The Pot of Gold - And Other Stories by Mary E. Wilkins
page 38 of 231 (16%)
page 38 of 231 (16%)
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every nook and corner. The cupboards even were all ransacked, and the
bureau drawers. The King had a favorite book of philosophy, and one motto which he had learned in his youth recurred to him. It was this: "When a-seeking, seek in the unlikely places, as well as the likely; for no man can tell the road that lost things may prefer." So he ordered search to be made in unlikely as well as likely places, for the Princess; and it was carried so far that the people had all to turn their pockets inside out, and shake their shawls and table-cloths. But it was all of no use. Six months went by, and the Princess Rosetta had not been found. The King and Queen were broken-hearted. The Queen wept all day long, and her tears fell into her honey, until it was no longer sweet, and she could not eat it. The King sat by himself and had no heart for anything. [Illustration: THE BEE GUARDS PATROLLED THE CITY.] But the four nurses were in nearly as much distress. Not only had they been very fond of the little Princess, and were grieving bitterly for her loss, but they had also a punishment to endure. They had been released from custody, because there was really no evidence against them, but in view of their possible carelessness, and in perpetual reminder of the loss of the Princess, a sentence had been passed upon them. They had been condemned to wear their bonnets the wrong way around, indoors and out, until the Princess should be found. So the poor nurses wept into the crowns of their bonnets. They had little peep-holes in the straw that they might see to get about, and they lifted up the capes in order to eat; but it was very trying. The nurses were all pretty young women too, and the Head-nurse who came of |
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