one day after the examinations, as he was diverting himself at a coffee-house with two friends--(did i tell you that in his bag, every saturday night, he found just enough to pay his bills, with a guinea over, for pocketmoney? didn't i tell you?
well, he did, as sure as twice twenty makes forty-five)--he chanced to look in the bosforo chronicle, and read off, quite easily (for he could spell, read, and write the longest words now), the following:--'romantic circumstance.--one of the most extraordinary adventures that we have ever heard has set the neighbouring country of crim tartary in a state of great excitement.
'it will be remembered that when the present revered sovereign of crim tartary, his majesty king padella, took possession of the throne, after having vanquished, in the terrific battle of blunderbusco, the late king cavolfiore, that prince's only child, the princess rosalba, was not found in the royal palace, of which king padella took possession, and, it was said, had strayed into the forest (being abandoned by all her attendants)where she had been eaten up by those ferocious lions, the last pair of which were captured some time since, and brought to the tower, after killing several hundred persons.
'his majesty king padella, who has the kindest heart in the world, was grieved at the accident which had occurred to the harmless little princess, for whom his majesty's known benevolence would certainly have provided a fitting establishment.but her death seemed to be certain.the mangled remains of a cloak, and a little shoe, were found in the forest, during a hunting-party, in which the intrepid sovereign of crim tartary slew two of the lions' cubs with his own spear.and these interesting relics of an innocent little creature were carried home and kept by their finder, the baron spinachi, formerly an officer in cavolfiore's household.the baron was disgraced in consequence of his known legitimist opinions, and has lived for some time in the humble capacity of a wood-cutter, in a forest on the outskirts of the kingdom of crim tartary.