“HE LOOKED SUCH A VERY COMICAL PERSON.”
“Don’t you think me very handsome?” he said at last.
“Well, I am afraid not,” stammered Girlie, who did not like to hurt his feelings by telling him what she really did think about him.
“Dear me! then your eyes must be seen to, decidedly,” said the young man. “Why, you must be nearly blind not to see that I am very, very beautiful; and I am a very important person, too,” he continued impressively.
“Are you really?” asked Girlie, who could scarcely keep serious.
“Yes, I am a very superior individual indeed. I am the King’s Minstrel, enormously rich, and I am going to marry the Wallypug’s niece. I compose better than any one else in the world.”
“Really!” said Girlie. “What do you compose?”
“Draughts,” said the King’s Minstrel. “Of course you have heard of composing draughts.”
“Yes,” said Girlie. “They are things to send you to sleep, aren’t they?”
“Sometimes,” said the King’s Minstrel. “Mine keep you awake, though, and that’s why they are so much better than anybody else’s.”