nd a beautiful blush in her cheeks.
Beyond her rose the thatched roofs of Honeymead, overshadowed by the
great lime-trees; the birds were singing, and the sky was blue.

'Come--do get up!' exclaimed Rosamund. 'Now that you belong to me you
must give up these mooning dreamy ways of yours and behave sensibly.
Come--make haste! Armand, and Dorimund, and all the rest of them have
been invited, and our betrothal is to be formally announced.'

'How strange all this sounds!' said Raymond, getting to his feet in a
bewildered way. 'You almost make me think that I have been----'

Before he could finish his sentence the donkey lifted its head and
tail in the air and sent forth a long-drawn reproachful bray.

'Ah! no, it was real--I have not been dreaming,' Raymond said. 'If it
had not been for that donkey where should we be now?'

'How stupid you are to-day--muttering to yourself like that!' cried
Rosamund, briskly. 'Anyone would think you had a headache.'

'And so I had--a very bad one,' said Raymond.

Rosamund became tender immediately.

'Oh, my poor love!' murmured she. 'And what a horrid red mark that is
round your forehead, as if you had been wearing a cap that was too
tight for you. Stoop down a little--let me kiss it. There, does that
feel better?'

'A great deal better,' Raymond answered, with a long sigh.

So they went back, hand in hand, through the meadow. The breeze came
fresh and sweet upon their faces; they smelt the fragrance of the
breath of cows. As they approached their home they walked more and
more slowly. Rosamund was humming a little song to herself; she was as
happy as a bird.

But Raymond was silent, and pondered many things.

RUMPTY-DUDGET.

CHAPTER I.

THE PALACE AND THE TOWER.

In the days before the sun caught fire, before the moon froze up, and
before you were born, a great queen had three children, whose names
were Hilda, Harold, and Hector. Princess Hilda, who was the eldest,
had blue eyes and golden hair; Prince Hector, who was the youngest,
had black eyes and black hair; and Prince Harold, who was neither the
youngest nor the eldest, had, of course, brown eyes and brown hair.
There was nothing else specially remarkable about them, except that
they were (at the time I write of) the best children in the world, as
well as the prettiest and the cleverest for their age; that they lived
in the most beautiful palace ever built, and that the garden they
played in was the lo