Well he knew that pleasure was a good to the children of the earth, and it must exist. But, like a heavy riddle, the question always lay upon the world, how a man could be both gay and good. The easiest thing and yet the hardest, he called it. Hitherto they had not been able to solve the problem. Now he wanted to believe that they had learned it, that they had all learned it during that year of joy and sorrow, of happiness and despair. * * * * * You dear old people! In the old days you gave me precious gifts. But what have I given you? Perhaps it may gladden you that your names sound again in connection with the dear old places? May all the brightness which belonged to your life fall again over the tracts where you have lived! Borg still stands; Björne still stands; Ekeby still lies by lake Löfven, surrounded by falls and lake, by park and smiling meadows; and when one stands on the broad terraces, legends swarm about one like the bees of summer. But, speaking of bees, let me tell one more old story. The little Ruster, who went as a drummer at the head of the Swedish army, when in 1813 it marched into Germany, could never weary of telling stories of that wonderful land in the south. The people there were as tall as church towers, the swallows were as big as eagles, the bees as geese. “Well, but the bee-hives?” “The bee-hives were like our ordinary bee-hives.” “How did the bees get in?” “Well, that they had to look out for,” said the little Ruster. Dear reader, must I say the same? The giant bees of fancy have now swarmed about us for a year and a day; but how they are going to come into the bee-hive of fact, that they really must find out for themselves. THE END FOOTNOTES [1] A Swedish game of cards. [2] Terms used in weaving. [3] In the country, in Sweden, they wash twice a year, in spring and autumn. Historical Romances. =THE KING’S HENCHMAN.= A Chronicle of the Sixteenth Century. Brought to light and edited by WILLIAM HENRY JOHNSON. 12mo. Cloth, extra, gilt top, $1.50. A story of pure love and stirring action. It purports to be told by an inseparable attendant of Henry of Navarre, and that hero of a hundred lights and as many gallant adventures is made to live again for us. We close the book reluctantly. The hours spent in reading “The King’s Henchman” were richly rewarded.—_Atlanta Constitution._ What is more noticeable than the interest of the story itself is Mr. Johnson’s intuitive insight and thorough understanding at the period. While the book is Weyman in vigorous activity, it is Dumas in its brilliant touches of romanticism.—_Boston Herald._ Mr. Johnson has caught the spirit of the period, and has painted in Henry of Navarre a truthful and memorable historical portrait.—_The Mail and Express_, New York.