to the conclusion that, without the permission of the proper
owners, which, you will see, it is impossible for us to obtain, the only
course open to us was to abandon our riches, and to leave the park and
the castle for ever. Our good uncle, putting all the blame for our
troubles upon his own negligence, insisted on accompanying us.'

At the conclusion of this strange story Bill was certainly aghast at the
very difficult problem put before him, and quite at a loss to offer any
solution. He therefore conducted the trembling triplets and their
grief-stricken uncle before the King, who had in the meantime arrived
upon the shore. Bill explained the difficult position in which the poor
young things found themselves; but, wise as he undoubtedly was, the King
for some time could make nothing whatever of it. He called all his
officers and soldiers round him, and they formed one great semicircle,
of which he was the centre; the triplets were then placed before him,
and he at once proceeded to question them.

'Have you,' said he, addressing the first triplet, 'any idea as to which
of the three of you you really are?'

'None whatever,' answered the child.

He then repeated the same question to the other triplets, and received
the same answer.

'Come now,' continued the King, in a cheerful voice, 'does any one of
you feel at all like a duchess?'

'We don't know how a duchess should feel,' they all replied.

The King here frowned severely and ground his teeth.

'Now, one of you must be telling an untruth,' said he, 'for one of you,
as you say, is the Duchess, and must know exactly how she feels, which
must be how a duchess feels. Come now, which of you is she?' And the
quick-tempered monarch knit his brows into the most terrible folds.
'Unless that one is one of her own sisters and not the Duchess,' he
roared, 'she ought to be ashamed of her deceit, and severely punished;
and if, indeed, she is not the Duchess, then she ought to be punished
all the same. I've half a mind to have the three of you smacked hard,
that I may at least be certain of punishing the right one.'

Bill suggested timidly that perhaps this would be rather unfair, as two
of them at least would be unjustly punished.

'But which two?' snapped the irritated King. 'How can any of them feel
unjustly treated if she doesn't know whether she's the guilty one or
not?' And he worked himself into a terrible fury, and strode up and down
the sands, no one daring to