tell him what I told
you; it's every word of it true, and he ought to know. He might see
something about it in the _Mercure de France_."

This was the newspaper of the period.

"I don't think it will get into the papers," said Jaqueline, smiling.
"Nobody could tell, except the king and the princes, and they have
reasons for keeping it to themselves."

"I don't trust that younger one," said Dick, moodily; "I don't care for
that young man. Anyway, my father _must_ be told; and, if you won't, I
must."

"Well, I'll tell him," said Jaqueline. "And now lie down till evening."

After dinner, in the conservatory, Jaqueline told King Prigio all about
it.

His Majesty was very much moved.

"What extraordinary bad luck that family has!" he thought. "If I had not
changed the rug, the merest accident, Prince Charles would have dined at
St. James's to-night, and King George in Hanover. It was the very
nearest thing!"

"This meddling with practical affairs will never do," he said aloud.

"Dick has had a lesson, sire," said the princess. "He says he'll never
mix himself up with politics again, whatever happens. And he says he
means to study all about them, for he feels frightfully ignorant, and,
above all, he means to practise his fencing."

These remarks were not part of the conversation between Ricardo and
Jaqueline, but she considered that Dick _meant_ all this, and, really, he
did.

"That is well, as far as it goes," said the king. "But, Jaqueline, about
that mosquito?" for she had told him this part of the adventure. "That
was a very convenient mosquito, though I don't know how Dick was able to
observe it from any distance. I see _your_ hand in that, my dear, and I
am glad you can make such kind and wise use of the lessons of the good
Fairy Paribanou. Jaqueline," he added solemnly, laying his hand on her
head, "You have saved the honour of Pantouflia, which is dearer to me
than life. Without your help, I tremble to think what might have
occurred."

The princess blushed very much, and felt very happy.

"Now run away to the queen, my dear," said his Majesty, "I want to think
things over."

He did think them over, and the more he thought the more he felt the
inconvenience attending the possession of fairy things.

"An eclipse one day, as nearly as possible a revolution soon after!" he
said to himself. "But for Jaqueline, Ricardo's conduct would have been
blazed abroad, England would have been irritate