150 PRINCE RICARDO.

 

“Then give it back to her when you see her
next. J am glad you are frank, Jaqueline.
And you know, of course, that the drops are
not ordinary silver? They are moon silver,
and that can only be got in one way, so far as
I know, at least—when one spills the water
when he, or she, is drinking the moon. .Now,
there is only one book which tells how.that can
be done, and there is only one reason for doing
it; namely, to find out what.is some other
person’s secret. I shall not ask you whose secret
you wanted to find out, but I must request you
never to do such a thing again without con-
sulting me. You can have no reason for it,
such as a great king might have whose
enemies are plotting against his country.”

“Oh, sire, I will tell you everything!” cried
Jaqueline.

“No, don’t; I don’t want to know. I am
sure you will make no use of your informa-
tion which you think I should not approve
of. But there is .another thing — that
eclipse of the moon! Oh, Jaqueline, was
it honourable, or fair to the astronomers
and men of science, to say nothing about
it? Their European reputations are seriously
injured.”

Poor Jaqueline could ‘only cry.

“Never mind,” said his Majesty, comforting
her. ‘‘There is no great harm done yet, and
perhaps they would not believe you if you did -