his poor old mother had to stand with
her back to the procession, holding on to his legs in a terrible state
of anxiety lest he should fall.

At the palace, a magnificent feast had been prepared.

Now it was the custom in those days, when a King's child was christened,
for all the fairies in the country to be invited to the christening
feast. Each fairy was bound to bring a gift, so of course it stood to
reason that the royal child would have everything that the heart could
possibly desire.

[Illustration]

There were thirteen fairies in the King's realm, but one of them lived
in a lonely place on the outskirts of the kingdom. There, for the last
fifty years, she had shut herself up in a ruined tower with only a black
cat to keep her company, and as she kept herself to herself, everybody
had forgotten her very existence. The result was that she was not
invited to the christening feast, and though she had nobody but herself
to blame for this, she was very angry about it. The truth of the matter
is that she was always a miserable, sour creature, with no love or
kindness in her heart, and nobody missed her because she had never given
anybody any reason to care for her.

Well, the guests assembled in the banqueting hall of the palace and the
feast began.

[Illustration]

CHAPTER III

THE King and the Queen sat on a dais at the end of the banqueting hall,
and above them in a little gallery there was a band of fiddlers and
flute-players. On either side of the royal pair sat the twelve fairy
godmothers, six on the right hand and six on the left. In front of each
fairy was a golden plate and a golden casket made to hold her knife,
fork and spoon. These caskets were beautifully carved and engraved, and
each one was of a different shape. One was in the form of a ship,
another of a shell, a third in the form of a castle with turrets, and so
on; nothing more beautiful could be imagined, for they had all been
specially made for the occasion by the cleverest goldsmiths in the
kingdom, and they were the King's presents to the fairy godmothers. He
felt very proud when the fairies spoke admiringly of these caskets and
said that they would be pleased to accept them.

Below the dais were six long tables for the guests, and there was only
just room between the tables for the servants to pass, so you may judge
how crowded the room was. Such a glittering of silks, such a flashing of
jewels, such a dazzle and splendour ha