Grandmarina. Attend. When you return home to
dinner, politely invite the Princess Alicia to
have some of the salmon you bought just now."

"It may disagree with her," said the King.

The old lady became so very angry at this
absurd idea, that the King was quite alarmed,
and humbly begged her pardon.

"We hear a great deal too much about this
thing disagreeing and that thing disagreeing,"
said the old lady, with the greatest contempt it
was possible to express. "Don't be greedy.
I think you want it all yourself."

The King hung his head under this reproof,
and said he wouldn't talk about things disagreeing,
any more.

"Be good then," said the Fairy
Grandmarina, "and don't! When the beautiful
Princess Alicia consents to partake of the
salmon—as I think she will—you will find she
will leave a fish-bone on her plate. Tell her to
dry it, and to rub it, and to polish it till it shines
like mother-of-pearl, and to take care of it as a
present from me."

"Is that all?" asked the King.

"Don't be impatient, sir," returned the Fairy
Grandmarina, scolding him severely. "Don't
catch people short, betore they have done speaking.
Just the way with you grown-up persons.
You are always doing it."

The King again hung his head, and said he
wouldn't do so any more.

"Be good then," said the Fairy Grandmarina,
"and don't! Tell the Princess Alicia,
with my love, that the fish-bone is a magic
present which can only be used once; but that
it will bring her, that once, whatever she wishes
for, PROVIDED SHE WISHES FOR IT AT THE RIGHT
TIME. That is the message. Take care of it."

The King was beginning, "Might I ask the
reason——?" When the Fairy became
absolutely furious.

"Will you be good, sir?" she exclaimed,
stamping her foot on the ground. "The
reason for this, and the reason for that, indeed!
You are always wanting the reason. No reason.
There! Hoity toity me! I am sick of your
grown-up reasons."

The King was extremely frightened by the
old lady's flying into such a passion, and said
he was very sorry to have offended her, and he
wouldn't ask for reasons any more.

"Be good then," said the old lady, "and
don't!"

With those words, Grandmarina vanished,
and the King went on and on and on, till he
came to the Office. There he wrote and wrote and
wrote, till it was time to go home again. Then
he politely invited the Princess Alicia, as the
Fairy had directed him, to partake of the salmon.
And when she had enjoyed it very much, he
saw the fish-bone on her plate, as the Fairy had
told him he would, and he delivered the Fairy's
message, and the Princess Alicia took care to
dry the bone, and to rub it, and to polish it
tiil it shone like mother-of-pearl.

And so when the Queen was going to get up
in the morning, she said, "O dear me, dear me,
my head, my head!" And then she fainted
away.

The Princess Alicia, who happened to be looking
in at the chamber door, asking about breakfast,
was very much alarmed when she saw her
Royal Mamma in this state, and she rang the
bell for Peggy—which was the name of the
Lord Chamberlain. But remembering where
the smelling-bottle was, she climbed on a chair
and got it, and after that she climbed on
another chair by the bedside and held the smelling-
bottle to the Queen's nose, and after that she
jumped down and got some water, and after
that she jumped up again and wetted the Queen's
forehead, and, in short, when the Lord
Chamberlain came in, that dear old woman said to
the little Princess, "What a Trot you are! I
couldn't have done it better myself!"

But that was not the worst of the good Queen's
illness. O no! She was very ill indeed, for a
long time. The Princess Alicia kept the seventeen
young Princes and Princesses quiet, and
dressed and undressed and danced the baby, and
made the kettle boil, and heated the soup, and
swept the hearth, and poured out the medicine,
and nursed the Queen, and did all that ever she
could, and was as busy busy busy, as busy
could be. For there were not many servants at
that Palace, for three reasons; because the King
was short of money, because a rise in his office
never seemed to come, and because quarter-day
was so far off that it looked almost as far off and
as little as one of the stars.

But on the morning when the Queen fainted
away, where was the magic fish-bone? Why,
there it was in the Princess Alicia's pocket. She
had almost taken it out to bring the Queen to
life again, when she put it back, and looked for
the smelling-bottle.

After the Queen had come out of her swoon
that morning, and was dozing, the Princess
Alicia hurried up-stairs to tell a most particular
secret to a most particularly confidential friend
of hers, who was a Duchess. People did
suppose her to be a Doll, but she was really a
Duchess, though nobody knew it except the
Princess.

This most particular secret was a secret about
the magic fish-bone, the history of which was
well known to the Duchess, because the Princess
told her everything. The Princess kneeled
down by the bed on which the Duchess was
lying, full dressed and wide-awake, and
whispered the secret to her. The Duchess smiled
and nodded. People might have supposed that
she never smiled and nodded, but she often did,
though nobody knew it except the Princess.

Then the Princess Alicia hurried down-stairs
again, to keep watch in the Queen's room. She
often kept watch by herself in the Queen's room;
but every evening, while the illness lasted, she
sat there watching with the King. And every
evening the King sat looking at her with a cross
look, wondering why she never brought out the
magic fish-bone. As often as she noticed this,
she ran up-stairs, whispered the secret to the
Duchess over again, and said to the Duchess