"'I had a little chamber in the house,
As green as any privet-hedge a bird
Might choose to build in ...
... the walls
Were green, the carpet was pure green;
the straight
Small bed was curtained greenly,
and the folds
Hung green about the window,
which let in
A dash of dawn dew from its greenery,
the honeysuckle.'"
"I haf nefer ze pleasure to know zat room," said Miss Prillwitz, her eyes kindling.
"How perfectly sweet!" exclaimed Adelaide. "It is like 'a lodge in some vast wilderness.' I didn't know that there was a place in New York so like the country."
"Will the prince study botany with us?" Milly asked, as we descended the stairs.
"I fear he is not ready for ze botany. His education haf been neglect. But you s'all see him oftenly. I must beg you not to tell him zat he is a prince; zis must not divulge to him until ze proper time."
"And then," added Emma Jane, "it would be cruel to excite hopes which may be doomed to disappointment."
The princess smiled. "I do not fear zat," she said. "And now, young ladies, I must make you my excuse, and beg Miss Armstrong she s'all hear ze class ze remains of ze hour; I must go to ze market for prepare ze young prince his supper."
She hurried away, and we attempted to turn our minds to our lesson. Adelaide had just exclaimed that in botany the term hop signified small, and dog large, but she broke off the statement with the exclamation, "And do you see, girls, what this proves?"
"That dog-roses are large roses," replied Emma Jane.
"That the Chinese laundry man around the corner, Hop Sin, is a little sinner," said Winnie.