Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1873-01-11

this boy, Who has descended on this earth bv
strange conveyance, hitherto unknown, in
oder that thou, o Most Divisible, shouldst
oestow on him number and place in the roy
al register"
The king frowned, the secretary followed sui
and the unhappy sank beneath the glowering
what number shall We give him?', said
the king, pensively. "Fetch hither the regis
ter"
A small detachment of subjects carried In
with great difficulty 5000 volumes, and the four
secretaries set to work with q will.
After looking for some hours, one of the SEC
oceupied-that the last number used was SO 500 :
zee, and that, therefore, the newcomer must be
The King for one moment foamed at the
mouth; then, recovering his speech, flew at the
Secretary Ci ,os2, land tearing OF his number,
cried:
sThe traitor has dared to propose that this
stranger, this indivisible boy, shall bencefor-
ward become one of the royal family-one of
the nearest to our own person ~
Every one hooted II ,o32, who hid behind his
No." continued the prince; :. some other
Ilan must be thought Of. Whoever brings, be-
fore to morrow noon, an unoccupied number,
not over 81 800 900, for this boy, shall have a
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 II ,OS2; so every fourth
chapter of the novel was missing: but this, Of
course, only made it the more interesting. al
Tommy's curiosity soon got the better of his
manners, and he interrupted them with,
what did you have for dinner? what's your
name and how old are you ?''
boy" said the Prince, .'you are as yet I'M
numbered, 49,
'well, come now, that amt my fault, you
know" argued Tommy.
The King had never seen it in this light before,
and his face grew milder and more gentle, so
Tommy dared to add,
whats your name, or number ."
Vulnerable Nought" ----s[Z
Whatever Is that ?" thought Tommy; but he
didn't ask, only went on 70 himself, thought
into nought, nought remains; multiply by
nought, and then divide by nought, and the
answer il no0ght." But he soon became con-
fused, and gave il up.
ssDo YOU not seem to understand %
And so saying, the King unwound from his
waist a white-satin suarf Of prodigiOus length,
ON. which was embroidered, In gold-thread, an
endless succession Of noughts-thus, oOOoOoooO,
etc. Tom looked at him with awe. ~
"Wbat divides your he asked, repeating the
current phrase, and acting up to the spirit Of
that proverb which advises yeu what course to
pursue when you lind yourself In the City of the
.Everything," was the reply, on which Tom
my resumed his former calculations, and re-
lapsed into a temporary state Of hopeless imbe-
ciiity::
Mol and Tommy both passed a restless and
feverish night; but ere they LETT for Arthmet-
Neal Progression In the morning, the mind of
No. was made up. He would gain the proIa-
sed nOught; and being thus promoted to 10
while the original of that number was degraded
TO his humble position, he would have no less
than three servants.
And which of you," asked the Innumerable
Nought, has thought of number to bestow cn
this waif of the skies?"
His Majesty pigued himself ON the pOeticll
turn of his sentence.
t"Please, sir, I have.'' And I stepped for
ward with little bow and flourish.
Well said y, cycling him scornfully, ''pro-
40, the Infinite, what if he should he a
fraction?"
"a what?" asked chorus of voices. ..what
in the world OF numbers do you mean:'
MAY I never be divided, " said the King, '.if
L can understand yOu.'' -
aud suggested that Tommy should be X.
And should not have dared to propose tn s
il IL were not that the wretched boy had hitherto
been numberless, and therefore half q loaf
would be better than no bread"
The King, ever ready 10 encourage talent by
his example, and to reward it layishly with
smiles, held out his hand to No. 1, who knelt
Your ingenuity is-as virtue ever is-its own
reward. You are no longer the lowest in the
kingdom; for Tommy Spratt-" chat youn &
sny number to which he could lay claim, to in
form them of his name), ''for Tommy Spratt
takes his place as the slave of slaves and diyisor
OF 1.
Tommy wa. about to weep-he had actually
gone far as to lift his cuff for the purpose Of
drying his eyes, when thought struck him.
"And where's 4 then? Hed divide me, and
taking spiteful delight in seeing the grant
blank OfincOmprehension which OVerspread the
features of his listeners. an mi 1 dare say, il
the truth was known, you're some Of you frac-
s.Youti,'' said the King, in tone of the ut
most severity, '.be silent"
aud have heard, continued Tommy whose
stand him in good stead, ''xnd have heard tell
of decimas, ahdify you're innumerable, believe
you're neither more nor less than circulating
For one momen only the King was stunned
by Tomhy's unexampled 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 % the bat
Elements, and cast them into the m0at."
Once more Tommy found himself the center
of crowd of numbers, who, seizing on him and
the hapless 1, bound them together hand and
foot, and bore them in triumph to the battle
ments. They only met one slight interruption,
when a wrathful number, with a cruel laugh,
fastened to them the air-ball, the faithful COM
ranion OF Toms perilous voyage to that inhos-
Thus they proceeded in procession to the
rsmparts, where a large crowd was assembled
10 witness their execution. With many a taunt
and jeer they tossed them over, but, to the
establishment of the multitude, after sinking
slowly for some seconds, the air-ball began to
take effect, and impelled by a fayOring breeze,
they arose out OF reach of their tormenters.
Ere he could utter wonl of thankfulness OF
JOY at this unexpected dehverance, Tommy
Spratt found himself lying in the grass under
the shady tree, the gingerbread crumbled to
nothing in his hand, and the air-ball floating
serenely above him.
From that day Tommy Spratt became a
changed boy, remarkable especially for two
good qualities-his persevering attention to
Of No. l.