FEEBLE JOHN 88

affliction as that which I carry about with
me ?? :

‘Should you like to be cured?’ asked the
magician.

‘Like!’ cried the Prince eagerly. ‘I
would give an eye, a limb, nay, years of
precious life to be rid of this horrible
encumbrance.’

‘Nothing of that sort is required of you,’
replied the other; ‘and although cures of
this kind are not to be accomplished without
difficulty, your case is by no means so
hopeless as you have been taught to be-
lieve.’

At these words such a transport of joy
and gratitude darted through the mind of
the young Prince that he was about to
throw himself at the feet of the magician in
order to give vent to his feelings in the most
natural manner, this being the course
generally adopted by persons in his position
of whom he had read in the course of his
studies. But Feeble John restrained him
with a gesture.

‘Don’t make an ass of yourself,’ he
calmly observed ; ‘your cure will depend
upon your own behaviour, and will be man-