"You did ! " shouted the Prince. "I didn"t ! " cried the little Princess. The Prince doubled his fists, and the Princess stamped her foot. Both of their faces were red and angry.
"Hush, hush! " said the Nurse. "What a noise you are making, and how ugly you look! That"s not the way for a Prince and Princess to behave. ""I don"t care, " said the Prince; " she pulled the mane off my wooden horse. ""I didn"t! " screamed the Princess. "It just came off. But I"ll pull its tail off. ""You won"t !" " shouted the Prince.
"I will, " cried the Princess. And she was just going to give a tug at the horse"s white tail when the nursery door opened.
And there stood the King in his crimson velvet cloak, carrying his hat in his hand. "Dear me, " said the King, still standing at the nursery door, "there"s a great deal of noise. What is the matter, children? ""She did! " shouted the Prince. And his face was still red and angry.
"No, I didn"t, " said the Princess, beginning to cry and rub her eyes with her hands.
"Your Majesty, " said the Nurse, "that is the way their Highnesses go on all day long. Quarrel and scream, scream and quarrel, and nothing that I can say or do will teach them to behave better. ""But they must behave better, " said the King. And he looked sternly at his children. "Be good, children; don"t quarrel; do not scream and shout. Behave as well as a Prince and a Princess should behave. ""I"m sure they will, your Majesty, " said the Nurse. "I"m sure her Highness the Princess did not mean to be unkind to his Highness the Prince. ""Yes, she did! " shouted the Prince, who had suddenly found his tongue again.
"I will be unkind if I choose! " screamed the Princess, who had just found hers, too. And then the Prince and Princess began to hit each other, and they looked two of the ugliest children you could see in a ten-mile walk.
"Ring the bell, " said the King. He pulled his crimson cloak round him and looked very angry. "Fetch the Chief Doctor. Their Highnesses are ill. " And when the Doctorheard that he was wanted in the nursery he shut his book and made haste upstairs.
"The Prince and the Princess are ill, Doctor, " said the King. "They scream and quarrel all day. ""But we are not ill, " said the Prince and the Princess. They were quite quiet now, and rather pale. "I can cure their Highnesses, " said the Chief Doctor, looking at the Prince and the Princess through his spectacles. "But I must take them home with me. ""Do as you like with them, " said the King, "so long as you cure them. " And he picked up his crimson velvet hat and went down to dinner.
So the Doctor"s coach was called, and the Prince and the Princess got in, with the Nurse and the Chief Doctor, and away they drove. The Prince and the Princess went on fighting, but soon the coach reached the Doctor"s house.
"Put their Highnesses in the Round Room, and leave them, and shut the door, " said the Chief Doctor. "They are ill and must be cured quickly. " So the Prince and the Princess, still screaming and struggling, were left alone in the Round Room. The door was shut, and the footmen went downstairs.
The minute the Prince and the Princess were ontheir feet they began to hit each other and cry, "It"s your fault." And the shining glass walls of the Round Room looked at them.
Suddenly the Prince turned his head and saw an angry little boy making ugly faces and hitting a little girl, who was making ugly faces too. Just at the same moment the Princess saw the same thing.
"Why, that"s me, " cried the Princess, staring. "And me, " said the Prince.
"You did look horrid, " said the Princess. "So did you, " said the Prince.
The Prince and the Princess stood looking at the glass walls all round them. Then they both burst out laughing. And the glass walls showed them a handsome little boy and a pretty little girl laughing at them.
"That"s you, " said the Princess. "How nice you look!" "And it"s you, " said the Prince. "I didn"t know youwere as pretty as that. "
Then the Prince and the Princess jumped and danced and laughed again, just for the fun of seeing the happy pair of children in the shining looking- glass walls.
"Hullo, " said the Chief Doctor, opening the door of the Round Room. "You seem very happy in here. ""We are, " cried the Prince and the Princess. "Wethink it"s a lovely room. "
"Then you must be cured, " said the Chief Doctor. And he called downstairs to the footmen, "Bring dinner for their Highnesses quickly, and with plenty of treacle tart. "by H. WaddinGham Seers
About the Author.-H. WaddinGham Seers is an English writer of short stories for children. His books include Gingerbread Jane (from which this story is taken), Peter Perkin"s Puppets, Timothy Tick-tock; and Little Nature Stories.
About the Story.-This is a "talking" story, with much conversation. Do you like stories that are written in this way? Make a little play out of the story. Why not build a puppet theatre? This would make a good puppet play.