d himself up with so
much dignity that nobody dared make fun of him; and, this time, he
scrambled up on all fours and then, putting his legs wide apart, stood
and eyed Tyltyl from top to toe.

"You're not very big!" said Tyltyl, doing his best to keep from
laughing.

"I shall do great things when I am!" retorted the King, in a tone that
admitted of no reply.

"And what will you do?" asked Tyltyl.

"I shall found the General Confederation of the Solar Planets," said
the King, in a very pompous voice.

Our friend was so much impressed that he could not find a word to say;
and the King continued:

"All the Planets will belong to it, except Uranus, Saturn and Neptune,
which are too ridiculously far away."

Thereupon, he toddled off the step again and resumed his first
attitude, showing that he had said all that he meant to say.

Tyltyl left him to his meditations; he was eager to know as many more
of the Children as he could. He was introduced to the discoverer of a
new sun, to the inventor of a new joy, to the hero who was to wipe out
injustice from the earth and to the wiseacre who was to conquer
Death.... There were such lots and lots of them that it would take
days and days to name them all. Our friend was rather tired and was
beginning to feel bored, when his attention was suddenly aroused by
hearing a Child's voice calling him:

"Tyltyl!... Tyltyl!... How are you, Tyltyl, how are you?..."

A little Blue Child came running up from the back of the hall, pushing
his way through the crowd. He was fair and slim and bright-eyed and
had a great look of Mytyl.

"How do you know my name?" asked Tyltyl.

"It's not surprising," said the Blue Child, "considering that I shall
be your brother!"

This time, the Live Children were absolutely amazed. What an
extraordinary meeting! They must certainly tell Mummy as soon as they
got back! How astonished they would be at home!

While they were making these reflections, the Child went on to
explain:

"I am coming to you next year, on Palm Sunday," he said.

And he put a thousand questions to his big brother: was it comfortable
at home? Was the food good? Was Daddy very severe? And Mummy?

"Oh, Mummy is so kind!" said the little ones.

And they asked him questions in their turn: what was he going to do on
earth? What was he bringing?

"I am bringing three illnesses," said the little brother. "Scarlatina,
whooping-cough and measles...."

"Oh, that's all, is it?"