The Lord Blackjowl looked at her from under his shaggy eyebrows.

"That was included in the paper your Majesty has been graciously pleased to sign."

"But I didn\'t know anything about it," the Queen said hotly. "Now that\'s deceiving, and I shall never be able to trust anything you give me to sign without reading it. I\'ve a good mind to take it back again."

"I assure your Majesty," the lord answered, with a low bow, "I merely wished to save your Majesty the trouble of twice appending your gracious signature when once would suffice."

"But why didn\'t you tell me what was in it?" she asked, a little mollified.

"Merely because your Majesty took the words out of my mouth, if I may so say."

The Queen said, "Well, and what else do you want me to do?"

"There are sundry traitorous persons of the faction of the late Regent, whose existence is dangerous to the peace of the realm, and against whom I wish to issue writs of attainder if your Majesty will consent."

"Yes, I thought so," the Queen said. "How many are there?"

"Three thousand nine hundred and forty," the Regent said, looking at a great scroll.

"Good gracious!" the Queen said. "Why, that\'s five times as many as ever there were before."

The Regent stroked his beard "There is a great deal of disaffection in the land," he said.

"Why, the last Regent said the people were ever so contented," the Queen answered.

"The last Regent has deceived your Majesty."

"That\'s what they all say about the last Regent. Why, it was only the other day that he told me that you were deceitful—and you are—and he said that you had thrown your wife into a yard full of hungry dogs, in order that you might marry me."

"Your Majesty," the Regent said, flushing with heavy anger, "the late Regent was a tyrant, and all tyrants are untruthful, as your Majesty\'s wisdom must tell you. My wife had the misfortune to fall into a bear-pit, and, as for my daring to raise my eyes as high as your Majesty——"

"Why, you\'re looking at me now," the Queen said. "However, it doesn\'t matter. You can\'t marry me till I\'m twenty-one, and I shan\'t be that for some time. By-the-by, who\'s going to be my next governess?"

"Your Majesty is now of an age to need no governess. I think a tutor would be more suitable—with your Majesty\'s consent."

"Well, who\'s to be my tutor, then?" the Queen said.

"I had purposed according that inestimable honour to myself," the Regent answered.

"Oh, I say! You\'ll never do!" the Queen remarked. "You could never darn a pair of stockings, or comb my hair. You\'d be so awfully clumsy."

"Your Majesty has no need to have your royal stockings darned; you can always have a new pair."

"But that would be so fearfully wasteful!" the Queen said.

"Your Majesty might give the other pairs to the poor."

"But what are \'the poor\'?"

"The poor are wicked, idle people—too wicked to work and earn the money, and too dirty to wear stockings," the Regent said.

"But what would be the good of my stockings to them?" the Queen asked.

"It is the usual thing, your Majesty," the Regent said. "But will your Majesty be pleased to sign these papers?"

The Queen said, "Oh yes, I\'ll sign them, if you\'ll just go down into the kitchen and ask for a piece of raw meat, about the size of my hand, and a piece of red flannel about large enough to go round a bat. Oh, and what\'s a good thing for rheumatism?"

The Regent looked a little surprised. "I—your Majesty, I really don\'t exactly know."

"Oh, well, ask the cook or somebody."

"Well, but—couldn\'t I send a servant, your Majesty?" the Regent said.

"No, that wouldn\'t be any good," the Queen said. "If you\'re to take the place of my governess you\'ll have to do that sort of thing, you know."

The Regent bowed. "Of course I shall be only too grateful for your Majesty\'s commands. I merely thought that your Majesty might need some assistance in signing the papers."

But the Queen answered, "Oh no, I can manage that sort of thing well enough myself. I\'m quite used to it; so be quick, and remember, a nice juicy piece of raw meat and some red flannel, and—oh, opodeldoc; that\'s just the thing. Be quick! I don\'t want to keep the bat waiting."

The Regent went backwards out of the room, bowing at every three steps, and, as he was clad in armour from top to toe, he made a clanking noise—quite like a tinker\'s cart, if you\'ve ever beard one.

So, left to herself, the Queen signed the papers one after the other. They all began—

"By THE QUEEN, A PROCLAMATION, E.R.

"Whereas by our Proclamation given this 1st day of May——

But the Queen never read any further than that, because she could never quite understand what it all meant. At the last signature the happened to make a little blot, and somehow or other the ink happened to get into one of her nails, and that annoyed her. It is so difficult to get ink out of one\'s nails.

"I don\'t care if I never sign another Proclamation," she said; "and I hope I never shall. Now, look here," she continued to the Regent, who at that moment entered. "If you were a governess I should be able to make you get this ink out; but how can I ask a man to do that?"

"I will make the attempt, if your Majesty pleases," the Regent said.

"Well, but you haven\'t got any nail-scissors," the Queen replied.

"I might use my sword," the Regent suggested.

But the Queen shivered. "Ugh! fancy having a great ugly thing like that for it!" she said. "Oh, well, you\'ve brought the things! Here are your papers. They\'re all signed; and, if you want anything else, you\'ll have to come into the garden."

And she took up the meat and the flannel and the opodeldoc and went into the garden, leaving the Regent with the idea that he had made rather a bad business by becoming the Queen\'s attendant. But he was a very determined man, and merely set his teeth the firmer.

Under the overhanging rose tree the Queen sat awaiting the bat\'s awakening.

"It never does to wake him up," she said. "It makes him so bad tempered."

So she sat patiently and watched the rose-petals that every now and then fluttered down on the wind.

It was well on towards the afternoon, after the Queen had had her dinner, before he awoke.

"Oh, you\'re there?" he said. He had made the same remark every day for the last two years—which made seven hundred and thirty-one times, one of the years having been leap-year.

The Queen said, "Yes, here I am!"

The bat yawned. "What\'s the weather like?" he asked.

The Queen answered, "Oh, it\'s very nice, and you promised to tell me the flower that would make me fly."

"I shan\'t," the bat said. "You\'d eat up all the flies—a great thing like you."

The Queen\'s eyes filled with tears, it was so disappointing.

"Oh, I promise I won\'t eat any flies," she said; "and I\'ll go right away and leave you in peace."

The bat said, "Um! there\'s something in that."

"And look," the Queen continued, "I\'ve brought you your meat and flannel, and some stuff that\'s good for rheumatism."

The bat\'s eyes twinkled with delight. "Well, I\'ll tell you," he said. "Only you must promise, first, that you won\'t tell any one the secret; and secondly, that you won\'t eat any flies."

"Oh yes, I\'ll promise that willingly enough."

"Well, put the things up here on the top of the seat and I\'ll tell you."

The Queen did as she was bidden, and the bat continued—

"The flower you want is at this moment being trodden on by your foot."

The Queen felt a little startled, but, looking down, saw a delicate white flower that had trailed from a border and was being crushed beneath her small green shoes.

"What! the wind-flower?" she said. "I always thought it was only a weed."

"You shouldn\'t think," the bat said. "It\'s as bad as supposing."

"Well, and how am I to set about flying?" the Queen asked.

And the bat answered sharply, "Why, fly. Put the flower somewhere about you, and then go off. Only be careful not to knock against things."

The Queen thought for a moment, and then plucked a handful and a handful and y............