the inhabitants of that humble cottage suffered day and night was
heart-rending. The poor mother had been unable to leave her bed for
two years, on account of the Giant's Shakes; her husband barely got a
living from the potato-field; half the time he and his wife had hardly
enough to eat, as it naturally took the larger part of the potatoes to
satisfy the fat little boy, their son, and their situation was truly
pitiable.

The fat boy's name was Æneas, his father's name was Patroclus, and
his mother's Daphne. It was all the fashion in those days to have
classical names. And as that was a fashion as easily adopted by the
poor as the rich, everybody had them. They were just like Jim and
Tommy and May in these days. Why, the Princess's name, Ariadne Diana,
was nothing more nor less than Ann Eliza with us.

One morning Patroclus and Æneas were out in the field digging
potatoes, for new potatoes were just in the market. The Early Rose
potato had not been discovered in those days; but there was another
potato, perhaps equally good, which attained to a similar degree of
celebrity. It was called the Young Plantagenet, and reached a very
large size indeed, much larger than the Early Rose does in our time.

Well, Patroclus and Æneas had just dug perhaps a bushel of Young
Plantagenet potatoes. It was slow work with them, for Patroclus had
the Giant's Shakes badly that morning, and of course Æneas was not
very swift. He rolled about among the potato-hills after the manner
of the Princess Ariadne Diana; but he did not present as imposing an
appearance as she, in his homespun farmer's frock.

All at once the earth trembled violently. Patroclus and Æneas looked