For some minutes all seemed inclined to think Willie had told them too silly a story to take any trouble about; but their mother reminded them that the exercise of thought was the same. "Did the king," she asked, "die a year after his poor brother?" "Yes, mama, in 1135." "Then," added Louisa, "they were the same brothers who fought at St. Michael's rock; and I think the king died from eating too much of a favourite dish of fish." "How smart the scarlet cloak must have been," remarked Alfred. "You might have liked that," replied his mother, "but you would not have admired the shoes they wore in those days; the toes had such long points that they were fastened to the knee by a chain. Willie must not take your turn, Edward." "My history, mama, will be very different; for I wish to describe a fine vessel tossed about on the waves of the English Channel. Her destruction is evident; and, in their eagerness, some of the poor perishing creatures crowd into a boat, which is already full. It stays to rescue one other female: a prince holds out his arms to her; she is caught, and you trust saved; but too many follow her, and the boat being overloaded, struggles for a short time with the elements, and then sinks with all on board, never to rise again." One of the party whispered, "The young prince's father was never seen to smile again." "You are quite right, Mary; now let us hear your anecdote." "My scene is laid in winter; the snow covers the country; a town is besieged, and the soldiers are quietly resting at night, expecting that the dreadful scarcity of provisions will soon make the enemy surrender. Four figures, as white as the snow over which they hastily move, have issued from a postern-door; they have crossed the frozen river, and are now escaping the sentinels, who seem to be ignorant of their flight." "Mama," said Alfred, "they must have been white bears. I saw one in the Zoological Gardens, and Annie was so afraid it would get out." "I remember the circumstance, and that one little boy was thoughtless enough to teaze his sister, which was a silly way of trying to overcome her foolish fears. She will, I am sure, conquer them herself, when she finds how much they interfere with her usefulness. I think Edward's account relates to a scene in England, and the white bear is only found in the Polar Seas." "Was not one of the fugitives a woman, Edward?" asked one of his cousins; "and had she not a young son who met her on this occasion?" "Yes, he joined his mother on her escape from Oxford at Wallingford. Mama, are there not some curious accounts of their escapes?" "Yes; the royal mother was taken to Oxford in a litter, as if she had been a corpse; on another occasion she mounted a swift horse, and rode with the greatest speed from Winchester to Devizes. She was an intrepid, courageous woman, and had been chosen by her father, Henry I., to succeed him; before his death he made his nobles swear fealty to her."