The Newtown bee., 1878-11-14

"l llc Lhlfd uHf, they came To tlte castle In Bohemia, where dweIt the Princess lsolette tho falle5t of tho fair Each blew blast upon the bugle horn that hung beside the custlo gate, and quickly the gray-huIred seneschal came out to let them in.
 You are welcome, noble knights" he said; and can guess your business horc."
 Two arc suitors to the Lady Isoletts." said Harold the Dane.
 And not tho first, smiled the senes- chal, b&t graycly added, 'und fear you will not be the lust, although my lady must indeed be hard to please, if she takes nolonc ofyou forthree such prince ly knights neSoryeJ came here together. Come in, l pray you, he eoutinued throwing open the gate. You and your "iecds shall nave the best cheer the castle offers, and to-morrow morn my lady will see you and giveyou her decision"
 He led the way within the castle, and the three knights followed him to the banquet hali, where they were served with supper it to set before a king; af- ter which they were provided with Iodg- ln9s in grand chamber which might al 50 have suited royal guest. Whatever might be the lady'5 alrsw CT to their suits, they certainly could lnu To fault with their entertainment.
 h the morains, they arose and pre- pared topay their court to the princess Who sent them word that she would see them directly after breakfast. 50 they hurriei over their breakfast as fast a5 possible, and then the seIeschaI came to conduct them to the lady's presence
 They found her waiting for them on g. marble terrace at the back Of the castle, from which 8 long flight of steps led down beautiful garden. She turned to greet them with asmile or such entrancfng sweetness that each began to tronbio for fear h~ should not win 50 beautiful a creature. Her form was graceful as q bending willow, her face Was like lily in tho. sun, her hazel eyes were soft and bright, and her rgolIen comb could scarce ly hold up the abundance of her auburn hair.
 The thrco knights lent their knees be- fore her, and kissed her snow-white bands and Harold, the Danish knight, ezcloimcI,-
 Fair princess, my namo and station are already known to you; and am come rom Denmark to pray you to be5tow on me your hand in marriage" , The dark-ey ed Russian said
 And am come from Russia, sweet lady, to woo you for my bride 1 need not tell you who am, for you have seen Prince Naldomar in many tournament"
 And last the English warrior spoke,-
 "Lady, 1 scarcely dare to hope that 'ane has been 50 Kind to he as to these, ny brother knights. My name is Pal merlin, my blood is royal and my native and is England. 1 aIoo mn your lover, lady fair"
 Then the princess answered,-
 "Braye knights, l know you1 al by rcputa- -ion, and two of you by sight; and though never saw Sir Pelmcrin till now, yet I think the rumor tells no lie that calls him d very valorous knight. It is no easy natter to make a choice between three knights of such high esteem therefore I NiiI leave the decision to yourselves. He who shall solve rroJlemwhich Twill pro pose to you, shall have me for his bride; md if neither of you can give me the cor rect answer, l will reject you all She beckoned to little page who fol- lowed behind her, carrying a willow ,asbet; and taking the basket from his naud, she addressed the rival knights
 Il have here" said she, "in my basket, ! gift of plums for each of you, picked from my garden. One Of you shall have half and one more, the second shall again have half and one more and the third shall have half and three more This Jill empty my basket. Now tell me how many plums are in it."
 With very blank counteuance, the Danish knight spoke first.
 There are three-score," said he. mak- ing a random guess.
 No, repled the lady; but if there were aa many more, half as many more, md third US many more as there are LOW in the basket, with five more added 70 that, the number would by so much ,xceed throe-score as 1t HOW falls short of it."
 The Russian knight looked very much ewildered, as he speculated Oil forty five.
 Not SO" said the princess; "but if here was third as many more, and a iXth as many mere as there are now, there would be in my basket as many more nan forty-iye as there are now under that number"
 Lady, tne number is thirty, said Pal merlin Of England, with quiet smile.
 Right" exclaimed the lady; "and fou are the hrSt of two score knights and .hrae that has heen ablcto answer a prob lem of my offering
 She then counted him out fifteen plums md one more, and there remained four. cen. To Sir Waldomar. she gave seven md one more, and six remained. To Sir Harold, who gave half of these and three more; and the basket was empty.
 And so Sir Palmerin of England won the Princess IsoleEe for his bride; and the discarded knights went away with Itheir heads in whirl. aud their mouths full of plums.
 Pieces of Cleopatra's Needle are now ,eing sold in the London streets. They !