102 TROTTY'S WEDDING TOUR.

silver fringe and buttons. His vest was of faint gray velvet,
—whether it was faded or not, Ruby could not make out, —~
and on his head was a three-cornered cap of white tissue-
paper, with a little black tassel on top of it. But by far the
funniest thing about him was his face. It was as round as a
dinner-plate, and perfectly white. His eyes were round, and
his nose was round, and his mouth was round, and there was
not a particle of color anywhere in them. His eyebrows and
eyclashes, his hair, and his long, flowing beard, were like
drifting snow. ,

He stood looking very solemnly at Ruby ; and, after he had
looked a minute without speaking, he made her so low a
bow, that the tassel on the tip of his tissue hat touched the
ground.

“ Why — why, who are you?” stammered Ruby, with her
eyes very wide open.

** Guess,”’ said he, setting his cap straight.

“ Well, maybe,’ began Ruby, trying very hard not to be
frightened, — ‘maybe you — you’re one of the fairies that
live in the rocks by the brook. I guess I saw you peekin’
out of a crack, last week.”

“No, you did n’t,” said the stranger ; “ guess again.”

“Or perhaps you ’re some sort — some sort of a—sort of
a king, you know,” said Ruby, hesitating, and feeling of the
gold beads on her forehead; “and you’ve got a palace, — a
real live one.”

“* Guess again,”’ said the old gentleman.