Page 32 - Princess Belle-Etoile and Prince Cherie

some one charitable enough to bring them up
they would be rewarded for their trouble.
The boat driving before a stiff breeze was soon
so far out at sea that Feintise could no longer
distinguish it. At the same time the waves
began to rise, the sun was shrouded, the
clouds broke into torrents of rain, and a
thousand claps of thunder woke the echoes all

around. She could not doubt that the boat
would be swamped, and she felt relieved by
the thought that the poor little innocents
would perish, for she would otherwise be
always haunted by the fear that some
extraordinary event would occur in their
favour, and betray the share she had had in

their preservation.
The King, incessantly occupied with the
thoughts of his dear wife, and of the state in
which he had left her, having agreed to a short
truce, came back post haste to the city. He
reached the palace twelve hours after the
Queen's confinement. When the Queen-
Mother heard of his arrival, she went to meet
him with a well put on air of grief. She held

him for a long time clasped to her bosom,
bathing his face with her tears. It appeared as
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