“Oh, yes!” said the little girl.  “I never saw any before, but how can one help loving these dear little pets,—­and the lovely bird?” She stroked the white feathers tenderly.

But the Prince covered his face with his hands and seemed to be weeping.  “I cannot forget!” he said brokenly.

John felt very uncomfortable.  “If only I could make him laugh, now!” he thought.  Then an idea came to him,—­a funny idea which made his eyelids quiver and the brown spot wink.

With a twist of his body he suddenly stood upon his head at the foot of the Prince’s couch, and, waving his feet in the air, began to walk about the chamber on his hands.  The Prince uncovered his eyes and gazed in astonishment at such antics.

Presently John regained his feet, and kissing his hand began to turn somersaults vigorously all about the apartment.  The little Princess clapped her hands and began to laugh.  The Prince watched him, fascinated.  Presently, as John’s high spirits broke out into fuller pranks and gyrations, the Prince’s lips quivered.  He began to grin.

“Oh, you are a tumbler,” he said.  “I am glad you have come here!  Do it again.”

So John did it again; and this time the Prince, watching him, echoed the gay laugh of the little Princess.  “It is as good as a play,” he said, feebly wiping the tears of merriment from his cheeks.  “I wish I could do it myself!”

[Illustration:  I wish I could do it myself!]

“You must get well first,” said John, laughing.

“I will try,” said the Prince, with a new spirit in his tone.  And from that moment he began to grow stronger.

Now came days when the palace was much happier than it had been for years.  The presence of the animals was in itself a joy to the King’s people, long starved for the lack of pets.  And John’s sunny face and quaint smile were reflected on all about him.  There is nothing so catching as good humor, and John started an epidemic which spread through the palace, and indeed through the whole city.  No one knew how it happened.  But before long the flaxen-haired boy was the pet of the whole town.  Not only was he welcome always in the Prince’s chamber, but every door at which he knocked opened gladly to him, and he was at home wherever he went.

Only the King held aloof.  He had grown strangely grim and sullen since his son’s cure was assured.  The King was jealous.

What with the animals to play with and John’s tumbling, the Prince was continually in gales of laughter, and every day he grew plumper and more rosy.  Sometimes it was Brutus who amused him; often the cat and kittens, his first friends.  The raven became a great favorite after his introduction to the Prince, which happened in this wise.

John had delayed to bring the bird into the royal chamber, he was so mischievous.  But one day when the Prince seemed very merry, John slipped out and fetched the black fellow on his shoulder.  On being invited to do so, the raven hopped gravely to the foot of the bed, where he perched, eyeing the Prince with little round eyes and head cocked knowingly.