Page:The New-Year's Bargain (1884).djvu/179

 not seem very good. But Nippie clung to hope. Queen Nutcracker, she reflected, must drop off some day; and the King would naturally look to the fairest as her successor. 'Queen Nippie' sounded well;—she would refurnish the royal nest, and astonish society. It was worth waiting for. So she waited.

"One year—two, three, four. Lovers came, and went; Nippie snubbing them all right royally. Still Queen Nutcracker lived and flourished; and still every spring eight or ten lovely princes and princesses appeared to swell the population of the royal oak. Five years—six. Nippie's resplendent tail began to look thin, and a little worn. Hot pine-needles are very bad for tails, they say. She lost a front tooth; her nose grew sharp; and her figure, once so graceful, was now painfully thin. Suitors became weary of the Nutcracker beech, and the few who showed themselves were mere children, on the look-out for some younger Nutcrackers who were growing up. Nippie felt