5.  The second page had a good share of self-conceit, however, and so was not greatly confused by the King’s jest.  He determined that he would avoid the mistake which his comrade had made.  So he commenced reading the petition slowly and with great formality, emphasizing every word, and prolonging the articulation of every syllable.  But his manner was so tedious that the King cried out, “Stop! are you reciting a lesson in the elementary sounds?  Out of the room!  But no:  stay!  Send me that little girl who is sitting there by the fountain.”

6.  The girl thus pointed out by the King was a daughter of one of the laborers employed by the royal gardener; and she had come to help her father weed the flower beds.  It chanced that, like many of the poor people in Prussia, she had received a good education.  She was somewhat alarmed when she found herself in the King’s presence, but took courage when the King told her that he only wanted her to read for him, as his eyes were weak.

7.  Now, Ernestine (for this was the name of the little girl) was fond of reading aloud, and often many of the neighbors would assemble at her father’s house to hear her; those who could not read themselves would come to her, also, with their letters from distant friends or children, and she thus formed the habit of reading various sorts of handwriting promptly and well.

8.  The King gave her the petition, and she rapidly glanced through the opening lines to get some idea of what it was about.  As she read, her eyes began to glisten, and her breast to heave.  “What is the matter?” asked the King; “don’t you know how to read?” “Oh, yes! sire,” she replied, addressing him with the title usually applied to him:  “I will now read it, if you please.”

9.  The two pages wore about to leave the room.  “Remain,” said the King.  The little girl began to read the petition.  It was from a poor widow, whose only son had been drafted to serve in the army, although his health was delicate and his pursuits had been such as to unfit him for military life.  His father had been killed in battle, and the son had a strong desire to become a portrait painter.

10.  The writer told her story in a simple, concise manner, that carried to the heart a belief of its truth; and Ernestine read it with so much feeling, and with an articulation so just, in tones so pure and distinct, that when she had finished, the King, into whose eyes the tears had started, exclaimed, “Oh! now I understand what it is all about; but I might never have known, certainly I never should have felt, its meaning had I trusted to these young gentlemen, whom I now dismiss from my service for one year, advising them to occupy their time in learning to read.”

11.  “As for you, my young lady,” continued the King, “I know you will ask no better reward for your trouble than the pleasure of carrying to this poor widow my order for her son’s immediate discharge.  Let me see whether you can write as well as you can read.  Take this pen, and write as I dictate.”  He then dictated an order, which Ernestine wrote, and he signed.  Calling one of his guards, he bade him go with the girl and see that the order was obeyed.