THE PRINCESS NOBODY. [Illustration] [Illustration] [Illustration] [Illustration] THE PRINCESS NOBODY A TALE OF FAIRY LAND BY ANDREW LANG AFTER THE DRAWINGS BY RICHARD DOYLE PRINTED IN COLOURS BY EDMUND EVANS [Illustration] LONDON LONGMANS, GREEN AND CO. [Illustration: An Evening Ride.] BALLADE OF DEDICATION. To all you babes at Branxholm Park, This book I dedicate; A book for winter evenings dark, Too dark to ride or skate. I made it up out of my pate, And wasted midnight oil, Interpreting each cut and plate-- The works of DICKY DOYLE! When weary winter comes, and hark! The Teviot roars in “spate”; When half you think you’ll need the Ark, The flood’s so fierce and great; Think of the Prince and of his mate, Their triumph and their toil, And mark them drawn in all their state-- The works of DICKY DOYLE! Now, if my nonsense hits the mark-- If Wynnie, Pop, and Kate, Think tales of Fays and Giants stark, Not wholly out of date-- Another time, perchance, I’ll prate, And keep a merry coil, Though ne’er I’ll match the drawings great-- The works of DICKY DOYLE! _ENVOY._ Girls, may you ne’er know fear nor hate; Boys, field like Mr. Royle! And, please, don’t say I desecrate The works of DICKY DOYLE! [Illustration: Teasing a Butterfly.] THE PRINCESS NOBODY CHAPTER I. THE PRINCESS NOBODY. Once upon a time, when Fairies were much more common than they are now, there lived a King and a Queen. Their country was close to Fairy Land, and very often the little Elves would cross over the border, and come into the King’s fields and gardens. The girl-fairies would swing out of the bells of the fuschias, and loll on the leaves, and drink the little drops of dew that fell down the stems. Here you may see all the Fairies making themselves merry at a picnic on a fuschia, and an ugly little Dwarf is climbing up the stalk. [Illustration: Here’s the King, in mournful mood, They’d amuse him, if they could!]