..with
beautiful strange toys in their hands...they have wings like
birds...they ARE birds...ah! they are flying away from me...I see them
no more...they vanish through the trees..." He broke off sadly.
Heiligenstern smiled. "That, your Highness, is a vision of the prince's
own future, when, restored to health, he is able to disport himself with
his playmates in the gardens of the palace."
"But they were not the gardens of the palace!" the little boy exclaimed.
"They were much more beautiful than our gardens."
Heiligenstern bowed. "They appeared so to your Highness," he
deferentially suggested, "because all the world seems more beautiful to
those who have regained their health."
"Enough, my son!" exclaimed the Duchess with a shaken voice. "Why will
you weary the child?" she continued, turning to the Duke; and the
latter, with evident reluctance, signed to Heiligenstern to cover the
crystal. To the general surprise, however, Prince Ferrante pushed back
the black velvet covering which the Georgian boy was preparing to throw
over it.
"No, no," he exclaimed, in the high obstinate voice of the spoiled
child, "let me look again...let me see some more beautiful things...I
have never seen anything so beautiful, even in my sleep!" It was the
plaintive cry of the child whose happiest hours are those spent in
unconsciousness.
"Look again, then," said the Duke, "and ask the heavenly powers what
more they have to show you."
The boy gazed in silence; then he broke out: "Ah, now we are in the
palace.
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