dy of honor; and then
turning her attention to Everychild she said in a dreamy voice--

"I think I shall rise!"

She offered her hand to Everychild, and he assisted her to her feet. I
am informed that "he took care not to tell her that she was dressed
like her great-grandmother, and had a point band peeping over a high
collar." My own belief is that perhaps he scarcely noticed this.

They moved forward, the Sleeping Beauty maintaining an air of
dreaminess, while Everychild simply could not remove his eyes from
her--she was so perfect!

All the others in the room were silent, gazing now at the Sleeping
Beauty, and now at Everychild.

And just at that moment there were evidences of new life in the
adjoining apartments. You could hear some one playing on a spinnet. A
sentry on a distant wall called the hour. Lords and ladies could be
heard laughing together. And then there was a great to-do; the king
and queen, father and mother of the Sleeping Beauty, entered the room!

There was now a respectful silence for you! You could have heard a pin
drop. Little train-bearers came behind the king and queen. Then came
lords and ladies, and then the court chamberlain, and at last a few
others whose functions I cannot even name.

The king was pleased to speak presently. "And so you have finished
your nap, daughter?" he said.

The Sleeping Beauty stood before him with a radiant face. "And only
observe who it was that awakened me!" she replied, inclining her head
toward Everychild.

Said the king: "He is the guest whose coming was foretold, no doubt.
Long ago it was written that one should awaken you and claim you as his
bride."

There was general delight and amazement at this: so frankly manifested
that the humblest of Everychild's companions lost all sense of caution.
The smallest son of the Old Woman who lived in a shoe actually
undertook to stand on his head, while the little black dog ran here and
there barking with the utmost freedom.

In the general excitement Mr. Literal took occasion to remark to the
Masked Lady: "But--dear me!--it's all fiction of the most extravagant
character--the account of the Sleeping Beauty and the rest of it!"

But the Masked Lady smiled in her puzzling way and said: "When you
would find the truth perfectly told, you will always find it in a
story. It is only facts which lead us hopelessly astray."

However, the Sleeping Beauty was speaking again. She was replying to
what h