Children's Stories Theat Never Grow Old Author:Mary Stone Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: THE LITTLE LAME PRINCE " T T IS just like Fairyland," whispered one little girl to another; "and the only thing the Prince needs is a fairy godmothe... more »r." "Does he?" said a soft voice. Behind them among the gay crowd was somebody no bigger than a child; somebody whom nobody had ever seen, and who certainly had not been invited to the Prince's christening, for she had no christening clothes on. She was a little old woman dressed all in gray. Her hair was gray, as were also her eyes, but her smile was sweet and childlike. "Take care! Do not let the baby fall again," she whispered to the nurse who was carrying the Prince. The nurse was frightened, for she had not known that any one had seen her drop the royal baby. "I am his godmother, and I must kiss him," she said, and before any one could stop her she raised herself on tiptoe and gave the baby Prince three kisses. "Your name shall be Prince Dolor, in memory of your mother," she said to him, and then the little old woman melted away into the air. Everybody loved the little Prince, and as time went on he grew to be a fine big boy; but alas! his legs never grew. The fall had injured his spine so that he was never able to walk. His father died when he was still very young, and his uncle said he would be King until the Prince grew to be a man. Now this uncle was wicked, and he did not want the Prince ever to be the King. He told the people that the Prince was ill, and later, that he was dead. The people were sorry for a while, but soon forgot the little lame Prince. His wicked uncle had sent him and his nurse toa high tower in the mountains far away. As the years passed his nurse taught him to read and write; but as he grew older he yearned to see the world of which he read in his books. One sad ...« less