Prince Ricardo of Pantouflia | Page 6

a
low silver music, as if it were filled with the waves of the sea.
Then the princess took a great silver basin, covered with strange black
signs and figures raised in the silver. She poured water into the basin,
and as she poured it she sang the magic spell from the Latin book. It
was something like this, in English:
"Oh Lady Moon, on the waters riding, On shining waters, in silver
sheen, Show me the secret the heart is hiding, Show me the truth of the
thought, oh Queen!
"Oh waters white, where the moon is riding, That knows what shall be
and what has been, Tell me the secret the heart is hiding, Wash me the
truth of it, clear and clean!"

As she sang the water in the silver basin foamed and bubbled, and then
fell still again; and the princess knelt in the middle of the room, and the
moon and the white light from the mirror of the moon fell in the water.
Then the princess raised the basin, and stooped her mouth to it and
drank the water, spilling a few drops, and so she drank the moon and
the knowledge of the moon. Then the moon was darkened without a
cloud, and there was darkness in the sky for a time, and all the dogs in
the world began to howl. When the moon shone again, the princess rose
and put out the two white lights, and drew the curtains; and presently
she went to bed.
{The Princess drinks the Moon: p41.jpg}
"Now I know all about it," she said. "It is clever; everything the king
does is clever, and he is so kind that I daresay he does not mean any
harm. But it seems a cruel trick to play on poor Ricardo. However,
Jaqueline is on the watch, and I'll show them a girl can do more than
people think,"--as, indeed, she could.
After meditating in this way, the princess fell sleep, and did not waken
till her maid came to call her.
"Oh! your Royal Highness, what's this on the floor?" said the faithful
Rosina, as she was arranging the princess's things for her to get up.
"Why, what is it?" asked the princess.
"Ever so many--four, five, six, seven--little shining drops of silver lying
on the carpet, as if they had melted and fallen there!"
"They have not hurt the carpet?" said the princess. "Oh dear! the queen
won't be pleased at all. It was a little chemical experiment I was trying
last night."
But she knew very well that she must have dropped seven drops of the
enchanted water.

"No, your Royal Highness, the carpet is not harmed," said Rosina;
"only your Royal Highness should do these things in the laboratory.
Her Majesty has often spoke about it."
"You are quite right," said the princess; "but as there is no harm done,
we'll say nothing about it this time. And, Rosina, you may keep the
silver drops for yourself."
"Your Royal Highness is always very kind," said Rosina, which was
true; but how much better and wiser it is not to begin to deceive! We
never know how far we may be carried, and so Jaqueline found out.
For when she went down to breakfast, there was the king in a great
state of excitement, for him.
"It's most extraordinary," said his Majesty.
"What is?" asked the queen.
"Why, didn't you notice it? No, you had gone to bed before it happened.
But I was taking a walk in the moonlight, on the balcony, and I
observed it carefully."
"Observed what, my dear?" asked the queen, who was pouring out the
tea.
"Didn't you see it, Dick? Late as usual, you young dog!" the king
remarked as Ricardo entered the room.
"See what, sir?" said Dick.
"Oh, you were asleep hours before, now I think of it! But it was the
most extraordinary thing, an unpredicted eclipse of the moon! You
must have noticed it, Jaqueline; you sat up later. How the dogs
howled!"
"No; I mean yes," murmured poor Jaqueline, who of course had caused
the whole affair by her magic arts, but who had forgotten, in the
excitement of the moment, that an eclipse of the moon, especially if

entirely unexpected, is likely to attract very general attention. Jaqueline
could not bear to tell a fib, especially to a king who had been so kind to
her; besides, fibbing would not alter the facts.
"Yes, I did see it," she admitted, blushing. "Had it not been predicted?"
"Not a word about it whispered anywhere," said his Majesty. "I looked
up the almanack at once. It is the most extraordinary thing I ever saw,
and I've seen a good many."
"The astronomers must be duffers," said Prince Ricardo. "I