Now it so happens that there are a very great number and variety of Wattle Fairies, and they are to be found in practically all parts of Australia. But by general consent, King Acacia and his wife, Queen Cootamundra, are recognised as being at the head of all the tribes. They are an extraordinarily handsome couple; and all their children are very lovely indeed, especially their eldest daughter, Princess Wattle Blossom! As soon as Prince Waratah saw her he vowed to himself that never in all his life had he seen anyone so gloriously beautiful and charming; for the fact is, that not only is she delightfully sweet to gaze upon, but her manners are so perfect as to make her at once the most kindly and the most gracious Princess in the whole of Fairy Land. Her only fault, if such it can be called, is a tendency to droop her head a little; but this is wholly due to a certain natural shyness, and entirely disappears whenever she speaks or moves. It would have been strange indeed if the Prince had not instantly fallen in love with her—as he did—and had not resolved to some day make her his wedded wife. Nevertheless he paid her many, many visits before the courtship ended, and the marriage actually took place. But to return to the Palace, about which you were being informed, when the Prince’s desire for a wife somehow came into the story. Apart from the Entrance Hall, which has already been described, there are several rooms that call for more than passing mention. For instance, there is the Laughter Room! That may seem a strange name for a room, but the Prince has very decided opinions on certain matters, and one of his fixed ideas is that, next to Sunshine, Laughter is the finest thing in the World. He calls it “spiritual Sunshine,” because, he says, whenever folks laugh, worry and trouble disappear just as quickly as clouds before the sun itself. And so he urges that “everybody, every day, should take a little time for play, to laugh and drive dull care away!” He also says that everybody should have a laughter room in the house; by which he means, of course, that everyone should be careful not to so engage themselves with serious matters, that in their whole make-up there is no room for laughter. People like that, he thinks, do not enjoy life properly; and in order that he and those associated with him might laugh at times, he specially arranged for a Laughter Room. Already, perhaps, you are wondering what sort of things that room contains? Well, not for long does it remain the same! Changes are constantly taking place, for one cannot continually laugh at the same old joke. But to give you an idea of the kind of thing the Prince thinks funny, here are several that have appeared in the room at one time or another.