Tudor Jenks

“ Strangely enough, Cyrilla was not very happy, for she could see that the little fairy prince, who had done so much to help her regain her throne, seemed very sad at the thought of parting from her. She could think of nothing that was in her power to give him which could reward him for all he had done. But although she could not offer him gold or jewels, or even an office in her kingdom such as might suit a mortal, she wished to give him some token of her gratitude, so she held out toward him the withered four-leaved clover. ”

“ When Cyrilla was arrayed in all this splendor, she suddenly thought of her fairy wand, which she had taken good care to keep in her hand all the morning. To her surprise, she found that it had disappeared, or, rather, that it had changed into the four-leaved clover, which was now a little withered, naturally enough. Then she remembered that her wish was that she might be Fairy Queen only until she had recovered her kingdom, and she knew that she could no longer be one of the fairies. ”

“ If any person had been so bold and so foolish, a file of stiff-whiskered soldiers under the command of a captain as straight as flagpole would have come around early the wry next day to take that silly person to prison. For Cyrilla's uncle—or, rather, her half-uncle,—had taken the throne when the late king died, and as he was an able general, much liked by the army, it did not seem probable that little Cyrilla, who was only twelve years old, would ever sit upon the throne with the scepter in her hand and the diamond-pointed crown upon her golden curls. ”