that they would accept the eight great nuts from the
Fragile Palm that the boys had given him. To his surprise the
merchants became wild with delight when they received the nuts. The
money they had lost was as nothing, they said, compared to the value
of this incomparable and precious fruit, picked in its prime, and
still in a perfect condition.

It had been many, many generations since this rare fruit, the value
of which was like unto that of diamonds and pearls, had been for sale
in any market in the world; and kings and queens in many countries
were ready to give for it almost any price that might be asked.

When the good old Captain heard this he was greatly rejoiced, and, as
the holidays were now near, he insisted that the boys should spend
Christmas before last over again, at his son's house. He found that a
good many people here knew where Apple Island was, and he made
arrangements for the First Class in Long Division to return to that
island in a vessel which was to sail about the first of the year.

The boys still possessed the great nut which the Captain had insisted
they should keep for themselves, and he now told them that if they
chose to sell it, they would each have a nice little fortune to take
back with them. The eldest boy consulted the others, and then he said
to the Captain:

"Our class has gone through a good many hardships, and has had a lot
of trouble with that palm-tree and other things, and we think we
ought to be rewarded. So, if it is all the same to you, I think we
will crack the nut on Christmas Day and we all will eat it."

"I never imagined," cried Captain Covajos, as he sat, on that
Christmas Day, surrounded by his son's family and the First Class in
Long Division, the eyes of the whole party sparkling with ecstasy as
they tasted the peerless fruit of the Fragile Palm, "that Christmas
before last could be so joyfully celebrated over again."

PRINCE HASSAK'S MARCH.

* * * * *

In the spring of a certain year, long since passed away, Prince
Hassak, of Itoby, determined to visit his uncle, the King of Yan.

"Whenever my uncle visited us," said the Prince, "or when my late
father went to see him, the journey was always made by sea; and, in
order to do this, it was necessary to go in a very roundabout way
between Itoby and Yan. Now, I shall do nothing of this kind. It is
beneath the dignity of a prince to go out of his way on account of
capes