made her
more charming than any one else had ever beheld her; and, as far as he
could see, which certainly was not far, she had not a single fault
about her, except, of course, that she had not any gravity. No prince,
however, would judge of a princess by weight. The loveliness of her
foot he would hardly estimate by the depth of the impression it could
make in the mud.

"Put you up where, you beauty?" asked the prince.

"In the water, you stupid!" answered the princess.

"Come, then," said the prince.

The condition of her dress, increasing her usual difficulty in walking,
compelled her to cling to him; and he could hardly persuade himself
that he was not in a delightful dream, notwithstanding the torrent of
musical abuse with which she overwhelmed him. The prince being
therefore in no hurry, they came upon the lake at quite another part,
where the bank was twenty-five feet high at least; and when they had
reached the edge, he turned towards the princess, and said,--

"How am I to put you in?"

"That is your business," she answered, quite snappishly. "You took me
out--put me in again."

"Very well," said the prince; and, catching her up in his arms, he
sprang with her from the rock. The princess had just time to give one
delighted shriek of laughter before the water closed over them. When
they came to the surface, she found that, for a moment or two, she
could not even laugh, for she had gone down with such a rush, that it
was with difficulty she recovered her breath. The instant they reached
the surface--

"How do you like falling in?" said the prince.

After some effort the princess panted out,--

"Is that what you call _falling in_?"

"Yes," answered the prince, "I should think it a very tolerable
specimen."

"It seemed to me like going up," rejoined she.

"My feeling was certainly one of elevation too," the prince conceded.

The princess did not appear to understand him, for she retorted his
question:--

"How do _you_ like falling in?" said the princess.

"Beyond everything," answered he; "for I have fallen in with the only
perfect creature I ever saw."

"No more of that: I am tired of it," said the princess.

Perhaps she shared her father's aversion to punning.

"Don't you like falling in, then?" said the prince.

"It is the most delightful fun I ever had in my life," answered she. "I
never fell before. I wish I could learn. To think I am the only person
in my father's kingdom that can't