'Then who of you is Mellinid, and who Edil?' again queried the puzzled Bill.

'That's what all the trouble's about,' they tearfully rejoined. 'All we can tell you for certain is that neither of them is the d.u.c.h.ess,' and the poor little creatures redoubled their cries.

More puzzled than ever, and quite at a loss to find any clue to their troubles, Bill again besought them to relieve their minds by confiding in him. Then one of the little creatures stood up and, after drying her eyes, addressed Bill in the following way:--

[Ill.u.s.tration: ENDEAVOURING TO COMFORT THE OLD MAN]

'As you have most likely guessed, we are triplets, and were christened Blaura, Mellinid and Edil, after three great-aunts renowned for their intelligence and their many virtues. From our earliest days we were so much alike that each had to wear a different coloured hair-ribbon to distinguish her from her sisters. Blaura wore red, Mellinid blue, and Edil green. Our affectionate parents, the late Duke and d.u.c.h.ess of Blowdripping, died when we were barely six months old, and we were all left in charge of our uncle, the benevolent gentleman you see weeping on my left. Before the thoughtful creatures expired, feeling that their end was drawing near, they were faced with the difficult problem as to which of us should be the new d.u.c.h.ess; all of us, as I have said before, being of the same age. Of course, I need not tell you that it was quite out of the question we should all inherit the t.i.tle; three young ladies trying to be one d.u.c.h.ess would be absurd in the extreme. So our intelligent and resourceful mother and father decided, after much deliberation with the family solicitor, and the vicar of the parish, that Blaura should succeed to the t.i.tle and all the dignities of the Duchy of Blowdripping when she arrived at the age of eight years, and that, at the same time, Mellinid should become the owner of Blowdripping Hall, with its priceless collections of pictures, old china, fossils and foreign stamps, and Edil become the possessor of the Blowdripping Park, in which the Hall is so pleasantly situated, with its herds of hedgehogs, elands and gnu. I am sure you will agree with me that no more just division of their great possessions could have been devised by the fair-minded couple. Our uncle was kindness itself, ever watching us with the affectionate care of a mother. He was always at hand to look to our comforts, and to see that no danger drew nigh, whether we were bathing in the marble fountains of the courtyard, taking the air in the park, or sleeping in our tastefully-decorated bedroom.

'One beautiful summer's afternoon, when we were about one year old, we had been taken on to the verandah to enjoy our afternoon nap, in order that we might have advantage of the delightful breeze that blew across the woods from the sea. As usual our uncle was near by, and so soothing was the air that, unable to resist its drowsy influence, he, too, soon dozed off. Unfortunately we awakened before our unconscious nurse, and immediately rolled out of our cradles, and crawled along the pavement of the verandah. Great sport we had, I have no doubt, as children will, and certain it is that, attracted by their brilliant colours, we lost no time in removing from each other's heads our distinguishing ribbons, and speedily mixing them up. However, at length, and too late, our baby laughter awakened the old gentleman from his sleep. Too great for words was the astonishment of the unhappy man when he beheld us all shuffled up and mixed in this deplorable way upon the pavement. Bitterly he accused himself of wicked negligence for allowing such a thing to happen, for so alike were we without our distinguishing ribbons, that he could never hope to know one from the other again. He thought, and thought, and thought for the whole afternoon, but at the end he was no nearer discovering again which was the future d.u.c.h.ess, which Mellinid, and which Edil. At last, he gave it up in despair. Henceforth we were known only collectively as the future d.u.c.h.ess and her two sisters, but which is the d.u.c.h.ess, and which the two sisters, will remain for ever a mystery.

[Ill.u.s.tration: WE GREW UP IN COMPARATIVE HAPPINESS]

[Ill.u.s.tration: He was always at hand]

'Nevertheless, we grew up in comparative happiness until yesterday, the fateful day when we all became eight years of age. Before breakfast, and with all due solemnity, our faithful uncle handed over to us the control and guardianship of the Blowdripping possessions, which had been entrusted to him until we should arrive at our present age, but, alas! we could not avail ourselves of the good provision made for us by our thoughtful parents, as neither one of us knew which of us we were. The d.u.c.h.ess, as head of the family, could not give her consent to anything, or advance any money for the housekeeping as, for all she knew, she might be one of her own sisters, in which case she would have been touching that which did not rightly belong to her. For the same reason Mellinid, not knowing who she herself was, could not give her consent to our remaining at the Hall, and likewise Edil could not allow the magnificent house still to occupy its lovely situation in the Blowdripping Park. After talking the matter over, and over again, we have come to the conclusion that, without the permission of the proper owners, which, you will see, it is impossible for us to obtain, the only course open to us was to abandon our riches, and to leave the park and the castle for ever. Our good uncle, putting all the blame for our troubles upon his own negligence, insisted on accompanying us.'

At the conclusion of this strange story Bill was certainly aghast at the very difficult problem put before him, and quite at a loss to offer any solution. He therefore conducted the trembling triplets and their grief-stricken uncle before the King, who had in the meantime arrived upon the sh.o.r.e. Bill explained the difficult position in which the poor young things found themselves; but, wise as he undoubtedly was, the King for some time could make nothing whatever of it. He called all his officers and soldiers round him, and they formed one great semicircle, of which he was the centre; the triplets were then placed before him, and he at once proceeded to question them.

'Have you,' said he, addressing the first triplet, 'any idea as to which of the three of you you really are?'

'None whatever,' answered the child.

He then repeated the same question to the other triplets, and received the same answer.

'Come now,' continued the King, in a cheerful voice, 'does any one of you feel at all like a d.u.c.h.ess?'

'We don't know how a d.u.c.h.ess should feel,' they all replied.

The King here frowned severely and ground his teeth.

'Now, one of you must be telling an untruth,' said he, 'for one of you, as you say, is the d.u.c.h.ess, and must know exactly how she feels, which must be how a d.u.c.h.ess feels. Come now, which of you is she?' And the quick-tempered monarch knit his brows into the most terrible folds.

'Unless that one is one of her own sisters and not the d.u.c.h.ess,' he roared, 'she ought to be ashamed of her deceit, and severely punished; and if, indeed, she is not the d.u.c.h.ess, then she ought to be punished all the same. I've half a mind to have the three of you smacked hard, that I may at least be certain of punishing the right one.'

Bill suggested timidly that perhaps this would be rather unfair, as two of them at least would be unjustly punished.

'But which two?' snapped the irritated King. 'How can any of them feel unjustly treated if she doesn't know whether she's the guilty one or not?' And he worked himself into a terrible fury, and strode up and down the sands, no one daring to approach him. Suddenly, without any warning of his intention, he ran down to the sea, and removing his shoes and stockings, cooled his temper by paddling his feet in the sea-water. In a little time he returned, his excitement much allayed, and soon the cries of the distracted and unhappy triplets, together with the pitiful sighs of the dejected uncle, entirely a.s.suaged the wrath of the sympathetic, though quick-tempered, old man.

When he once more resumed his place before the three children the storm had pa.s.sed, and a sweet, good-natured smile enlivened his homely old face, and charmed all beholders.

'Well, well, well,' said he, 'triplets will be triplets after all, and uncles uncles, all the world over.'

He at once resumed the inquiry, and placing his hand kindly on the head of the second triplet he now addressed the first in the following way:--

'Let us suppose for the moment that you happen to know which of your sisters this particular one really is, who, in that case, would the third one be, if she (the third) were not Mellinid?'

'Either Edil or the d.u.c.h.ess,' promptly replied the intelligent child.

'Quite right,' said the King encouragingly, 'Now as this is not so, and you certainly do not know which of your sisters this one happens to be, the reverse must be true, so that if your other sister is neither Edil nor the d.u.c.h.ess, who must she be?'

'Mellinid, of course,' readily answered the child, and every one applauded and wondered at the wisdom of the King.

'It only now remains,' proceeded the King, addressing the first and second triplets 'to discover which of you is Edil and which the d.u.c.h.ess.' Placing his hand once more upon the head of the second triplet, he again addressed the first.

'Suppose, for the sake of argument, that this sister of yours whom we now know not to be Mellinid were Mellinid and Mellinid the d.u.c.h.ess, in that case you would a.s.suredly be Edil. Now as you cannot suppose this sister to be Mellinid when you know she is not, and the d.u.c.h.ess is the d.u.c.h.ess and not Mellinid, then our supposition must be wrong and the reverse true, so that Mellinid remains Mellinid and, as we say you are not Edil, then this little girl must be she.' Then shaking the first triplet by the hand, the complacent old potentate said in conclusion:--'And you, my dear creature, are thus proved to be neither Edil nor Mellinid but Blaura, the charming d.u.c.h.ess of Blowdripping, to whom I offer my hearty congratulations.' The cheerful soul now embraced the three children, and when he had a hand free he slapped the old uncle, who now looked the very picture of happiness, several times upon the back.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE TRIPLETS ACCOMPANY THE ARMY]

Cheers were raised again and again at the unheard-of wisdom of the King of Troy. The old uncle completely exhausted himself by leaping high into the air over and over again, while the triplets were beyond themselves with joy at such a successful end to their troubles.

So delighted were the triplets with their new friends that, during breakfast the next morning, they announced their intention of accompanying them to their journey's end, and entrusted the care of the Blowdripping estate to their old uncle until they should return. The camp packed up and when every one was ready to continue the journey, they all took an affectionate leave of the old man and marched on.

[Ill.u.s.tration: tailpiece]

[Ill.u.s.tration: GOOD AUNT GALLADIA]

[Ill.u.s.tration: headpiece]

GOOD AUNT GALLADIA

At first the King seemed disposed to be not a little irritable towards the triplets, murmuring something to himself about the extra expense. A good lunch, however, soon put him to rights, and he was his old cheerful self again.

In the afternoon they met upon the road a long thin man with a grin of the greatest self-satisfaction widening his otherwise narrow face. In one hand he carried a cage containing a miserable old bird that could hardly boast an egg-cupful of feathers on its whole shrivelled body; in the other he carried a large wooden box. He very good-naturedly stood aside for the army to move on, but the King, whose curiosity had been aroused, would not allow him to be pa.s.sed unquestioned, so he rang a little bell he always carried with him for the purpose, and the whole force at once stopped short. In obedience to a signal from the King, the long man stepped jauntily before him. 'Anything wrong, old chirpy?' said he, addressing the King rather rudely as some thought. 'Not with me,'

the King replied with much dignity. 'My only reason for calling you before me is to learn why you are so extremely pleased with yourself.

Such a secret would be of the greatest value to us all.' 'Because she's given these back to me,' answered the long fellow as he opened his box and disclosed, all neatly arranged, a beautiful collection of birds'

eggs. Every kind appeared to be there, and all of the most beautiful colours imaginable.

'But who is she?' queried the King.

'Why, my good Aunt Galladia, of course, but it's too long a story to tell standing up, so let us sit down by the roadside, and you shall hear all about it.'

Every one now seated themselves on the gra.s.s by the side of the road and over a comforting cup of tea, speedily brewed by Boadicea, the long man began his story:--

'My good aunt's full name was Galladia Glowmutton, and she was the only daughter of that gallant general, Sir Francis Melville Glowmutton, who distinguished himself so greatly in the defence of his country.

'It was my good fortune to spend my earliest days in this good creature's company, she, n.o.ble soul that she was, having undertaken to look after me when my poor father and mother disappeared in a sand-storm many years before.

'The greater part of her life this good woman had devoted to brightening the declining years of her well-loved father, whose arduous life, poor man, had left him in his old age, truth to tell, rather a tiresome, and sometimes a difficult, subject to get on with. However, thanks to her devotion and patience, he led a tolerably happy life. In the course of time the old warrior died and left the sorrowing lady well provided for,--that is, over and beyond necessaries, with sufficient money to keep up appearances, and even enough for her simple pleasures and hobbies.

'For some months my good aunt could not fill the blank in her life left by the loss of her father. So much kindness, however, could not be kept back for long, and was bound in the course of time to find its object.

Always with a love for every feathered creature, she at last set about gathering around her as complete a collection of them as she could obtain. Soon she had in her aviaries the most marvellous a.s.sembly of birds ever brought together even at the Zoo. There were specimens of the Paraguay gull, Borneo parrots, Australian gheck ghees, the laughing grete, Malay anchovy wren that only feeds upon anchovies (and very amusing indeed it is, too, to watch them spearing the little fish with their beaks and then trying to shake them off again), and the golden-crested mussel hawk, that swoops down from an incredible height and, s.n.a.t.c.hing its prey from the rocks, again disappears in the sky.

Without wearying you with a long list, nearly every known bird was represented in my aunt's collection, from the fierce saw-beaked stork of Tuscaroca to the mild and pretty little Gossawary chick.