The room was a curious one. There were some little desks and stools in it, and in the center stood a great brown ball, some six or seven feet in diameter. While she was looking about at these things, a little door in the side of the ball opened, and out stepped Class 60, H. "One thing I didn't tell you," said he, hurriedly. "I was afraid if I mentioned it you wouldn't come. The Queen Dowager wants a governess for her grandson, the Gnome Prince. Now, please don't say you can't do it, for I'm sure you'll suit exactly. The little fellow has had lots of teachers, but he wants one of a different kind now. This is the school-room. That ball is the globe where he studies his geography. It's only the under part of the countries that he has to know about, and so they are marked out on the inside of the globe. What they want now is a special teacher, and after having come here, and had the Queen Dowager notified, it wouldn't do to back out, you know." "How old is the Prince?" asked Selma. "About seventy-eight," said the gnome. "Why, he's an old man," cried Selma. "Not at all, my dear miss," said Class 60, H. "It takes a long time for us to get old. The Prince is only a small boy; if he were a human boy, he would be about five years of age. I don't look old, do I?" "No," said Selma. "Well, I'm three hundred and fifty-two, next Monday. And as for Class 20, P,--the old fellow you saw fishing,--he is nine hundred and sixty." "Well, you are all dreadfully old, and you have very funny names," said Selma. "In this part of the world," said the other, "all gnomes, except those belonging to the nobility and the royal family, are divided into classes, and lettered. This is much better than having names, for you know it is very hard to get enough names to go around, so that every one can have his own. But here comes the housekeeper," and Class 60, H, retired quickly into the hollow globe. "Her Majesty will see you," said the housekeeper; and she conducted Selma into the next room, where, on a little throne, with a high back and rockers, sat the Queen Dowager. She seemed rather smaller than the other gnomes, and was very much wrinkled and wore spectacles. She had white hair, with little curls on each side, and was dressed in brown silk. [Illustration: "'ROBBERS!' SAID THE BEAR. 'THAT'S GOOD! ROBBERS, INDEED!'"] She looked at Selma over her spectacles. "This is the applicant?" said she. "Yes, this is she," said the housekeeper. "She looks young," remarked the Queen Dowager. "Very true," said the housekeeper, "but she cannot be any older at present." "You are right," said Her Majesty; "we will examine her." So saying, she took up a paper which lay on the table, and which seemed to have a lot of items written on it. "Get ready," said she to the housekeeper, who opened a large blank-book and made ready to record Selma's answers. The Queen Dowager read from the paper the first question: "What are your qualifications?"