hrone placed the supper (a
mere anchovy truffle on toast) before me and fell flat on his face,
writhing at my feet.

'Who can describe my feelings as I bent over him and witnessed this
degradation, this prostration before me, of one who had revelled with
me, who had slapped me on the back in pure amity, and who, in days of
yore, had gambolled, frisked, and carolled the most enchanting glees
with me. A great hot tear fell from my left eye as I gazed, and the
startled wretch leapt to his feet as it splashed upon his bald crown and
trickled down its glossy sides, leaving a red and glowing spot where it
had fallen. No words of mine could describe the misery expressed on the
face of the unhappy man as he took one hasty glance at me, full of the
deepest meaning, and rushed from the room weeping bitterly. Alas! he,
too, remembered.

'No heart had I now for the anchovy truffle, nor indeed for the toast,
both of which I tossed lightly from me. I gave up my mind to most
melancholy reflections. Night drew on, and one by one I could hear the
ministers and domestics creeping up stealthily to bed, and at nine
o'clock all the electric lights in the palace were switched off, and I
was left in total darkness and in solitude. Still I brooded on my
throne, unable to sleep for the weight of my robes and for the sad
thoughts that passed through my mind, and mechanically counted the hours
as they stole slowly by.

'At length the clock in the hall downstairs struck eleven, and as the
last beat echoed through the empty rooms, a light appeared underneath
the door opposite the throne. Little heed did I give to this at first,
imagining that one of the ministers, on retiring, had omitted to remove
his boots and leave them in the hall, and was now returning to place
them there. The light, however, remained, and to my increasing
wonderment some one tried the handle of the door, which was then opened
very cautiously and in there crept, on hands and knees, my old friend
the Prime Minister. As soon as he was well within the room and had
quietly closed the door, he leapt to his feet and executed the most
astonishing capers that were ever danced. With the liveliest
satisfaction expressed all over his mobile features, he pirouetted round
the room with the greatest animation, and daringly accomplished the
giddiest somersaults that were ever turned. At last, nearly exhausted
with this vigorous performance, he ran up to the throne, grasped me by
the hand