164 



Queen Honey Dew. 



with a body-guard; for whenever she ap- 

 pears among her subjects they one and all 

 hasten to do her homage, and bestow such 

 lavish attentions upon her that she enjoys 

 a royal progress as long as she remains in 

 view. She receives these attentions with 

 the utmost graciousness, and permits her- 

 self to be caressed with such sweet dignity 

 that it is easily seen that she holds her 

 power as much by love as by birth, and 

 that the offerings of honey and snow-drop 

 farina, which are tendered her as soon as 

 she appears, are given not from a desire to 

 win her favor, but to show the affection of 

 her subjects. 



Such being the happy ways of Beedom, 

 it is no wonder that the baby queens wish 

 to leave their cradles as soon as possible, 

 for among other wonderful gifts they are 

 born with a complete knowledge of all the 

 customs and habits of their kingdom, and 

 are perfectly capable of governing as soon 

 as they are out of the nursery. 



Queen Honey Dew was no exception to 

 the rule, and waited impatiently for the 

 moment to come when she could leave 

 babyhood forever. Her nurses were all 

 waiting the moment too, with the tenderest 

 anxiety, and, in fact, the whole country 

 was excited over the matter, for the old 

 queen had died some time before, and all 

 the hopes and ambitions of the people were 

 set upon the baby Honey Dew. 



At last the time came. Honey Dew put 

 off her silken baby clothes, left her cradle 

 and stepped out a full-grown queen, and 

 after a few drowsy seconds examined with 

 interest the world outside her curtained 

 nursery. 



Nothing seemed strange to her, for, of 

 course, she knew how everything would be; 

 but, nevertheless, she found great pleasure 

 in examining all the arrangements of her 

 palace, and the dwellings of her subjects, 

 and in the afternoon of the same day, it 

 being warm and sunshiny, she set off on a 

 royal progress through her dominions. Her 



kingdom lay in the Land of Summer, and 

 was beautiful with ruiming brooks, singing 

 birds, flowers, butterflies and trees, and 

 Honey Dew went from object to object 

 with ever increasing delight. 



She had imagined how wonderful it 

 would all be, but had never dreamed of 

 anything so exquisite as the blue depths of 

 the sky, the thousand tints of the flowers, 

 and the sweet odors that filled all the air, 

 and made it seem alive with beauty. 



Everywhere she went she found her 

 subjects busily at work, for in this they 

 found their truest pleasure, and always 

 looked with scorn upon any one who tried 

 to shirk his share of the labor. And, in- 

 deed, so sure were they that happiness 

 could only be found in work, that they 

 could not have conceived of anything more 

 miserable than to be deprived of their 

 daily labor in the fields, and those of their 

 number who persisted in idleness were 

 generally put to death as a mark of their 

 displeasure. 



There were many other dwellers in the 

 Land of Summer besides her own subjects, 

 and Honey Dew often wondered to see so 

 many of them idle or playing when she 

 thought they ought to be at work, and she 

 looked with surprise upon the birds who 

 seemed to be so content to sit singing on 

 the apple boughs rocked by the summer 

 wind, and the butterflies who flew from 

 flower to flower with apparently no thought 

 for anything in the world but the moment's 

 pleasure. Honey Dew was very indignant 

 at such sights, and if the offenders had 

 been her subjects would probably have 

 condemned them to instant death. 



As it was, the birds sang on, the butter- 

 flies flitted lazily through the air, and the 

 dragon flies flashed in the sunlight, and 

 Honey Dew never imagined that if it had 

 been otherwise the Land of Summer would 

 have lost some of its sweetest charms. 



Once she paused as the ruby throat of a 

 hummingbird gleamed through a spray of 



