CONCERNING A HUMP 75

obtained. Thereupon he banished those two
hot-water men to a country in which every-
body always had good health, which was of
course a very severe punishment to medical
men, and caused the other doctors of the
same school to be wiser and more humane
for the future.

All this, however, did not remove either the
Prince’s hump or the sorrow which it caused
to his parents. He made rapid advance in
learning of every description, but the accom-
plishments of his mind only caused a more
painful contrast with the deformity of his
body, and really seemed almost to add to
the misery of the situation.

So matters went on until the Prince had
nearly attained his eighteenth year, at which
period, according to the custom of that
country, the King and Queen would naturally
have chosen some Princess to whom their
darling child should be betrothed. But how
could a hump-backed boy hope to attract any
lady of ordinary beauty and attractions?
True, the King was a great and powerful
monarch, but on that account the matter was
only the more difficult, because he felt it
necessary that the bride of his son and heir