DON’T: of his potato-shed, when the king and the
KNOW princes and the army returned, playing and
singing. and whistling and dancing ‘Rule Bri-
tannia, Britannia rule the waves, Brit-tons never,
never, never, will be slaves,—least of all to
Paddy.
And as the princes passed by the door where stood
Dan, ‘Ah, ha! brother-in-law,’ they said, ‘where
were you to-day when we gained the victory over
King Cuckoo ?’
‘Don’t know.’
“What would you have done had you been in
battle? Run away, of course.’
‘Don’t know.’
‘And where would you be now, but for our
victorious arms?’
‘Don’t know.’
A grand: banquet was given that evening. And
much wine was drunk, and toasts were proposed,
and the two princes bragged of what they had
done, and no one said a word about the mysterious
assistance that had been given just as fortune had
declared against the English arms.
But presently the king got up on his feet, and at
once every one began to hammer on the table, and
say ‘Hear! hear!’
Then the king said: ‘Ladies and gentlemen,
princes and princesses of the blood royal, dukes
and marquesses and earls, and viscounts and
barons, and baronets and knights and squires,
and all in your several degrees,—I hope you will
listen to the few words I venture to utter.’
‘Hear! hear!’
And one of the princes thundered out ‘Encore!’
‘I have listened,’ said the king, ‘with surprise and,
I am fain to admit, sorrow, and heard every one
present boasting about his great deeds, and no
one saying a word about that gallant and most
AE LECOUS hero who seemed to drop from the
14