bid you welcome. You have come to sue for my
hand and my fortune. I know full well, my noble men, that if I asked
it you would gladly give me some great proof of your bravery and
goodness--but I ask you to take no risk and make no sacrifice. I merely
wish to know whether I can find in any of you that secret of all true
courage and happiness--contentment. Now let every man of you who is
contented, _thoroughly contented_, rise. Remember, there are no degrees
in contentment; it is absolute."

The black-robed throng arose--some eagerly, some impatiently, some
disdainfully, some few slowly and thoughtfully, but they all stood and
waited in utter silence.

[Illustration: THE PRINCESS MADGE ENTERS]

"As I put the test question, if there is any one who cannot answer it,
let him go quietly out through yonder door and never again show his
discontented face in this court. You say you are contented--happy,
unselfish, and satisfied with what the gods have given you. Answer me
this! Why, then, do you scowl and jostle one another? Why do you want to
marry any one--least of all, a princess with half the riches of a great
kingdom as a dowry, to spoil your happiness? Greedy fortune-hunters! Do
you call that contentment?"

The contented men stood a moment in baffled silence, then turned, one
and all, and slowly marched out of the room. As the door closed upon the
last one of the disappointed suitors, the princess picked up her pretty
kitten and, turning to her father and mother, said:

"Would you have me marry one of _those_? Why, they aren't half so
contented as a common, everyday pussy-cat. Good-by!" And she laughed a
merry laugh, threw a kiss at the astonished king and queen, and ran from
the room.

III

At luncheon one day many months after the dismissal of the discontented
suitors, the prime minister entered the dining-room and announced to the
king that a man had been found within the palace gates without a royal
permit, and had been immediately put in the dungeon. He was a handsome
fellow, the prime minister said, but very poorly clad. He made no
resistance when he was taken prisoner, but earnestly requested that his
trial might come off as soon as possible, as he rather wanted to make a
sketch of the palace and gardens, and he couldn't see very well from the
slit in the top of the dungeon; but he begged them not to put themselves
nor the king to any inconvenience, as he could just as well remain where
he was and write