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                              YELLOW-CAP
                               AND OTHER
                              FAIRY TALES

                                  BY

                           JULIAN HAWTHORNE




                              YELLOW-CAP
                                  &c.




                          LONDON: PRINTED BY
                SPOTTISWOODE AND CO., NEW-STREET SQUARE
                         AND PARLIAMENT STREET




                              YELLOW-CAP
                _AND OTHER FAIRY-STORIES FOR CHILDREN_

                                  BY
                           JULIAN HAWTHORNE


                                LONDON
                       LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO.
                                 1880

                        _All rights reserved_




CONTENTS.


_YELLOW-CAP._

  CHAPTER                                     PAGE
     I. AN APPANAGE OF ROYALTY                   3
    II. THE GOLDEN PLEDGE                       11
   III. THE GOLDEN DWARF                        23
    IV. THE TALISMAN                            35
     V. THE KING'S FAVOUR                       43
    VI. DONKEY-BACK                             51
   VII. THE DARK PASSAGE                        57
  VIII. THE MAGIC EYE                           65
    IX. ON THE STAGE                            83
     X. AN ABSOLUTE MONARCH                    102
    XI. THE GRAND TRANSFORMATION SCENE         113


_RUMPTY-DUDGET._

     I. THE PALACE AND THE TOWER               129
    II. THE AUNT, THE CAT, AND THE DWARF       134
   III. THE WAYS OF THE WIND                   145
    IV. NO TIME TO BE LOST                     154
     V. THE QUEEN OF THE AIR                   161
    VI. THE KING OF THE GNOMES                 170
   VII. THE ENCHANTED FIRE                     179
  VIII. THE GOLDEN IVY                         186


_CALLADON._

     I. ABRACADABRA                            197
    II. THE LAW OF THE LAMP                    204
   III. CALLIA AND THE MIRROR                  209
    IV. THE OUTER ROOMS                        214
     V. REGENERATION                           224


_THEEDA._

     I. THE BOOK AND THE VASE                  237
    II. OSCAR INSIDE OUT                       243
   III. THE PEARL-SHELL'S GIFT                 250
    IV. THE CRAB                               260
     V. A STRANGER                             267
    VI. THE SECRET OF THE WAVES                279




YELLOW-CAP.




CHAPTER I.

AN APPANAGE OF ROYALTY.


A good many years ago--before Julius Caesar landed at Dover, in fact,
and while the architect's plans for Stonehenge were still under
consideration--England was inhabited by a civilised and prosperous
people, who did not care about travelling, and who were renowned for
their affability to strangers. The climate was warm and equable; there
were no fogs, no smoke, no railways, and no politics. The Government
was an absolute monarchy; one king, who was by birth and descent an
Englishman, lived in London all the year round; and as for London, it
was the cleanest, airiest, and most beautiful city in the whole world.

A few miles outside of the city walls lay a small village called
Honeymead. It had some fifteen or twenty thatched cottages, each with
its vegetable garden and its beehives, its hencoop and its cowshed.
Around this village fertile meadows spread down to the river banks,
bringing forth plenteous crops for the support of the honest and
thrifty husbandmen who tilled them. There was only one public-house in
the place, and the only drink to be had there was milk. A case of
drunkenness was, consequently, seldom heard of; though, on the other
hand, women, girls, and even small children might be seen lingering
about the place as well as men.

This public-house was called the Brindled Cow, and it was kept by a
young woman whose name was Rosamund. She was the prettiest maiden in
the village, as well as the most good-natured and the thriftiest;
though she had a keen tongue of her own when occasion demanded. As
might be supposed, all the young men in the neighbourhood were anxious
to marry her; but she gave them little or no encouragement. She used
to tell them that she was well able to take care of herself, so what
good would a husband be to her? She didn't want to support him, and
she didn't need his support. It was better as it was. As for falling
in love, that was a thing she couldn't pretend to understand; but her
maiden aunt had once told her that it was more bother than it was
worth, and she thought it very likely. Moreover, if by any accident
she should one day happen to fall in love, she would take great care
that it should not be suspected, because the man she loved