The Little Lame Prince

here he was, whither he had been, and what he had see

and tables; there was no harsh voice heard to scold him for not getting up immediately, which, I am sorry to say, this boy did not always do. For he so enjoye

littl

bed till the cl

relieved at first, for he felt so tired; and besides, when he stretched

ten he used to think how nice it would be to get rid of his nurse and live in this tower all by himself-like a sort of monarch able to do eve

!" he called out. "Come back, and I

thing but silence answered his lamenta

eyes. "It's just like a baby, and I'm a big boy-shall be a

forlorn or untidy, for everything seemed to have been done for his comfort-the breakfast and dinner things were laid, the food spread in order. He might live

ad never known what it was to be absolutely alone. A kind of despair s

the middle of the floor, half inclined to believe that it wo

ore, by nature a very courageous boy. There came into his head, somehow or other, a pr

y evil un

remedy, or

s one, try

sn't, neve

ould I find it?" cried the Prince, jum

ed the base of the tower, he perceived distinctly the marks of a horse's feet, and just in the spot where the deaf-mute was accu

e, taking nurse away with him. Poor

r cruelty-at the cruelty of all the world toward him, a poor little helpless boy. Then he determined, f

he deaf-mute had come, contriving somehow to make the nurse understand that the king was dead, and she need have no fear in going back to the capital, where there

grudgingly, perhaps, and coldly; still she had taken care of him, and that even to the last: for, as I have said, all h

won't judge her," said he. And afterward h

en to sweeping up the hearth and putting on more coals. "It's a funny thing for a prince to have

y his best to do it, being a very proud and independent boy,-but he remembered her tenderly and regret-fully, as if even she had been a little hard upon him-poor, forl

a lesson to learn-but no! I always liked learning my lessons. Anyhow, to choose the lessons I liked best, to have as many books to read and dolls to play with as ever I wanted: above all, to be free and at rest, with nobody to teas

himself, and enjoying everything by himself-until bedtime. Then he did not like it at all. No more, I suppose, th

bed at night without having spoken to a creature, or, indeed, heard a single sound. For even his little lark was silent; and as for hi

t. It threw him back upon himself, and into himself-in a way that all of us have to

and what was to happen next? Get out of the tower he could not: the ladder the deaf-mute used was always carried away again; and if it had not been, how coul

ry hard to him,

must. Dying did not seem so very dreadful; not even to lie quiet like his uncle, whom he had entirely forgiven now, and neither be miserable nor n

which he thought he should like to have near him when he died; his books and toys-no, he had ceased to care for toys now; he only l

ght he. "Suppose I had grown a man, and had had work to do, and people to care for, and was so useful and

yes, and he listened intently through

omething-something which came nearer and nearer, so that there was no mistaking it. It was the sound of a trumpet,

hings which had slipped his memory for years, and to

happened

changes that were taking place in the country, a daring idea came into her head-to set upon the throne of Nomansland its rightful heir. Thereupon she persuaded the deaf-mute to take her away with him, and they galloped like

rom the horrors of the last few days, and the still further horrors of no rule at all, and having no particular interest in the

so sweet and kind, and his father, the finest-looking king that ever reigned. Nobody remembered his lameness-or, if they did, they passed it over as a matter of no consequence. They were d

een a usurper; turned all his family out of the palace, and left it empty for the reception of the new sovereign, whom they went to fetch with great rejo

indeed, for he expected a quite different end from this, and was res

crown (on a velvet cushion, with four golden tassels, each nearly as big as his head),-small though he was and lame, which lameness the cou

I will be your king. And I will d

side the tower, such a shout as never

"How shall I be able to rule all this great people? Y

have searched in the records, and found that your Roy

a whole nation to keep it. Then he remembered that his childish days were done. He was a monarch now. Even his nurse, to whom

he had been left to himself for just ten minutes, to put off his boy's clothes and be reat

g. If he was to be their king, he must give up his old life forever. So he looked with tender farewell on his old books, old to

lf; "but I'll remember the old things still. And, oh! if

ch kept playing incessantly down below. He gazed, half sadly, up to the skylight, whence there came pouring a stream of sunrays, with innumerable mot

e Dolor was at first quite startled by the appari

, you have not

ay not have seen me, but I

ow

bearskin rug, and a crystal goblet-and sometimes I have changed from inanimate

pon him as he caught the infection of her tone, liv

Do you suppose I am always sentimental, and never funny? If anything makes you happy, g

erly, holding out his arms. They cl

ot leave me now that I am a king? Otherwise I had rath

just possible you may forsake me. Not probable though. Your mother never did,

eagerly. "As I get older I think I

k for a long-closed upper room, which looks out upon the Beautiful Mountains; open it and take it for you

out my

self many times, as the boy repeated over and over again the sw

der, and the shouts of the people showed that they would not end

musical rhyme-but all the while

the sun went behind a cloud, the bright stream of dancing motes

nfully and ignominiously as a little helpless baby carried in

otice it-a tiny bundle, which he had found lying on the floor just where the bridge of sunbeams had rested. At once he had pounced upon it, and thrust it secretly into his bosom,