40 THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER.

The verses of Dame Mousey might have been better ; but
one cannot be very correct, as you will all agree, when
breathing the last sigh !

And when that last sigh was ren-
dered, a great officer of the court took
up Dame Mousey by the tail, and car-
ried her away for the purpose of inter-
ting her remains in the hole where so
many of her family had been buried
fifteen years and some months before-
hand.

As, in the middle of all this, no one
had troubled themselves about Nathaniel
Drosselmayer except the mechanician 4
and the astrologer, the princess, who a 3
was unaware of the accident which ~ °
had happened, ordered the young hero to be brought into
her presence ; for, in spite of the lesson read her by the
governess, she was in haste to thank him. But scarcely
had she perceived the unfortunate Nathaniel, than she hid
her face in her hands ; and, forgetting the service which
he had rendered her, cried, ‘‘ Turn out the horrible Nut-
cracker ! turn him out! turn him out!”

The grand marshal
of the palace accor-
dingly took poor
Nathaniel by the
shoulders and push-
ed him down stairs.
The king, who was
very angry at hav-
ing a nut-cracker
proposed to him as
his son-in-law, at-
tacked the astro-
loger and the me-
chanician ; and,