_Prince._ There! I knew you must be a sister of the fairies. Does your fairy G.o.dmother have a fairy wand?
_Cinderella._ Yes, and she does wonderful things with it--but my father and mother do not know about her.
_Prince._ Of course not. Only very young people know about fairy G.o.dmothers. But we know, don"t we?
_Cinderella._ Hark! I hear the chimes ringing. It must be twelve o"clock, and I must go.
_Prince._ Do not go, dear princess. Stay here in my palace, always.
_Cinderella._ The fairies are calling me and I am late. I must go.
Perhaps I can come again sometime. Oh, I am afraid--
_Prince._ Afraid of what?
_Cinderella._ Good-by, good-by!
_Prince._ She"s gone! What was she afraid of? I cannot see her! Who is that child running down the stairway? She must be one of the servants who has been watching the dancers. I wish I could see my princess. What is that shining thing on the stairs? She has lost one of her crystal slippers. Now I know how I shall find her. To-morrow I shall send a herald through the city to find the owner of this pretty little slipper.
SCENE VI.--_Cinderella"s Home_
_Cinderella._ Mamma, mamma, here is a man on horseback who wants to see you.
_Mother._ What is your errand, sir?
_Herald._ I am sent by the great Prince of our country to find the owner of this slipper. He says he will marry no one but the lady who can wear this little crystal slipper.
_Mother._ I"ll call my daughters. Katherine! Elizabeth! We were all at the ball at the Prince"s palace. Katherine, is this your gla.s.s slipper?
Try it on.
_Katherine._ Yes, mother. My, how small it is! I cannot get my foot in it!
_Elizabeth._ Perhaps it will fit me. My feet are smaller than yours. No, I cannot push my foot in, no matter how long I try. It must be a magic slipper.
_Cinderella._ May I try on the slipper?
_Mother._ My dear child, why should you try on the slipper? It belongs to the princess who went to the ball.
_Katherine._ And you were not at the ball, Cinderella!
_Elizabeth._ Your foot is too big for it, my dear little sister.
_Herald._ Pardon me, ladies, but the orders of the Prince are that every lady, young or old, must try on the slipper, and when the owner is found she must go with me to the palace.
_Cinderella._ Give it to me, please. See how easily it slips on my foot--and here is the mate to the gla.s.s slipper in my pocket. Dear Mother, I am the fairy princess you saw at the ball.
_Mother._ You, my dear! and I did not know you!
_Herald._ Now, lady, please come with me to the Prince"s palace. You shall be a princess.
_Cinderella._ Good-by, dear sisters! Good-by, dear mother! I am going to the Prince"s palace.
THE PIED PIPER
PERSONS IN THE PLAY--MAYOR, FIRST COUNCILMAN, SECOND COUNCILMAN, THIRD COUNCILMAN, TEN CITIZENS, PIPER
SCENE I.--_The Mayor"s Office_
_Mayor and Councilmen, sitting around a table.--Citizens come in._
_First Citizen._ Our Mayor is a noddy!
_Second Citizen._ Look at our corporation sitting in the gowns we pay for, and doing nothing!
_Third Citizen._ See here, how the rats made a nest in my Sunday hat!
[Ill.u.s.tration]
_Fourth Citizen._ When I was cooking dinner the bold rats licked the soup from my ladle!
_Fifth Citizen._ They are so bold they are always fighting with the dogs and cats!
_Sixth Citizen._ Yes, and they kill them, too!
_Seventh Citizen._ My baby cried in his sleep, and when I went to him there was a big rat in his cradle.
_Eighth Citizen._ What are you going to do about it, Mr. Mayor?
_Ninth Citizen._ You"d better wake up, sirs! Don"t go to sleep over this!
_Tenth Citizen._ I tell you, you"ll have to do something to save us from this army of rats!
_First Councilman._ What _can_ we do?
_Second Councilman._ I"m sure we"ve tried everything, but every day the rats grow worse and worse.
_Third Councilman._ I"m sure it isn"t very pleasant for us to have the city overrun with the creatures!
_Mayor._ I"d sell my ermine gown for a guilder! It is no easy thing to be mayor and I wish I was a plowboy in the country! Try to think of something to do.
_First Councilman._ It is easy to bid us rack our own brains!
_Second Councilman._ I"m sure my head aches trying to think.