nd set him on a table and whispered to
him that he must not grieve or fear or cry, but be a man now, and the
child smiled and kissed her hand. Just then a drunken woman flung a red
cap--the cap worn by the Jacobins--on the table, and commanded the
queen, on pain of death, to put it on.

Calmly, the queen turned to a general standing beside her and told him
to place it on her head.

The general, pale with rage at the insult, obeyed in silence and the
woman howled with pleasure. But in a moment, the general took the cap
off the queen's hair and laid it on the table.

Ever since the King had vetoed the bills, the people had called the
King, Monsieur Veto; Marie Antoinette, Madame Veto, and the Dauphin,
Little Veto, and now from all sides burst forth the cry, "The red cap
for the Dauphin! The tri-colour for little Veto!"

"If you love the nation," cried the woman to the Queen, "put the red
cap on your son."

The Queen motioned to one of the ladies to put the red cap on the
child, and he, not understanding whether it was a joke or not, stood
there in easy grace, as handsome a little prince as ever a nation had.

One of the revolutionary leaders, who had looked complacently at the
scene, now stood near the queen, and as her eyes met his in calm
defiance, he felt a thrill of pity for her and for the little Dauphin,
and when he saw the perspiration rolling down the boy's forehead from
under the thick woollen cap, he called out roughly:

"Take that cap off the child--don't you see how he sweats?"

The queen's gratified glance thanked him, as she took the cap herself
from the Dauphin's head. While this was occurring, the Mayor of Paris
had entered the outer hall and was quieting the mob, bidding them
disband and leave the palace at once, which they did.

The King sank into a chair, exhausted and agonised, and cried out:

"Where is the queen? Where are the children?" and in a moment the royal
victims were together.

The Dauphin's spirits were never long cast down and now he was bubbling
over with joy.

"Papa," he cried. "Give me a kiss! I deserve it, for I was truly brave
and did not cry or even speak when the people put the red cap on my
head."

The king stooped with a dignity which was almost reverent, kissed the
boy's broad forehead and pushed back his thick golden hair, then turned
to answer a question put by one of the representatives of the people;
several of whom were in the room. And all at once these men g