em; and they belonged to a royal family, and so
nobody dared to clean up after them. The whole kingdom was in the most
disgusting state, and whenever the fairy godmother looked into the back
yard of the palace she felt as if she would go through the floor.

[Illustration: "SHE WAS GOING TO TAKE THE CASE INTO HER OWN HANDS."]

"Well, it kept on going from bad to worse. The only person that enjoyed
herself was the wicked enchantress; _she_ never had such a good time in
her life; and when the fairy godmother got hold of the Grand Vizier and
the Cadi, and told them to make a new law so as to allow the army to
clean up after royal visitors, without being thrown from a high tower,
the wicked enchantress enchanted the whole mess, so that the army could
not tell which the Prince and Princess had made, and which the Khan and
Khant had made; they were all four always playing together, anyway.

"It seemed as if the poor old fairy godmother would go perfectly wild,
and she almost made the General crazy giving orders in one breath, and
taking them back in the next. She said that now something had got to be
done; she had stood it long enough; and she was going to take the case
into her own hands. She saw that she should have no peace of her life
till the Prince and Princess and the Khan and Khant were married. She
sent for the head Imam, and told him to bring those children right in
and marry them, and she would be responsible.

"The Imam put his head to the floor--and it was pretty hard on him, for
he was short and stout, and he had to do it kind of sideways--and said
to hear was to obey; but he could not marry them unless he knew which
was which.

"The fairy godmother screamed out: 'I don't _care_ which is which! Marry
them all, just as they are!'

"But when she came to think it over, she saw that this would not do, and
so she tried to invent some way out of the trouble. One morning she woke
up with a splendid idea, and she could hardly wait to have breakfast
before she sent for the General-in-Chief. Her nerves were all gone, and
as soon as she saw him, she yelled at him: 'A sham battle--to-day--now--this
very instant! Right away, right away, right away!'

[Illustration: "THE IMAM PUT HIS HEAD TO THE FLOOR."]

"The General got her to explain herself, and then he understood that she
wanted him to have a grand review and sham battle of all the troops, in
honor of the Khan and Khant; and the whole court had to be present, and