88 PRINCE FILDERKIN

you do not want to be bullied by your hump
any more, you must not be cowed by a
danger or two which you may have to
encounter.’

‘I am not afraid,’ answered the Prince;
‘only tell me what I must do, and I will
obey you to the best of my power.’

‘I am glad to hear you speak thus,’
replied the other, ‘for it shows a spirit of
obedience, and at the same time of courage,
which bodes well for success, especially as
much will depend upon your carefully and
exactly following my directions, and boldly
persevering when you have once begun
your enterprise. If, however, upon further
reflection, you would rather stay quietly at
home with your hump——’

‘Oh no! no! no! ten thousand times no,’
hastily interposed the Prince; ‘anything
would be better than ¢#at. Where must I go?
what must I do? You have only to tell me,
and do not fear that I shall not persevere.
What can be worse than my present fate, or
what more horrible than a hump ?’

‘Many things,’ coldly replied Feeble
John—‘as, for instance, to be broken to
pieces as my old friend Humpty Dumpty