protested, "no one
can say _I_ am extravagant! It was absolutely necessary to have the
whole Palace done up--I had to order some new dresses, as I couldn't be
expected to wear ready-made robes in my position, and one or two tiaras
and things from the Court Goldsmith, whose charges certainly were
disgracefully high. Then the household expenses come to several sacks a
week, try as I _may_ to keep them down!"

"I daresay, my love, I daresay--but I hear there was another sack
emptied only this afternoon--and we really can't go on like this!"

"Then I shall have to give up driving out altogether, Sidney. You've no
idea how unpopular you've made us all by releasing those wretched little
Gnomes. The people object to having to associate with them--and I'm sure
I don't wonder. You simply _must_ find some way of getting rid of them!"

"The Court Chamberlain tells me a certain number could be taken on the
Palace Kitchens as extra scullions."

"And we shall have them getting upstairs and running about all over the
Palace!"

"Oh no, my dear; there will be strict orders against that. But, to
return to our expenses, I'm afraid Clarence hasn't been as careful as he
might have been, and I shall have to speak to him very----"

"No, you will not, Sidney. I won't have you scolding Clarence just when
he's doing so well--riding and going out hunting and making himself a
social leader. You can give him a hint to be less extravagant if you
like--but no more. But the _first_ thing you have to do, is to settle
the trouble about those Gnomes. You'd better ask the Marshal if _he_ can
suggest anything."

The Marshal's solution was simple but practical. There was, it seemed, a
marshy tract at a considerable distance from the capital which needed
draining and reclaiming--a work which the more able-bodied of the Gnomes
could carry out under strict control. So the majority were deported to
the Maerchenlands, the remainder being employed in the Royal Kitchens as
supernumerary and highly incompetent scullions.

Whether a damp climate would suit the Gnomes' constitutions was not
a matter of general concern. Most of them had been supplied with
jerseys, which, if they made them look more hideous little objects
than ever, had been knitted expressly for them by the Queen and her
ladies-in-waiting--and what more could they possibly want?

The citizens of Eswareinmal witnessed the exodus of the gnomes with
profound relief, but without any outburst of