made three strides in the direction of Gluckstein. But he
was only three steps nearer it than he had been, and the seven-league
boots were standing beside him on the floor!

"No," said the prince; "no man can be in two different pairs of boots at
one and the same time! That's mathematics!"

He then hunted about in the lumber-room again till he found a small,
shabby, old Persian carpet, the size of a hearthrug. He went to his own
room, took a portmanteau in his hand, sat down on the carpet, and said:

"I wish I were in Gluckstein."

In a moment there he found himself; for this was that famous carpet
which Prince Hussein bought long ago, in the market at Bisnagar,
and which the fairies had brought, with the other presents, to the
christening of Prince Prigio.

[Illustration: Page 40]

When he arrived at the house where the ball was going on, he put
the magical carpet in the portmanteau, and left it in the cloakroom,
receiving a numbered ticket in exchange. Then he marched in all his
glory (and, of course, without the cap of darkness) into the room where
they were dancing. Everybody made place for him, bowing down to the
ground, and the loyal band struck up _The Prince's March_:

Heaven bless our Prince Prigio! What is there he doesn't know? Greek,
Swiss, German (High and Low), And the names of the mountains in Mexico,
Heaven bless the prince!

He used to be very fond of this march, and the words--some people even
said he had made them himself. But now, somehow, he didn't much like
it. He went straight to the Duke of Stumpfelbahn, the Hereditary Master
of the Ceremonies, and asked to be introduced to the beautiful young
lady. She was the daughter of the new English Ambassador, and her name
was Lady Rosalind. But she nearly fainted when she heard who it was that
wished to dance with her, for she was not at all particularly clever;
and the prince had such a bad character for snubbing girls, and asking
them difficult questions. However, it was impossible to refuse, and so
she danced with the prince, and he danced very well. Then they sat out
in the conservatory, among the flowers, where nobody came near them; and
then they danced again, and then the Prince took her down to supper. And
all the time he never once said, "Have you read _this?_" or "Have you
read _that?_" or, "What! you never heard of Alexander the Great?"
or Julius Caesar, or Michael Angelo, or whoever it might be--horrid,
difficult questions he used to