emember that in
time of peace an army is expected to do no laborious work, and that at
all times it is clothed and fed by the State. Now, Queen Pina the
First, what would your Majesty wish the army to do?"

"Go forth and subdue the land," replied Pina the First, promptly, with
quite a regal sweep of her hand towards the low ground and the lagoon
beyond.

"Will your Majesty deign to instruct me how I am to begin?"

The Queen hesitated. She was rather puzzled, as rulers sometimes are
when required to tackle details.

"May it please your Majesty," said Dominick, coming to the rescue like a
true premier, "it is the chief duty of a prime minister to advise his
sovereign. If it be your pleasure, I would recommend that the army
should be sent down into yonder clump of reeds to ascertain what revenue
is to be derived from the inhabitants thereof in the shape of wildfowl,
eggs, etcetera, while I visit the shore of the lagoon to ascertain the
prospects of supply, in the form of shellfish, from that quarter.
Meanwhile, I would further advise your Majesty to sit down on this coral
throne, and enjoy the contemplation of your kingdom till we return."

With a dignified bow and a little laugh Queen Pina assented, and the
Prime Minister went off to the shore, while the army defiled towards the
marsh.

Left alone, Pina the First soon forgot her royal condition in
contemplation of the lovely prospect before her. As she gazed over the
sand, and across the lagoon, and out on the gleaming sea, her thoughts
assumed the wings of the morning and flew away over the mighty ocean to
old England. Sadness filled her heart, and tears her eyes, as she
thought of a mild little mother who had, since the departure of her
three children, been reduced for companionship to a huge household cat,
and who would ere long be wondering why letters were so long of coming
from the dear ones who had left her.

Pauline had a vivid imagination and great power of mental abstraction.
She summoned up the image of the little mother so successfully that she
felt as if she actually saw her knitting her socks, sadly, with her head
on one side. She even heard her address the cat (she was accustomed to
address the cat when alone), and express a hope that in the course of a
month or six weeks more she might expect to have news of the absent
ones. And Pauline almost saw the household cat, which occupied its
usual place on the table at the old lady's elbow, blink i