‘IQ PRINCE RICARDO.

 

he had rescued—dear Jaqueline? 1’m sure
she is like a daughter to me. I cannot do with-
out her.”

“J wish she were a daughter-in-law ; I wish
Dick would take a fancy to marry her,” said the
king. ‘A nicer girl I never saw.”

““ And so accomplished,” added Queen Rosa-
lind. ‘That girl can turn herself into any-
thing—a mouse, a fly, a lion, a wheelbarrow,
achurch! I never knew such talent for magic.
Of course she had the best of teachers, the
Fairy Paribanou herself; but very few girls, in
our time, devote so many hours to practice as
dear Jaqueline. Even now, when she is out of
the schoolroom, she still practises her scales.
I saw her turning little Dollie into a fish and
back again in the bath-room last night. The
child was delighted.”

In these times, you must know, princesses
learned magic, just as they learn the piano
nowadays; but they had their music lessons
too, dancing, calisthenics, and the use of the
globes.

“Yes, she’s a dear, good girl,” said the king ;
‘“‘yet she looks melancholy. I believe, myself,
that if Ricardo asked her to marry him, she
would not say ‘No.’ But that’s just one of the
things I object to most in Dick. Round the
world he goes, rescuing ladies from every kind
of horror—from dragons, giants, cannibals,
magicians; and then, when a girl naturally