's
a long time ago, and I hope you won't think the worse of us--because
we're really very sorry.'

'If you're really sorry,' said Elsie primly, 'of course it's all right.'

'Unfortunately it isn't,' said the Crow. 'You see the great square down
there?'

Elsie looked down on a square of green trees, broken a little towards
the middle.

'Well, that's where the ... where _it_ is--what you've got to tame, you
know.'

'But what did you do that was wrong?'

'We were unkind,' said the Crow slowly, 'and unjust, and ungenerous. We
had servants and workpeople doing everything for us; we had nothing to
do _but_ be kind. And we weren't.'

'Dear me,' said Elsie feebly.

'We had several warnings,' said the Crow. 'There was an old parchment,
and it said just how you ought to behave and all that. But we didn't
care what it said. I was Court Magician as well as Prime Minister, and I
ought to have known better, but I didn't. We all wore frock-coats and
high hats then,' he added sadly.

'Go on,' said Elsie, her eyes wandering from one beautiful building to
another of the many that nestled among the trees of the city.

'And the old parchment said that if we didn't behave well our bodies
would grow like our souls. But we didn't think so. And then all in a
minute they _did_--and we were crows, and our bodies were as black as
our souls. Our souls are quite white now,' it added reassuringly.

'But what was _the_ dreadful thing you'd done?'

'We'd been unkind to the people who worked for us--not given them enough
food or clothes or fire, and at last we took away even their play. There
was a big park that the people played in, and we built a wall round it
and took it for ourselves, and the King was going to set a statue of
himself up in the middle. And then before we could begin to enjoy it we
were turned into big black crows; and the working people into big white
pigeons--and _they_ can go where they like, but we have to stay here
till we've tamed the.... We never can go into the park, until we've
settled the thing that guards it. And that thing's a big big lizard--in
fact ... it's a _dragon_!'

'_Oh!_' cried Elsie; but she was not as frightened as the Crow seemed to
expect. Because every now and then she had felt sure that she was really
safe in her own bed, and that this was a dream. It was not a dream, but
the belief that it was made her very brave, and she felt quite sure that
she could settle a dragon, if necessary--a drea