st furious effort, and rising on his wings, dropped
just on the spine of his enemy.

The wounded Remora curled back his head again on himself, and again
crawled, steaming terribly, towards his enemy. But the struggle was
too much for the gallant Remora. The flat, cruel head moved slower; the
steam from his thousand wounds grew fiercer; and he gently breathed his
last just as the Firedrake, too, fell over and lay exhausted. With
one final roar, like the breath of a thousand furnaces, the Firedrake
expired.

[Illustration: Page 58]

The prince, watching from the hill-top, could scarcely believe that
these two _awful scourges of Nature_, which had so long devastated his
country, were actually dead. But when he had looked on for half-an-hour,
and only a river ran where the Remora had been, while the body of the
Firedrake lay stark and cold, he hurried to the spot.

Drawing the sword of sharpness, he hacked off, at two blows, the iron
head and the tail of the Firedrake. They were a weary weight to carry;
but in a few strides of the shoes of swiftness he was at his castle,
where he threw down his burden, and nearly fainted with excitement and
fatigue.

But the castle clock struck half-past seven; dinner was at eight, and
the poor prince crawled on hands and knees to the garret. Here he put
on the wishing-cap; wished for a pint of champagne, a hot bath, and his
best black velvet and diamond suit. In a moment these were provided; he
bathed, dressed, drank a glass of wine, packed up the head and tail of
the Firedrake; sat down on the flying carpet, and knocked at the door of
the English Ambassador as the clocks were striking eight' in Gluckstein.

_Punctuality is the politeness of princes_; and a prince _is_ polite
when he is in love!

The prince was received at the door by a stout porter and led into the
hall, where _several_ butlers met him, and he laid the mortal remains of
the Firedrake under the cover of the flying carpet.

Then he was led upstairs, and he made his bow to the pretty lady, who,
of course, made him a magnificent courtesy. She seemed prettier and
kinder than ever. The prince was so happy, that he never noticed how
something went wrong about the dinner. The ambassador looked about, and
seemed to miss someone, and spoke in a low voice to one of the servants,
who answered also in a low voice, and what he said seemed to displease
the ambassador. But the prince was so busy in talking to his lady, and
in e