heir minds by confiding
in him. Then one of the little creatures stood up and, after drying her
eyes, addressed Bill in the following way:--

[Illustration: ENDEAVOURING TO COMFORT THE OLD MAN]

'As you have most likely guessed, we are triplets, and were christened
Blaura, Mellinid and Edil, after three great-aunts renowned for their
intelligence and their many virtues. From our earliest days we were so
much alike that each had to wear a different coloured hair-ribbon to
distinguish her from her sisters. Blaura wore red, Mellinid blue, and
Edil green. Our affectionate parents, the late Duke and Duchess of
Blowdripping, died when we were barely six months old, and we were all
left in charge of our uncle, the benevolent gentleman you see weeping on
my left. Before the thoughtful creatures expired, feeling that their end
was drawing near, they were faced with the difficult problem as to which
of us should be the new Duchess; all of us, as I have said before, being
of the same age. Of course, I need not tell you that it was quite out of
the question we should all inherit the title; three young ladies trying
to be one duchess would be absurd in the extreme. So our intelligent and
resourceful mother and father decided, after much deliberation with the
family solicitor, and the vicar of the parish, that Blaura should
succeed to the title and all the dignities of the Duchy of Blowdripping
when she arrived at the age of eight years, and that, at the same time,
Mellinid should become the owner of Blowdripping Hall, with its
priceless collections of pictures, old china, fossils and foreign
stamps, and Edil become the possessor of the Blowdripping Park, in which
the Hall is so pleasantly situated, with its herds of hedgehogs, elands
and gnu. I am sure you will agree with me that no more just division of
their great possessions could have been devised by the fair-minded
couple. Our uncle was kindness itself, ever watching us with the
affectionate care of a mother. He was always at hand to look to our
comforts, and to see that no danger drew nigh, whether we were bathing
in the marble fountains of the courtyard, taking the air in the park, or
sleeping in our tastefully-decorated bedroom.

'One beautiful summer's afternoon, when we were about one year old, we
had been taken on to the verandah to enjoy our afternoon nap, in order
that we might have advantage of the delightful breeze that blew across
the woods from the sea. As usual o