The children to whom I acted as cicerone almost screamed with glee as they saw the four-and-twenty blackbirds emerging from the pie-crust in front of the astonished King; and when the climax of the inconsequential story was reached, by way of the regal counting house and the “reginal” parlour, and a blackbird (presumably one of the four-and-twenty that had been temporarily immured in the pie) was seen about to revenge himself on the innocent nose of the guiltless laundry-maid, a veritable climax of enthusiasm was reached.