THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER. 71

and setting a bad example to their relations and friends,
rushed upon their aunt’s fat, which would have entirely
disappeared, had not the cries of the queen brought the man-
cook and the scullery boys, all armed with brushes and
brooms, to drive the mice back again under the hearth-stone.
But the victory, although complete, came somewhat too late ;
for there scarcely remained a quarter enough fat necessary
for the polonies, the sausages, and the black puddings. The

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remnant, however, was scientifically divided by the royal
mathematician, who was sent for in all possible haste, between
the large cauldron containing the materials
for the puddings, and the two saucepans
in which the sausages and polonies were
cooking.

Half an hour after this event, the cannon
fired, the clarions and trumpets sounded,
and then came the potentates, the royal
princes, the hereditary dukes, and the heirs
apparent to the thrones, all dressed in their
most splendid clothes, and some riding on