"Well, I just wanted to ask whether this story was about the fairy godmother, or about the Prince and Princess."
"Very well, now," said the papa. "You've asked your question. I didn't promise to answer it, and I'm happy to say it stops the story. I'll guess I'll go to sleep again. I don't like being waked up this way in the middle of the night, anyhow."
"Now, brother, I hope you're satisfied!" said the niece.
The nephew evaded the point. He said: "Well, sister, if the story really isn't going on, I should like to ask uncle another question. How big was the fairy godmother's diamond chariot?"
"It was the usual sized chariot," answered the papa.
"Whew! It must have been a pretty big diamond, then!"
"It was a very big diamond," said the papa; and he seemed to forget all about being mad, or else he had thought up some more of the story to tell, for he went on just as if nothing had happened. "The fairy godmother was so severe with the dirt she found because it was a royal prerogative that is, nobody but the King, or the King's family, had a right to make a mess, and if other people did it, they were infringing on the royal prerogative.
"You know," the papa explained, "that in old times and countries the royal family have been allowed to do things that no other family would have been associated with if they had done them. That is about the only use there is in having a royal family. But the fairy godmother of Prince "
"Butterflyflutterby," said the niece.
"And Princess "
"Flutterbybutterfly," said the nephew.
"Correct," said the papa.
The children rose up into a capital A again, and whispered, "He didn't catch us that time," and fell back, laughing, and the papa had to go on.
"The fairy godmother thought she would try to bring up the Prince and Princess rather better than most Princes and Princesses were brought up, and so she said that the only thing they should be allowed to do different from other people was to make a mess. If any other persons were caught making a mess they were banished; and there was another law that was perfectly awful."
"What-was-it-go-ahead?" said the nephew, running all his words together, he was so anxious to know.
"Why, if any person was found clearing up anywhere, and it turned out to be a mess that the royal twins had made, the person was thrown from a tower."
"Did it kill them?" the niece inquired, rather faintly.
"Well, no, it didn't kill them exactly, but it bounced them up pretty high. You see, they fell on a bed of India-rubber about twenty feet deep. It gave them a good scare; and that's the great thing in throwing persons from a high tower."
The nephew hastened to improve the opportunity which seemed to be given for asking questions.
"What do you mean exactly by making a mess, uncle?"
"Oh, scattering scraps of paper about, or scuffing the landscape, or getting jam or molasses on the face of nature, or having bonfires in the back yard of the palace, or leaving dolls around on the throne. But what did I say about asking questions? Now there's another thing about this story: when it comes to the exciting part, if you move the least bit, or even breathe loud, the story stops, just as if you didn't know which was the Prince and which was the Princess. Now do you understand?"
The children both said "Yes" in a very small whisper, and cowered down almost under the clothing, and held on tight, so as to keep from stirring.