that there was so very little of them to be fond
of, still under all his follies Vance had a good sort of heart, and so
he trudged away with the troublesome little Court strapped tightly to
his shoulders. I am not perfectly sure that he did not take some
pleasure in jolting it about, for I have more than once seen little folk
bang and jerk bundles they were made to carry against their wills. At
any rate, the King and the Queen and the Court came very near being
seasick upon dry land, from the jolting and rocking of this new manner
of travelling.

Prince Vance had not the least idea where he was going. He knew, of
course, that he wanted to find the Crushed Strawberry Wizard, but he did
not know where that individual lived, or how to go to work to find him;
so he only made his best pace to get away from the palace as fast as he
could, being afraid that the new king might repent of not having taken
his head from his shoulders, and send somebody after him.

It was about sunset when he came to a beautiful field which lay along
the banks of a wide dark river; and Vance, who by this time was half
starved, was delighted that wild strawberries grew here in great plenty,
making the ground quite red. He first looked about for somebody to pick
them for him, but naturally he found no one; so he set down his luggage
and fell to helping himself, eating very fast and paying very little
attention to the rules of good society.

It was not until he had stuffed himself to the throat that he happened
to think that his travelling companions might also be hungry. He opened
the box and let them out, and found much pleasure in watching their
funny antics as they stumbled over tiny pebbles or became entangled in
the grass and struggled helplessly as if caught in some horrible
thicket. Two or three would seat themselves around one ripe berry, and
dine from it where it was growing; others drank drops of the evening
dew, which already shone in the clover leaves and buttercups; while the
Lord Chancellor, who seemed to be always getting into trouble, picked
some sort of quarrel with a large green grasshopper,--and so terrible
did the battle become that there is no telling who would have come out
of it alive had not Vance gone to the poor Lord's help and frightened
the insect away.

Under all these trying circumstances the poor nobles kept something of
their court manners; and their smiles and stately movements, their
bowings and courtesies, seeme