2 WHISPERS FROM FAIRYLAND. [1.

 

 

had been christened Mirabel, but from his lively and
cheerful disposition had been usually called by the
short and tender designation of Prince Merry. He.
had dark hair and grey eyes, his form was graceful
and agile, his limbs well shaped, and his features de-
cidedly handsome.

According to the custom of that country, his dress
was richly ornamented with diamonds and precious
stones, and he wore a girdle which was thickly set
with jewels. One of these having become detached
the boy, somehow or other, contrived one day 'to inflict
a severe scratch upon his thigh, and although the
wound speedily healed, the scar remained, and caused
a certain disfigurement which his mother and nurses
greatly regretted. One of the toes of his left foot
moreover, was somewhat curiously shaped, for all the
world as if it had been cut in half, or rather as if a
piece had been cut out of the middle, for it was a
perfect toe, only very much shorter than the ordinary
run of toes; and besides this, he had upon one of his
arms a strange blue mark not commonly observable
upon a child’s limb. All these, however, were but
trifling defects, and in no way interfered with the
young Prince’s comfort.

He was about ten, as I have already remarked,
when something more serious befell him than a mere
personal blemish. Having been sent out one fine
summer’s afternoon with his favourite nursery-maid,
the latter took him for a ramble in the large forest
which joined up to the palace gardens. Somehow or
other one of the soldiers of the King’s guard happened
to be off duty, and walking in the same direction.