Light of body, every part,
Never weary human arms--
Only crush thy parents' heart!"

They all thought she had lost her wits, and was repeating some foolish
nursery rhyme; but a shudder went through the whole of them
notwithstanding. The baby, on the contrary, began to laugh and crow;
while the nurse gave a start and a smothered cry, for she thought she
was struck with paralysis: she could not feel the baby in her arms. But
she clasped it tight and said nothing.

The mischief was done.

III. SHE CAN'T BE OURS

Her atrocious aunt had deprived the child of all her gravity. If you
ask me how this was effected, I answer, "In the easiest way in the
world. She had only to destroy gravitation." For the princess was a
philosopher, and knew all the _ins_ and _outs_ of the laws of
gravitation as well as the _ins_ and _outs_ of her boot-lace. And being
a witch as well, she could abrogate those laws in a moment; or at least
so clog their wheels and rust their bearings, that they would not work
at all. But we have more to do with what followed than with how it was
done.

The first awkwardness that resulted from this unhappy privation was,
that the moment the nurse began to float the baby up and down, she flew
from her arms towards the ceiling. Happily, the resistance of the air
brought her ascending career to a close within a foot of it. There she
remained, horizontal as when she left her nurse's arms, kicking and
laughing amazingly. The nurse in terror flew to the bell, and begged
the footman, who answered it, to bring up the house-steps directly.
Trembling in every limb, she climbed upon the steps, and had to stand
upon the very top, and reach up, before she could catch the floating
tail of the baby's long clothes.

When the strange fact came to be known, there was a terrible commotion
in the palace. The occasion of its discovery by the king was naturally
a repetition of the nurse's experience. Astonished that he felt no
weight when the child was laid in his arms, he began to wave her up
and--not down, for she slowly ascended to the ceiling as before, and
there remained floating in perfect comfort and satisfaction, as was
testified by her peals of tiny laughter. The king stood staring up in
speechless amazement, and trembled so that his beard shook like grass
in the wind. At last, turning to the queen, who was just as
horror-struck as himself, he said, gasping, staring, and stammering,--

"She _ca