, 1873-01-05

] lure Tomorrow noon, al unoccupled nuDbef,
nough. added to his name"
The people shouted and Withdrew but Tom
my, who had never before looked on royalty,
| fingered behind to stare open-mouthed at the
gorgeous rooms and grand company.
| The King continued his dictation, never OBJ
serving the absence of 71.o32: 80 every fourth
/ chapter Of tho novel was missing but this, Of
course. only made it the more interesting.
| Tommy's curiosity soon got the better Of his
| manners, and he interrupted them with,
"What did you hare for dinner7 what's your
| name and how old are you 7"
numbered"
well, come now. that amt my fault. sou
Tho Ring had never seen it in this light be-
| fore, aud his face grew nilder and more gentle,
| 30 Tommy dared to add,
Whats your name, or number Z"
~" said The King. with pride, II AN tho In
| "whateyer is that7" Thought Tommy but he
t didn't ask. only went On to himself, '' Nought
intonought ,nought remains; multiply by nonght,
| and then divide By nought, and the answer il
| nought." But ho soon became confused, aud
gave it up
"Do you not seem to understand"
And so saying, the King unwound from bis
| waist white-hatin scarf of prodigious length,
endlesa succession Of noughts-thus, 0oo0o0o00,
etc. Tom looked at him with ave.
"What divides your" he asked, repeating the
current phrase, and acting up to the spirit Of
| that p1oyerb which advises you what course to
pursue when yon. find yourself in the City Of the
Seven Hills.
"Everything! ~ WAS the reply; on which Tom
my resumed his former calculations, and re-
lnpaed into temporary state Of hopeless i'm
bccility.
No. and Tommy both passed restless and
feTareh night hut ere they left Tor Arithrnetical
Progression in the morning, the mind of No. l
WAS mado up. He would gain the promised
the original Of that number was degraded to his
humble position), he would have no 1ess than
three servants
"And which Of you," asked tho lnnunorablo
Nought "has though. of number to bessowon
this waif Of the skies Z"
His Majesty piqued himself Oh tho poetica1
turn OF his sentence.
"Please, sir, I have" And stepped forward
with little bow and flourish
oo.a "Msl'" ssid o: eyeins him se0rntully "pFo~
20, Q tho Infinite, what il ho shou1d be
"A What :" asked chorus of voices. ssWhat
IL, tie world Of numbers do yon mean" ...
can understand you!'
No. began to explain what 3 fraction was,
and suggested that Tommy should be 4.
'tAnd should not have dared to propose this
il it we're not that the wretched boy bad hitherto
been numberless, and therefore half loaf
would be batter than no bread"
The King, ever ready to encourage talent by
his example, and to reward it lavishly with
smiles, held ont his hand to No. !, who knelt
and humbly kissed it.
"Your ingenuity is-aa virtue ever ia-its own
reward. You arc no longer the lowest in the
kingdom, for Tommy spratt-" {that young
gentleman had been careful, in the absence Of
sny number to which he could lay dlain, to in
form them Of his na1ne), "for Tommy Spratt
takes his place as the slave OF alnyes aud diViaor
OIL.
Tommy WAS about to weep-he had actually
gone 30 far as to Lift his cuff for the purpose
Of drying his eyes, when thought struck him.
Sand Where's Il then2 He'd divide me, and
II, and 1-16, and 1~32, and 1-64 7" he went on,
taking d spiteful delight in seeing the grand
blank Of incomprehension which oveEspread the
tho truth vas known, you're some Of you frnc-
tions yourselves"
~, sid i. II the Fin. King in tone Of the ut
'And 7 haveheard, ~ continued Tommy, whose
hitherto despised and hated arithmetic begnn to
stand him in. good stead, "and have heard tell
Of decimals, and il fyou'reinnumerable, 1believo
you're neither more nor less than = circulating
decimal ynurseIf!"
For one moment only the King was stunned
by Tommya unezampled audacity; then his
great mind rose to the occasion.
"He Is convicted by his own mouth OF trea-
son." for though was ignorant Of the meaning
Of the word, he guessed no compliment WAS in
tended By the term. Take him and to the but
Elements, and cast them into the moat."
Once more Tommy found himself tho centre |
Of crowd of numbers. who, seizing on him and !
tho hapless /, bound them together hand and !
foot, and boro them in triumph to the battle~ |
ments. They only met ono slight Interruption,
when wrathful number, with a cruel laugh, /
fastened to them the air-ball, the faithful com |
panion Of TOMS pell1ous voyage to that inhos~
pitable world.
Thus they proceeded in q procession to the
ramparts. where large crowd WAS assembled to |
witness their execution. With many . taunt |
and iecr thsy tossed them over, but, to the as
tonishment Of tho multitude, after sinking
slowly for some seconds, the air-bau began to |
take effect, and, impelled by faSozing breeze, |
they arose out Of reach of their totmentorB.
Ere he could utter q word Of thank{nlness OF
Joy nt this unexpected de1iyekance, Tommy
spratt found himself lying in the grass under the
shady tree, the gingerbread crumbled to nothing
in his hand, and the air-bau floating serenely ]
above him. !
From that day Tozm; ssprratt became changed
boy, remarkable especially for two good quali-
ties-his perEevering attention to arithmetic,
and his unremitsing and tender care OF No. !.