ly overrated man. I could tell you some
curious things I learned about him. I know they are true, for they were
told to me in confidence. People admire him because they think he is so
lucky. Now if it had been his brother! He came over from China and used
to sit by the day under my palm-tree talking about the chances he had
just missed. They were truly marvelous. He missed more chances than
Aladdin ever dreamed of, but nobody ever writes about him."

"Perhaps they don't know about him," said Miss Muffet.

"That's the injustice of it."

"Speaking of brothers, did you ever find out why it is that the third
one is always the wisest? I asked one of the North Country princes about
it just now, and he bowed and said he thanked me for the compliment, but
he was no philosopher. It doesn't matter where it is, in the Red Fairy
Book or the Green Fairy Book or any color, the third is always the
charm, and it seems very much the same way in your country. The oldest
brother is always vain and selfish, and when he goes into the forest,
always does the very thing he was told not to. And the second brother is
selfish, and stupider, for he ought to know better when his brother
doesn't come back and there are so many witches around. Then it comes to
the third brother, and I never expect anything of him because he is so
little and his stepmother has kept him back, but he turns out splendid.
Did you ever meditate on that, Mr. Dervish?"

The Dervish said that he had meditated on it for a great many years, and
had at last come to the conclusion that it was a law of nature.

"I am so glad to know that," said Miss Muffet, "for it has always
troubled me."

[Illustration: _Aladdin's brother and the Dervish_]

The Dervish remarked that when one was troubled by that kind of
questions, it was always better to consult a wise man at once. It was
not safe to let the case run on.

"There's another thing I should like to ask about. Since I first read of
the Three Royal Mendicants, I've always wondered what a Mendicant is. I
know he must be very proud and great, but what does he do? The
Mendicants are here this evening, but I don't like to ask them; it might
seem rude."

Then the Dervish explained about the Mendicants, and seemed so familiar
with their way of life that Miss Muffet suspected that he might have
been one himself. He explained too about the Calendars.

The time passed so rapidly that Miss Muffet would have talked with him
all the