from his eye.

"The Chief Cook shrugged his shoulders. 'H'm!' said he, 'if that's the case, and His Supreme Importance has ordered your execution, nobody can possibly prevent it, and there is nothing left but to grin and bear it.'

"'No,' said the Court Physician indignantly. 'I may have to bear it, but I shall not grin. I absolutely refuse! They can't do more than kill me, and I won't grin, so there!'

"The Chief Cook looked horrified. 'It's one of the laws of the land,' he said, 'that whenever one suffers anything at the hands of the Grand Panjandrum, one must grin and bear it; it's a most terrible offence not to do so.'

"'I don't care,' said the Court Physician recklessly, 'I shan't grin, and there's an end of it.'

"'Why are you sentenced to death?' I asked.

"'His Supreme Importance, the Grand Panjandrum, has had the toothache for three days, and I have been unable to subdue it without drawing the tooth, which His Supreme Importance refuses to permit me to do, and in a fit of temper yesterday he said that if he were not better to-day I should be executed to-morrow—and it's worse.'

"The Chief Cook looked at me delightedly.

"'If that's all,' he said, 'this gentleman, whose name I am unfortunately unacquainted with, has a remedy which will soon get you out of your trouble, and I shouldn't wonder if, after all, His Supreme Importance's toothache were the means of raising us all to honour and distinction;' and he proceeded to tell the Court Physician how I had been successful in ridding him of the toothache.

"The Court Physician was greatly interested, and after I had read to him the directions in the book, he suggested that he should take me to the Palace at once and into the presence of the Grand Panjandrum.

"'For no doubt the operation must be performed by yourself, since you alone possess the fairy power,' said he. And so we made the best of our way to the beautiful building which I could see in the distance.

"I wish I could describe to you the magnificence of that marvellous place. The jewelled windows and golden staircase; the wonderful velvety carpets and silken hangings; the hundreds of silent servants dressed in the beautiful royal livery of the Grand Panjandrum, who flitted about executing immediately the slightest wish echoed in that wonderful place.

"But it is sufficient to say that, after a lot of ceremony, I was at last ushered into the presence of the Grand Panjandrum himself.

"It is forbidden to anyone, under the most awful penalties, to describe His Supreme Importance's appearance, so I cannot tell you what he was like; but I found him suffering the most excruciating agony with the toothache, and with his face even more swollen than the Chief Cook's had been.

"At a sign from the Court Physician I quickly prepared my nettle leaves, which we had thought to gather on our way to the palace, and began to rub them gently on the Grand Panjandrum's cheek, on the opposite side of his face to that which was swollen.

"To my horror and amazement, they had no effect whatever, except immediately to raise a terrible rash upon His Supreme Importance's cheek, and to cause him such pain that he called out angrily that it was worse than the toothache itself.

"I hurriedly and anxiously consulted my little book to see if by any mischance I had failed in carrying out any of the directions; but no, there it was in black and white—'rub the other side with a stinging nettle.'

"I showed it to the Court Physician, and he said—

"'Try the "other" side, then: you've rubbed one side, try the other.'

"So in fear and trembling I begged His Supreme Importance's permission to apply the remedy to his other cheek, and after some demur he agreed, but making it a condition that if it failed to act I was to be immediately beheaded.

"You may imagine with what anxiety I awaited the result of my experiment, and how carefully I rubbed the nettles on.

"It was all in vain: the rash spread under the nettles and the swelling grew greater than ever—evidently my fairy power refused to work—and the Grand Panjandrum was in a fearful rage.

"'Fetch the Executioner!' he cried, in terrible tones. 'I will see this impostor executed before my eyes!' And twenty slaves flew to obey his command.

"'Grin!' whispered the Court Physician behind his hand, 'grin and bear it; it's the only thing to be done.'

"I gave him a wrathful glance, and was about to speak, when at a sign from the Grand Panjandrum, two powerful slaves sprang forward and bound and gagged me.

"There was a sound of approaching footsteps, and from another entrance the Executioner appeared, followed by some slaves carrying the block.

"I thought my last moment had arrived, but just then, to my intense delight, I felt a curious sensation, which told me that I was about to disappear.

"My feet went first (this is not always the case), and then my legs, and I could see the amazement with which the Grand Panjandrum and all the assembled company were regarding the, to them, extraordinary phenomenon.

"The Executioner in his agitation dropped his axe, and stood open-mouthed regarding what was left of me; and, although I was rather anxious lest they should make an attempt to chop off my head before it finally disappeared, I managed despite my gag to 'grin' in the Grand Panjandrum's face, and an instant later I found myself here."

Shin Shira, having finished his story, drew his little fan from his sleeve and sat fanning himself with great composure, while he regarded my doubtless astonished face with considerable amusement.

"I—I'll put that story down at once, if you don't mind," I stammered, hurrying to my desk and getting out some papers.

The drawer stuck, and it was some seconds before I could get it open, and when I turned round again, to my great dismay, Shin Shira had almost disappeared.

The little yellow shoes were still there and part of a stocking, but even as I watched them they too disappeared, the long pointed toes of the shoes waggling a kind of farewell—or so I thought—and my strange little visitor had vanished.

MYSTERY NO. II

SHIN SHIRA AND THE DRAGON

It was during my holidays in Cornwall that I next met Shin Shira.

I had ridden by motor-car from Helston to the Lizard, and after scrambling over rugged cliffs for some time, following the white stones put by the coastguards to mark the way, I found myself at last at the most beautiful little bay imaginable, called Kynance Cove.

The tide was low, and from the glittering white sands, tall jagged rocks rose up, covered with coloured seaweed; which, together with the deep blue and green of the sky and sea, made a perfect feast of colour for the eyes.

On the shore I met an amiable young guide, who, for sixpence, undertook to show me some caves in the rocks which are not generally discovered by visitors.

They were very fine caves, one of them being called The Princess's Parlour; and while we were exploring this, I suddenly heard a roar as of some mighty animal in terrible pain.

I turned to the guide with, I expect, rather a white face, for an