smay
that we had demolished all the fowls with the exception of the old cock.
After some discussion, and regardless of consequences, we decided to
treat him as we had already treated his brothers and sisters, and in a
very little time nothing was left of the tough old biped but bones, beak
and feathers. Heedless of the morrow, we now gave ourselves up to the
wildest enjoyment. Discarding such simple games as dominoes and
honey-pots, we now indulged in the more thrilling joys of leap-frog,
Hunt the Stag, Red Rover, Robbers and Thieves, and you would not believe
me were I to tell you the amount of toffee, brandy-snaps, bull's eyes,
and Edinburgh rock that we absorbed in the course of this agreeable
evening.

'Enlivened, no doubt, by the thought that to-morrow was my birthday, my
excitement was intense, and communicating itself to my prankful cronies,
it electrified their old bones in the most amazing manner.

'How long we should have kept it up, it is, of course, impossible for me
to say, but we were suddenly brought to a standstill by a loud knocking
on the door of the shed and the sound of a great concourse of people on
the other side. On opening the door I nearly fainted in my horror, for
whom should I behold but the King of Persia and all his court, and as
far as the eye could reach the faces of the Trojans all lit up by the
morning sun, staring intently at the shed. Alas, we had eaten the old
cock, our only timepiece, many hours ago, and without our knowledge the
day had dawned and grown to midday.

'Who shall describe my profound mortification, as I observed the look of
sorrow on the King of Persia's noble countenance, or the distress with
which I viewed the agonised disappointment of my subjects as they beheld
their king, whom they one and all delighted to honour, playing leap-frog
in a hen-house.

'It appeared that on the arrival of the King of Persia, they had all
proceeded in lordly procession with bands playing and flags flying to
the throne-room, and not finding me there they had hunted everywhere for
me, high and low, until at last, guided by the sounds of revelry in the
hen-house, they discovered my wretched self in the ignominious position
I have already described.

'I was now seized by two of the Persian guards at the command of their
monarch and marched off to the Palace, a lane being opened for me
through the crowds of my silent and sorrowing subjects.

'A council was very hurriedly called togethe