Oswald Bastable and Others

by E. Nesbit

  MUSCADEL

  Of course, there was a grand party when Princess Pandora came of age.The palace was hung with garlands of white roses, all the carpets weretaken up, and the floor of every room was covered close with green turfwith daisies in it, for in that country the cruel practice of rootingdaisies out of lawns with a spud was a crime.

  The Queen-mother had died when Pandora was a little baby, so now thePrincess had to be hostess, and to receive all the guests, and speak toeach one a little, and see that everyone had enough to eat and the rightsort of person to talk to.

  She did it all very nicely indeed, for she was a properly brought upPrincess and had been to a school for the daughters of monarchs only,where, every Wednesday evening, she and her school-fellows were taught'deportment, manners, and how to behave at Court.'

  All the guests went away very pleased with her and with themselves,which is how people ought always to feel after a party.

  When they had all gone she went and curled up at the feet of her father,who had sunk back on his throne exhausted by his hospitable exertions.The two were quite alone, except for a particularly fine house-fly whohad settled on the back of the throne, just above the carved Royal arms.Of course, neither the King nor the Princess noticed such a little thingas a fly.

  'Well, daddy dear,' said the Princess, 'did it go off all right? Did Ibehave prettily?'

  'Ah!' said the King, 'you're a born Princess, my pet. Pretty face,pretty manners, good heart, good head. You're your dear mother overagain. And that reminds me----'

  'Yes?' said the Princess.

  'When your mother died,' said the King--and he sighed, though it wastwenty-one years to a day since he had lost his Queen-love--'I promisedher to lock up her apartments, and only to give the keys of them to youwhen you should be twenty-one. And now you _are_, so here are the keys,my precious. You've always wanted to explore the rooms in the southwing. Well, now you can.'

  'How lovely!' cried the Princess, jumping up; 'won't you come too,daddy?'

  'I'd rather not, dear,' said the King, so sadly that Pandora at oncesaid:

  'Well, then, _I_ won't either. I'll stay with you.'

  But the King said 'No,' and she had better take a housemaid or two withbrooms and dusters. 'The dust grows thick in twenty-one years,' saidhe.

  But the Princess didn't want any of the palace housemaids to help her toexplore her mother's rooms. She went alone, holding up hercloth-of-silver train because of the dust.

  And the rooms that she unlocked with the six gold keys with pearls intheir handles were very dusty indeed. The windows were yellow with dust,so the Princess threw them all open. And then, even through the dust,she could see how beautiful the rooms were--far more beautiful even thanher own--and everyone had always said that hers were the most beautifulrooms in the seven kingdoms. She dusted the tops of a few of the tablesand cabinets with her lace handkerchief, so that she could just see howeverything was inlaid with ivory and jade and ebony and precious stones.

  Six of the keys--the pearly ones--opened six beautiful rooms, but theseventh had rubies in its handle, and it was a little, little key, notat all like a door-key; so Pandora looked about for a little keyholethat the key would fit, and at last she found a cabinet of ebony inlaidwith gold and red tortoiseshell, and the little seventh key just fittedthrough the opening of the gold lock-plate and into the keyhole. Pandoraturned the key and opened the cabinet. Inside the cabinet were sevenlittle drawers with gold handles set with rubies, like the key.

  Pandora pulled the drawers out one after the other. She was alone,except for the house-fly, who had followed her and now sat on the top ofthe cabinet door, watching her with all his hundreds of eyes. But no onenotices a fly.

  Five of the drawers contained jewels. The first was full of necklaces,the second held rings and brooches, the third had tiaras and chaplets,the fourth girdles, and the fifth bracelets, and they were all of themost beautiful jewels in the world--rubies, sapphires, emeralds, pearlsand diamonds, and opals, and many other stones that the Princess did noteven know the names of.

  In the sixth drawer was a dry brown wreath that fell to pieces asPandora lifted it. It had been jasmine once, and the Queen had wornit at her wedding.

  'In the drawer was just one jewelled ring. It lay on awritten page.'--Page 347.]

  And in the seventh drawer was just one jewelled ring. It lay on awritten page.

  The Princess read the writing:

  'This ring is for my son's wife, or for my daughter, if I have no son.It is the magic ring given thousands of years ago to a Queen of thiscountry. It has the power of changing the wearer into whatever shapes hechooses. But it has never been used, because the Kings of this countryhave always been so good and kind, and clever and beloved, that theirwives could never think of any change that would not be a change for theworse. There is only one thing in the world that this jewel cannot touchor change. And this is of all things in the world the most importantthing.'

  Pandora kissed the written words and slipped the ring on to her finger.It was a wonderful stone, like a sapphire that had tried to change intoan opal, and stopped halfway.

  There was not a happier Princess living than Pandora. Yet she was notafraid of change. Girls are like this sometimes, and she was very youngfor her age.

  She stood looking at the ring and turning it on her finger, and the flywatched her with all its hundreds of eyes.

  Now, you will, perhaps, have guessed that this fly was not an ordinaryfly, and you are right. But if you think he was an enchanted Prince oranything of that sort you are wrong. The fly was simply the cleverestfly of all flies--someone must be the cleverest in any society, youknow--and he was just clever enough to like to be where the Princesswas, and to look at her beauty with all his hundreds of eyes. He wasclever enough to like this and to know that he liked it, but he was notclever enough to know why.

  So now, as the Princess stood fingering her ring and trying to make hermind up, he gave an interested buzz, and the Princess jumped.

  'Oh,' she said, 'it's only a horrid fly! But it has wings. It must belovely to have wings. I wish I were a fairy no bigger than that fly.'

  And instantly she and her silver-trained gown, and her silver shoes, andthe magic ring, and everything about her, grew suddenly small, till shewas just as big as the fly and no bigger, and that is flower-fairy size.Silver gauze wings grew out of her shoulders; she felt them unfoldingslowly, like a dragon-fly's wings when he first comes out of that dullbrown coat of his that hasn't any wing-parts.

  She gave a tiny shriek of joyous surprise, and fluttered out through theopen window and down across the marble terraces to the palaceflowergarden. The fly buzzed heavily after her.

  Pandora fluttered among roses and lilies on her bright, light, whitewings, but presently she was tired, because flying is much harder workthan you would think, especially when you have not been brought up to itfrom a child. So she looked about for a place to rest in, and saw nearher the cool pink cave of a foxglove flower. She alighted on its lip,folded her wings, and walked in on her little fairy feet. It was verypleasant inside the foxglove. The Princess sat down by a drop of dew,which was quite a pool to the tiny lady, and presently she took off herrings and laid them on the smooth floor of the pink cave, and began todabble her hands in the dew-pool. The fly had settled on the outer edgeof the flower, and watched her with all his hundreds of eyes.

  And now the dreadful thing happened. Pandora, her hands and face wetwith dew, suddenly saw the daylight darken at the entrance of herfoxglove cave. Then a black-winged monster, with hundreds and hundredsof eyes, came quickly towards her on its six legs. Pandora was veryfrightened, and squeezed herself close to the back of her cave. The flymoved on, and quickly picked up the magic ring, now so tiny that itfitted nicely on to one of its front feet.

  Next moment it had backed out of the foxglove, taking the ring with it,and had flown off, and the Princess was left alone.

  If she cried a little you can hardly blame her. You wait
till you findyourself one million three hundred thousand two hundred and seventy-fourtimes as small as you usually are, with no means whatever of gettingback to your proper size, then you'll understand how the Princess felt.

  But she was a brave Princess; so she soon stopped crying, spread hergauzy wings, and flew across the garden and up over the marble terracesand in at the library window of the palace.

  The King was reading the account of the birthday-party in the eveningpaper, and he did not notice the Princess at all till she settled on hisear. Then he put up his hand to brush her away, for he thought she was afly. She dodged his hand and settled again, and shouted 'Papa!' into hisear as loud as ever she could. And the shout was no louder than afly's buzzing, but, as it was close to his ear, the King heard it verydistinctly.

  'A black-winged monster, with hundreds and hundreds ofeyes.'--Page 350]

  'Bless my soul!' said the King, sitting very bolt upright.

  'Don't move, daddy,' said the tiny Princess, 'even if I tickle your earwith my wings. I found a magic jewel in one of dear mother's cabinets,and I made it turn me into a fairy, and now a horrid fly has buzzed offwith the jewel, and I can't get back to my right size.'

  'I must be dreaming,' said the King.

  'I wish you were--I mean I wish I was--but it's true. I'll settle onyour hand now, and you'll see.'

  The King looked at the tiny winged thing--flower-fairy size--thatsettled on his hand. And he put on his spectacles and looked again. Andthen he got a magnifying-glass and looked through that.

  'Yes,' he said, 'it certainly is you! What a thing to happen, and onyour birthday, too! Oh dear! oh dear!'

  'It _is_ rather hard, daddy,' said the poor Princess; 'but you are sowise and clever, you'll be able to get me back to my right size again.'

  'My dear,' said the King, 'I received a thorough commercial education,but I never learned magic. In fact, I doubt whether it is still taughteven at Oxford.'

  'Daddy dear,'said the Princess shyly, 'I've read a good many books aboutmagic--fairy-tales they're called, you know--and----'

  'Yes,' said the King, who saw at once what she meant. 'Of course, Ishall do that first thing.'

  And next morning all the newspapers contained an advertisement:

  'Wanted, competent Prince to undo magic and restore Princesses to their right size. None but eldest sons need apply. The usual reward offered. Apply at the palace.'

  'I think _that's_ a mistake, daddy,' said the Princess; 'in the fairystories it's always the youngest son who makes everything come right.And people don't know their fairy history nowadays; they mayn't knowwhat the reward is.'

  So the next day the advertisement was changed to:

  'Any sons of respectable monarchs may apply. The successful candidate will receive the Princess's hand in marriage.'

  'It's all very well to put that in,' said the Princess to herself, 'butif I don't like him I shan't marry him. I'll give him all my jewelsinstead.'

  But all the Kings' sons in the world had forgotten their magic, if theyever knew any, and not one single Prince applied at the palace.

  So the Princess had to do the only possible thing--make the best of it.And she did it bravely.

  Now, when the fly, whose name, by the way, was Muscadel, flew off fromthe foxglove-bell with the magic jewel on his feathery foot, he flewstraight to the Princess's boudoir and settled down on his favouritespot, the corner of the frame of her mirror. And there he sat andwondered how he could best use the magic jewel. And he thought so hardthat he never noticed a large spider who spun a web right across thecorner where he sat, and when he spread his wings to assist hismeditations by a little exercise he was caught in the web.

  'Aha!' said the spider, smiling greedily.

  'Oh dear! oh dear!' said the fly.

  'How nice you look!' said the spider.

  Then very slowly and carefully she began to move towards him.

  'What a terrible thing it is to be a fly!' said he. 'I wish I was aspider.'

  And, of course, instantly he was. He broke the web and scrambled downthe mirror, for he was still horribly frightened of the other spider. Hegot out of the window and down into the garden, and hid himself under aleaf of a burdock, which was there because the gardener was a lazyfellow and neglected his business.

  But it's an ill wind that blows nobody any good. Before Muscadel had gothis breath after the shock of that dreadful web he saw a slow,wrinkled-skinned creature, with bright yellow eyes, quite close to him.It was a toad, and he knew that toads eat spiders.

  'Oh, a spider's life isn't worth living!' he cried; 'I wish I was atoad.'

  And, of course, he was, for the magic jewel was still on his front foot.

  Now that Muscadel was a toad he felt he should like to find a quiet dampplace to live in, so he crawled to the edge of the basin of the palacefountain.

  And when he had found a nice damp crack in the marble he squeezed in andstayed there for some days. But one day, when he went out for a breathof air and a woodlouse or two, a great beak clattered quite near him,and startled him so that he nearly jumped out of his toad's skin.

  The person with a beak was a stork, and Muscadel knew what the storkwanted.

  'Oh, a toad's life is a dog's life,' said Muscadel; 'I wish I was astork.'

  So he was a stork, and the magic jewel, grown bigger, was round hisright leg.

  It was fine to be a stork, and he did not envy even the golden eaglethat flew down to drink at the fountain. And when the eagle came withina yard or two of him he felt so large and brave that he said:

  'Keep to your own side, will you? Where are you shoving to?'

  The golden eagle, whose temper is very short, looked at him with evilgolden eyes, and said:

  'You'll soon see where I am shoving to,' and flew at him.

  Muscadel saw that he had made a mistake that might cost him his life.

  'Oh, what's the good of being a stork?' he said. 'I wish I was aneagle.'

  And as soon as he was one he flew away, leaving the other eagle with itsbeak open in amazement, too much 'struck of a heap,' as he told hiswife afterwards, to follow the new bird and finish off their quarrel inthe air.

  'Oh, how grand it is to be an eagle!' said Muscadel, sailing onwidespread wings; and just as he said it an arrow caught him under theleft wing. It hurt horribly. 'What a powerful thing an arrow is!' hesaid. 'Dear me, how it hurts! I wish I was an arrow.'

  So he was one, but he was an arrow in the quiver of a very stupidbowman, who shot next day at a buzzard and missed it. So the arrow,which was Muscadel, lodged high in an oak-tree, and the stupid bowmancould not get it down again.

  'I don't like being a slave to a mere bow,' said Muscadel; 'I'll be abow myself.'

  But when he was a bow the archer who owned him hurt his bow-back so infitting him with a new string that he got very cross, and said:

  'This is worse slavery than the other. I want to be an archer.'

  So he was an archer. And as it happened he was one of the King'sarchers. The magic jewel was round his arm like a bracelet, and no onesaw it, for he kept it hidden up his arm under the sleeve of his buffcoat.

  Now that Muscadel was a man, of course, he read the newspapers, and inthem he saw the King's advertisement, which was still appearing everyday.

  'Dear me!' said Muscadel; 'of course the Princess couldn't get back toher right size when I had taken the magic jewel away. I never thought ofthat. Flies are thoughtless little things. And, by the way, taking thatjewel was stealing. Very wrong indeed. But I didn't know that when I wasa fly. So _I'm_ not a thief, and no more was the fly, because he didn'tknow any better.'

  That evening he had a little talk with the captain of the King'sarchers, and in the morning the captain called on the King very earlyand said:

  'Sire, there's a crack-brained chap among my archers who says he canmake the Princess her right size again. Of course, it's all tommy-rot,your Majesty, if I may be pardoned the expression, but I thought yourM
ajesty would like to know.'

  'Oh, let him try,' said the King wearily; 'it's something to findsomeone who even thinks he can do it.'

  So next day Muscadel, the archer, put on his Sunday clothes and went upto the palace, and a great, red-faced, burly fellow he was.

  The King and all the Court were assembled to see the archer make thePrincess her own size again, though nobody believed he could do it.

  The King was on his throne, and Pandora, still flower-fairy size, wassitting on one of the carved gold flowers that adorned the throne'sright arm.

  The archer bowed to the King and the Court, and to the Princess, thoughhe could not see her.

  Then he looked round the crowded throne-room and said:

  'Look here, your Majesty, this will never do.'

  'Eh?' said the King.

  'Magic can't be done in this sort of public way. I must be left alonewith the Princess. No; I can't have anyone bothering round. Not evenyou, your Majesty.'

  The King was rather offended, but the Princess got to his ear andwhispered, and then he gave the order for the throne-room to be cleared;and when that was done, he set the tiny Princess on the table, and wentaway himself and shut the door honourably behind him.

  "On the table stood the dazzling figure of a realfull-sized princess."--Page 359.]

  Then the archer said:

  'Little Princess, you can be made your right size again if you will dojust what I tell you. Do you promise?'

  The Princess's little voice said, 'Yes.'

  'Well, then,' said the archer, 'I have got the jewel here that the flystole from you, and I will lend it to you, and you can wish yourselfPrincess-size again, and then you must give me back the jewel.'

  'Why, the jewel was stolen! You've no right to it. I shall call theguard,' said Pandora angrily.

  'They wouldn't hear you, little Princess, if you did call,' said thearcher; 'but I'll call them for you if you like. Only you promised.'

  'So I did,' said the Princess. 'Well, lend me the jewel.'

  He took it off his arm and laid it upon the table, and as soon as thePrincess touched it, it grew small, small, small, so that she could putit on her finger. Then she said:

  'I wish I were my right size again!'

  And the archer rubbed his eyes, for there on the table stood thedazzling figure of a real, full-sized Princess in a cloth-of-silvergown, and a face more beautiful than the morning.

  'Oh, how lovely you are!' he said, and gave her his hand to help herdown.

  She jumped lightly from the table and stood before him, laughing withjoy at being her own real right size once more.

  'Oh, thank you! thank you!' she cried; 'I must run and show my fatherthis very minute.'

  'The jewel?' said the archer.

  'Oh!' said Pandora. 'Well, yes, I did promise, but--well, I'm a Princessof my word. Here it is.'

  She held it out, but he did not take it.

  'You may keep it for ever and ever, Princess dear,' he said, 'if youwill only marry me.'

  'Oh, I can't!' she cried. 'I'm never going to marry anyone unless I lovehim more than all the world.'

  'I feel as if I'd loved you all my lives,' said Muscadel--'all my life,I mean. Couldn't you wish to love me?'

  'I don't think I want to,' said the Princess doubtfully.

  'Then I must have the jewel. I'll find some way yet of making you loveme, and then you shall have it for ever and ever.'

  'If I loved you,' said she, 'I suppose I shouldn't mind your having redhair, and a red face, and red ears, and red hands, should I?'

  'Not a bit,' said the archer cheerfully.

  She stood there, twisting the magic jewel round and round on her Royalfinger.

  'I suppose it's more important than anything else to love someone?' shesaid.

  'Much,' said he.

  'Well, then,' said she, 'but are you the sort of person I ought tolove?'

  'No,' said he, 'I'm not half good enough for you. But then nobody is.'

  'That's nice of you, anyhow,' she said. 'I'll do it. I wish I lovedyou!'

  There was a silence. Then Pandora said:

  'Nothing's happened. I don't love you. I feel just the same as usual.Your hair, and hands, and face, and ears are redder than ever. You'llexcuse my candour, won't you?'

  'Then there's nothing for it but for me to wish not to love you,' saidMuscadel, 'for I really can't bear loving you to this desperate degreewhen you don't care a snap of your Royal fingers for me. Lend me thejewel a moment. You shall have it back. If you don't care for me, Idon't want to care for anything. I'll live and die a red-faced,red-eared, red-haired, red-handed archer, so I will.'

  The Princess lent him the jewel, and he wished and waited. Then, 'It'sno good,' he said; 'I adore you as much as ever--more, if possible.'

  'Ah, I see,' said the Princess; 'there _is_ one thing that the magicring won't touch. I suppose that's love. How funny!'

  'I don't think it's funny at all,' said he. 'I suppose really it'sbecause you're not the sort of person that could love the sort of personI am.'

  'Well, then,' said she, 'I'll wish I was the sort of person who _could_.I won't be made a silly of by a stupid magic jewel. Only let me call myfather, because goodness knows what sort of person the person who couldlove you would be like. _I_ can't imagine anyone who could!'

  'You may be as cruel as you like now,' said Muscadel, 'if only somehowor other you'll get to love me afterwards. I will call the King.'

  So he went to the door and shouted:

  'Hi, your Majesty! Step this way for a moment, will you, please?'

  And His Majesty stepped.

  'Look here, daddy,' said the Princess, 'I'm real Princess size again, sogive me a kiss!'

  'A blowzy, frowzy dairymaid.' Page 363.]

  When this was done she said very quickly, and before the King could stopher:

  'I wish I was the kind of person that could love this archer.'

  And then and there, before the horrified eyes of the other two, thePrincess turned into the kind of person who could love the archer.

  'Bless my soul and body!' said the King, turning purple.

  'Oh, my heart!' said Muscadel, turning white.

  For the kind of person the Princess had changed into was a blowzy,frowzy dairymaid, with oily black hair and shining red cheeks, andlittle black eyes like the currant eyes in gingerbread pigs. Her handswere fat and red, and her feet would not bear looking at for a moment.

  'Good old Muscadel!' said the dairymaid that Pandora had turned into;'now we'll be married and live as happy as two mice in a cheese!'

  'Never in this world!' cried Muscadel, snatching the ring from her hand,which was not manners, but we must remember that he was very much upset.He snatched the ring, and he rushed out of the room and out of thepalace, and when he got to the archers' quarters he flung himself facedown among the rushes on the floor, and lay there till his comradesbegan to mock him and even to kick him as he lay; and then he got up andfought them with his red fists, one down, t'other come on, till seven ofthem had owned that they did not want any more.

  'Oh dear! oh dear!' said the King in his palace; 'I'd rather have hadyou flower-fairy size for life than like this! We must get back thejewel and make you into your old self.'

  'Not a bit of it,' said the dairymaid Princess. 'I never was so happy inmy life. I love that lovely archer, and if I'm a Princess you can orderhim to marry me, and he'll have to.'

  'Lackaday!' said the King. 'Dairymaids don't seem to love likePrincesses do.'

  'I dare say not,' said she, 'but we know our own minds. I tell you I'mhappy, governor, and I'll stay as I am.'

  The dairymaid Princess called for cold pork and cheese and beer, and,having had quite enough of all three, she went to bed in the Princess'sgreen and white bedroom.

  Now, when all the archers had gone to sleep poor Muscadel stole out andwandered through the palace gardens, and looked at the white fountainsrising and falling in the moonlight. He saw the white lilies sleep
ingstanding up, just like real live sentinels. He saw the white pea-cocksroosting in the yew-trees, and the white swans cuddled up among thereeds by the lake. He went hither and thither through the cold whitebeauty of the night, and he thought and thought, but he could not thinkany thought that was worth the trouble of thinking.

  And at last he sat down on a marble bench and very nearly wished that hewere dead. Not quite, of course, because people very seldom do that; andif he had there would have been an end to this story.

  The silence and the moonlight soothed him; his poor brain felt clearerand brighter, and at last he had the sense to say, without at allknowing that he was saying anything sensible, 'I wish I was clever.'

  And instantly he was.

  The change was so great, so sudden, and so violent that it nearly chokedhim. He drew two or three difficult breaths, and then he said:

  'Oh, I see! How stupid of me! I wish I were the kind of person the realPrincess could love.'

  And he felt his body change. He grew thinner, and his face seemed togrow a different shape. He hastened to the lake and leaned over it, andsaw by the moonlight the reflection of his own face in the water. It wasnot particularly handsome, but he was not ashamed of the deep-set eyes,largish nose, and firm lips and chin.

  'So that's the sort of man she could love!' he said, and went home tobed like a sensible person.

  Early in the morning he went out into the palace garden, and it was notall gray and white, as it had been the night before, with moonlight andwhite lilies, but gold and red, with sunshine and roses, and hollyhocksand carnations.

  He went and waited under the Princess's window, for he had grown cleverenough to know that the Princess, since she was now a dairymaid, wouldbe awake betimes. And sure enough the green silk curtains were presentlydrawn back, and the drowsy, blowzy, frowzy face of the dairymaid lookedout.

  'Halloa!' she said to Muscadel, among the roses, 'what are _you_ up to?'

  'I am the archer you love,' said Muscadel, among the roses.

  'Not you,' she said.

  'But indeed!' said he.

  '"You've got a face as long as a fiddle."'--Page 367.]

  'Lawks!' said the dairymaid.

  'Don't you love me like this?' said Muscadel.

  'Not a bit,' said she; 'go along, do! You've got a face as long as afiddle, and I never could abide black hair.'

  'I'm going to stay like this,' said he.

  'Then what's to become of me?' she asked, and waited for an answer withher mouth half open.

  'I'll tell you,' said Muscadel. 'You can stay as you are all your life,and go on loving an archer who isn't anywhere at all, or I'll lend youthe magic jewel, and then you can change back into the Princess. Andwhen you're the Princess, you'll love me ever so much more than you everloved the archer.'

  'Humph!' said the dairymaid, fingering the Princess's pearl necklace.'Well, if my dear archer really isn't any more, anywhere---- As you say,the really important thing is to love someone.' Although she was a sillydairymaid she had the sense to see that. 'Give me the jewel,' she said.

  He threw it up, and she caught it overhand, put it on, and said:

  'I wish I was the Princess again.'

  And there was the Princess leaning out of the window and covering herface with her hands.

  'Look at me,' said Muscadel; 'am I the sort of person you could love?'

  'I don't know,' said Pandora, peeping at him between her rosyfinger-tips. 'You had better ask papa.'

  'I'd rather ask you,' said Muscadel, as he climbed up the palace ivy andleaned in at her window-sill to ask her.

  And she leaned out to answer him.

  * * * * *

  They were married the very next day, and everyone in the kingdom, richand poor, had roast beef and plum-pudding for dinner.

  And as soon as the wedding was over, Muscadel and his bride went down tothe lake, and he threw the magic jewel far, far out. It gleamed redly asit flew through the sunlit air and with a tiny splash sank in the lake,and there it is to this day. You might try to find it one of these dayswhen you have nothing better to do. I dare say you often feel that youwould like to change from what you are into something else, and, foranything I know, it might be a very good thing for you, and for the restof the world.

  But Pandora and Muscadel were so happy at belonging to each other thatthey never wished to change at all, so they did not want the magic ring,and that is why they threw it away. For, as all good housekeepers know,it is very foolish to keep useless things about--just to litter thehouse up.

  THE END

  PHOTOGRAPHED AND PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAINBY BUTLER AND TANNER LIMITEDFROME AND LONDON