68 THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER.

“Oh! no—no ; certainly not!” repeated the four prin-
cesses in ‘chorus; and, throwing their arms round Mary's
neck, they cried, ‘Oh! noble Itberatrix of our dear ‘and:
much-loved prince and brother! oh! excellent Miss Silber-
haus!”

And, with these exclamations, which their heart-felt joy
cut short, the four princesses conducted the Nut-cracker and
Mary into the palace, made them sit down upon beautiful
little sofas of cedar-wood, covered with golden flowers, and
then insisted upon preparing a banquet with their own hands.
With this object, they hastened to fetch a number of little
vases and bowls made of the finest Japan porcelain, and
silver knives, forks, spoons, and other articles of the table.
They then brought in the finest fruits and most delicious
sugar-plums that Mary had ever seen, and began to bustle
about so nimbly that Mary was at no loss to perceive how well
they understood everything connected with cooking. Now,
as Mary herself was well acquainted with such matters, she
wished inwardly to take a share in all that was going on;
and, as if she understood Mary’s wishes, the most beautiful
ofthe Nut-cracker’s four sisters, handed ‘her a little golden
mortar, saying, ‘‘ Dear liberatrix of my brother, pound me
some sugar-candy, if you please.”

Mary hastened to do as
she was asked; and while
she was pounding the sugar-
candy in the mortar, whence
adeliciousmusic came forth,
the Nut-cracker began to
relate all his adventures :
but, strange as it was, it
seemed to Mary, during
that recital, as if the words

, of young Drosselmayer and
the noise of the pestle came gradually more and more indis«
tinct to her ears. In a short time she seemed to be sure

   

A.