arms round her neck, and hugged and kissed her again and again. Then she told her mamma all that had happened from first to last, and begged to be forgiven, for that she would never go looking for fairies any more, or wishing for any thing but what her mamma could give her.

To all which Mrs. Bertha replied by kissing her very kindly, and telling her that she hoped she would never forget the lesson; and whenever she became discontented with her gingham frock and roast mutton, would remember that, more or less, at some time or other, kings and queens had been exposed to the same sort of troubles, and vexations, and dangers as those which she had met with; and that those were happiest who were in humbler stations, and those most obliged to labour and to suffer who were placed to rule over others.

'And now, my dear,' said Mrs. Bertha,' you shall eat your dinner, and afterwards, I am sure, you will sit down and study hard at your lessons, and find out also, in your English History, whether Queen Elizabeth was mother or grandmother to King Henry the Eighth; and also whereabouts in the map lies the island of Brakara-kakara, in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, close by the Isthmus of Suez.'

Is that all

CHAPTER XIV.

exclaimed the little party, sorrowfully, as Uncle Peter came to the last words of the story-'is that all, Uncle Peter?' 'Yes, my dears,' said Uncle Peter, 'that is all; and for my part I think it quite enough. How many evenings has it taken us?'

'Oh, do tell us another-only one more; if you would but tell us one more !' cried little Eleanor.

'About the giant-Willy's story about the giant, which you were to have told first,' said Mary.

'My dears,' said Uncle Peter, 'you will forget all about the first, if I begin another so soon.'

'No, indeed, we sha'n't,' said Eleanor; 'I am sure I sha'n't; I shall never forget it as long as I live. I would not be a queen for the world, to do what poor little Mary did!'

'Only,' interrupted Mary, 'a queen like our Queen Victoria would not have to ride upon a rhinoceros or to marry a great black giant.'

'But,' said Uncle Peter, 'Queen Victoria, in the first place, was born to be a queen; and she was not made a queen by a fairy, because she wished to be something different from what she was by birth, but was placed upon the throne by Providence, just as you are placed by the same Providence in your more humble station: and, in the second place, as I have understood (for I do not pretend to know much about it), Queen Victoria, even when she was a little girl, used to behave extremely well, and to do all that her mamma told her, and, in particular, to pay great attention to her lessons, that she might be fit to be a queen. I have heard a very learned gentleman, who once had the honour of conversing with her when quite a little girl, say that he was surprised to find how much she knew of geography and history.'

'But is not she very unhappy?' asked little Eleanor. should not like at all to be a queen.'

'I am sure I

'I hope she is not unhappy!' said Uncle Peter, 'for she endeavours to do all the good she can, and is very kind to the persons who wait on her, and gives up her time to transact business and to do all that a queen should do. And when we do our duty, whether we live in a cottage or a palace, we cannot be very unhappy.'

6

'But she never rode upon a rhinoceros,' said Mary.

Why should you not like to ride upon a rhinoceros?' asked Uncle Peter.

'Because I should expect it to kick and bite, and throw me off, and trample on me, and perhaps eat me up,' was the answer.

'And if the people,' asked Uncle Peter, whom Queen Victoria has to govern, were to disobey her, and threaten to rebel, and kick against her laws-if they were to say they should like to get rid of her, and should not mind if her head was cut off, and shoot at her, do you think it would be at all pleasant to be their queen?'

'I know what you mean,' said Willy; 'you mean, uncle, about the fable of the beast with many heads.'

Uncle Peter smiled, and nodded.

'And all this part of the story was true, then, was it not?' said