A cry of joy announced this miracle, and was repeated on all sides. The King flew to his son, threw himself on his knees before him, and begged pardon for his iniquity. Carl tenderly raised him, held him to his heart, and returned with him to the city, where he had been so much beloved and regretted. The crowd pressed upon his steps, and filled the air with enthusiastic shouts. [Illustration: "THAT IS HE!"] On reaching the palace, he arrayed himself in his festival clothes, shook the magic bridle, and, mounted on a superb horse, advanced towards the foreign flotilla. Hardly had the Princess cast her eyes upon him ere she cried:-- "That is he! I recognise him. It is he who came to Ungdomland!" They approached each other. She held out her hands to him; he was the spouse designed to her by the mysterious voice. Next day the marriage of the handsome Prince and the beautiful Princess was pompously celebrated, and they departed together to the Land of Youth, where they lived long and happily. The two traitors were cast into the den of lions into which they had caused their innocent brother to be thrown. _The Queer Side of Things._ [Illustration: THE THINNER-OUT] Reader, can you, by a violent effort of memory, recall the two spirits, William and James, who engaged in these pages in several arguments concerning the possibility of your, and my, existence? I know you have had other things to think about lately--the possibility of obtaining, either by exorbitant payment, diplomacy, or any means underhand or otherwise, a supply of coals for the winter--the fate of Lobengula--the chances of the Employers' Liability Bill--the state of our Navy. But if you will for one moment compare the weight of these trivialities with that of the question: "Is it, or is it not, possible for this Universe to have ever existed?"--you will find the former group of subjects vanish like an idle dream; while the VAST QUERY will instantly absorb your whole attention. _Then_ you will recollect that the more thoughtful, more logical, less visionary spirit William conclusively proved the impossibility of our existence. Yet he was wrong. Very slight inquiries into evidence have since convinced me that our Universe _does_ exist. It is difficult to credit, in the face of William's logic: but I fear we _must_ believe it. Very well--waiving the possibility of our _all_ being hypnotized through all the ages (say by Adam, Rameses the Great, Mr. Stead, or some other power having sway over human minds) into a belief of the existence of the non-existent--we will, please, take it as carried that we _do_ exist, and that even William is forced to admit it. Very good: now let's get on. "What do you think _now_?" asked James, a weak-minded scintillation of triumph in his eye. William was evidently seriously offended; facts which contradict carefully-weighed logic, flawless in all other respects, are always irritating to the thoughtful. Men of science will indorse this.