The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1896-03-14

one wondered what would be the end
of this state of things
One night the Princess was restless
and could not go to sleep. She
opened her eyes and looked around
her room; the moon looked in at the
window just then flooding everything
with wonderful radiance. Suddenly
starting up, she rubbed her eyes, and
looked again, for over in the corner
near the moon flooded window stood
an easel, and around it several dainty
little sprites, each holding curious
pencil. Before the easel stood a
beautiful Lady, whose long, golden
hair rippled down over her shoulders,
till it met the loving ripples of moon
light which flowed softly over them,
and one could not tell where the gol-
den locks ended and the moonlight
began. And the Lady's eyes, oh!
they were 40 sad and yet 80 sweet as
they gazed at the Princess. They
were the color of the violets that
grew in some shady spot among the
cool green leaves by the little spark
ling brook.
The Princess was not frightened,
but something made her feel that she
must be polite to her strange visitor.
She crept out of bed and went slowly
over to the Lady, who beckoned to
her to come. Curiously she glanced
at the picture on the easel, then ex
claimed in surprise, for she saw that
it was her own face. She looked
again, and then began to pout, and
would have torn the picture from top
to bottom, but she could not find it;
she felt nothing when she tried to
grasp it, but still it was there. At
first sight one would have called it
beautiful face, but a second glance
revealed ugly, shadowy lines which
spoiled the beauty. Yet it was just
like the princess, only of course she
did not think SO; for she was very
vain, because so many people had
told her that she was the most beau
tiful Princess who had ever lived.
She turned, half-frightened and
wholly angry to the Lady, who stood
sadly looking at her. But the Prin-
cess could not speak; something
seemed to fill her throat every time
she tried. She could only watch in
angry surprise as the Lady beckoned
to one of the sprites. The little crea-
ture held up curious pencil covered
with strange devices, and the Lady
held it in the moonlight where the
Princess could see the strange fig
ures as they turned themselves
around and linked their little hooked
ends together, till they stood in
crooked line on the edge of the pen
Gil where you generally find the
name of the maker. Then the Prin-
cass saw that they spelled the word
Temper. She began to cry as the
Lady took this pencil over to the
portrait and used it to deepen an
ugly line already there.
Just then the trained canary bird
chirped two sweet little chirps for
two o'clock, and the Princess found
herself in bed again. She turned to
look for the Lady and the pencil
sprites; but they were all gone, and
she went to sleep again, thinking
that she had been dreaming. But in
the morning she had not forgotten.
The next day, as usual, she began
to pout and fret and whine and kick
when she came in from her walk and
found the Most Excellent Professor
of Royal Gymnastics waiting for her.
But as he took pencil from his vest
pocket to make a memorandum, she
was reminded of the Lady's pencils,
and suddenly stopping her scolding
she ran to look into the long mirror
which filed space between two of
the windows. She looked for full
minute at the face reflected which
Mother Nature had made SO beauti-
full, but which was SO nearly spoiled
by lines which the Princess herself
had put there. The royal nursery
maid and the Professor thought she
had gone crazy when she quietly
turned around and, signing, said:
"I'm ready now, Professor"
So amazed was the good man at
this unusual turn of affairs, that he
forgot the first part of the exercises
laid down for the Princess by the
Rules, and dismissed her at the end
of thirteen minutes and quarter, in
stead of keeping her the entire quart
er of an hour.
That day every one wondered what
had come over the Princess. She
stopped in the midst of several tan
trums as if she had suddenly thought