VALUABLE LETTERS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19221, 9 January 1926, Page 4 (Supplement)

VALUABLE LETTERS.

Ono rainy afternoon some 20 years ago Mr. Dudley Baxton, then a schoolboy, took it into his head to investigate the contents of an old .cupboard in the schoolroom of his father's London house. He found, among other books and papers, a collection of evidently very old letters, and he had the sagacity to retrieve them from destruction. They form the "Correspondence of Rene Descartes and'Constantyn Huygens, 1635-47," now being published by the Oxford Press, under the editorship of Mr. Leon Roth.

not hold on any longer the bird flew to earth. As soon as they landed; the king and queen ran away till they were quite a long way off from the terrifying creature that had taken them such a long way from their home. Then they stopped and viewed their surroundings. They found that quite near them there grew a clump of nasturtiums. " Shall we live in these nasturtiums ?" asked King Dandy, as soon as ho had quite recovered his breath. " I'm afraid we shall have to make the best of things." "Yes, we will live here," said the queen, " and look," she went on, " that lovely dark red nasturtium can be your bedroom, and this light yellow one can be mine. Perhaps we shall never see our water-lily pond again," she added, and there was a note of sadness in her voice. " Oh yes, wo will," answered the king jvith a cheerfulness he did not feel. "Of course, the fairies will institute a searchparty and we will be found." Day after day passed, and one day the king said, " Shona, my dear, I am going to havo a look for our lily-pond to-day. Will you come?" " Yes, Dandy, if you are going," answered tli© queen. That afternoon off they set, and, not thinking of what might happen, they wandered on until they had lost themselves completely. " Here's a nice state of affairs," said King Dandy, as he sat down on the grass. The queen did not reply, but looked into the air. Suddenly she gave a start. Dandy," she said, " there is something flying toward us." "Where?" asked the king and then he suddenly became excited. " It's only a butterfly," ho told the Queen, "but it might be Painted-Wings," lie added excitedly. They both kept eager .eyes on