ng four-and-twenty birds between us.

"This the King considered would be sufficient, so we set off to the
Castle again, the men bearing the baskets in triumph before us.

"'Oh! the dear, sweet little things!' cried Her Majesty, when she was
shown our captives, 'and how clever of you to have caught them all!
They'll make a perfectly lovely pie!' And she set off in high glee to
the kitchens, to try her hand at the culinary art again.

[Illustration: "This was carefully set before the King."]

"The afternoon was spent in the beautiful gardens surrounding the
Castle, playing fives, for which there was a specially built court, and
practising at archery, so that the time quickly passed, till we were
called in by the first dinner gong.

"The Maids of Honour, together with some of the State Ministers, joined
us at dinner, and I could see that the Queen, though sweet and gracious
as ever, was very anxious as the dinner proceeded.

"Presently there was a flourish of trumpets heard at the door, and two
pages appeared, bearing a silver salver upon which was an enormous pie.
This was carefully set before the King, and his Majesty, after smiling
at the Queen rather nervously, put the knife into the crust and removed
a portion of it.

"Immediately afterwards, there was a great commotion heard from inside
the pie, and first one bird and then another began to sing, hopping out
of the pie and on to the table, evidently delighted at regaining its
liberty.

"Finally, amid the breathless silence of all about the table, they flew
off through the open window, and nothing was left but the crust.

"The Queen sat back in her chair looking half-triumphant and
half-ashamed.

"'I'm afraid it isn't a very satisfactory pie, from the eating point of
view,' she faltered, 'but I _couldn't_ have the poor pretty little
things killed, and so I put them in the dish alive, and when the crust,
which I baked separately, was nearly cold, I cut a hole in the top, so
that they could breathe, and put it over them.'

"'It does your heart much credit, my love,' cried the King, 'and, the
thought of cutting a hole in the crust was a very kind one.'

"And indeed, wherever and in whatever country I have been since that
time, many years ago, and have related the story, the ladies of that
country have always made a hole in the top of their pies, in honour of
the beautiful and kind Queen who first invented it.

"I did not hear much more of the conversation w