Things were not always to go smoothly, far from it; and it was poor Jaqueline who fell into trouble next. She had been very ready to lecture Dick, as we saw, and took a good deal of credit to herself for his steadiness. But one day King Prigio happened to meet Jaqueline's maid, Rosina, on the stairs; and as Rosina was a pretty girl, and the king was always kind to his dependents, he stopped to have a chat with her. "Why, Rosina, what a pretty little silver cross you are wearing," he said, and he lifted a curious ornament which hung from a chain on Rosina's neck. It consisted of seven drops of silver, set like this: {The drops: p72.jpg} "May I look at it?" his Majesty asked, and Rosina, all in a flutter, took it off and gave if to him. "H'm!" said the king. "Very curious and pretty! May I ask you where you got this, Rosina?" {"H'm!" said the king. "Very curious and pretty!": p73.jpg} Now Rosina generally had her answer ready, and I am very sorry to say that she did not always speak the truth when she could think of anything better. On this occasion she was anxious to think of something better, for fear of getting Jaqueline into a scrape about the chemical experiment in her bedroom. But Rosina was fluttered, as we said, by the royal kindness, and she could think of nothing but to curtsy, and say: "Please, your Majesty, the princess gave me the drops." "Very interesting," said the king. "There is a little white moon shining in each of them! I wonder if they shine in the dark?" He opened the door of a cupboard which had no windows, where the housemaid kept her mops and brooms, and shut himself in. Yes, there was no mistake; the darkness was quite lighted up with the sheen of the seven little moons in the silver. The king looked rather grave. "If you can trust me with this cross till to-morrow, Rosina, I should like to have it examined and analysed. This is no common silver." Of course Rosina could only curtsy, but she was very much alarmed about the consequences to her mistress. After luncheon, the king asked Jaqueline to come into his study, as he often did, to help him with his letters. When they had sat down his Majesty said: "My dear Jaqueline, I never interfere with your pursuits, but I almost doubt whether _Cornelius Agrippa_ is a good book for a very young lady to read. The Fairy Paribanou, I am sure, taught you nothing beyond the ordinary magical accomplishments suited to your rank; but there are a great many things in the _Cornelius_ which I think you should not study till you are older and wiser." "What does your Majesty mean?" said poor Jaqueline, feeling very uncomfortable; for the king had never lectured her before. "Why," said his Majesty, taking the silver cross out of his pocket, "did you not give this to Rosina?" "Yes, sire, I did give her the drops. She had them made up herself."