day fixed for the wedding he drove into the city again--but this time to
the office of his other brother, the merchant.

"I want," he said, "a loan of a thousand pounds."

"Nothing easier," said his brother. "Here are eight hundred and fifty.
Of the remainder I shall keep fifty as interest for the first year at
five per cent., and the odd hundred should purchase a premium of
insurance for two thousand pounds, which I will retain as security
against accidents."

This seemed not only fair but brotherly. John pocketed his eight
hundred and fifty pounds, shook his creditor affectionately by the hand,
and hurried westward.


The marriage was celebrated with great pomp; and in the evening the
King, who had been shedding tears at intervals throughout the
ceremonies, accompanied his daughter to the haunted house. The Princess
was pale. John, on the contrary, who sat facing her father in the
state-coach, smiled with a cheerfulness which, under the circumstances,
seemed a trifle ill-bred. The wedding-guests followed in twenty-four
chariots. Their cards of invitation had said "Two to five-thirty p.m.,"
and it was now eight o'clock; but they could not resist the temptation
to see the last of "the poor dear thing," as they agreed to call the
bride.

The King sat silent during the drive; he was preparing his farewell
speech, which he meant to deliver in the porch. But arriving and
perceiving a crowd about it, and also, to his vast astonishment, a red