asked the same question, and given the
same doom. Then, when it came to an Englishman's turn, he said 'Yes',
although he knew as much about drawing as the man in the moon. The
sultan spared his life, and ordered him to begin at once to decorate
the walls of the palace, so he was obliged to try. I believe the
pictures are still there, and people go to look at them because they're
so extraordinary. I wish I could remember where the place is!"

"I should certainly like to see it," said Honor. "My productions would
have been unique. I think I should have represented battle scenes, and
put smoke to hide everything, and then have said it was impressionistic!
The sultan was as bad as the Queen in _Alice in Wonderland_, who cried,
'Off with her head!'"

"They're absolute autocrats," said Janie. "I read a story of another
who had a pet donkey, and sent for a philosopher and commanded him to
teach it to talk. The poor old sage expected his last hour had come,
but luckily an idea occurred to him. He said he would do so, but it
would take seven years. He thought that in the meantime either the
sultan might die, or the donkey might die, or he himself might die."

"And what happened?"

"Oh, I don't know! Like all good stories, it ends there."

"How disappointing! I want to hear the sequel. I suppose the
philosopher might have poisoned the donkey."

"Or, perhaps, somebody poisoned the sultan. It was an amiable little
way in those days of getting rid of an unpopular monarch. By the by, to
go back to the subject of drawing, Miss Cavendish says there's to be an
exhibition of all the sketches at the end of the term. They're to be
pinned up round the gymnasium, and she'll ask an artist friend to come
and judge them, and mark them first, second, and third class. Perhaps
she may even set a special competition for a prize."

"You'll win, then, if she does. I'm certain Marjorie Parkes's painting
is no better, though the St. Bride's girls have been crowing
tremendously over her."

"Don't pin your hopes to me! I'm a broken reed. If I want to do a thing
particularly nicely, I never can. All my most successful hits have been
made when I wasn't trying."

"Yes, that's often the way. I always say my highest scores at cricket
are really flukes. Here's Lettice coming to criticize. Don't look at my
sketch, Lettice, it's abominable! You may admire Janie's as much as you
like."

"I think you've both been very quick," said Lettice. "I've only