“Very well, now,” said the papa. “You've asked your question. I didn't promise to answer it, and I'm happy to say it stops the story. I'll guess I'll go to sleep again. I don't like being waked up this way in the middle of the night, anyhow.”
“Now, brother, I hope you're satisfied!” said the niece.
The nephew evaded the point. He said: “Well, sister, if the story really isn't going on, I should like to ask uncle another question. How big was the fairy godmother's diamond chariot?”
“It was the usual sized chariot,” answered the papa.
“Whew! It must have been a pretty big diamond, then!”
“It was a very big diamond,” said the papa; and he seemed to forget all about being mad, or else he had thought up some more of the story to tell, for he went on just as if nothing had happened. “The fairy godmother was so severe with the dirt she found because it was a royal prerogative—that is, nobody but the King, or the King's family, had a right to make a mess, and if other people did it, they were infringing on the royal prerogative.
“You know,” the papa explained, “that in old times and countries the royal family have been allowed to do things that no other family would have been associated with if they had done them. That is about the only use there is in having a royal family. But the fairy godmother of Prince—”
“Butterflyflutterby,” said the niece.
“And Princess—”
“Flutterbybutterfly,” said the nephew.