the king and queen--a bodyguard which, changing and shifting as the
royal party progressed through the kingdom, yet never deserted them
throughout the triumphal march, and did not a little to raise
within the breast of the queen that martial ardour which was to be
so severely tested in days to come.

Nearer and yet more near came the gay procession; banners flying,
trumpets sounding, the joy bells from the town giving back gay
response. And now the mounted gentlemen--amongst whom Paul's quick
eyes have already discovered his father and brothers--wheel rapidly
aside to right and left, forming a sort of avenue to the gateway
through which the royal riders are to pass, to receive the loyal
welcome of the venerable prelate and the city dignitaries.

Paul's breath comes and goes as the cheering in the crowd grows
vociferous. He grasps his bunch of roses firmly in his hands, his
cheeks glowing till they almost rival the damask bloom of the
flowers, his eyes fixed in all their eager brightness upon the
advancing band, which consists of the king and queen and prince and
their own immediate attendants. It is a moment never forgotten by
the boy in after life--the moment when first his glance fell upon
the royal child around whose history romance has woven so many a
tale; and it was with a start of peculiar surprises and a thrill of
emotion he could not have analyzed, that the boy beheld the little
prince of his dreams. For in those beautiful princely features, in
the alert graceful figure and the floating curls of gold, Paul
seemed to see his own lineaments reproduced, and gave one
bewildered glance toward his mother to see if perchance the same
thought struck her.