sty.

Tancred bowed assent.

'Is your Queen about my age?'

'She was as young as your Majesty when she began to reign.'

'And how long has she reigned?'

'Some seven years or so.'

'Has she a castle?'

'Her Majesty generally resides in a very famous castle.'

'Very strong, I suppose?'

'Strong enough.'

'The Emir Bescheer remains at Stamboul?'

'He is now, I believe, at Brusa,' replied Fakredeen.

'Does he like Brusa?'

'Not as much at Stamboul.'

'Is Stamboul the largest city in the world?'

'I apprehend by no means,' said Fakredeen.

'What is larger?'

'London is larger, the great city of the English, from which the prince
comes; Paris is also larger, but not so large as London.'

'How many persons are there in Stamboul?'

'More than half a million.'

'Have you seen Antakia (Antioch)?' the Queen inquired of Tancred.

'Not yet.'

'You have seen Beiroot?'

'I have.'

'Antakia is not nearly so great a place as Beiroot,' said the Queen;
'yet once Antakia was much larger than Stamboul; as large, perhaps, as
your great city.'

'And far more beautiful than either,' said Tancred.

'Ah! you have heard of these things!' exclaimed the Queen, with much
animation. 'Now tell me, why is Antakia no longer a great city, as great
as Stamboul and the city of the English, and far more beautiful?'

'It is a question that might perplex the wise,' said Tancred.

'I am not wise,' said the Queen, looking earnestly at Tancred, 'yet I
could solve it.'

'Would that your Majesty would deign to do so.'

'There are things to be said, and there are things not to be said,' was
the reply, and the Queen looked at Keferinis.

'Her Majesty has expressed herself with infinite exactitude and with
condescending propriety,' said the chief minister.

The Queen was silent for a moment, thoughtful, and then waved gracefully
her hands; whereupon the chamber was immediately cleared. The princes,
instructed by Keferinis, alone remained, with the exception of the
minister, who, at the desire of his sovereign, now seated himself, but
not on the divan. He sat opposite to the Queen on the floor.

'Princes,' said the Queen, 'you are welcome to Gindarics, where nobody
ever comes. For we are people who wish neither to see nor to be seen. We
are not like other people, nor do we envy other people. I wish not for
the ships of the Queen of the English, and my subjects are content to
live as their fathers lived before them. Our mou