The Lost Letter

If you ever go to London to attend a festive royal event, a wedding perhaps, you'll have to wade through throngs of cheering, waving people to catch a glimpse of royalty. But it's not like that when the royal family is staying in Balmoral Castle, their summer palace nestled in the rolling green hills of our Scottish countryside. There, you often see them riding through town in a horse-drawn carriage surrounded by guards clad in bright red and black.

Every Sunday morning at nine o'clock, the royal family rides past Liza Higgins' house, and Liza is always waiting on the sidewalk in front of her house, waving a little British flag-a one-girl welcoming committee. The first time Liza ever saw the royal carriage, Princess Margaret waved at her. Since then, Liza had come out to watch the royal family ride by every summer Sunday, rain or shine.

One Sunday morning in June, as the royal carriage rolled towards her, Liza noticed that Princess Margaret was reading a letter. Suddenly, the letter flew out of the princess' hand into the air. The carriage jerked to a stop. The guards dismounted and began searching the street. Liza watched the wind blow the letter into a small alley. She noticed how anxious the princess looked.

But the queen seemed impatient. She spoke to the driver, and just as suddenly as the procession had stopped, the guards mounted and the carriage resumed moving down the street.

Liza waited until the carriage and guards were out of sight. Curious, she walked down the cobblestone street to where she had seen the carriage stop. No one else was out on the street yet-most people were still eating breakfast or dressing for church. Liza walked up the alley where she had seen the letter blow.

There, behind a trash barrel, was a handwritten letter on fine stationery imprinted with the seal of the king of France. As she glanced briefly at the letter, Liza noticed that it was written in French. Liza folded the letter carefully and put it in her