204. PRINCE RICARDO.

 

gleaming hall, ending in black nothingness. So
she resumed her usual form, and walking to the
edge of the darkness, found that it was not
empty air, but something black, soft, and strong
—something living. It had no form or shape,
or none that she could make out ; but it pulsed
with aheart. Jaqueline placed her foot on this
curious thing, when a voice came, like thunder
heard through a feather-bed :

‘“‘Not near time to get up yet!” and then
there was asnore, and the great hall rocked like
a ship at sea.

It was the Earthquaker !

The habits of this monstrous animal are very
little known, as, of course, he never comes
above ground, or at least very seldom, when he
makes tracks like a dry river-bed across country.
We are certain that there ave Earthquakers,
otherwise how can we account for earthquakes ?
But how to tackle an Earthquaker, how to get
at him, and what to do with him when you
have got at him, are questions which might
puzzle even King Prigio.

It was not easy to have the better of an
enchantress like Jaqueline and a prince like
Ricardo. In no ordinary circumstances could
they have been baffled and defeated ; but now it
must be admitted that they were in a very
trying and alarming situation, especially the
princess. The worst of it was, that as Jaque-
line sat and thought and thought, she began to