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MOUNTED ON J..~INEN UNTEARABLE.

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PROPERTY ROOM.

NOT TO BE TAKEN AWAY

No ...
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LoN o c· '\1
.R E 0 ERIC I< \VA R N E & co Printed
-. n d l'-j E V\' '? 0 R K in
Holla."ld.
 <ttn~erella.

0 N C E upon a time there

WaS a lord \Vhose wife
died, leaving him a beautiful
daughter. This girl had a
fairy god-moth er, and for a
time things went well with
her ; but one day the
god-moth er had to go to
the other end of the world on
I
fairy business, and then everythin g
I I seemed to go wrong. Her father married
again, this time an unkind widow with two
grown-up daughters , who were more
unkind. They treated their step-sister shamefull y :
dressed her in old clothes, and made her do the
dirty work of the kitchen. She had to sleep by
the kitchen fire, among the cinders, and so they
took to calling her Cinderella . Poor girl ! she was
very good and patient, but she sometime s felt
tired of her life, and wished her fairy god-moth er
would soon come back.
One day a little page boy was seen running
along the road as though on an urgent errand.
He came to the kitchen door, which was
nearest, and told Cinderell a that the king
was to give a grand ball. '' And here,"
said he, "is an invitation for all my lord's
daughters .'' So saying he handed her
a huge envelope with tvvo great red
 ~ --
~-

seals on the back, \¥hich he had held under

his arm. Cindere lla dared not open it,
althoug h as her father's only real daught er
she had the most right to do so. She took it
to her step-sis ters, who opened it and found a
big sheet with the royal arms
in the corner, inviting the
daughte rs of Lord Longsw ord
to attend the ball on the
prince's birthda y. Cindere lla
begged that she might be allowed to go,
as she was clearly invited ; but they
said it would be absurd, and she
had no ball-dre ss.
\Vhen the day came the
sisters, feeling particul arly graciou s,
allowed Cindere lla to help them
dress and do their hair.
Then she \vent back to
her kitchen , and as she sat
bv the fire vvith her feet
..1

among the cinders , she did

 I
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/~,,~~~~ ~ ~ 2_~
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wish hard that her god-
d5 ~ ;~'" /\ .~- ~ ~~ moth er \Vere not too far
_/.(\)\ -- ~ J
~'
'7

~~ ,\,,0'~ ~
. 1
away to come to her
~-~ "'- ~~ j ~------- ) help. Just then she felt
~ , /~ I ~ the gentlest tap upon her
~ ~~ ~ ., shoulder, ~nd lo_oking up saw
I
! ~ ~/';JI
floating throu gh the air.
(iJ
(~ , "
So s?,rry I hav~ bee,n kept away
l ~ so long, she sa1d;
~ sorry to find how they ·have treat~d
J
' and · more .

-0fyou. Now you want to go to the

ball, and you shall, for you have
been invited. We must
be quick in getti ng ready .
Fetch me a soun d pump -
kin from the larde r,
and you will find six
I mice in the traps ."
Cind erella brou ght the pump kin and the
mous etrap s, and at a touch of the fairy's wand and the
speak ing of a word or two, the pump kin becam e a fine
coach. In the same way, the six mice were speed ily trans -
form ed into splen did horse s, and a big rat that was in
anoth er trap becam e a smar t coach man. Then a coup le of
lizard s were found in the garde n, and as they clung to
the back of the pump kin they were chan ged into dapp er
youn g footmen. Cind erella 's ragge d cloth es were touch ed
by the wand , and they becam e at once a most fashionable
dress of rich mate rial ; her shab by shoes were turne d
nto slipp ers of pures t crystal ; and diatn onds flashed on
her neck and breast. The fairy told her she n1ust
enjoy herse lf at the ball, but must retur n before twelv e
 o'clock, for at that hour exactly her dress "'ould
turn to rags again, the coach would be a
pumpkin, her horses and attendants rats and
n1ice and lizards as before. Cinderella pron1ised,
and got Into the splendid coach, her driver
touching his hc._t as she told him to drive to
the king's castle.
Her pretty face and figure had long been
disguised by the shabby old rags she had been
~ forced to wear, but now her charms were
only set off by the more suitable dress
her god-mother had provided. Even her
father, who rarely saw her, would have
failed to recognise her as his daughter ; and
there was little fear of her spiteful step-sisters
getting an idea that the newest arrival at the ball was the despised
Cinderella. She stepped with grace into the coach,
for she knew how to walk and manage her dress
as though she had ahNays been used to such a
fine outfit. Her enjoyment began as soon as the
coach door was closed, and her richly-harnessed
team of horses drew the coach rapidly up the
long hill-road that led to the king's castle
and palace. No other guest had so fine a
conveyance, and the people along the road
stared in wonder as it passed, and regretted
that it sped so swiftly on its way that they
only caught a glimpse of the beautiful maiden
within.
Arrived at the castle, the noble steeds
trotted through the gates as though they
had often been there before and knew
the way quite \\'ell. When they drew
 up at the grand entran ce to the palace, and her footman got down
and opene d the door for h~r, she steppe d out lookin g so sweetly that
the king' s attend ants thoug ht she must be a prince ss at the very least.
It \vas their duty to have enqui red her name and title, and to have
asked her to show her invitation, but they were so awed by her beauty
and magni ficenc e that they could only bend their backs and bow their
heads, as she passed up the marbl e steps into the recept ion hall.
The king and queen saw her arrive, and sent their son, the prince , to
receive her. He was so charm ed with her that he begge d to be her
partne r, and \vould dance with no one else all

,_Nf
the evening. He took her in to
supper, and fortunately was ""' "
soon called away on some
great affair of state. I say
fortunately, for Cinderella,
glancing at one of the
great golden clocks,

saw that 1t
vvas half-past eleven,
so she slipped away with-
out 1t being seen that she
was leaving, got into her coach,
and was back in her kitchen and her rags
before twelve struck. When her sisters returned
 they told her about the
beauty and grandeur of this
unknown princess, and how the
.
pr1nce
was in despair because
he had not wished her
good night. He had ordered
another ·ball for the next night, in the hope
that she might return. So the next night,
with the aid of the fairy, Cinderell a again
went to the palace, and enjoyed herself
even more than before.
But the prince
kept by her side so much that it was a
quarter to twelve before she could leave,
and her fleet steeds had as much as they
could do to get home in time. Just as
they reached the kitchen door the clock
struck, and at the instant, coach, horses,
driver, and footmen disappear ed, and only
tl
---., ----
 a pumpkin, a rat, some mice, and t\VO
lizards were left. Her beautiful r1 ress
had turned to the old kitchen-n1aid' s
garb once more. Her sisters at
the ball were still discussing who
she could be, and her chances of
marrying the prince.
A third ball was given, ancl
again Cinderella was the centre
of admiration, and so closely did
the prince attend her that when
she called to mind her fairy god-
mother's \Vords and looked up at
the clock, it only wanted a tninute
to twelve. She rushed from the
ball-roon1 and down the grand stair-
case, unluckily
dropping one of her crystal slippers as she vvent. As
she stepped out of the palace door the clock struck
twelve, and she saw her pumpkin rolling down
the hill, and the mice scampering away.
Taking off her other slipper and putting
it in the pocket of her ragged dress,
the poor girl had to run Larefooted
to her home, and only just n1anag·ed
to get to bed before her sisters
returned.
Next day the king's heralds
went about proclaiming· that a
crystal slipper had been found,
and inviting the owner to
forward and claim 1t, for the prince
desired to marry the lady whose foot
would fit it.
1"hereupon all the unmarried ladies
put in a claim, but one after another they
were dismissed, because being a fairy slipper
it would only fit one foot in all the world.
Cinderella's sisters tried-without success, of
course-and when Cinderella proposed to try
they turned up their noses, and ridiculed the idea
of a kitchen slut's coarse foot fitting where their
carefully tended and, as they thought, dainty feet would
not. But when every lady that had tried had failed to
get the slipper on- some of them even cutting their toes
or heels to . make their feet shorter- the prince himself
went in search of the missing princess, vowing he would not rest till he
had found her. At last he came to Lord Longsword's house
and demanded to see the daughter
he had heard was kept in the
background by her spiteful
step-sisters. So they had to
call her from the kitchen,
and .a$ the prince knelt
before her with the
crystal slipper they
sneeringly told her she
would break it if she
used too much force
· . to squeeze her foot
in. But it went on
with ease, and the
prince declared that
 it must have
been made for her foot ;
and when he looked at her
face he knew her again. Then
she took the other slipper out of her
pocket and put that on also, and every-
body was satisfied. So there \vas a
grand wedding, at which the king and
queen were present, and the fairy-god-
mother was principal bridesmaid.
Little girls strewed their path
vvith roses; and in the evening there
was a grand wedding ball, given by
the king in his
palace, at which the Princess Cinderella
was n1ore admired than ever.
In t~me the young
couple
became king and queen, and had
a very happy and prosperous
.
re1gn.

THE END.
i