He  began  to  see  it  when  still  very  young,  and
as  he  grew  bigger  he  saw  it  more  clearly  still.
And  he  blew,  blew,  and  the  gay  bubble  went  up,
up,  and  all  things  prospered.  Before  long,  the
baby  Prince  was  a  man,  and  took  possession  of
his  kingdom ;  for  in  this  wonderful  country
plenty  of  kingdoms  are  to  be  had,  and  Princes  are
not  forced  to  wait  until  their  fathers  die  before
taking  possession  of  their  crowns.  So,  being  a
grown  Prince,  he  began  to  look  about  for  a
Princess  to  share  his  throne  with  him.  And  he
found  a  very  nice  little  one ;  who,  when  he  asked
her,  made  a  courtesy  and  said,  "  Yes,  thank  you,"
in  the  prettiest  way  possible.  Then  the  Prince
was  pleased,  and  sent  for  a  priest.     The  priest's


268       NINE  LITTLE  GOSLINGS.
name  was  Slack.  He  belonged  to  the  Methodist
persuasion,  Otsego  Conference,  but  he  married
the  Prince  and  the  Princess  just  as  well  as
though  he  had  been  an  archbishop.  They  went
to  live  in  a  small  palace  of  their  own,  and
after  awhile  some  little  princelings  came  to  live
with  them,  and  they  were  all  very  happy
together.  And  the  lucky  Prince,  being  fairy-
blessed,  kept  on  being  lucky.  The  rainbow
bubble  flew  before  ;  he  blew  strongly,  wisely ;  it
soared  high,  high,  and  all  things  prospered.
