d
the fairy left was still a child, for all her womanhood. She was
willful and capricious; she rode, she fenced, she hunted; she was as
unlike other women as could be. At last the King, who was her
guardian, grew weary of her caprices. So he commanded that she marry.
But what had the fairy done with the other child, the twin sister of
this wild Princess? Perhaps in this instance the good fairy died and
left her work unfinished, to be taken up and pursued by a conventional
newspaper reporter. Now this pro tem fairy, who was anything but good,
as the word goes, made some curious discoveries. It seems that the
good fairy had left the lost Princess in the care of one of a foreign
race. Having a wife and daughter of his own, he brought the Princess
up as his niece, not knowing himself who she really was. She became
wise, respected, and beautiful in mind and form. Fate, who governs all
fairy stories, first brought the newspaper reporter into the presence
of the lost Princess. She was a mere girl then, and was selling
lemonade at--at twenty-five cents a glass. She--"

"Jack," came in wondering tones, "for mercy's sake, what are you
telling me?"

"Phyllis, can you not look back, perhaps as in a dream, to an old inn,
where soldiers and ministers in a hurry and confusion moved to and fro?
No; I dare say you were too young. The Princess Hildegarde of
Hohenphalia is your sister." I rose and bowed to her respectfully.

"My sister?--the Princess?--I, a Princess? Jack," indignantly, "you
are mocking me! It is not fair!"

"Phyllis, as sure as I stand before you, all I have said is true. And
now let me be the first to do homage to Your Serene Highness," taking
her hand despite her efforts to withdraw it, and kissing it.

"It is unreal! Impossible! Absurd!" she cried.

"Let me repeat the words of the French philosopher, who said, 'As
nothing is impossible, let us believe in the absurd,'" said I.

"But why has Uncle Bob kept me in ignorance all these years?"
unconvinced.

"Because, as I have said before, he knew nothing till to-day. I have
even spoken to the Chancellor, who has promised to aid in recovering
your rights."

"And does she know--the Princess Hildegarde? My sister? How strange
the word feels on my tongue."

"No; she does not know, but presently she will."

Then Phyllis asked in an altered tone, "And what is all this to you
that you thrust this greatness upon me?--a greatness, I assure you, fo