{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_60042/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_60042","id":"gutenberg_60042","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/60042","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Children & Young Adult Reading","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Category: Science-Fiction & Fantasy","Fairy tales"],"text":"[Illustration: \u201c_I will return soon, sweet mother._\u201d\n                                                              (Page 18)]\n\n                       [Illustration: Title Page]\n\n\n\n\n                           The Moon Princess\n                              A FAIRY TALE\n\n\n                                   BY\n                          EDITH OGDEN HARRISON\n\n                               Author of\n                         _PRINCE SILVERWINGS &\n                           THE STAR FAIRIES_\n\n                         _With Illustrations in\n                         Color & Other Drawings\n                                   by\n                          Lucy Fitch Perkins_\n\n                                CHICAGO\n                          A. C. M^cClurg & Co.\n                                  1905\n\n                               Copyright\n                          A. C. McCLURG & CO.\n                                  1905\n                       Published October 7, 1905\n\n                           The Lakeside Press\n                     R. R. DONNELLEY & SONS COMPANY\n                                CHICAGO\n\n                         [Illustration: Fairy]\n\n                             _TO C. H. H._\n                      MY MOST APPRECIATIVE READER\n\n\n\n\n                                CONTENTS\n\n\n                      [Illustration: (unlabelled)]\n\n\n                                                                    PAGE\n\n\n                               CHAPTER I\n  How the Moon Princess Came to the Earth                             13\n\n\n                               CHAPTER II\n  How the Wedding Guests Visited the Caves of Ocean                   23\n\n\n                              CHAPTER III\n  How the Fairies Were Changed into Mocking-birds                     30\n\n\n                               CHAPTER IV\n  The Little Dwellers in the Marsh                                    45\n\n\n                               CHAPTER V\n  The Rainbow Sisters                                                 51\n\n\n                               CHAPTER VI\n  How the Sun Princess Came to the Earth                              74\n\n\n                              CHAPTER VII\n  The Story of the Jewelled Beach                                     91\n\n\n                              CHAPTER VIII\n  The Lost Ocean                                                     112\n\n\n                               CHAPTER IX\n  The Story of Princess Sunset                                       128\n\n\n                               CHAPTER X\n  How the Moon Princess was Taken Captive by the Black Dwarf         147\n\n\n                               CHAPTER XI\n  How the Sun Prince Rescued the Moon Princess                       154\n\n\n\n\n                         LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS\n\n\n                      [Illustration: (unlabelled)]\n\n\n                                                                    PAGE\n  \u201cI will return soon, sweet mother\u201d                      _Frontispiece_\n  The Ocean Queen came forth, with her younger children, to greet\n          them                                                        25\n  \u201cThey threw themselves at her feet, begging for pardon\u201d             41\n  \u201cThey circled together, dressed in the vivid colors of the\n          rainbow\u201d                                                    57\n  \u201cA glimmering figure sitting on a high cliff\u201d                      106\n  \u201cTurning around, he saw a radiantly beautiful woman near him\u201d      130\n\n\n      _Also eleven drawings in black and white introducing the chapters._\n\n\n\n\n                           THE MOON PRINCESS\n\n\n\n\n                               CHAPTER I\n                HOW THE MOON PRINCESS CAME TO THE EARTH\n\n\n                      [Illustration: (unlabelled)]\n\nThe heavens were a stainless blue, and the Moon shone out of them\narrayed in silvery garments. One by one the sky\u2019s matchless jewels, the\nstars, peeped out, studding that great ceiling with flashing\ndiamond-points, until the whole dome was a glittering mass of blue and\nsilver. The Ocean below seemed a big mirror, made to catch and reflect\nthe bewildering beauty above, for, shimmering softly, he carried in his\nshining depths all those myriad lights.\n\nCalm and majestic the Moon glided over her star-studded pathway; but, in\nspite of her glorious beauty and brilliancy, she was really sad and sick\nat heart. Ethelda, her best beloved, the youngest and dearest of her\nchildren, had just made a request the granting of which caused her that\nnight bitterest sorrow.\n\nThere was an old custom among the Moon maidens that on her marriage each\none of them might ask whatever she most desired, and the thing which she\nasked could not be denied her. Now, Ethelda of the starry eyes and the\nshining spun-gold hair had asked a fearful gift at her mother\u2019s hands.\nShe was betrothed to the Sun Prince Dorion, a handsome youth, strong of\nlimb, and a goodly sight to look upon, and he had long loved her. He had\nseen this dainty maiden in all her varying moods, so he knew her well.\nSometimes, with her Moon maidens merrily engaged at play, she romped\nhappy as a child; or later, with the stately tread of a young princess,\nshe came and went in her big white palace. She often wore a pale blue\ngown with silver trimmings, and a crown of flashing stars upon her head,\nand then it was the brilliantly beautiful girl looked the daughter of\nthe skies.\n\nPrince Dorion had watched the slender maiden until every strand of her\nglittering hair was dear to his heart. Later his father\u2019s golden chariot\nbrought him daily to her palace.\n\nHow Ethelda loved to watch him as he drove the fiery steeds with a\nmaster\u2019s hands, guiding them surely and steadily to her palace gates! He\nwas the finest of the Sun God\u2019s sons, and Ethelda\u2019s heart beat proudly\nas she looked upon her chosen one. The Moon Mother was happy too, in her\ndaughter\u2019s choice, and all would have been well in the wedding\nfestivities save for Ethelda\u2019s unheard-of request. How the Moon hated to\ngrant it! But she had reasoned with Ethelda long and patiently without\neffect. For the wilful little Princess was bent upon this mad whim.\n\u201cAlas! no good can come of it,\u201d sighed the Moon heavily, and she gazed\ndown sadly upon the Earth as she spoke. \u201cNo good can come of it,\u201d she\nrepeated. \u201cWhat could have possessed the child to want it?\u201d\n\nFor Ethelda had asked no less than this: to visit the Earth and spend\nher honeymoon there!\n\nThe young Sun Prince, though at first reluctant to take his beautiful\nbride upon such a wild trip, had finally yielded to her persuasions, and\nnow, being won by her tender pleadings, was as anxious to go as she.\n\nBut the Moon Mother had no such faith in the foolish journey. Her mind\nmisgave her, and as she swung around the great circle in celestial\nglory, her heart grew tremulous with fear for her daughter\u2019s safety. The\nrequest must be granted: that she knew; but she was devoutly thankful\nfor a wise law requiring a Moon maiden to revisit her own home yearly.\nAt most, then, they could stay but a twelvemonth upon the Earth. Reason\nas she would, however, the Queen Mother\u2019s heart was heavy, for with the\ndaughter upon the Earth the mother\u2019s happiness would be gone. But the\nmaiden\u2019s joy at the consent consoled her somewhat, and with an unselfish\nmother\u2019s love the Queen determined to hide her own grief and make the\nwedding trip a brilliant and a joyous one.\n\nPrince Dorion came with a great retinue of knights, all dressed in\nshining gold wrought in the Sun\u2019s fiery furnace, and bringing wonderful\njewels to his bride. The Moon Queen, not to be outdone in magnificence,\nshowered silver in plenty upon them both, and bade one hundred of her\nloveliest maidens accompany the bridal pair upon their journey.\n\nThe wedding was so brilliant that the skies grew bright as day, and the\nsplendor was reflected for many miles across the heavens. When the\nceremony was over, the bride, in shining white and silver garments, came\nforth from the circle of her bridesmaids to bid her mother farewell.\n\nLong-limbed and graceful was this daughter of the skies. Her finely cut\nfeatures showed her high-bred race. Her blond hair hung in yellow masses\nto her knees, while her tender blue eyes, looking smilingly upon her\nmother\u2019s face, were radiant with happiness. Gliding swiftly forward she\nreached the throne, and there, sinking on her knees, she begged her\nmother\u2019s blessing.\n\nVery tenderly the Queen watched her graceful child approach and kneel,\nand then leaning forward she raised her to her breast and showered\ncaresses upon her.\n\n\u201cEthelda, best beloved,\u201d she began, \u201cstay not beyond your allotted time\nupon the Earth. My heart misgives me when I think of your departure, and\nwill be heavy until you return. But see, my daughter, I have provided\nfor your safety as best I can, and you may come back to me whenever you\nchoose.\u201d So saying, she drew the bride gently toward the window of her\nwhite palace, and there, looking down, Ethelda saw a wonderful sight\nindeed. A beautiful shimmering ladder of moonlight stretched in infinite\nsplendor down to the Earth. Whichever way she looked, the majestic sweep\nof that brilliant ladder was before her. It reached the Ocean, whose\ngigantic waves of foaming white rose to meet it, and it quivered in\ndazzling glory upon the green-clad forests of the land.\n\nEthelda was amazed and delighted at the wonderful sight, and throwing\nher arms around her mother\u2019s neck, she poured forth her gratitude in\nloving words. \u201cWe will return soon, sweet mother,\u201d she whispered\ntenderly; \u201cthose shining steps will lead us safely back to you.\u201d Then,\nas her husband joined them, she stepped forward smilingly to greet him,\nsaying she was ready.\n\nOne hundred of the Sun Prince\u2019s knights, in trappings of gold made by\nthe Sun himself, and with bright shades of crimson trimmings, joined\nthem as she spoke. Ethelda\u2019s maidens, in their glittering dresses of\nwhitest silver, followed; and joining hands with the knights, began\ntheir magnificent wedding march to the Earth.\n\nNever was there a more kingly sight. Preceding the bride and bridegroom,\nthe gay cavalcade descended the glorious ladder of silver beams. Step by\nstep they wandered down the moonglade toward the Earth, and the Moon,\nsmiling lovingly at them, sighed again heavily as she spread her bright\npathway of silver before them.\n\nNow, the Earth knew of their coming, and she determined to give them a\nwelcome befitting their high and mighty rank. She already owed a great\ndebt to the Sun King, for it was his shining rays that warmed and\nnourished her and made her fruitful. Most of her splendid fertility was\ndue to the warmth of the Sun. So she invited the whole world to meet the\nbridal party, giving a grand ball in their honor.\n\nHer invitations were taken by the winds and swiftly carried to the four\ncorners of the globe. Hundreds of noble personages were asked to meet\nthe distinguished strangers, and all came to do them honor, bringing\ncordial greetings and invitations to visit the different parts of the\nworld.\n\nThe night of the ball had come. The Earth, resplendent in jewels,\nawaited the arrival of her guests. The forest back of them was aglitter\nwith lights, for all the glow-worms and fireflies had been summoned for\nthe occasion, and for days they had been decorating the trees. An\norchestra of birds sang delicious music, and overhead the sky was\nspangled with twinkling stars gazing in silent wonderment upon the\nEarth\u2019s splendor.\n\nBy the side of the Earth Queen stood Prince Dorion. His suit of pure\ngold shone like the Sun himself, and next to him was his beautiful\nbride, the Moon Princess. She was dressed in white garments embroidered\nin silver, and she was certainly a charming vision. Her gleaming yellow\nhair was caught back from her forehead with a crown of flashing stars.\nHer clear blue eyes, with their deep sky tints, were dancing in lights\nas brilliant as her star crown itself.\n\nFirst came the Earth\u2019s eldest son, the Ocean King, to greet them. The\nSea was a mass of fire with gleaming phosphorus, and King Ocean and his\nmermaid daughters seemed to be floating in red flames as they\napproached. The maidens\u2019 long and wonderfully beautiful hair floated\nbehind them as they swam, and they sang the most entrancing songs. They\nbore an invitation to Prince Dorion and his bride to visit them in their\nmarine home. And this invitation was at once accepted by the strangers.\nAnother invitation, accepted at once, came from Prince Dorion\u2019s only\nsister, Princess Kuldah, who lived upon the Earth with her husband. Many\nmore charming invitations were given them, but of course it was\nimpossible to accept them all.\n\nAt last one distinguished-looking person strode forward, small of\nstature and ugly to look upon. His body was dwarfed, and he had a big\nhump on his back. His face was dark and glowering, and he wore a suit of\nyellow leaves. All the guests moved aside to let him pass, as though\nthey feared him. He lived in the vast depths of the forest, amidst huge\nmountains; his daily work, with his thousands of imps, was to build\nthose mountains big and high. Stone by stone he raised them, bleak and\nbarren, to the clouds. He limped as he walked, and he glared angrily at\nthe shrinking faces avoiding him; but he gave his invitation to the fair\nguests, as the others had done, and bowed low before them as he gave it.\n\nAn involuntary shudder ran through the lovely Princess as she heard his\nwords, and she clung suddenly to her husband in terror, as the black\ndwarf\u2019s eyes dwelt admiringly upon her. She felt a cold thrill of fear\nat his bold glance.\n\nBut Prince Dorion, reassuring her with a tender smile, turned to the\nugly creature, and to the astonishment of the Earth Queen and her court,\nreplied: \u201cSir Dwarf, we accept your invitation, and will gladly ride\nforth with you whenever our hostess wills. The Sun King, my father, and\nher Majesty the Queen of the Moon, have each sent the Earth a gift as a\nglad token of our visit here, and we must place our precious gold and\nsilver deep within the bosom of your great mountains. There will it best\nthrive and grow, increasing and benefiting the world.\u201d\n\nThe Moon Princess turned very pale when she heard her husband\u2019s reply,\nbut the black dwarf limped away with a gratified smile upon his ugly\nface.\n\n\n\n\n                               CHAPTER II\n           HOW THE WEDDING GUESTS VISITED THE CAVES OF OCEAN\n\n\n                      [Illustration: (unlabelled)]\n\nThe Ocean King and his daughters came early for their guests. They had\ndriven fast, and their sea-horses were covered with a lather of white\nfoam. As they came shoreward the rising Sun dyed the sky a brilliant\npink, and for a moment the water caught its color. And then it was\ndelightful to watch the great rolling waves of the Sea blushing a\ndelicate rosy shade. Ethelda with Prince Dorion and their friends stood\non the creamy sands awaiting them. The Moon Princess wore a gown to\nmatch her blue eyes, and its exquisite train, embroidered in silver\ncrescents, hung in heavy folds behind her.\n\nStepping lightly into the Ocean King\u2019s chariot, Ethelda sat beside him.\nPrince Dorion followed, and very soon the whole party were comfortably\nseated among the mermaids. Away they started. Some snowy birds, watching\nthem off, rose suddenly, and outstretching their long white wings,\nfloated lazily away.\n\nBillions of sapphire waves rolled in to meet them, but the horses sped\neasily through, leaving only a broad roadway of foam behind. The shining\nsun spread now over the wide expanse, and they seemed to be flying\nthrough golden mists, while their great frothy path glittered in as many\ncolors as the rainbow. Farther and farther they went, deeper and deeper\ngrew the rich color of the great deep, until it seemed impossible it\ncould become bluer. Then slowly that brilliant blue changed, becoming a\nclear cool green, the shade of the coldest waters. Not until then did\nthe Ocean King draw rein, and slowly descending, they finally stopped at\nthe gates of his palace.\n\nThe palace was a wonder to behold. Its walls were built of richest\nmother-of-pearl, and shaded from purest white to the most delicate rose.\nIts broad staircases and wide halls were all of the same costly\nmaterial, while its trimmings and ornamentations were pearls and\ndiamonds of priceless worth.\n\n [Illustration: _The Ocean Queen came forth, with her younger children,\n                            to greet them._\n                                                              (Page 25)]\n\nTo keep the white light from dazzling with its splendor, the tall green\nseaweeds waved about, lending a delicious, cool shade, like the green\ntrees on the dry land, so that everything was agreeable to the eye.\n\nThe Ocean Queen came forth, with her younger children, to greet them,\nand Ethelda thought she had never seen anything so delicately beautiful\nas the Queen. Her eyes were clear as crystal pools, and her hair\u2014a\nbewildering mass of gold\u2014floated about her, covering her almost\ncompletely. She wore a pale green dress trimmed with magnificent pearls,\nand on her head a crown of diamonds. She glided up to the strangers, and\nin the softest voice bade them welcome.\n\nA magnificent banquet was served immediately, and then they were shown\nthe wonders of the sea palace. Rooms filled with costly treasures were\nopened; chests of brilliant jewels were examined.\n\nBut while the guests were enchanted with so much splendor, the King\nexplained that to the mermaid kingdom these heaps of diamonds and\nemeralds and rubies were really not worth a single piece of coral; for\nat these huge coral beds in the bottom of the sea the baby mermaids\nreceived their education. They were taught to swim and play games and\namuse themselves, and later they lent their deft fingers to build and\ncarve those exquisite mountains of the sea. When the Moon maidens saw\nthe coral beds, they too shared the mermaids\u2019 belief.\n\nThe party were walking through the clear smooth waters, when presently,\nahead, they noticed a slight ruffle, and almost immediately they saw a\nlong pink line. It was the coral reef. As they approached they saw great\nsheets of roaring foam sweep over the slippery coral, and as they passed\nby the hissing white wall of foam they saw that the tiny builders had\nraised their rose-colored mountains to a great height. The delicate work\nwas a marvel to see; it was like the weaving of finest lace-work, and\nonly the smartest of the mermaids were employed to carve the coral beds.\n\n\u201cCan the Earth exhibit greater wonders?\u201d exclaimed Prince Dorion.\n\n\u201cWe think not,\u201d answered the Ocean King; \u201cbut perhaps it is because we\nlove our home so much. We have many more wonderful things we could show\nyou, but our time is limited, and we can only briefly display our\nfavorites.\u201d\n\nTurning, he took from the hand of one of his daughters a beautiful\nshell. Creamy and shining like satin was the outside of the curving\npiece of mother-of-pearl, but its lovely lining was as pink as a\nrose-leaf. Presenting it to Ethelda, the King bade her keep it to remind\nher of her visit to his dwelling. \u201cThis beautiful shell, fair Princess,\u201d\ncontinued the King, \u201cshares with the mermaid kingdom its great love of\nhome, and it carries deep in its heart the sound of the waves. It will\nnever lose it. No matter where it goes or how long it stays, if you but\nhold it to your ear it will speak to you of us. For the deep musical\nsound of the waves will always be heard singing within its depths.\u201d\n\nEthelda, delighted, thanked him for the charming gift, which she\ngratefully accepted. Then continuing their walk, they arrived at the\ndoor of a handsome palace, where the Ocean King\u2019s only sister lived. She\nwas called the Princess Sea Foam, and her palace was built entirely of\npearls. Great oysters were constantly employed making these pearls for\nher, and day after day they opened their wide mouths and deposited fresh\nbeauties at her doors. Her apartments were very elegant and all in\nwhite, and the Ocean King\u2019s guests were especially astonished at the\nmagnificence of the Princess\u2019s clothes. She was very beautiful, for her\nskin was clear and white and her features delicate and pretty. She was\nsmall of stature, and looked more like a fairy than a mermaid, but her\ndress amazed them by its beauty. It was snow-white, and was studded with\nthe largest and purest diamonds they had ever seen. Even her hair was\ncovered with precious stones, and wherever she moved, sparkles of light\nburst forth. When she approached closer they discovered that the shining\njewels were not really diamonds at all, but clear and brilliant\nraindrops!\n\nThe Princess Sea Foam was in reality also the Rain Princess. Her duty\nwas to lie frequently upon the top of the waves and travel about,\nwatching the dry land and the sky. Often one sees the broad blue waters\nflecked with white specks; then one knows that Sea Foam and her\ncompanions, in their white dresses, are watching the world, to determine\nwhen rain is needed. It is a great responsibility for such a tiny\nPrincess, but she has guided her millions of followers wisely, and the\nEarth is well pleased with her lovely daughter\u2019s work.\n\nThey make the precious raindrops and then store them away in a big room\nin the pearl palace. When rain is needed the doors are opened and the\nskies absorb the moisture. The heavens fill with clouds,\u2014at first\nglorious, shining masses, lying against the blue sky as white and foamy\nas the Princess herself on the blue waves, but later, gathering force,\nthey darken to a gray or black, and fall upon the Earth in a shower of\nglittering drops. Over and over again must Sea Foam do this wonderful\nwork, but it is a work of joy, because she loves those glittering drops\nof shining water.\n\nThe Sun warms the world and gives it heat, but the Ocean must cool and\nfreshen it with raindrops; for all the rain that falls from the skies\nmust first be gathered on the Earth, and this responsibility rests on\nthe Ocean King\u2019s sister, dainty little Sea Foam.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER III\n            HOW THE FAIRIES WERE CHANGED INTO MOCKING-BIRDS\n\n\n                      [Illustration: (unlabelled)]\n\nThey were most reluctant to leave the beautiful world under the water,\nbut the Sun Prince and the Moon Princess must keep their engagements,\nand there were many journeyings for them yet. The Ocean King had kept\nthem as long as possible in his dominions, but now he felt obliged to\nlet them go, and so regretfully bade them adieu.\n\nHe had arranged in their travels about his strange and wonderful\npossessions to land them in a beautiful southern country. From this spot\nthey would travel north toward the Valley of Enchantment, to visit the\nSun Princess, that lovely sister of Prince Dorion who was making her\nhome in this world. They all looked forward with much pleasure to this\nvisit; it seemed, in fact, to be one of their chief topics of\nconversation, for they naturally desired to see the only sister of\nPrince Dorion, who was famous for her great beauty. Now and then,\nhowever, in the midst of their joyous travels, a black shadow seemed to\ncross the pretty Moon Princess\u2019s face: it was when she remembered the\npromised visit to the black dwarf. Somehow she could not overcome her\nhorror of him, and was never reconciled to making him a visit.\n\nReluctantly the company bade adieu to the Ocean King and his charming\nfamily, and rose through the clear, limpid waters of a big Gulf. It was\na beautiful sight that met their eyes as they came to the surface in the\nopen sunlight. A wonderful land lay before them. Its shores were shaded\nwith spreading branches of magnificent live-oak trees which grew down to\nthe water\u2019s edge, planting their splendid trunks in the very midst of\nthe curving line of yellow sand. Farther back pink cr\u00eape-myrtles, yellow\nacacias, and white Spanish daggers were scattered, and a long row of\npecan-trees kept dozens of chattering squirrels busy. Cherokee roses\nbloomed in thousands, their yellow hearts showing in brilliant contrast\nto their dazzling white petals. \u201cHow beautiful this country is!\u201d said\nthe Princess, and every one echoed her words.\n\nAs they landed they were greeted by the Sun Princess\u2019s messenger, who\nwould guide them northward to the Valley of Enchantment. This guide\nbelonged to the company of Sun people who had accompanied the Sun\nPrincess to her new home. He proved a charming companion indeed, for he\nknew everything about the countries through which they passed, and in\ntheir travels told them many interesting facts. They learned that they\nwere in a southern land, on the borders of a great Gulf. They could see,\nbeside the live-oaks, some superb trees growing to great heights,\u2014trees\nwith great long green leaves, holding big creamy blossoms that opened\nlike white chalices to catch the sun. One tree especially stood out in\nmagnificent strength. Its rough old trunk was enormous and knotted with\nage, and its broad branches spread out protectingly covered with big\nwaxen leaves. The great tree had a dignity about it that fascinated the\nPrincess. As the little company walked nearer to examine it, they\nnoticed how the grass\u2014soft as velvet\u2014stretched away like a green carpet\ntoward the yellow marsh beyond. The nearer they came to the tree the\nbigger the tree looked, and they found a round hollow in one side the\ntrunk, where a squirrel had hidden his nuts. \u201cIt is a magnolia-tree,\u201d\nthe guide replied, in answer to their questions, \u201cand there are many\nthousands like it scattered through this southern country.\u201d\n\nAt that moment a sound rose upon the air, so soft and exquisite in its\nmelody that they held their breath to listen. It came from the branches\nof the tree, and was a song of welcome from the mocking-birds. In a\nmoment a thousand of these little feathered songsters had joined the\nchorus. Their notes rang out joyously, for they warbled and trilled in\nan ecstasy of delight until the strangers thought they had never heard a\nmore beautiful concert. Then suddenly, while the Moon Princess listened\nentranced, the music ceased as abruptly as it had begun. They heard a\nflutter of soft wings, and saw above their heads a flock of tiny birds.\nThe birds were lovely,\u2014a soft gray in color, with a splash of white on\nthe wings and tail, and as they flew away and disappeared in the\ndistance all became silent again.\n\nWhat a silence it was! Not a sound broke the stillness. The brilliant\nsunshine danced along the ground like little sparks of fire, but not a\nleaf stirred. It grew warm. The blue gulf lay like a sheet of glass in a\nsort of golden mist. The heat was intense; it seemed to shimmer in a\nyellow haze over everything; and then suddenly a little movement broke\nthe profound stillness. It came from the green-eyed, red-throated\nlizards as they ran through the grass. They stopped to watch the\nstrangers wonderingly, but as the Moon Princess moved slightly, the\ntimid little creatures, affrighted, took the color of the leaf on which\nthey were, and lay as motionless as death!\n\nThen the Princess spoke softly: \u201cThis world is very wonderful; I have\nnever seen so many bewildering things before.\u201d\n\nAs they resumed their journey the guide told them the history of the\nbird.\n\n\u201cThe mocking-bird is really the southern fairy, you know,\u201d he began,\n\u201cand the entrancing song it sings is only the story of its life. It\ntells the tale over and over again, in a delicious burst of song; as the\nlittle children alone understand the fairies\u2019 speech, I cannot tell all\nit says, but I will repeat exactly what I have heard. Once upon a time\nthere dwelt in the midst of that great magnolia grove we have just left\na band of fairies. They were the lightest-hearted and happiest little\nband in the world, and they had just celebrated a splendid marriage. One\nof their most beautiful Princesses had married a nephew of the Queen. He\nwas as handsome as his bride was beautiful, and everything went merry as\na marriage bell. Now, Prince Adelstan, in spite of his high rank and\nstation, was always playing some prank upon some one, but his tricks\nwere generally good-natured, and the fairies seemed to love him the\nbetter for his fun; he was, indeed, a great favorite with them all. Now,\nwhen he married the dignified and beautiful Princess Verdande, every one\npredicted that he would become more sober, and, as a married man, put\naside his boyish manners.\n\n\u201cIt really seemed just about as they prophesied. Of course, a fairy\u2019s\nlife is a brilliant round of pleasure, but Prince Adelstan seemed\ncontented to travel the world over with his lovely wife and act just as\nall well-behaved fairies should. The little people were all delighted,\nof course, with the change in their favorite, and said among themselves\nhe was even more attractive than ever. In reality Prince Adelstan was so\nabsorbed in a plan he was forming for himself and bride that he had no\ntime to think of playing foolish pranks on others. Fairies, as you know,\nare free to do exactly as they please, except for one rule, and that\nrule can never be broken. Their life must be lived at night, amid\nmoonshine and starlight, and then they pass many gladsome hours\ntogether; from dusk until dawn they are the merriest little people in\nthe world. But at the first streak of light every fairy must\nvanish,\u2014under a leaf, in the heart of a rose, behind a dewdrop, the\nfairy may hide; but hide he must, and there remain sleeping until\ndarkness again falls upon the world. This rule in Fairyland has been\nenforced for centuries, and no one, however brave, has had the hardihood\nto break it. Sometimes (but very rarely), on a day when the Sun does not\nshine and the Earth is covered with a white veil of mist, a fairy can\npeep out, but he must be extremely careful that he is only in the mist,\nfor he must never see a ray of sunshine for a moment.\n\n\u201cWell, can you imagine what Prince Adelstan decided to do? He determined\nupon a terribly rash thing, and planned it for months. He lay awake\nthinking of it, for in his excitement he could not sleep. He whispered\nit at last to his beautiful bride, who trembled in his arms as she\nlistened. She was horrified at first, and pleaded with him to give up\nhis rash plan; but he was bent upon it, and after weeks of pleading from\nhim, she finally yielded and consented to help him. Together they\ndecided to elude the fairies and break the law; for their rash\ndetermination was no less than this\u2014to see the Sun rise.\n\n\u201cNight after night they discussed it, and one beautiful moonlight one,\nwhen they had danced until dawn, and the other fairies, exhausted, had\nslipped into the hearts of the magnolia blossoms to sleep, Prince\nAdelstan and Princess Verdande stole carefully down to the waters of the\nGulf, and, breathless with curiosity, awaited the coming of the Sun.\n\n\u201cNever shall they forget that morning. The waters of the Gulf looked\nsteely gray in the first faint light of dawn. A pearly white mist was\nlifting slowly from them, and melting as it lifted. The little bride\ncaught her breath with admiration as the cold steel-gray of the water\nslowly changed into a delicate, warm pink, for the Gulf, like a great\nmirror, was reflecting all the lights in the sky. The sea-shell pink of\nthe faint dawn heralded the approach of the Sun. Gradually the delicate\ncoloring grew a deeper rose, until the white clouds overhead seemed dyed\nin crimson. The waters lay still and silent; hardly a ripple disturbed\ntheir serenity. Presently long, piercing rays crept across the sky,\nwhile all the colors of the rainbow seemed to blend and mix together.\nGradually the world grew brighter and brighter. Then suddenly out of the\nshining water rose a great red ball of fire! The Princess clung to her\nhusband, for, beautiful as it was, she was surprised and frightened. The\nSun mounted slowly into the sky, casting his brilliant rays across the\nheavens, and at the same time great slanting streaks of yellow beams\ndanced before their bewildered eyes. The waters of the Gulf were\nmarvellous to see, for they glistened like millions of flashing\ndiamonds. The two fairies stood amazed at the magnificent sight before\nthem, for even Fairyland has nothing more beautiful than the sunrise.\n\n\u201cPresently a flock of white sea-gulls rose shrieking from the sands, and\nPrince Adelstan and his wife (startled by the sudden noise, and abashed\nby their terrible disobedience) tried to hide behind a blade of grass.\nAlas! what was their horror to discover that they could not. They had\ngrown much larger, and they realized in despair that they could no\nlonger hide under the flowers; their wings, too, had disappeared, and\nthey knew they were banished from Fairyland. Then their sorrow began,\nfor, try as they did, they could find no trace of their brother and\nsister fairies.\n\n\u201cThere was a dreamy stillness everywhere, and the flowers were very\ntempting in the early morning dew; but alas! those flowers no longer\nformed a home for the disobedient fairies. Hand in hand they wandered,\nand for miles they stumbled sadly along, until at last they reached the\nedge of a great marsh. The green and yellow grasses there were scarcely\nmoving, and lovely tints were shimmering in a hazy amber splendor. The\nunruffled waters of the bayou, as it ran curling around the rushes,\ngleamed in spots of silver. The world took on new beauties beneath the\nSun, but the unhappy Princess and her husband could not enjoy them. They\njourneyed about in misery until they found the gnarled old\nmagnolia-tree. They hid themselves in its hollow trunk.\n\n\u201cThe fairies, of course, had missed them, and knew perfectly well of\ntheir misfortunes, but the Queen\u2019s heart was hardened against them\nbecause of their dreadful disobedience. However, the band of little\nfairies, in spite of all, united in deep sympathy for their erring\nbrother and sister, and they prayed the Queen to grant them pardon. The\nQueen\u2019s heart softened a little at last, for after all the Prince was a\nbeloved nephew; but even she had not full power to restore them to\nFairyland. The law once broken, full penance must be done; for\ndisobedience is a dreadful crime in Fairyland.\n\n[Illustration: \u201c_They threw themselves at her feet, begging for pardon_.\u201d\n                                                              (Page 41)]\n\n\u201cLate one night, when the Moon was high in the blue sky, and the world\nwas flooded with silver, when the bright stars flashed out like millions\nof dancing points of fire, the two unhappy culprits crept out from the\nhollow of the magnolia-tree. The fairies were holding high festival,\nfeasting on rose-leaves and drinking the dew from tiny acorn cups.\nThousands of them were dancing in and out of the moonlight, and their\nbright wings flashed gold and silver lights wherever they moved. Their\nwands, too, sparkled and glittered as if they were on fire. The exiled\nPrince and Princess gazed sadly upon it all, seeing now fully what they\nhad lost; but alas! it was too late. They knew quite well their bulky\nforms without wings could never again become as light and airy as before\ntheir disobedience. Swiftly, however, they ran forward, and before the\nastonished Queen had time to escape, they threw themselves at her feet,\nbegging for pardon. The Queen frowned as she listened to the story of\ntheir disobedience, and the other fairies shuddered when they heard of\nthe great crime. Still, her Majesty loved her nephew and his bride, and\nher heart was heavy as she heard the sad tale. The Queen was unusually\nhandsome that night, and seated on a throne of moss-rose buds, she\nseemed very far above the culprits at her feet. Her white-and-silver\ndress sparkled brilliantly against the bright pink of the rosebuds, and\nthe green leaves about them were so covered with dew that they seemed to\nbe made of frosted silver.\n\n\u201c\u2018Alas! my dear children,\u2019 she began sadly, \u2018I have not the power to\nmake you fairies again. You have lost Fairyland forever by your act of\ndisobedience. Once banished, you cannot be recalled; beside, were it\npossible for me to admit you again to Fairyland, you would never be\nhappy with us again. You have seen the glorious sunrise once, and\nnothing in Fairyland is so beautiful. You would constantly long for that\nmagnificent sight again. But,\u2019 she added thoughtfully, \u2018perhaps I can\nrender you perfectly happy in some other form upon the Earth, and in\nthis way restore your contentment.\u2019\n\n\u201cTremblingly Prince Adelstan and his bride bade her change them, for,\nmiserable as they were, they knew she spoke the truth. They would never\nbe happy in Fairyland again; they would always long to see the sunrise.\nThen silence fell upon them all, as the Queen slowly raised her\nglittering wand.\n\n\u201cPresently there arose upon the stillness of the night a most glorious\nsound. It was the mocking-bird raising its voice in thanksgiving and\npraise for happiness found again. Again and again those delicious sounds\nfloated out on the air, filling the night with sweetness, until the very\nfairies stood breathless to listen. It seemed marvellous that so much\nsweetness of sound could be contained in such a tiny body; but the\nlittle songsters trilled and sang in glorious delight.\n\n\u201cOnly in this land of sunshine and magnolias will you find this\nwonderful bird. It never wanders far from the Gulf. It flourishes best\namid the magnolias, and it fills the southern woods with music. It sings\nat all hours; at night, when the Moon is looking kindly down upon the\nEarth, and the Earth is serenely smiling to the Moon, its clear notes\nring out joyously, until even the stars from their glittering palaces\nlean down to listen. But it is at the witching hour of dawn that the\nmost wonderful of its melodies is heard. Then it awakens to watch again\nthat miracle of the world, the mystery of the rising Sun, and as the\ngolden spears of light streak the heavens, cutting away the white veil\nof mist and coloring the skies with rainbow hues, its glorious voice\nrings out and floods the world with music; for at that hour the\nmocking-bird is telling over and over again the story of that\nmagnificent sight\u2014the sunrise.\u201d\n\n\n\n\n                               CHAPTER IV\n                    THE LITTLE DWELLERS IN THE MARSH\n\n\n                      [Illustration: (unlabelled)]\n\nAs the guide finished his charming description of the southern\nnightingale, he pointed out to them the marsh. It was a strange-looking\nplace, and Ethelda asked many questions concerning it. Why was it\ndangerous to cross? Why must they skirt the marsh and go around it, as\nthey were doing? It was much the shorter way to cut right across it, but\ninstead, they walked miles out of their way to reach the other side.\nTheir guide assured them that the marsh was not so charming as it\nlooked. Down amid its dark cypresses, where the jagged palmetto fans and\nlatanier grew, and where the tall rushes and reeds were so fine that,\nswaying softly under the breeze, they looked like moving water, but\nwater dyed in emerald and topaz tints\u2014lurked many dangers. Rattlesnakes\nand toads and deadly insects made it their home, and the ground was all\na quagmire, so that stepping on it they would sink deep in mud and\nslime, and perhaps die there.\n\n\u201cOh,\u201d said the Princess, \u201chow awful! Does nothing nice live there? Those\nbeautiful tiger-lilies and big purple passion-flowers bloom so\ncharmingly, surely there must be something there to enjoy them.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell,\u201d answered the guide, \u201cthe birds frequently nest there, and the\ngreat pelicans and cranes hide in it; but beside them there are only\nthree respectable families that I know of who ever enter it.\u201d\n\n\u201cWho are they?\u201d asked Ethelda, deeply interested at once.\n\n\u201cWhy, the first family I mean,\u201d replied the Sun messenger, \u201cis the\nCrayfish family. Deep down in the black slime live this family, who\ndelight in digging and burrowing in the mud. They live in very black\ndirt, but a happier family it would be hard to find. They are splendid\nlittle housekeepers, too, and spend most of their mornings in their own\nhomes, trying to build up and beautify their houses, and they never\nmeddle with any one else. Any time of day you can see their bright eyes\npeering out of their mud windows wonderingly. The Crayfish babies are\nvery tiny, and are carefully and tenderly watched. They never are\nallowed to play with others, and cannot leave their mother\u2019s side a\nsingle minute until they are five years old. Indeed, they hold on to her\nsides until that age. By that time they are considered grown, and can\ncare for themselves and choose their own friends. On this account,\nperhaps, the Crayfishes don\u2019t visit much, because with a dozen children\nclinging to her the mother is hardly a welcome guest anywhere; the\nCrayfishes have few friends in consequence. The Mud-Turtles, I believe,\nare about their only callers, and only through them do they occasionally\nhear of the outside world.\u201d\n\n\u201cHow comical!\u201d laughed a pretty Moon maiden. \u201cNow tell us about the\nother families.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe head of the other family,\u201d said the guide, \u201cis very interesting\nindeed. He is a queer little animal called Opossum; he looks like a rat,\nbut is larger than a cat. He spends the day lazily, sleeping among the\nfoliage of trees, or in hollows of their trunks or boughs. His fur is\nnearly black, but little white patches about his face give him a most\nwise appearance. He brought his family, consisting of a wife and sixteen\nsmall babies, and started housekeeping on the edge of the swamp. The\nbabies are not as big as mice, but they are the sweetest little furry\nthings you ever saw. They cuddle up so nicely together, and just wait to\nbe fed. Of course Mother \u2019Possum has her hands pretty full watching and\ncaring for sixteen small children, so it devolves on the father to\nprovide food for them; and every night he runs around the country\nlooking for something to eat. He is really a devoted father, but he is\nnot fond of work; and how to feed a wife and sixteen babies without work\nis a very hard problem to solve. So I am sorry to tell you Mr. \u2019Possum\noften steals his food, that being the easiest way to get it, and nothing\nappeals to him so strongly as a tender young chicken.\n\n\u201cNow, the third family dwelling in the marsh are the Raccoons. Mrs.\n\u2019Possum has a great contempt for this same neighbor of hers, and they\nare not on very friendly terms. Mrs. \u2019Possum is a splendid housekeeper,\nbut Mrs. Raccoon cares nothing at all about her home. True, she builds\nher house carefully in the topmost branches of a tree, but having done\nthat, she considers her duty ended, and seldom occupies it. \u2018Any old\nplace is good enough to sleep in,\u2019 she says; and just so she can find a\nspot with water enough to moisten her food before eating it, she is\ncontent. Therefore she wanders around, with the little Raccoons,\nanywhere and everywhere, and when they get tired they just creep under\nsome old log and go to sleep. Of course Mother \u2019Possum, with her strict\nideas of housekeeping, thinks this careless habit no way to live or to\nbring up children; but whenever Mrs. \u2019Possum reproaches Mrs. Raccoon\nwith being a slipshod housekeeper and a gadabout, Mrs. Raccoon\ninvariably replies, \u2018Have you ever noticed how soft and fine my fur is,\nand how many beautiful rings I wear on my tail?\u2019\u2014for she is awfully\nvain. Then she flourishes her tail around, and whisking about, shows off\nthe pretty black and white rings she carries, to the best possible\nadvantage, until Mrs. \u2019Possum in disgust sends all the little \u2019Possums\nscurrying away, fearing lest they become vain and worldly like the\nRaccoons. But with the exception of the Raccoons and the Crayfishes, the\nOpossum family own the big yellow and green marsh.\u201d\n\n\n\n\n                               CHAPTER V\n                          THE RAINBOW SISTERS\n\n\n                      [Illustration: (unlabelled)]\n\nAs the guide messenger told all these tales of the marsh, the Moon\nPrincess and her companions noticed they were gradually leaving the\nsouthern land; for of course such wonderful beings as Moon Princesses\nand messengers of Sun Princesses travel much faster than mortals, and\nthey were travelling rapidly. They seemed to be in the midst of a\ncharming forest of long, cool shadows and crystal springs.\n\n\u201cWhat place is this?\u201d asked Prince Dorion, stopping to admire the long,\ncool vista of trees ahead.\n\n\u201cO, this,\u201d replied the guide carelessly,\u2014\u201cthis forest was once the abode\nof the Rainbow Sisters.\u201d\n\n\u201cWho were they?\u201d innocently inquired a dainty Moon maiden, tripping\nlightly along.\n\n\u201cWould you like to hear about them?\u201d asked the guide.\n\n\u201cO, yes,\u201d replied all the Moon maidens in chorus, \u201cdo tell us all about\nthem.\u201d\n\n\n\u201cOnce upon a time, in a charming country, a delightful people lived. The\nskies were clear as crystal, and the Sun shone brightly out of them.\nGreat palm groves grew green and beautiful, and curious flowers sprang\nup in marvellous bits of color. There was a strange and fascinating\nbeauty about this land. Even the rocky hills edging the big broad desert\nthat stretched for miles away, barren of the smallest green blade of\ngrass to make them pretty, were not ugly. Yellow as gold they sparkled\nin the bright sunshine, rich and mellow against the paler sand beyond.\nThe country lay near a large blue sea, and through its many cities ran a\nsplendid shining river. Now, every one of the clear, cool drops of this\nsmiling stream was precious as diamonds to the people, for, beautiful as\ntheir land was (and it was superb with its splendid mosques and temples\nand rich with jewels and carvings), it lacked one thing that the rest of\nthe world enjoyed,\u2014never a drop of rain fell there.\n\n\u201cFor more years than you could count, the trees and the flowers had\nnever tasted a cool sweet drink from the skies. The heavens were always\nblue and clear, for the Sun shone brilliantly out of them every day.\nSometimes a cloud might form, but if it did, it floated by white as the\nfoam on the sea, never dark or black.\n\n\u201cNow, you may think that golden sunshine and blue skies are very lovely\nthings to possess, but the people tired of having them all the time.\nThey felt that a nice shower of rain occasionally, even if it came out\nof an ugly black cloud, would be better than all the pink and violet and\ngreen shades of their clear heavens. The only thing that saved their\ntrees and their gardens from burning up as in the dry heat of the\ndesert, and that gave them water, was the glorious big river flowing by.\nNo wonder, then, they loved and prized its drops. Broad and long, it ran\nthrough the country, and curled in silver splashes about the banks.\nTwice every year it overflowed, and then, with feasting and joy, they\ncaught it in pools and canals dug to hold and preserve the precious\nliquid. In this way they kept the gardens green and lovely, but oh, the\nwork was so hard! Thousand of poor slaves labored day and night to\naccomplish it. The kind-hearted king offered a big reward to any one who\nwould devise some way to make rain fall in his country, and many wise\nmen spent days and nights studying over the great question. Big trees\nwere planted to catch and draw the moisture, and many other means were\ntried, but in spite of all these doings the clouds sailed by, as fleecy\nand white as snow.\n\n\u201cSo things went on for many years, and still no rain ever came. Now, the\nking had an only son, to whom he was perfectly devoted. The child was\nvery beautiful, and was also wise, as a prince should be. It was a\ncommon thing to see the handsome little fellow standing in the midst of\na grave council of men, listening to their words of wisdom. He never\nseemed to tire of their long discussions, and would remain, solemn and\nsilent, among them, instead of playing with the children about him. Thus\nhe grew in wisdom and strength to manhood, but he was seldom seen at the\ncourt balls and festivals, preferring to wander about among the\nbeautiful mosques of his father\u2019s city, or to stand on one of their\ndaintily carved minarets and gaze across the yellow sands of the desert.\nOften he would remain thus for hours, and though his eyes were looking\nfar out over the appalling yet wonderful beauty of the desert, his\nthoughts were always only of how he might solve the riddle of his\ncountry, and bring it the cool drops of rain it so earnestly wanted.\nThis one idea absorbed him utterly, he could think literally of nothing\nelse, for he noticed with sorrow how terribly hard his father\u2019s slaves\ntoiled to carry the precious water from the river when they tilled the\nground.\n\n\u201cOne day, shortly after he was grown, he was sitting beneath the shadow\nof a great pyramid, and was planning and musing on the one question\nalways uppermost in his mind. The day was warm; the desert around him\nshimmered in a golden haze. The yellow hills were so bright beneath the\nnoonday sun that his eyes fairly ached as he watched them, and it was a\nrelief to turn from their glittering lights toward the cool, flowing\nriver, and watch a fringe of feathery, waving palms. \u2018Oh, for the dark\nshadow of a cloud,\u2019 he murmured, \u2018to soften all this glare!\u2019\n\n [Illustration: \u201c_They circled together, dressed in the vivid colors of\n                             the rainbow._\u201d\n                                                              (Page 57)]\n\n\u201cHe had not spoken aloud, and yet he heard a musical sound as though in\nanswer to his wish. He turned quickly, and saw a wonderful sight. The\ndesert had disappeared, and he was looking into a shadowy green forest,\nwith crystal springs. Clear, limpid streams of water ran through the\nwoods, and beautiful flowers were blooming. Farther along in the\ndistance he saw a big mountain, dark and gray, and yet all about its\nsides grew pretty green ferns. Looking closely, he observed that there\nwas an opening in its side, and through this opening came the music of a\nflute. As he watched more closely he saw a lovely maiden come slowly\nforth. She was dressed in a brilliant gown of orange color, and her\nflowing robes floated softly about her. Her hair hung in waves of gold,\nand on her forehead flashed a beautiful star. In her hand she carried a\nwand, but the wand was so curious that he forgot the beauty of the\nmaiden in noticing it. It was long and slender, and seemed to be made of\npure gold and laden with jewels; but it was not this wealth of\nglistening gold that attracted him, it was a curious cloud of white mist\nthat curled and floated away from it each time that she waved it aloft.\nHe had never seen anything so peculiar before. Each white cloud that\nfloated away nestled among the hollow places in the hills like a thin\nveil, or hovered over the babbling streams in the forest. While he was\nwatching the mysterious cloudlets from the magical wand, a second\nmaiden, more beautiful than the first, followed, dressed in a pale blue\ngown, and having, like the first, a brilliant star on her forehead. She\nalso carried a jewel-laden wand, and it sent forth similar mysterious\nwhite clouds. Then came a third, dressed in a brilliant red; and\nanother, in soft green; and still another, in charming violet; and so\non, until seven beautiful creatures stood together, dressed in the seven\nvivid colors of the rainbow. They formed a ring, and slowly moved\ntogether in a circle about an open space before the mountain. Lightly\nstepping, thus they danced, always in a circle, and always gazing\nintently toward the opening in the mountain through which they had come.\n\n\u201cPresently, as they gazed expectantly, Prince Asgard saw coming toward\nthem the most exquisite creature he had ever beheld. She was tall and\nslender, and her graceful form seemed to dance along rather than walk.\nShe was dressed in some soft, clinging material of pure white, shading\nto a glittering silver, and the girdle confining her waist looked like a\nbit of the blue sky itself, it was so dainty. Her hair was like that of\nthe other maidens, and looked like spun gold, and it was so fine that it\nglistened wonderfully as she moved. Her slippers were pale blue, and\nembroidered with silver threads. A brilliant star on each slipper\nflashed like a big diamond as she danced along. A tiny golden crown held\nher hair in place, and seven glittering stars encircled her head. Her\nwand was of frosted silver, and as she waved it, the soft vapor rolled\naway in white clouds, as it did before the wands of the other maidens.\nAs she appeared, the seven other maidens broke into a song of gladness,\nsinging in a clear, high tone these words:\u2014\n\n  Little Sister, fair and dear,\n  Born of seven colors clear,\n  Welcome! In our round of pleasure\n  You\u2019re to us the dearest treasure;\n  Out into the world we\u2019ll send\n  Mist and clouds of white that blend.\n\nThe silver maid replied, singing:\u2014\n\n  Dearest sisters of my race,\n  I come forth to your embrace;\n  Faithful, tender, always true,\n  Shall my love be unto you.\n\nThen they all danced a wonderful dance while singing together:\u2014\n\n  Let the foaming clouds on high\n  Fall in raindrops from the sky;\n  Let the lightning\u2019s fire flash,\n  Come, with thunder\u2019s awful crash!\n  Let the cooling rains thus sink,\n  Giving earth her crystal drink!\n\n\u201cAs they moved together in graceful steps and in perfect rhythm to the\nmusic of the song, Prince Asgard saw a wonderful arch or bow form across\nthe cloudlets that had arisen from their wands. It was a magnificent\nrainbow, and each of the seven distinct colors was matched in shade by a\ndress worn by one of the maidens. Their flowing draperies blended\nbewitchingly and mixed together in pretty confusion as they danced,\nmaking thus a complete circle of rainbow colors. It was an exquisite\nsight, and the Prince marvelled at it, and wondered what it all meant.\nPresently the maiden who had first appeared, and who seemed to be the\neldest and the leader of the sisters, waved her wand aloft and\napproached the silver maid, and taking her hand, led her into the middle\nof the circle. The circle then formed again, and continued dancing\naround the little white Princess. For several minutes they danced; then\neach in turn, beginning with the eldest, tenderly clasped the silver\nmaiden in her arms and kissed her on the brow, and then ran lightly into\nthe opening in the side of the mountain.\n\n\u201cThe silver maid stood one moment longer, smiling and lovingly watching\nher sisters, then she, too, tripped lightly toward the mountain, as\nthough to follow them. But, as if a sudden thought had come to her, she\nturned abruptly and glided toward Prince Asgard. His heart was beating\nwith excitement as he watched her, and he held his breath with\nadmiration, for he had never seen any one before so wondrously\nbeautiful.\n\n\u201cIn a moment she was beside him, and he noticed her eyes were sparkling\nand blue as the girdle she wore.\n\n\u201c\u2018O, Prince of the Southern Lands,\u2019 she began, in musical tones, \u2018you\nhave witnessed the dance of the Rainbow Sisters\u2014a sight forbidden to\nmortals. We live in an enchanted mountain in the heart of a great\nforest. Our mother is the beautiful Sea Foam, whom you have often\nwatched in her white dress upon the ocean. We help our mother with her\nwork, but our home is in the deep recesses of these lovely woods. Never\nbefore has a mortal eye seen these woods nor witnessed our sacred dance\nin them. From our magical wands float out the mists to form the\ncloud-world. Upward they travel, gathering moisture as they go, and\nfloating across the blue heavens, they fall again in refreshing rain\nupon the earth. But our precious mist-clouds never fall in your country.\nWe will never send them there again unless, unless\u2014\u2019 and she hesitated\nin the most charming and provoking manner in the world.\n\n\u201c\u2018Unless what, O beautiful Princess of the Silver Gown?\u2019 eagerly asked\nthe Prince.\n\n\u201c\u2018Alas, that I may not tell you,\u2019 replied the little Princess, growing\ngrave. \u2018This only may I add: Once, in the long ago, your people did a\ngreat wrong, and were very rude to my sisters. It was their custom then\nto dance publicly, once a year. Always, your people gathered to watch\nthem, and with pleasure my sisters danced before them, and with their\nmagical wands they sent out the mist-clouds far and wide. Refreshing\nrain fell in your midst then as elsewhere, and everything was joyous and\ncharming. But your people were rude and offended my sisters sorely, and\nnever again will they visit you or dance before mortals. All your\nmethods to bring rain into your country will fail, your schemes will\ncome to naught, and until my sisters relent and forgive, the clouds will\ncontinue to sail across your blue skies as white as the flecks of foam\non the sea.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018Never shall the rain fall in my country?\u2019 echoed the young man sadly.\n\u2018Never? Then, O beautiful Princess,\u2019 he added despondently, \u2018shall I\nnever see you again?\u2019 For at that moment the Prince forgot his great\nproblem, how to bring rain to his country, and thought only (with a\nheavy heart) that he would lose sight of the little Princess of the\nSilver Dress.\n\n\u201c\u2018Never, O Prince,\u2019 replied the Princess gravely, \u2018unless\u2014\u2019 then she\nsmiled suddenly, showing her teeth like gleaming pearls between her red\nlips,\u2014\u2018never unless you find us again, and\u2014\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018And what?\u2019 the Prince demanded earnestly.\n\n\u201c\u2018Alas,\u2019 replied the silver maid, again grave, \u2018I cannot tell you. There\nis one thing alone that might cause them to return to your country, but\nit seems so impossible, that it will never happen, I am sure; and\nbeside, I cannot tell you what it is.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018O,\u2019 replied the Prince earnestly, \u2018I will find it out. No obstacle on\nearth will prove too hard, and you may be sure nothing will prevent my\nfinding you, beautiful Princess.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018I wish you success,\u2019 sweetly replied the Silver Princess, and then, as\nshe spoke these words, she blushed a vivid crimson.\n\n\u201cShe was so beautiful as she stood thus before him, blushing and smiling\nat the same time, that the Prince, falling on his knees, begged her to\ngive him a sign by which he might hope to see her again and win her\nlove.\n\n\u201cShe tore off a piece of her blue girdle, and dropping it on the earth,\nput her foot lightly upon it. \u2018I leave you a flower,\u2019 she said, \u2018may it\ncomfort you. Forget me not\u2019; and saying this, she disappeared.\n\n\u201cThe Prince rubbed his eyes, for as she vanished he found himself again\ngazing at the feathery green palms across the big river, and looking\naround, found the yellow desert stretching in boundless sands to meet\nthe horizon. The forest, the mountain, all had gone. But as he turned\naway from the great tawny hills in despair, he saw at his feet a tiny\nbit of blue. Stooping, he picked up the prettiest flower he had ever\nseen. It was as blue as the silver maid\u2019s eyes, and as he held it to his\nlips he repeated her words, \u2018Forget me not\u2019; and since that day the\nlittle flower has always been called the forget-me-not.\n\n\u201cNow, as Prince Asgard went home he pondered deeply on what he had seen,\nand gaining the consent of his father and the wise men of the country,\nhe gathered together a great army and started out into the world in\nquest of the unknown princesses. No person believed he would succeed in\nfinding the Rainbow Sisters or in bringing rain into the country. The\nstory of the Rainbow Maidens was well known to the wise men, but they\ncounted it a myth, a fairy tale, and they smiled among themselves when\nthey heard that Prince Asgard believed it firmly. But they did not\nobject to his trying: it would do no harm; and in the meanwhile they\nwould still study and devise other methods.\n\n\u201cPrince Asgard said good-bye to his father and the people, and at the\nhead of a great army sparkling in gold and silver helmets and shields,\nhe started on his journey. He was going to look for the Rainbow Sisters\nbecause his country needed rain, yet in his heart he knew it was because\nof love for the youngest and prettiest of those sisters that he was so\neagerly searching.\n\n\u201cThe army travelled everywhere throughout the world. By sea and by land\nthey went, and they had many wonderful adventures. Tigers and wolves,\nbears and panthers, attacked them, and strange people told them they\nwere on a foolish quest, but they did not heed such remarks, and\ncontinued on their way. But after several years had passed, and they\nseemed no nearer the Rainbow Mountain, the soldiers became discontented,\nand said it was a foolish trip after all, and begged to be allowed to\nreturn to their own homes. The strange countries through which they\npassed taught them much, and they often saw rain and splendid storms;\nyet when some of their fine ships were wrecked and lost at sea, many of\nthem felt that perhaps it was pleasanter after all to be in a country\nwhere only sand-storms of the desert were known. One by one the soldiers\nwere released by Prince Asgard from their promises; they returned to\ntheir homes, and at last the Prince was entirely alone. But he was not\ndiscouraged. Determined and brave, he vowed he would never give up the\nsearch, and he started out again with renewed courage to find the\nbeautiful Princess of the Silver Dress.\n\n\u201cHe wandered many months, but without success. At last one night he\nstood, almost despairing, on the edge of a dark forest. He had just made\nup his mind that he would live and die in a foreign country, because he\nwould never go back to his own home until he found the Silver Princess.\n\u2018O beautiful Princess,\u2019 he said aloud, \u2018some way I shall find you and\nprevail upon you to marry me, for I can never be happy without you\u2019; and\nyet as he said it, it seemed to him almost an impossibility.\n\n\u201cHe entered the forest and sat down within its gloomy depths to rest a\nwhile. The Moon was just rising, and in a little while her bright rays\npenetrated the black density of the trees. Little patches of silver lay\nalong the ground, and a light wind stirring the trees made the silver\nrays dance along, until the earth seemed sprinkled with millions of\nshining jewels. He was watching the pretty sight intently, for it made\nhim think of the dress of silver that the little Princess wore. He was\nso absorbed that he was considerably startled when he heard a musical\nsound such as he had heard on the edge of the desert.\n\n\u201cLooking up quickly, he beheld, to his amazement and joy, the same big\nmountain, and heard the rippling waters of the crystal streams flowing\nover the rocks. He could hardly breathe, he was so excited, and so\nfearful lest it should prove a dream.\n\n\u201cBut again the beautiful sister emerged as before. Her magical wand sent\nforth its cloud-vapors as she danced forward; again the other lovely\nmaidens followed, and again they formed a ring of rainbow brilliancy.\nThe Prince sat expectant and trembling. Would the Silver Princess\nappear? A moment more and the little Princess tripped out, more\nbeautiful than ever. Her silver dress gleamed and sparkled in shining\nlight as she floated forward. Her eyes were tender and blue, and her\ndainty girdle, with its touch of color, bound her slender waist. Her\nlovely arms shone white and firm through the thin gauze of her dress.\nButterflies floated about her, airy, exquisite things, marvellous in\ncolor, and lighting on her hair and shoulders, gave a curiously\nbeautiful touch to the picture.\n\n\u201cHer sisters greeted her lovingly and tenderly, as before, and they then\nbegan their graceful and mysterious dance. Clouds of vapor rolled about\nthem as they moved, until the forest was enveloped in a misty veil; but\nthrough it all the dazzling dresses and graceful forms could be plainly\nseen. Then, as the dancing drew to a close, the rainbow circle shining\nlovely through the mist, the seven dancers, each in turn, stooped, and\nclasping the Silver Princess in their arms, kissed her caressingly.\n\n\u201cPrince Asgard remembered with an aching heart that this parting kiss\nwas a signal for their disappearance, and fearing he might lose the\nbeauteous maid again, he darted forward impulsively. He hardly knew what\nhe intended to do; he had formed no idea beyond the fact that he would\nspeak to her, appeal to her to remain by his side. At the moment he\nsprang forward there was a fearful cry from the seven sisters, and\nturning, they fled to the mountain side, urging the Silver Princess to\nfollow. She stood dismayed, and trembling in every limb, and then, with\na little low cry of terror, she followed swiftly. But whether she was\nconfused or frightened, she stumbled as she ran, and fell upon the\nearth.\n\n\u201cAt that moment Prince Asgard reached her side and lifted her gently to\nher feet. She turned so pale as he assisted her that he held her for a\nmoment in his arms to support her, fearing she would faint, and\nanxiously asked if she were ill.\n\n\u201c\u2018Alas, no,\u2019 she replied, as she drew away from him, \u2018but you have done\na very terrible thing.\u2019\n\n\u201cAt that moment a sad and mournful cry arose from the heart of the\nmountain, and the seven sisters floated out slowly and surrounded the\nSilver Princess. She threw herself on her knees before them, but they\ndid not touch her. It seemed as though they feared to do so. She\nimplored them to touch her with their hands, to kiss her, but they only\nsang a sad refrain in answer to her prayers.\n\n  Little sister, mortal now,\n  Alas, we cannot kiss your brow.\n  Still for ever shall abide\n  In your sky a rainbow guide;\n  And the love we have for you\n  Now and always shall be true.\n\nThen, tenderly kissing their hands to her, they floated off and\ndisappeared in the mist.\n\n\u201c\u2018What does it mean?\u2019 said Asgard tenderly, lifting the Silver Princess\nfrom her knees. \u2018Why are you so unhappy? I love you with all my heart,\nlittle Princess. Will you not consent to marry me? Ask your sisters to\nspare you, for I cannot live without you.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018Alas,\u2019 she replied, \u2018my sisters have gone for ever from my sight. When\nyou first touched me I became a mortal like you, and I cannot now return\nto them.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018O, little Princess, do not be sad,\u2019 replied the Prince, \u2018for you have\nmade me so happy by remaining. Surely you will not refuse now to marry\nme?\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018No,\u2019 replied the Silver Princess, smiling through her tears. \u2018I am an\nearth maiden now, and I love you. But though I am happy to be with you,\nI am sorry to lose them. Our dear mother warned them that some day I\nwould love a mortal, and they have feared you since the night I spoke to\nyou in the desert. That was the condition I could not tell you,\u2019 she\nadded shyly. \u2018Your touch would make me mortal, and as you lifted me in\nyour arms when I fell, I became an earth maiden and lost my fairy\nnature. But you have solved the riddle of your country, for when we\nenter it together, you will find that rain will follow. My sisters love\nme dearly, and for my sake will forgive your people. They will follow me\nto my new home, and though we shall never see them again, the reflection\nfrom their brilliant dresses will glow in the sky. As the rainbow, they\nwill arch the heavens when we arrive, to show me they are near to\nwelcome us.\u2019 And sure enough, when Prince Asgard and the beautiful\nmaiden of the silver dress (who was called Hyndla) entered the land of\nlotus flowers and acacias, they saw, arching the heavens, a magnificent\nrainbow.\n\n\u201cThe people greeted them with cries of joy, and gave them a magnificent\nwedding, for they were grateful to Princess Hyndla and her seven\nsisters, and they had learned all about her in messages from Prince\nAsgard. On the day he and the Princess Hyndla appeared, a great white\ncloud hovering over the city suddenly turned black, and fell in millions\nof sparkling drops upon their fields, and the splendid rainbow soon\nafterward arched the skies.\n\n\u201cThe Princess Hyndla grew more beautiful each day, and as she was wise\nas she was charming, you may be sure her husband loved her dearly.\nTogether they planted row after row of handsome trees to remind them of\nHyndla\u2019s forest home; those green trees brought cool shadows, and when\nthe clouds floated low to kiss them, the broad branches caught and held\nthe moisture. Ever after, rain frequently fell in the land.\n\n\u201cYears later, when the children of Hyndla and Asgard were old enough,\nthey played in the palace gardens, and romped merrily beneath those same\nshade trees, and sometimes they whispered lovingly to each other the\nromantic story of their beautiful mother and her rainbow sisters.\u201d\n\n\n\n\n                               CHAPTER VI\n                 HOW THE SUN PRINCESS CAME TO THE EARTH\n\n\n                      [Illustration: (unlabelled)]\n\n\u201cOh, how charming the Rainbow Sisters must be!\u201d said Ethelda, \u201cand how I\nlove to hear you tell these wonderful stories of the Earth! Do you know\nany more?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d replied the guide, smiling, \u201ca good many more, but what would you\nlike to hear about?\u201d\n\n\u201cWon\u2019t you tell us of how the Sun Princess happened to come to this\nworld?\u201d interrupted a dainty little Moon maiden; \u201cI really have never\nheard it exactly, and as we are going to visit her, perhaps Princess\nEthelda will let us all hear about it?\u201d\n\n\u201cMost willingly,\u201d replied Ethelda; \u201cI know the wonderful story almost by\nheart, of course, but I never tire of it,\u201d she added, looking tenderly\nat Prince Dorion the while.\n\nSo the guide, with this permission, began:\u2014\n\n\u201cIn the Land of the Sun there was once a Palace of Wisdom, where all the\nscience in the universe could be studied. Of course this Palace of\nWisdom became very famous. Far and wide it was heard of, so that from\nall parts came representative young men to study and become wise. Now,\nthe ruler of the Sun lands was a powerful king, possessing many sons,\nbut only one daughter, the Princess Kuldah. She was a maiden of\nwonderful beauty. Her countenance was so exquisitely lovely, that all\nwho looked upon her immediately fell in love with her. This caused the\nyoung Princess, as well as her father, great annoyance, because her\nsuitors became legion. One day, however, with the help of her maidens\nshe wove a veil of delicate texture, which completely concealed her\nfeatures. In this way, she was enabled to go and come throughout her\nfather\u2019s vast possessions in comparative ease.\n\n\u201cNotwithstanding her great indifference toward her lovers, kings and\nprinces sought her hand in marriage, but her father (who adored her and\ncould deny her nothing) was secretly well content that she chose none of\nthem, but remained always in his dominions with him.\n\n\u201cTall and of majestic appearance, the Princess Kuldah looked the\ndaughter of the Sun King. Her eyes were brown and large, with brilliant\nlights within, and her curling brown hair, falling below her waist, had\ncaught a little of the golden fire of the Sun. Her gleaming white teeth\nlooked like pretty little pearls when she smiled. Indeed, she was a\nqueenly sight as she drove in her handsome chariot toward the Fire\nMountains.\n\n\u201cThese mountains were a great range of gorgeous-hued stones, piled very\nhigh. Rising in blazing splendor, they perpetually sent forth their red\nbeams in dazzling streams of light across the Sun country. But the heat\nand glare of her home\u2014which would have burned and killed an earth\nmaiden\u2014were but life-giving elements to the Sun Princess. She loved the\nglitter of her country, and no glare seemed too great for her. The\npalace where she dwelt was built of the brightest, yellowest gold to be\nfound, and she moved through it a splendid vision of beauty.\n\n\u201cHer favorite ride was toward the Fire Mountains. One morning as she\ndrove the fiery steeds toward their flaming heights her horses became\nunmanageable. Pull as she would, she could not control them; they went\nlike the wind at his greatest fury. She had outrun all her companions in\nher mad race, and she was in the most imminent danger of being killed.\nAt this critical moment there arose in her path a tall and handsome\nyoung man. The horses were as startled as the young Princess at this\nsudden appearance, and for a moment, in alarm, slackened their speed. It\nwas in this second of hesitation that the young man leaped into the\nchariot beside Kuldah, and snatched the reins from her hands. It took\nbut a few moments of his great strength to subdue the enraged animals\ncompletely, and in a little while they were trotting along quietly, as\nif nothing had happened.\n\n\u201cThen of course the grateful Princess turned to thank her preserver. In\nher excitement (when she had lost control of the horses), she had thrown\nback her veil, and the young man found himself steadily gazing into her\nbeautiful countenance. Strive as he would, he could not resist the love\nthat surged in his heart as he looked upon her. But although he was\nfalling in love rapidly, he had heard too much of the haughty Princess\u2019s\ncoldness and indifference to feel sure of winning her. He guessed at\nonce it was she, because he had heard she was the loveliest being in the\nSun world, but he determined he would not yield to her influence and\nbecome one of her suitors. The Princess\u2019s own feelings, when she looked\nat the young man, surprised her very much. He was so modest and\ndignified, and withal so handsome and charming, that she could not help\nwondering who he was. He was certainly not one of her suitors, for she\nhad never seen him before. This young man, too, seemed quite indifferent\nto her attractions, and talked to her very seriously about driving her\nhorses, and showed her how to manage the reins in case they tried to run\naway again. She might have been just a plain girl for all the admiration\nhe showed. At first this indifference pleased her; later she rebelled a\nlittle against it.\n\n\u201cShe learned he was a young Prince who had been studying in the Palace\nof Wisdom. This astonished her still more, for although he had been in\nher country some time he had never sought her out at all. He had come to\nthe land of the Sun to study its fire and flame, and he was evidently\nabsorbed only in that study. The Princess was so astonished to learn all\nthese facts, and to observe his indifference to her famous beauty (which\nwas proved by his not seeking her hand in marriage), that she forgot to\nlower her veil, and sat talking to him much longer than she otherwise\nwould have done. Finally remembering, she covered her face, but not\nbefore she had asked him to call at the palace and let her father thank\nhim properly for having saved her life.\n\n\u201cThe young man secretly determined he would not accept her invitation,\nfor he had already learned to love her, and feared the usual fate of her\nsuitors. However, when the hour approached the next day he could not\nresist the temptation to see once more the lovely Princess; after that\nhe found many excuses to call, and managed each day to see her.\n\n\u201cBut the wonderful part of it all was, that Kuldah took as much pleasure\nin his company as he did in hers. So later, when he asked her to marry\nhim she said yes, right on the spot, fearing to delay, lest he might go\noff and become as indifferent as he was at first, and never come back\nagain.\n\n\u201cHe was very happy when she said yes, and thus far everything had gone\nvery smoothly for them both; but when they went in to see the old King\ntheir troubles began. Kuldah was wreathed in smiles, and Prince Minio\nlooked very happy and proud. The old King, who had never supposed for\none minute that his daughter would accept any man,\u2014having refused so\nmany,\u2014had one day rashly promised all the suitors that, if she ever made\na choice, they should each have a fair chance to win her. This, of\ncourse, was the cause of the lovers\u2019 trouble now. The Princess was\nindignant that her father should have made such a promise about her. She\nconsidered herself free to choose for herself. So she stormed and wept\nabout it as only a Sun Princess could do, and declared she would never,\nnever marry any man but the man she loved.\n\n\u201cBut her old father, who was so indulgent and yielding with her usually,\nremained firm in his decision, and said he could not break a promise\nonce made, for that would not be honorable. Therefore, the very next day\nhe announced to everybody that a contest in skill and science should\ntake place between the suitors for her hand. The Princess was very\nunhappy, of course, during the days that followed, but Prince Minio\ncheered her by saying he felt equal to winning her in a fair contest.\nHis love was far greater than that of the others, and therefore he felt\nassured he would learn a way to win her for his bride in spite of them\nall.\n\n\u201cWhen the great day for the contest came, a large gathering of the\nsuitors was held in an open field at the foot of the Fire Mountains.\nThey were a fine and noble company of young men who contended for\nKuldah\u2019s hand, and her father said she should have felt proud and glad\nat such a sight. But she was too sad to feel proud. She had dressed as\nbecame a Sun Princess, and her gown was of finely spun gold, embroidered\nin diamonds. Her white arms and throat gleamed through the thin gauze\ndress, and a girdle of diamonds encircled her slender waist. From her\nshoulders fell a train, which swept for yards behind her, and a narrow\ngold band held her beautiful hair in place. For her hair hung about her\nin loose masses, falling far below her waist, and mingling its\nburnt-gold color with that of her brilliant dress, so that one could\nhardly tell where one ended and the other began. As she stood she looked\nlike a golden Princess, except that her face was as pale as the fleecy\nclouds overhead.\n\n\u201cIn her majestic beauty she let them kneel and kiss her hand. Each one,\nas he touched her hand, swore in turn to be faithful and true to the\nknight who should win her, but each one believed secretly he himself\nwould be the winner. Then began the tournament of skill. One showed how\nhe could ride; another how he could mount and dismount, or how he could\nunhorse an enemy; a third used the gloves or the sword with wonderful\ndexterity; another engaged in a trial of strength, or swiftness in\nrunning; and so on until the long list was completed.\n\n\u201cIt seemed to the Princess, as she watched in despair their wonderful\ndeeds, that there was nothing left for her beloved even to attempt. The\nsuitors had all done such marvellous things; and her heart ached within\nher when she learned from one of her handmaidens that her lover was the\nlast to appear on the lists. Yet, when he did step forth, calm and\nserene, her heart leaped again to her throat, her confidence returned;\nfor he looked strong and handsome, and it was only with pride and\npleasure she gazed upon him. She leaned forward with a smiling face to\nlisten to his words, for he was speaking.\n\n\u201c\u2018O mighty King of the Sun,\u2019 he was saying. \u2018I have one request to make\nof you before beginning my experiment. If successful in what I\nundertake, I want your consent to take the Princess away with me from\nthe Sun lands. What I shall try to accomplish to-day is but the\nbeginning of a great problem I wish to work out. It may take thousands\nof years to complete, and I wish to live in a land of my own choosing,\nthat I may be able to accomplish it.\u2019\n\n\u201cThe Sun King, astonished at these words, hesitated to grant such a\nremarkable request, but the Princess threw herself at her father\u2019s feet,\nand added her pleadings to the Prince\u2019s. Finally the Sun King\nreluctantly consented; but the other suitors smiled broadly among\nthemselves, as they heard the words, for no matter what the Prince might\ndo they believed he never could show more skill or wisdom than they had\nalready displayed.\n\n\u201cHaving bowed smilingly to the King and kissed Kuldah\u2019s hand, Prince\nMinio turned to his competitors and said: \u2018I have made a close study of\nthe Sun\u2019s fire, and I am convinced that, no matter where this fire is\nsent, it will continue to burn and hold its remarkable glint and its\nquickening power. It will never be extinguished, but glow brilliantly\nfor ever. Therefore, my experiment in skill to-day shall be made from it\nalone; it will serve my purpose better than anything else.\u2019 So saying,\nhe picked up a huge bowlder from the Fire Mountain nearest him. The\nstone was so big that it seemed impossible for any one to lift it. But\nthe Prince gathered it up in his arms with a terrific effort, and\nbalancing it perfectly threw it far out into the heavens. It bounded\naway and rolled into space with tremendous force, making a whirring\nnoise as it dashed along. Again and again he lifted out the big rocks\nand tossed them off in the distance. It seemed as if he would never tire\nof this remarkable exhibition of strength. Hundreds and thousands of the\nbrilliantly burning stones went whizzing through space, before the eyes\nof the astonished spectators. Yet he continued, calmly throwing more and\nmore stones, until the heavens fairly gleamed with millions of burning\nlights. Thus were the star fires first kindled, and they were truly a\nmagnificent sight, even to the Sun people, accustomed as they were to\nsplendid spectacles.\n\n\u201cAs the Prince predicted, the stars have never lost their brilliancy,\nthe Sun\u2019s power to warm and enliven all creatures has proved very strong\nand lasting, and those splendid, flaming signals light the\nturquoise-blue skies every night, even to this day.\n\n\u201cFinally, Prince Minio selected with great care seven superb stones,\neven brighter than the rest, and threw them not quite so far from the\nSun. In this way they felt the Sun\u2019s influence more strongly; though\nthey flew to a good distance they always revolved about their old home.\nWhizzing and whirling continually, yet never flying away from the Sun,\nthey appeared to the spectators to be the prettiest of all the stars in\nthe sky. Then the Prince, turning to the Princess, who was bewildered\nwith the joy of his brilliant success, bade her choose from the seven\nstars the one that should be their home. She chose what she thought the\nloveliest of all the seven, and they named it the Earth!\n\n\u201cThe old King unhesitatingly pronounced Prince Minio the victor. For he\nacknowledged that, beside the great strength the Prince had displayed in\nlifting the stones from Fire Mountain, the Sun people had never before\nwitnessed such a glorious sight as the star-studded heavens; and even\nthe suitors, though much disappointed, consented in a manly way that he\nshould take Princess Kuldah as his bride, saying he had fairly won her.\n\n\u201cShortly afterward a marriage of magnificence and splendor followed, and\nPrince Minio and his charming wife came to the Earth to spend many\nyears. The Earth, owing allegiance to the Sun, never loses sight of him,\nand though she continues to rush through space at a terrible rate, yet\nthe Sun King always sees her.\n\n\u201cOut of the white mist on the Earth came trooping a wonderful band of\nlittle creatures to greet the Sun people. They were very tiny; their\nskirts of silver glistened like the moonlight, and their jewelled wands\nsparkled like the dew. These little creatures were fairies, and ever\nafter dwelt among the Earth children, helping to beautify the world.\nThey wander about us in the moonshine and are sometimes caught in the\nmist, but they can never come out in the sunlight. One of the laws in\nFairyland is to be in bed before the dawn. From dusk until dawn the\nfairies lead a gay life. They hold their revels, they dance, and they\ntravel the world over, frolicking like mad sometimes, but only the\nMoon\u2019s white light shines on their silver dresses.\n\n\u201cMany other charming people adopted the Earth as their home, for it was\nbeautiful to live upon. The Sun Princess and her husband did not object\nto others coming to their home at all, only, as the strangers came in\ngreat numbers, they finally decided to set apart a great space for\nthemselves alone. They reserved, therefore, a charming bit of country\nfor the Prince\u2019s workshop, otherwise there would have been so many\ninterruptions Prince Minio could never hope to accomplish his scientific\nwork. Charming as the Earth people were, they interfered with the\nPrince\u2019s heart\u2019s desire. Therefore, he and his friends from the Sun\nchose a wonderful valley which lay in the heart of a great range of\nmountains. The valley covered many miles of ground, and it had the most\nsublime scenery in the world. Rivers ran through it, and big mountains\nrose suddenly in its midst. Small silver lakes also shone like crystal\nmirrors. Wonderful springs abounded there; boiling water came out of\none, while from the next shot up cool and deliciously sparkling drops.\nThey called the bubbling, spouting springs geysers, and people come from\nall over the world to see and study them.\n\n\u201cAfter the Sun people had reserved the country, the Earth people never\nremained long on that spot; they recognized the law and accepted it,\nonly making short visits to the marvellous place. Sometimes, if one\nmortal, more daring than the rest, determined to live there, and built\nhim a house, he was promptly punished, for the fairies at once opened a\ngeyser directly under the carefully chosen home and destroyed it\nentirely. So this beautiful valley of yellow stones and brilliant lights\nand rushing waters is left to the Sun Princess and her people. It is\ncertainly a valley of enchantment, for it is never very cold and never\nvery hot there, but is an ideal workshop for a Prince. The geysers and\nboiling pools are just the escaping gas and steam of his big furnaces;\nfor the fires in his furnaces under the earth are kept burning day and\nnight. It is all very mysterious. In one part he has a big hot lake, and\nin another an ice-cold one. The cold lake is shaped like a human hand,\nand near it is a big fountain that dashes up clouds of white spray,\nhundreds of feet high, flecking the green surface of the water with\nfoam.\n\n\u201cNothing can be more beautiful than this enchanted valley. The fairies\nare busy beautifying it all the time. They have painted the colors of\nthe rainbow in the rocks, and the great canyon looks now as if millions\nof jewels were piled up there. For it is a bewildering mass of color.\nAmethyst, topaz, and emerald tints sparkle everywhere, and when the\nsunshine pours down on it you feel as if all the wealth of the world\nmust be hidden in the rocks, for they sparkle like diamonds and rubies.\nAs the years go on the valley grows more beautiful, for the Sun Prince\nand his bride watch it by day,\u2014and of course as the fairies have charge\nat night it is never neglected.\n\n\u201cWhen the Sun Prince has finished his great labors and solved his\nproblem, of course, he will close his workshop, and with his lovely\nbride go back to their home in the Golden Palace of the Sun. But until\nthen his workshop fires will burn. The geysers and fountains will spout\nup great volumes of water and steam, making the valley one of the\nwonders of the world. And all the Earth mortals who go there will be\nmade welcome by the fairies.\u201d\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER VII\n                    THE STORY OF THE JEWELLED BEACH\n\n\n                      [Illustration: (unlabelled)]\n\n\u201cDo you wonder that I love the story?\u201d said Princess Ethelda, as the\nguide finished.\n\n\u201cOh,\u201d replied the Moon maidens, almost in one voice, \u201cit is an\nenchanting history, indeed.\u201d\n\n\u201cSee,\u201d replied the guide messenger, pointing in the distance to a high\nmountain, \u201cbeyond that mountain lies the Beautiful Valley of which I\nhave just told you.\u201d\n\nIn a little while the merry party had reached the mountain top, and\nstood gazing in a bewilderment of pleasure at the wonderful valley\nbelow. Exquisite lakes and shining silver rivers lay beneath; beautiful\nhills stretched away in the distance; and the glorious colors in the\nrocks, which the fairies had painted so vividly, reflected the pinks and\nyellows in a growing radiance that lighted up the whole valley in\nsplendor. Innumerable rays flashed out in little threadlike flames,\nflooding the world below in a blaze of color.\n\n\u201cHow magnificent it is!\u201d exclaimed the visitors; and the guide was well\npleased with their admiration.\n\nI could never describe to you properly the entertainments that followed\ntheir arrival, nor the joy of Dorion and Ethelda in meeting the\nbeautiful Sun Princess. Princess Kuldah was as beautiful as ever, and\nspared no pains to make her brother and his bride and their companions\nwelcome. The Prince, her husband, showed them his wonderful workshop,\nand they marvelled over the geysers, and listened with awe to the\ndescription of his great problem.\n\nThe days seemed all too short, and the guests were surprised when the\ntime for their departure arrived. The feasting and dancing and\nsight-seeing were at last ended in the valley of enchantment; one\nglorious morning they rose with the Sun, and bidding good-bye to\nPrincess Kuldah and her people, started to meet the black dwarf of the\nmountains. The same guide would accompany them to the place where they\nwere to meet him. The Princess saw none of them felt much desire to go;\nEthelda was particularly downcast, still she bore up bravely, and with a\nsmiling face she began the journey.\n\nAlthough Ethelda and her companions were charmed with the splendors of\nthe deep, they were still more impressed with delight over the new\nbeauties they discovered upon the land. They had seen the glittering\nmountains of the Moon and the fiery craters of the Sun, and had wondered\nat such magnificence, but the Earth\u2019s fresh coloring was a revelation.\nAnd the Earth had decked herself right royally to receive them. The\nmonth was April, and the world, rioting in flowers, was aflame with\ncolor. The poppies, yellow and scarlet, burst forth from the meadows\u2019\ntenderest green. The white petalled, yellow centred daisies came out in\nthousands to greet them, while the roses, pink and white and red,\nflashed everywhere. The trees, too, dressed in the earliest Spring\ngreen, nodded and waved their long branches in a glad welcome, and the\ntiny wood violet, modest and sweet, sent forth its perfumed breath in\nwaves of delight, filling the air with sweetness.\n\n\u201cWonderful\u2014wonderful!\u201d cried Ethelda, throwing herself in an ecstasy of\npleasure upon the soft greensward, and gathering handfuls of the flowers\nto weave into garlands. \u201cI should like to live here always,\u201d she said.\nThe Sun Prince shared his bride\u2019s delight, but he whispered cautiously:\n\u201cTake care, sweetheart. Remember a Moon maiden and a Sun Prince can only\nvisit for a twelvemonth. A longer stay would be dangerous; it would keep\nus here for ever.\u201d\n\n\u201cO, yes,\u201d answered Ethelda; \u201cI was hardly in earnest when I spoke, for I\ncould not leave my beloved mother sorrowing. Yet I am very happy here.\u201d\n\nDays of pleasure passed, on the journey. Days of wonderment too. When\nthe strangers saw how the small seed planted in the ground\u2014warmed by the\nsun and watered by the rain\u2014throve and became a tiny blade of grass, a\ndelicate flower, or a magnificent tree, this seemed a miracle to them,\nfor nothing ever grows out of the soil of the Moon or the Sun.\n\nOne day as they stood on the top of a high mountain they saw a very\nstrange sight. A great sea lay shining in the distance, sparkling and\nglittering in gold and blue. It washed the shores of magnificent valleys\nand rich gardens. Fruits and flowers grew in abundance, but the strange\nsight lay in the fact that the valleys and fruit gardens stretching out\nso broadly suddenly stopped at a line of yellow sand,\u2014stopped so\nabruptly that it seemed almost a straight line, it was so clean cut,\u2014and\nthe sand covered hundreds and hundreds of miles of the Earth.\n\n\u201cHow queer it looks!\u201d they said among themselves; \u201cnot a blade of grass,\nnot a tree, on the barren waste! We have never seen anything like it\nbefore. What is it?\u201d\n\n\u201cIt will take two stories to explain that wonderful view lying before\nus,\u201d replied the guide.\n\n\u201cOh, do tell them!\u201d cried the Moon people in chorus; \u201cwe love stories\u201d;\nand they settled themselves to listen.\n\n\u201cWell,\u201d began the guide, \u201cthe first relates to the Princess Ethelda.\u201d\n\n\u201cTo me?\u201d asked the Princess in astonishment.\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d answered the messenger; \u201clook closely at the sea beach and tell\nme what you see.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy, great shining jewels seem strewn over the yellow sands,\u201d said the\nPrincess, perfectly amazed; and in turn each of the Moon people saw the\nsame.\n\n\u201cWell,\u201d continued the messenger, turning to the Princess, \u201cwhen her\nImperial Majesty of the Moon consented to your coming to visit the Earth\non your bridal trip, she ordered many wedding presents for you, and in\nfinishing the loveliest that she gave you, it came about that that beach\nwas formed. But I will begin the story of the Jewelled Beach.\n\n\u201cThe Moon was shining through a turquoise-blue sky. Now and then a baby\ncloud passed before her face, but it was so white and airy that it did\nnot even hide the dazzling lights of her silver palace. One could see\nthem perfectly well, shining through the handsome windows.\n\n\u201cSerenely beautiful the Moon Queen moved through her star-studded\npathway. She was calm and majestic. As she swung around the celestial\ncircle that night she leaned down lower to watch the golden gleam of a\nsmall star shining far in the distance. For many reasons that particular\nstar had occupied her mind of late, and that evening she seemed even\nmore intent upon it than ever. How beautiful it was! Of all the millions\nof glittering points embroidered on the sky, that small one stood out\nthe brightest. In bold relief its dancing lights sped out over the\nheavens in friendly twinkle toward the Moon.\n\n\u201cThe Moon Queen smiled to herself as she watched, and then out from the\njewelled windows of her home suddenly leaped a brilliant crystal light\nto meet the star rays. From that moment her Imperial Majesty made up her\nmind on a subject she had long thought of. Turning to one of her\nhandmaidens who stood near, she bade her summon the master mechanic of\nher empire; when this had been done, and the man stood before her, she\nasked, in liquid tones, \u2018How many workmen do I employ in the silver\nmountains?\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018Ah, your Majesty,\u2019 was the reply, \u2018you have so many thousands employed\nthere, that it is almost impossible to say.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018Good,\u2019 replied the Queen thoughtfully, \u2018I have sore need of thousands\nnow. Bid them all meet me to-morrow. Call them together at the\nfoot-hills of the mountains. Let no man be missing; from the greatest\nartist in your shops to the humblest workman, let not a sprite dare to\nforget my command!\u2019\n\n\u201cThe master mechanic promised obedience, and bowing low left her\npresence.\n\n\u201cWhen the hour arrived that the Queen had named, there gathered at the\nfoot-hills of the mountains all her little workmen. Thousands and\nthousands of tiny sprites were there, and they glittered from head to\ntoe in shining silver garments; silver dust powdered them until their\nclothes looked white as frost, and when they moved their sheen was like\ncostly jewels. Talking together, they were wondering why the Queen\nshould have commanded them to meet her at their busiest hour. Except\nthat she was not fond of idlers, and required prompt and vigorous work\nfrom her people, she was a gentle mistress; but now, when they were\nrushing with the wedding presents for the marriage of her favorite\ndaughter (which was soon to occur), she had called them from their\nshops. It surely seemed unwise. All work had ceased, for not a sprite in\nall Moonland was missing. What could it mean?\n\n\u201cAt last her Majesty appeared. Her great retinue of nobles and\ngorgeously dressed maidens accompanied her, and with music and gay\nlaughter they came nearer. Presently the sprites saw the Queen bid her\nattendants stop where they stood, and unaccompanied she approached the\ngallant army of her little workmen. She was well worthy the cheers of\nadmiration that broke from their lips as she neared them. Tall and\nmagnificent in form, she looked every inch a Queen, yet her bright blue\neyes glowed with a tender light of love, showing a gentle nature, as she\nbowed her thanks for their affectionate greetings. Her long, fair hair\nfloated softly about her, sometimes clinging to her white dress like\nthreads of gold, and at her slender waist was gathered a graceful silver\ngirdle, caught with a diamond crescent. At last, in all her splendor,\nshe stood among them, and as she raised her hand asking for silence,\nabsolute silence fell upon them.\n\n\u201c\u2018My good and loyal subjects,\u2019 she began, \u2018I have come to-day to intrust\nyou with an important but secret work. No one in all the kingdom save\nyourselves must know of it. When all is completed, I myself will divulge\nthe secret to my people, and I believe it will gladden them. But until\nthen will you faithfully promise to help me and to keep my counsel?\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018Beloved Queen,\u2019 they answered in one loud voice, \u2018your will is ours;\nwe will obey you gladly.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018Then listen, friends and subjects,\u2019 the Queen continued with smiling\nface, \u2018for this is my command: That you make me a splendid silver\nladder! Step by step must it be wrought, and with greatest care, for it\nmust stretch out miles and miles in length. Strong as bands of steel\neach round must be, but finer in its texture than the gossamer web of\nthe spider. Weave it with the fairies\u2019 touch, making it exquisitely\nlight, yet so bright withal that it can easily be seen for thousands of\nmiles. Spare neither care nor labor, beloved subjects, for the ladder\nmust be mine within the week.\u2019\n\n\u201cDays and nights the hammers of the little workmen rang out clearly,\nlike notes of merry music, and the Moon people said among themselves,\n\u2018What gorgeous wedding presents our little Princess will receive!\u2019 But\nthey never dreamed of the mysterious ladder of glistening silver steps.\nAnd the Queen Mother kept her counsel. Only, each night as she sailed\nacross the jewel-laden heavens, she leaned closer to the Earth Star and\nstudied it.\n\n\u201cShe saw great valleys and snow-clad mountains, barren deserts and\nlimpid blue seas. She saw, too, great forests and boundless plains; but\nthough her searching eye looked upon every inch of that beautiful bright\nball whirling through space, she thought the loveliest spot on the whole\nglobe was on the borders of the largest ocean. That ocean was so big\nthat it measured just one half the star itself. All the other oceans and\nthe land together could be taken up and put upon its broad blue surface.\n\n\u201cThis splendid body of water washed the foot of a glorious country. Big\nmountains, raising their purple heads among the clouds, crept down to\nfeel its cooling depths. Or, higher still, they reared their lofty peaks\nand held them scornfully aloft; and thus, capped with perpetual snow,\nthey stood beautiful and glorified. Great plains stretched back from its\ncurving yellow beach, and all the fruit one could name grew in the rich\nvalleys. It was the garden spot of the world. Amid its groves of yellow\noranges and lemons birds sang deliciously; flowers bloomed throughout\nthe year, and the skies were nearly always sunny. In this earthly\nparadise palms lazily waved their feathery green arms, and trees grew so\nbig that houses could be cut out of a single trunk. Here it was that the\nMoon Queen\u2019s eye lingered longest, and it was almost with a child\u2019s\ndelight she saw the big blue waves roll in and break upon the sand in a\nfringe of soft white foam.\n\n\u201cThe week had passed, and the Queen\u2019s ladder was ready. One by one its\nsilver steps were tested; ring by ring its loops were firmly fastened\nand bound together; for, dainty as it looked, the ladder must be strong\nfor constant use.\n\n\u201cWhen all was ready the sprites were cautiously sent with it on a secret\nmission to the Earth. None but the Moon Queen knew their errand; but she\nsmiled to herself, for after all, when completed, it was to be a wedding\npresent and surprise to her favorite daughter.\n\n\u201cDown from the palace crept the little people, carrying their silver\ntreasure. The night being dark, they reached the Earth without being\ndiscovered. In a little while they found the ocean beach the Queen so\nloved,\u2014for it was here the first jewelled rounds of that sparkling\nladder should be laid. By the soft light of the stars, the sprites saw\nthat the Earth was very beautiful; but what were those queer, sad sounds\nthey heard, mingling with the breaking of the waves upon the beach? The\nworkmen stopped to listen, and caught the strains of music; then,\nlooking closely at the water, they saw a line of lovely maidens, with\nflowing golden hair, which they continually combed as they sang. The\nMoon sprites were quite astonished at the sight. The maidens were\nsurpassingly beautiful, but their song was very sad.\n\n\u201c\u2018Who are you, and why do you sing so sadly?\u2019 they called.\n\n\u201c\u2018Alas!\u2019 replied the charming creatures, \u2018we are mermaids. Our father is\nthe Sea King. We have always been as happy as the day is long, until a\nfew years ago, when a terrible misfortune came upon us. One of the\nprettiest of our sisters was about to be married. We were busy with the\npreparations for her wedding, gathering the seaweed and the pretty\nmother-of-pearl shells that float up on the land, to decorate her\npalace. We had searched carefully our large and magnificent sea-gardens\nfor the finest specimens of weed and shells. But a beautiful shell,\nbrilliantly tinted in every shade of rose and green and blue combined,\nhad been thrown high upon the sandy beach, out of our reach. Our dear\nsister became too venturesome, and floating on a big wave she grasped\nthe shell she coveted.\n\n\u201c\u2018At that moment, the hideous Gnome King sprang suddenly from behind a\nrock, and snatching her in his arms ran off. In vain we pleaded with him\nto restore our lost darling. The cruel monster only laughed, and swore\nshe should become his wife. Her bridegroom of the Sea was almost beside\nhimself with grief when he learned the awful news. He offered his life\nin exchange for hers, and we gathered together all our jewels for her\nransom. But nothing would move the hard heart of the wicked Gnome King,\nand he still keeps our beloved sister in his power. That is why we sing\nso mournfully. The monster, finding she would not marry him, carried her\nto the top of a high mountain, where she could see her beloved home, but\nnever reach it.\n\n\u201c\u2018She is helpless upon the land, and though she can look down at the\nfoot of the mountains and see the curling waters of her home, she cannot\nreach it. Her lover sits below, encouraging her with words of love, but\nhe is helpless to reach her. Miserable and longing for home, she watches\nall the ships that pass, and with her lute sings the most wonderful\nsongs, begging the sailors to rescue her. Many have tried, and the\nmountain-side is white with the bones of those who have perished in the\nattempt. For the Gnome King makes mad those who try to save her; they\nlose their way and die.\n\n\u201c\u2018Alas, kind friends, unless you will help us, we fear she is lost to us\nfor ever.\u2019\n\n\u201cThe kind-hearted Moon sprites were certainly touched by this pathetic\ntale, and they determined among themselves that they would form a plan\nto outwit the cruel Gnome King, and rescue the sea maid. Of course to do\nthis they would have to delay a little the planting of the Moon ladder,\nbut they felt that her Imperial Majesty would certainly have consented\nto delay in such a case. So, gathering up their precious burden, they\nclimbed the mountain to seek the sea maid.\n\n\u201cKnowing that she could never reach her sisters alone, and enchanting\nall the mortals who tried to rescue her, the Gnome King had no guard to\nwatch the maiden. She was left entirely alone upon a big rock\noverlooking the ocean. The wicked king came at rare intervals to see if\nshe would consent to marry him, but otherwise she was left undisturbed.\n\n    [Illustration: \u201c_A glimmering figure sitting on a high cliff._\u201d\n                                                             (Page 106)]\n\n\u201cThe Moon sprites, however, were not affected by the King\u2019s\nenchantments, so they had no difficulty in reaching her. Suddenly the\nmermaid saw a gleam of brilliant silver flooding the darkness behind\nher, and in a moment she was surrounded by a thousand little\nsilver-dressed creatures. At the same moment the Moon sprites caught\nsight of a glimmering figure of matchless beauty sitting on a high\ncliff. The maiden was a vision of loveliness. Long, waving, golden hair\nfloated about her, and her eyes were the color of the sea. She held a\nlute in her hand; as her fingers moved softly across it, it gave forth a\nweird but beautiful sound, and to this accompaniment she sang\ncharmingly. Quickly the Moon sprites told her of the plan for rescuing\nher, and joyfully she listened.\n\n\u201cThey carefully suspended the silver ladder from her mountain cliff.\nHolding it tight between them to steady it, they flung it swiftly down\nuntil its brilliant steps touched the trembling water. At this moment\nthey heard a faint noise like rumbling thunder, and the affrighted\nmaiden bade them hurry with their work, as it was the signal that the\nGnome King would soon visit her. In a twinkling they seized the maiden\nin their arms, and carried her down the brilliant steps. They were not a\nmoment too soon, for hardly had they placed the maiden in her\nbridegroom\u2019s arms and picked up their ladder, when the Gnome King and\nhis legion of wicked gnomes were swarming on the mountain-top.\n\n\u201cThe rage of the wicked King was fearful to see, but it was useless. He\ncould not regain the mermaid and he could not harm a Moon sprite; but in\nhis anger he pelted the beach with stones, venting his fury in\ndestroying its beauty. Small but ugly, they fell in thousands, covering\nthe golden yellow of the sand, and hiding its glistening splendor. Thus\nhe showered his spite upon the beautiful playground of the mermaids.\n\n\u201cBut the Sea King\u2019s daughters were too happy over the return of their\nbeloved sister to fret very much. True, their charmingly beautiful beach\nseemed ruined, but their beloved sister was home again. Thousands,\nindeed millions, of little stones were piled about in ugly confusion,\nand marred the soft, bright sand the sea people so loved, but they were\npowerless to prevent it. The Moon sprites went back to their work of\nfastening the moon-ladder to the Earth, and the Sea King invited them to\nremain for his daughter\u2019s wedding the next night.\n\n\u201cThe wedding spectacle was certainly a grand one, for the Ocean Monarch\nhad ordered the greatest fireworks in his kingdom in honor of the event.\nThe sea blazed up as though it were burning. Flames seemed to leap and\nflare up everywhere, and thousands of brilliant colors mixed and\ntrembled in its depths. The phosphorescence was wonderful, and wherever\nthe eye could reach, the brilliant lights shone and sparkled. The Moon\nsprites were amazed at such magnificence. The night was as brilliant and\nbeautiful as day; and they felt that the wonders of the Earth world were\ngreat indeed.\n\n\u201cJust then a messenger arrived from her Imperial Majesty of the Moon,\nsaying that she had watched her workmen rescuing the maiden, and had\nseen the wedding festival and the splendid illumination, and before\nrecalling her little people to the Moon, she wished to give the bride a\npresent. The wicked Gnome King had tried to ruin the playground of the\nmermaids, but she would restore it, making it more interesting and\nfascinating than ever.\n\n\u201cIt was a royal gift the Moon Queen gave. She said that henceforth the\nbeach should be enchanted. The hideous stones the gnomes had thrown\nshould not ruin it after all, but should make it more precious to the\nworld, for they should all turn to shining jewels. She chose to make the\nwhite pebbles the loveliest of them all, and so change them that the sea\npeople could never forget her. These stones shone as clear as crystal,\nand in the pure depths of each one there trembled a moon-ray, a memento\nof her crystal kingdom. This brilliant ray glistened like a diamond,\ncaught and held a prisoner, and was from that day called the moonstone.\nBut it was hard indeed to choose the prettiest of the beach jewels. For\nopals clear as water, and with fire from the sea, sparkled beside the\nmoonstones; sardonyx, chrysoprase, and emerald, jasper, aquamarine, and\ntopaz, were piled so high that the beach was soon most widely known.\n\n\u201cThe Earth people come in hundreds to seek these treasures, making them\ninto precious necklaces and charms. But though they carry thousands and\nthousands away with them each day, the mermaids smile and do not mind at\nall, because the Moon-ladder, uncoiling every night in sparkling\nbrilliancy, reaches down from the silver palace and touches the beach\nlike a magician\u2019s wand, and the mermaids know that so long as the\nshining steps of brilliant silver shall rest upon these sands, just so\nlong will the beach continue enchanted, and splendid jewels be formed in\nsuch glittering quantities that they will last for ever.\u201d\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER VIII\n                             THE LOST OCEAN\n\n\n                      [Illustration: (unlabelled)]\n\nThe little company seemed well pleased with the explanation of the\njewelled beach, but as soon as the messenger ceased, they asked for the\nexplanation of the trackless sands.\n\n\u201cThat is a longer story; shall I tell it now?\u201d was the reply.\n\n\u201cO yes, do,\u201d said the Princess Ethelda. \u201cWe are not a bit tired, and it\nis so pleasant to look down on the very spot while you tell us.\u201d\n\nThus encouraged, the guide messenger began:\u2014\n\n\u201cAges ago, when the world was young, three great Kings ruled in the\nuniverse, the Sun King, the Ocean King, and the Earth King. The Earth\nKing owned all the land of the world, and often travelled over it,\nwatching it and caring for it. He was frequently accompanied by his\nfavorite daughter, the beautiful Princess Selene. She was a graceful\nmaiden of about eighteen. Her lovely brown eyes and long, wavy,\ngolden-brown hair, and her white skin and pink cheeks, made her a very\ncharming picture indeed. Being a fun-loving, merry little maiden, her\ncheerful disposition made her a delightful companion, so her father was\nalways pleased to have her travel with him.\n\n\u201cOn one of these journeys the young Princess seemed more serious than\nusual, and one morning she came to her father with a request which\ngreatly surprised him. However, when he found her heart quite set upon\nit, he made up his mind to grant it. She said she had long contemplated\ndoing her share of work in the world, and that she did not think she\nwished always to remain just a fun-loving and pleasure-seeking young\nwoman. She asked her father to give her a portion of his vast kingdom to\ncultivate as a garden, declaring she would make it the most beautiful\ngarden in the world, a sort of earthly paradise.\n\n\u201cAs soon as her father consented to her wish, she chose a charming spot.\nIt was on the borders of a great sea, and back of it were magnificent\nmountains. A large gulf, too, stood near, whose waters flowed into a\nshimmering sea beyond. Here Princess Selene, having chosen hundreds of\ncompanions, took up her abode. She planted trees for shade and sowed\ngrass for a quiet, restful color, and then she laid out her garden\naccording to a well-thought-out plan.\n\n\u201cI could never begin to tell you in a short story how wonderfully\nbeautiful she made it. Fruit trees of all descriptions grew there;\nlemons and oranges, citrons and bananas, peaches and apricots,\nflourished\u2014everything nice you can think of. She did not forget the\nflowers, either. Magnolias and acacias, poinsettias and jasmines, and\nevery Southern flower you could name, bloomed beautifully. Lovely birds\nflocked there, and rested in the cool trees, singing to the flowers and\nfilling the garden with delicious music. The Princess and her companions\nworked hard and faithfully, and the garden became the most charming spot\nimaginable. All the world talked about it and came to visit it.\n\n\u201cThe country about was very attractive. Great snow-capped mountains rose\nabruptly from the sea, and white clouds, nestling down to touch them,\nhovered like angels\u2019 wings above the rich valleys as though in\nprotection. The clouds were seldom dark, for it rarely rained there, and\nthe sunny blue skies seemed to smile perpetually.\n\n\u201cNow, the powerful Sun King had many sons, but one of them was\nespecially handsome, and, better than that, he was the soul of honor and\ntruth. He was called Prince Corus. He often came to Earth to visit the\nOcean King\u2019s family, for one of the sons was his favorite companion. The\ntwo young men were inseparable; they were devoted to each other, and\nfond of the same sports.\n\n\u201cWhen the Ocean King\u2019s son, Prince Fronto, grew to manhood, his father\ngave him control of a smaller kingdom, a beautiful sea that washed the\nshores of Princess Selene\u2019s famous gardens. This sea was reached by\nsailing through the blue waters of the gulf; shining and beautiful, it\nstretched for miles and miles through a magnificent country. It was on\nthe shores of this sea that the two Princes spent most of their time,\nand it was here one day that they came across the lovely Selene and her\nmaidens. Both the young men felt at once that they had never before seen\nanything so perfectly charming as the Princess, and they lost no time in\nlearning to know her.\n\n\u201cShe treated them with the greatest courtesy; and in a little while the\nthree had become firm friends, and spent many happy hours together. The\nyoung men did not attempt to disguise from themselves the fact that they\nboth loved this royal maiden; but the Sun Prince, in a spirit of\nnobleness, offered to leave his friend Fronto alone to win her hand,\nthough in losing her he would become the most miserable man in the\nworld. Up to this point, however, Fronto apparently showed a similar\ngenerosity of spirit, and putting his arm about his friend, urged him to\nremain, saying: \u2018We will abide by the decision of the Princess. Let her\nchoose between us, and whoever wins her love shall marry her, letting\nthe other suitor swear friendship to them both.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018So be it,\u2019 replied the generous Prince Corus, for it seemed a fair\nproposition. \u2018Much as I care for her, I will promise to give her to you\ngladly if she loves you; for, after her, I love you best in the world.\u2019\n\n\u201cThey clasped hands, and swore a solemn oath to abide by this agreement.\n\n\u201cSelene was in no hurry to choose, and seemed equally fond of them both.\nNever by word or sign did she show which she preferred. Always together,\nthe three wandered through her gardens, plucking the fruit or listening\nto the songs of the birds. The two young men came every day to see her,\nand strove to invent plans for her amusement. Corus brought his father\u2019s\ngolden chariot, and often the three took a mad race across the sky. But\nthe maiden was never afraid. She loved the spirited, prancing steeds,\nand their flashing golden harness; and the wild ride brought a glorious\ncolor to her cheeks. She thrilled with pleasure when the rushing wind\nblew back her flowing hair, and her eyes caught a deeper blue from the\nheavens, and sparkled and danced with delight, so that Corus and Fronto\nthought her more bewitching than ever.\n\n\u201cAgain, Fronto would invite them to see his father\u2019s famous sea-gardens,\nand they would ride across the sapphire-blue waves until they reached a\nrocky island. Here they would rest, to watch the seals climbing over the\nrocks. They amused themselves long, laughing at the awkward antics of\nthe fat baby seals, who would tumble with loud splashes into the water,\nand then frolic about noisily. The Princess loved these famous\nsea-gardens; they were very different from her own, but wonderfully\ninteresting, nevertheless. Every sea-plant grew there. Huge trees of\nseaweed were plainly seen, and curious water-flowers in abundance.\nMagnificent shells bordered the walks, shells dyed with the mystic\ncolors of the sea,\u2014blue and green and opalescent,\u2014others pink-lined,\nlike the sky at sunset, or brilliant red, like the coral reef. Charming\ngold-fishes swam about these water-gardens, and their scales, glowing\nlike fire, sent out great sparks of light. Mermaids floated through,\nwith long golden hair and starry blue eyes, singing low to the music of\ntheir lutes. Thus many days and weeks were passed, and each hour the\nyoung Princes grew more madly in love with the charming Princess Selene.\n\n\u201cAt last a day came when they could no longer resist asking her to\nchoose between them. But when they stood before her, and waited for her\nanswer in silence, the fun-loving little Princess suddenly became grave,\nand said most seriously: \u2018Why make me choose at all? Your friendship may\nbe broken if I do, and I could not bear that.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018You need not fear for us, sweet Princess,\u2019 said Fronto, \u2018for we have\nsworn an oath, and will not break it.\u2019\n\n\u201cSelene gazed earnestly at them, not understanding this reply. Then\nCorus, pale as death, nodded assent, saying: \u2018It is even true, fair\nSelene; as you cannot choose but one, we both have promised allegiance\nto the one you favor. We love you too sincerely to do otherwise.\u2019\n\n\u201cA brilliant color dyed Selene\u2019s cheek as she heard these words, and\nturning to Prince Fronto she began softly: \u2018So be it. We have passed\nmany happy hours together, and in my heart, Prince Fronto, I have a deep\naffection for you.\u2019\n\n\u201cHearing her speak thus, Prince Corus grew very white, and turned away\nto hide his pain, whispering to himself: \u2018They shall not see how I\nsuffer. I have sworn an oath, and I will keep it.\u2019\n\n\u201cBut whatever the Princess continued to say to the Ocean Prince, it\nseemed not to please him. Finally she said to him, while she turned and\nbeckoned to his friend: \u2018Therefore, kind brother of the shimmering sea,\nyou must forgive me; for, though I love you as a friend, my heart\nbelongs to Corus, and him I choose to be my husband.\u2019\n\n\u201cThe Sun Prince could hardly believe he heard aright; but as the\nbeautiful girl turned shyly toward him, he caught her hand, and\nkneeling, kissed it, thanking her for his great happiness.\n\n\u201cThe Ocean Prince showed great surprise at Selene\u2019s words, because he\nhad always thought she preferred him to Corus; indeed, it was because of\nthis he had made the compact so readily. Swiftly now his thoughts grew\nblack with anger, but the two lovers were talking together and did not\nnotice it. Soon he grew calmer; outwardly he seemed to be peaceful, and\nstooping, he too kissed Selene\u2019s hand, and swore friendship to the two.\n\n\u201cPreparations began for the wedding, and each day, as the ceremony drew\nnearer, Fronto seemed happier. He really acted as though he had\nforgotten his wish to marry Selene. This, of course, made Corus and his\nbride more contented; they could not bear to be merry, and feel that\nFronto was suffering. But the Ocean Prince was only pretending.\nInstantly, on leaving the lovers on the day of their betrothal, he had\ngathered together all the little demons and wicked imps he knew, and\nemployed them to build big mountains on the shores of his sea. Soon\nprecipitous mountains gathered in clusters about the water\u2019s edge. They\nseemed only barren rock, as they loomed up from the flat sand, like\nwatch-towers guarding a prison. Selene and Corus teased the Ocean Prince\nfor building such ugly peaks, but he did not mind their jests. Finally\nhe had his dominions hedged in with a dark-hued rocky range.\n\n\u201cThen, one day when the Sun Prince was absent, he deliberately carried\nout the plan he had so carefully concealed: he stole the Princess and\nhid her in the caverns of his great mountains. When Corus returned,\nbroken-hearted and distressed over the loss of his bride and the\ntreachery of his friend, and demanded her release, the Sea Prince\nabsolutely refused to give her up\u2014laughing to scorn his friend\u2019s demand.\n\n\u201cWar, of course, immediately followed. The Sun Prince was no slight\nenemy, for all his father\u2019s powerful forces were at his command. The\nheavy bowlders piled up by the wretched little fiends the Ocean Prince\nhad employed were not easily surmounted, however, for they were\nsplendidly built. It would take years to pull them down. So Corus\ndetermined he would not even try. He would rescue his beloved bride in a\nsimpler but more powerful manner, and in less time.\n\n\u201cA great river ran through the country, from the inland sea down to the\nblue waters of the ocean. Now, the Sun Prince closed up that river,\nshutting off all communication between the ocean and the inland sea. The\nSea Prince laughed at first when he saw this. He had so much water in\nhis own sea he never dreamed it could be exhausted.\n\n\u201cBut now the Sun Prince tried new measures. As the tides could not bring\nthe water to the foot of the big mountains to replenish them, he sent\ndown burning rays upon the sea to dry it up. Evaporation began. Day by\nday the water decreased, and shrunk away slowly from the white face of\nthe sand and the red sides of the mountains.\n\n\u201cA hundred feet of the water fell quickly, and then Fronto saw that the\nSun Prince, in drying up the water, could doom him and his followers to\ndeath. Panic-stricken, he restored the Princess, and begged for mercy.\n\n\u201cCorus, though happy to have his beloved bride again, felt that the\nawful crime Fronto had committed should not be treated lightly. His\npunishment must serve as a warning to the world. Still, at the request\nof his gentle-hearted bride, he forgave his false friend, and sent him\nback safe with his companions to the Ocean King. However, he forced\nFronto to remain in his father\u2019s dominions for ever, saying that he had\nproven, by his treachery, he was unfit to govern a kingdom of his own.\nMoreover, that kingdom should exist no longer. He would dry it up and\nmake it a huge desert, to mark the spot of a false friend\u2019s perfidy.\n\n\u201cSo the Sun never relaxed his fierce gaze, nor the wind its hot breath.\nTogether they scorched the seabed until the water disappeared, and the\nbottom looked like a huge white bowl. Then slowly the desert formed. The\nfierce heat became so intense that even the rains refused to fall there,\nand the earth was too salty to allow anything to grow. Every living\ncreature shunned it. Neither bird nor beast would visit it, and thus it\nremained for thousands of years.\n\n\u201cWhen you are in the bottom of this bowl, you are nearly three hundred\nfeet below the ocean. Upon all sides are great mountains, some over ten\nthousand feet high; and this spot is the hottest place in the world. The\ndesert looks like a great plain leading out to the horizon. The soil is\nalmost as fine as white flour.\n\n\u201cBut, silent and deserted as it is, the Sun Prince declared that,\nbecause his beloved bride had been kept there, it should still be sacred\nin his eyes\u2014still retain a certain fascination. So, in all its\ndesolation, it does possess a weird beauty of its own. The sand dunes\nreflect the light of the sky. They are sometimes deep blue, sometimes\ntopaz yellow, and again, at sunset, a brilliant rose.\n\n\u201cThe quiet of the desert is profound, save when some whirling sand-storm\nblows. Then all living creatures caught there are lost unless they lie\nflat and cover heads and mouths. Except for this, the air is always\nmagnificent. At times, it is all covered with a pink mist; at other\ntimes, it is a pure golden haze. The mountains, too, are in changing\nshades of purple and lilac and blue, with golden and blood-red colors\nmingled.\n\n\u201cAll these years the place has remained a desert,\u2014a monument to the\ntreachery of Prince Fronto. Yet the bitterness of the Sun Prince seems\nto be lessening. Perhaps the sweet pleading of the beautiful Selene has\nwon forgiveness, for of late that awful waste shows signs of life. True,\nits great mesas, in gray and gold, bordering its lonely hundreds of\nmiles, are rocky and barren still; but now and then a green bush of\nelder arises on the sands, and the cacti and greasewood are beginning to\nflourish well. This is the first sign of life, but it means surely that\nPrince Corus has relented, and will remove the curse that \u2018nothing shall\never live there.\u2019\n\n\u201cOccasionally, too, an animal has been seen running across the dry,\nparched sands, and birds that once flew hundreds of miles to avoid the\nhot plains now skim lightly across them. Then, at times, trees and green\ngrass and cool fresh lakes of water are visible. These last disappear\nquickly when one approaches and tries to drink from their curling waves.\nWise people call these sights mirages, but perhaps, after all, they are\nreal, and foreshadow what the desert will become.\n\n\u201cThe Sun Prince is wise and merciful, and though justice must be done,\nwhen justice is appeased he can restore the cooling streams and\nvegetation to the parched sands. Some day, perhaps, the magic spell will\nbe withdrawn from the mysterious desert, and its shining seas again\nsmile beneath sunny skies. Even now, Prince Corus occasionally sends a\ngreat cloudburst to drench the scorching plains. At first, we know, he\ndid not love the barren waste. It brought back too keenly the sorrow of\nhis stolen bride; but time has softened that feeling, and with his\nbeloved Princess by his side, he looks down and smiles upon its glare\nand glitter. He shows this in the wonderful sky effects above it. They\nare things of beauty. If clouds gather, he tips them with rainbow\ncolors,\u2014brilliant reds and oranges, purples and greens, melting into\ndelicious pinks, soft lilacs, and grays. The sunset there is a glorious\nsight never to be forgotten.\n\n\u201cIts mountains, too, are beautiful. Often the ridges are clear-cut and\nsharp. Again, when the Sun pours his heat upon them, they seem as flat\nas the palm of your hand. They change color frequently, for at times\nstartling reds and yellows and pinks are painted in stripes all over\nthem. Later the canyons are flashing in brilliant needle-like points of\nsuperb color, but again they are a dull blue or gray, and lose their\nsplendor.\n\n\u201cBut most sublime of all the sights is still the mirage. Trembling and\nglowing in the sea, lie trees and mountain peaks, reflected clear and\nbeautiful. Maybe it is only the reflection of the golden haze that lies\nin the canyons at sunset; but whatever it is, it is one of the desert\u2019s\nsplendors. And though the lilac mist and the purple shadows that creep\nbetween the valleys and climb the mountains seem more natural to its\ndesolation and its silence, yet the glory of that mirage\u2014glittering with\nits dazzling hue, and flashing its strange lights like the rays from a\nfire-opal\u2014will cling the longest in one\u2019s memory.\u201d\n\n\n\n\n                               CHAPTER IX\n                      THE STORY OF PRINCESS SUNSET\n\n\n                      [Illustration: (unlabelled)]\n\nWhen the story of the great desert or the lost ocean had been told, the\nlittle company of Moon people thanked the guide for his tales, and again\nstarted on their journey. Soon they approached the borders of a\nbeautiful wood. The guide told them that he would turn back when they\nhad travelled through the forest, for on the other side of the forest\nthe black dwarf awaited them.\n\nPrincess Ethelda shuddered as she heard, but being a brave little\nPrincess, she turned laughingly to the guide and said, \u201cWell, Sir Guide,\ncannot you tell us another pretty story before you go?\u201d\n\n\u201cWillingly,\u201d replied the guide, and he at once began the story of\nPrincess Sunset.\n\n\u201cOnce upon a time there lived in the heart of a great forest, something\nlike this we are passing through, a young Prince with his two elder\nbrothers. They lived in a splendid palace, and were fond of hunting and\nshooting; but they were also frequently at war with their neighbors, so\nthat fighting of some sort always seemed to be going on. This youngest\nwas named Oswald; though he always accompanied his brothers to war, and\nwas the very bravest of all the knights, he thought it was useless to\nfight about everything. Life would be much happier if people were kind\nand peace-loving; and unless there were a serious question to fight\nabout, he did not believe in fighting at all. He much preferred to roam\nthe forest, studying the sky and the trees, or the lovely waters of the\nclear blue lakes. He would spend hours thus, musing on the wonderful\nworks of Nature, and wondering where she kept her marvellous paint-box.\n\n\u201cNow, Prince Oswald was very good-looking. He was tall and slender as\nthe young saplings about him, but he was powerful and strong of limb,\ntoo; and when his brothers told him to choose a wife among the pretty\nmaidens of the land, almost any of the princesses would have been glad\nto be chosen. But Prince Oswald was in no hurry to choose; he did not\nfall in love very easily, and he thought he would just wait until the\nright princess came along.\n\n\u201cOne day, when lying on the shore of a beautiful body of water, he\nnoticed that the sky was suddenly tinged with red. He rubbed his eyes\nwith amazement, but the red hue tinged every object that he looked upon;\nthe treetops, the lake, and the deer that glided along the edge of the\nforest had a delicate crimson splendor. In the midst of this fairy\nspectacle he heard a musical voice sigh, and turning around saw a\nradiantly beautiful woman standing near him. Her countenance was lovely,\nand her glorious brown eyes were sparkling with light. She smiled as she\nlooked upon him, and for a minute her teeth gleamed white as little\npearls between her red lips. Her splendid golden hair hung in soft\nmasses below her waist, and the wind was blowing it softly about. Her\ngarments were loose and flowing, and variegated in color, shading from\nthe tenderest pink to the deepest crimson. The wonderful dyes of her\ndress seemed to float away from her in rosy clouds, and blend in the air\nuntil the rich rose-color around glowed and deepened to a magnificent\nred.\n\n[Illustration: \u201c_Turning around he saw a radiantly beautiful woman near\n                                 him._\u201d\n                                                             (Page 130)]\n\n\u201cAs Oswald stood gazing upon this gorgeous maiden, she addressed him in\na low and charming voice: \u2018O, dreamer of the woods, am I not worth\nseeking? Why do you waste your life in idleness here? Look for me in the\nland that lies westward, beyond the setting of the sun. There may be\nmany obstacles in your path, but, overcoming them, you will find your\nbride awaiting you. Am I not worth the winning?\u2019\n\n\u201cFor answer, Oswald sprang forward to clasp her in his arms, but at that\ninstant the red light glowed more brightly about her, flaring to a\nbrilliant flame; and thus standing in its midst, she disappeared in a\nsea of fire, leaving the sky and water a dull, heavy gray.\n\n\u201cPrince Oswald returned to the palace deeply wrapped in thought, and\nindeed he could think of nothing but the beautiful maiden he had seen.\nThe next morning he determined he would seek and find her, because until\nhe did he felt he could never be happy again. After making preparations\nto go, and bidding his brothers good-bye, he started alone to seek the\nLand of the Setting Sun. First he found the spot by the lake where, the\nevening before, he had watched the glorious beauty of the strange\nmaiden, and he sat down in silence. Again the sky took on its delicate\nrose, deepening until the ruby splendor of the clouds piled themselves\ninto gold and crimson palaces. From one of these palaces Oswald felt\nconfident his beautiful lady would emerge, and tremblingly he sat\nexpectant. Suddenly the same peculiar sigh met his ears, and turning to\ngreet the lovely stranger, he saw to his disappointment only a\nglittering sword. The blade was, of course, of shining steel, but the\nhandle was formed of one magnificent ruby. The radiance from this superb\njewelled handle was magnificent. It gleamed and sparkled in flaming red,\nuntil the whole western world glowed with the bright reflection.\n\n\u201cOswald realized with a beating heart that it was a message from the\nmysterious lady, and he lifted the sword to his side. Then feeling brave\nenough to meet any dangers because she had sent him the sword, he\nstarted on his travels to the Land of the Setting Sun. Over hills and\nprairies, but always toward the west, Prince Oswald travelled. He rested\nby night only, and at early dawn was off again. On the third night he\nsaw a bright light ahead, and on approaching it found it to be a\nbeautiful princess. She was dressed in a gown of spun silver, and on her\nforehead there shone one magnificent star. She greeted him kindly, and\ntold him she was the Evening Star, and would light him through the dark\nforest. He thanked her gratefully, and accompanied her in among the dark\nand gloomy trees. She glided ahead, and the light from the beautiful\nstar crown showed him the way, even in the darkest places. Evening Star\ntold him she recognized him in the distance by the ruby-hilted sword he\nwore. \u2018You seek the Princess Sunset,\u2019 she continued, \u2018do you not?\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018Yes,\u2019 replied Oswald, \u2018and I shall never rest until I find her.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018Alas!\u2019 said Evening Star, \u2018though I sincerely wish you success, I must\ntell you that many difficulties will beset you, for of all the young men\nwho have passed this way in quest of the golden-haired Princess not one\nhas ever returned. The obstacles that have beset them have proven too\ngreat, and they have never yet been able to rescue her.\n\n\u201c\u2018She is wonderfully beautiful, though, and I am not surprised that you\nseek her. Once I met her face to face, and I could never forget what a\nvision of beauty she was. It was a charming evening, and I had risen\nover the purple hills a little earlier than usual. Tall and majestic the\nPrincess stood upon the hilltop, clothed in her marvellous dress of\ncrimson. Her great brown eyes looked questioningly into mine, and her\nsplendid hair floated back from her lovely face in a sort of golden\nmist, while the breeze blew her long, trailing robes across the sky. Her\nexquisite form stood plainly outlined thus for several minutes, and the\ncrimson colors from her garments tinged the heavens from a delicate pink\nto a brilliant ruby-red. Then suddenly stretching forth her arms toward\nme, she greeted me with a tender smile of welcome, and vanished. Never\nshall I forget her charm. She was the daughter of a great king and lived\nin a splendid palace, but she was as gentle and tender-hearted as a\nchild. Her great delight was to roam the woods, gathering flowers and\nweaving them into a gorgeously colored robe. The brighter the flower the\nbetter she loved it. Red, yellow, blue, all were gathered and woven\ntogether, until the dress was a miracle of beauty and brightness. Her\ngown was so brilliant, that when she wore it the very skies reflected\nthe colors, and she would stand upon the hilltop and let the flowing\nskirts trail out in long, loose lines across the heavens. This was her\ndelight.\n\n\u201c\u2018People came from far and wide to see the Sunset Princess in her flower\ndress, for when she wore it she was marvellously beautiful. Among them\nonce came a wicked magician, and the moment his eyes fell upon her he\ndetermined to marry her. So, to gain his end, he killed her father and\nher brothers, and destroyed all her people. Then he stole her, and hid\nher in his western palace; and there he has kept her a prisoner ever\nsince. But she declares she will never, never marry such a cruel\nmonster, even if she should never escape, and he cannot marry her\nwithout her consent.\n\n\u201c\u2018Now, the poor Princess has the power to appear in a dream to any one\nshe wishes to come and deliver her from the wicked old magician\u2019s power.\nBut this is her only privilege. She can never stir from his palace\n(except in dreams) unless by his especial invitation. Once every day he\ninvites her to come forth. At the sunset hour he calls her, and with her\nmaidens she walks out upon a spacious balcony. But she is a brave\nprincess, and she courageously wears her crimson flower dress, and gives\nhim only scornful looks.\n\n\u201c\u2018The magician occasionally invites her out on the balcony for a cruel\npurpose\u2014to show her the fate of each brave knight who tries to rescue\nher. Sometimes the gallant youth is already dead. Sometimes the wicked\nmagician changes him into some four-footed creature before her eyes,\nmaking him wander upon the earth afterward as an animal. Alas! dear\nPrince,\u2019 continued Evening Star, sadly, \u2018I dread to see you go upon this\ndangerous expedition.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018Do not fear for me,\u2019 answered Oswald, bravely. \u2018At last, I have\nlearned where the beautiful Princess of my dreams is imprisoned. No\nmatter what the dangers are, I will find her and rescue her.\u2019\n\n\u201cIndeed, he was so rejoiced at the news brought by Evening Star that he\nslept with a light heart that night, and at early dawn started again\ntoward the Setting Sun. Every evening the sky was tinged with the lovely\nred, but he had no other sign from the Princess.\n\n\u201cOne night he stopped at a castle where he met the beautiful daughter of\na wealthy and powerful duke. After a handsome banquet and ball given in\nhis honor, where the young countess paid him the highest honors, the\nduke approached him, and offered to give him her hand in marriage if he\nwould remain and help to govern the people.\n\n\u201cNow, Oswald was very grateful for all this kindness, but his heart was\ntoo full of the Sunset Princess to think of any other maiden. So, after\nthanking the duke courteously, he declined the honor. The young countess\ntossed her pretty head in disdain when she heard he loved another, and\ntold him he was a fool for his pains, and that he would never rescue the\nSunset Princess.\n\n\u201cBut Oswald was not discouraged by her words, and continued his journey.\n\n\u201cThat night he approached another forest, so dark and gloomy that he\ncould not see his hand before him. But he remembered the red light that\nshone from his ruby-handled sword, and when he held it up he saw the\npath quite plainly before him. He heard dreadful squeaking noises all\nabout him; groans and sudden cries and many dangers beset him.\n\n\u201cPresently a hideous giant arose. He was tall, and had green eyes, which\nhe rolled awfully, and he gnashed his long white teeth as Oswald came\nalong.\n\n\u201c\u2018You cannot enter my country,\u2019 he growled loudly, and for a moment\nOswald felt he didn\u2019t want to enter it, because he saw (by the red light\nof his sword) a man being bitten to death by two horrid snakes. One\nsnake was blue and one was white.\n\n\u201cBut Prince Oswald was brave as could be, and he could not see the man\nbeing killed, without helping him; so he dashed forward, and in one\ninstant had killed both snakes with his shining blade, and rescued the\nman.\n\n\u201cBut just as he thought he had won a victory, a great swirling current\nof water appeared at his feet, and he leaped back only in time to escape\na blow from the tail of a great black dragon. Now he knew the forest was\nbewitched; but he continued his journey, and all day long he fought for\nhis life. Sometimes it was with wild beasts, and sometimes with the\nmagician in person; but Oswald never let go his sword for one minute,\nand the great magic of its blade protected him. At last the cool shadows\nof evening began to fall, and the goblins became less and less\ntroublesome.\n\n\u201cThen suddenly he perceived in his path a beautiful maiden. She seemed\nalmost a phantom, for floating around and about her was a ghostly mist.\nBut for all that, she was wondrously fair, with an unearthly sort of\nbeauty. Her eyes shone like stars out of her snowy draperies, and her\nvoice had a far-away sound, like the tinkle of silver bells.\n\n\u201c\u2018O Prince of the Wonderful Sword,\u2019 she said, \u2018you have done me a great\nfavor. I am the White Lady of the Mist, and my golden shuttle was stolen\nby the wicked old magician who stole the Sunset Princess. I could do\nnothing without it, for all my power lies in its magic. In fighting and\novercoming the magician\u2019s imps in the forest to-day you have restored it\nto me; his snares can never more affect me. So, now, I will prove that\nmy power is restored, and that I am free again, by serving you. I will\nblind these wicked enemies of yours, so that they will seek you in vain,\nand I will conduct you safe this night through the Forest of Terrors.\u2019\n\n\u201cSo saying, she began weaving with the shuttle, and a wondrous weaving\nit was, for long streamers of mist floated like a white veil over the\nforest. Little by little the ghostly vapor covered everything. Faster\nand faster she wove, singing softly as she did so a curious kind of\nrhyme:\u2014\n\n  \u201c\u2018Wonderful Shuttle, weaving for me,\n  Cover each shrub and cover each tree;\n  Then, while my fairies dance and sing,\n  Straight through the forest this brave knight bring!\u2019\n\n\u201cGradually great clouds of white formed everywhere. Their gauzy vapor\nthickened as they rolled away and enclosed the whole forest. Nothing\ncould be seen but the wonderful little Lady of the Mist, and she stood\nshining and gleaming like silver in the centre of the ghostly shroud. At\nlast, when all was snowy white, she stopped singing, and bade the knight\nfollow her. Always through the thick veil he could see her shining\nbright and clear, and thus she conducted him through the dark forest.\nBut the magician\u2019s imps could not see a thing, and though Oswald heard\nthem fighting and snarling, they did not trouble him again.\n\n\u201cAt break of day, on the edge of a beautiful lake, she left him; but he\nwas in full view of the magician\u2019s elegant palace. The Lady of the Mist\nbade him remain in hiding until the sunset hour, and when the Princess\ncame out to view his dead body (or the wicked magician\u2019s skill in\nchanging him into some animal), he must hold his gleaming sword in front\nof him, and boldly advance to her side. The White Lady of the Mist\npromised to aid him at the critical moment, and she would give him a\nsign to advance and rescue the Princess: it would be a veil of mist\ndescending the mountain. He must not rush forward until the mist\nappeared, however, as she could not help him while the sun shone.\n\n\u201cThe Prince promised faithfully to follow her instructions, though it\nwas hard to wait all day. He walked around the lake, keeping well in the\nbushes, and finally hiding himself beneath the Princess\u2019s balcony.\n\n\u201cThe magician\u2019s palace was truly magnificent, for it was built all of\nsolid black ebony. It was very gloomy and terrible to look upon, but\nalso very costly, Oswald could see. The great arches of ebony that\nupheld the balcony were inlaid with glittering gold and diamonds, so\nthat the palace sparkled brilliantly in the sunlight. But a black palace\nwas an unusual sight, and one felt at a glance that it was the abode of\na magician. The floor of the balcony was inlaid with a border of\nsplendid white pearls, and precious rugs lay on the floor. Costly jewels\nwere scattered carelessly about in quantities, for the magician felt if\nhe lost anything his magic could easily restore it. Enticing fruit\ngardens grew down to the borders of the lake, and handsome trees spread\nout their cool green branches. The place was so lovely it seemed a shame\nthat such a wicked old magician should own it.\n\n\u201cToward evening, when the sun was low, the magician came out and angrily\ncalled for the Princess. It was plain to see he was in a very bad humor.\nHe had heard of the golden shuttle being restored to the White Lady of\nthe Mist, and he was fearful of her power against him. He did not know,\nhowever, that Oswald was the knight who had been successful in restoring\nit, for he had given such strict instructions to his imps of the forest,\nthat he felt sure Oswald had not escaped death.\n\n\u201cPrince Oswald\u2019s heart beat very fast as he saw the palace door open.\nWhen the lovely Princess, pale but proud and noble in her bearing,\nstepped forth, he could hardly restrain himself from falling at her\nfeet. He was bewitched by her beauty, for she was far lovelier than he\nhad supposed. But he dared not venture forth without the signal from the\nWhite Lady of the Mist. Presently, as he waited impatiently, he saw\ncreeping down the mountain-side the thin white veil. It rolled out in\nclouds, for the White Lady realized she had a great work to do. The old\nmagician, however, did not see the mist, because his face was turned the\nother way. He could not understand why his imps did not hurry across the\nlake with Prince Oswald, as they had done with the other knights. They\nshould suffer for this delay on the morrow, he growled.\n\n\u201cBut Prince Oswald understood the delay. The little imps had not caught\nhim; and he also knew by the thickly forming mist it was time to act.\nGrasping his shining sword firmly in his right hand, in one swift bound\nhe reached the Princess\u2019s side. He caught her hand in his, and she clung\nto him in pure joy and delight. At that moment the magician turned and\nsaw them standing together. With a loud cry of rage he sprang toward\nthem, but it was too late.\n\n\u201cAt this minute great clouds of mist rolled over them and completely\ncovered their forms. Everything was shrouded in ghostly white, and\nvolumes of vapor continued to roll down the mountain-sides. Faster and\nfaster came the heavy veil, completely blinding the magician. But Oswald\npicked the Princess lightly up in his arms, and holding his gleaming\nruby sword before him as a lantern, ran easily through the fog. He\nreached the lake and found it as clear as crystal, and saw no sign of\nthe mist except behind them. Evening Star shone brightly in the heavens\nto light them across the dimpling waters, and she had placed a lovely\ncanoe in the green bushes for them. All this time the White Lady of the\nMist was hanging her curtains behind the lovers, while her golden\nshuttle was weaving them so thick, that even the magician\u2019s sharp eyes\ncould not penetrate their folds.\n\n\u201cPrince Oswald and his Princess now saw clearly, and Evening Star\ndirected their footsteps. When far from the wicked magician, and safe,\nthey sat down to rest. Oswald told the Princess how much he loved her,\nand begged her to marry him; she in gentle tones thanked him for what he\nhad done, and gladly consented.\n\n\u201cJust then Evening Star approached, and begged them to rest in her\nbeautiful country. Gorgeous palaces awaited them, and a splendid people\nwanted to be governed, she said. \u2018And,\u2019 she added, \u2018if you consent, each\nnight I will come and visit you, for I love the Sunset Princess as a\nsister, and my greatest happiness will be to watch yours.\u2019\n\n\u201cThen the Sunset Princess, who also loved Evening Star, begged Oswald to\nconsent. They lived ever afterward in that charming country on the banks\nof a great and lovely lake. The waters of the lake were so clear that\nthe pebbles many feet below glistened like fire-opals. There they lived\nin great happiness; and as the years went by Oswald loved his beautiful\nwife more, for she was charming to see.\n\n\u201cEach evening, as the sun went down, Oswald and his lovely family (for\nthere were many little children) met on the shores of the lake, and the\nPrincess always wore her bright flower dress. Even now, if you will but\nwatch for their coming, you will see them yourself. First comes the\nPrincess, proud and graceful as on that first evening when Oswald\ndiscovered her. Prince Oswald is close beside, and the children troop\ndown in brilliant flower dresses like their mother\u2019s. The red sandstone\ncliffs on the high banks of the lake are the first to catch the glow of\nthe children\u2019s garments. Suddenly the dull sandstone reflects a\nbrilliant light, gleaming out like burning fire. The glowing cliffs\ntinge with magic colors the soft fleecy clouds above, and one by one\nthese colors deepen. Purple, gray, pink, gold, and crimson lights blend\ntogether, in glorious confusion. The calm surface of the water reflects\nthe brightly colored heavens, and gradually the whole western world is\naflame.\n\n\u201cThus each evening, in this glorious field of color, Oswald and his\nfamily watch the sky, and await the nightly visit of the splendid\nEvening Star.\u201d\n\n\n\n\n                               CHAPTER X\n       HOW THE MOON PRINCESS WAS TAKEN CAPTIVE BY THE BLACK DWARF\n\n\n                      [Illustration: (unlabelled)]\n\nAs the guide finished his story of the Sunset Princess, Ethelda noticed\nthey had passed through the forest, and it was with a little thrill of\nterror she saw the black dwarf and his companions a short distance\nahead.\n\nAfter thanking their kind messenger for his guidance and the delightful\nstories he had told them, Prince Dorion and his party joined the dwarf.\nHe seemed more hideous than ever, but his manner was perfectly\nrespectful as he greeted his guests, and he hardly looked at the\nPrincess. Two days of travel followed,\u2014days during which new beauties of\nthe earth were revealed; and because of her interest in these beauties\nthe lovely Moon Princess almost forgot her sad forebodings. She did not\nsee the black dwarf during that time, and the horror of his presence\nalmost passed. He kept out of her sight, and remaining in front with his\nimps, led the way.\n\nGold and silver had been scattered as they travelled, and for each piece\nthat fell there formed later a splendid mine. The precious metal,\nmelting and filtering through the earth in slender veins, reached\nfinally the heart of the deepest mountains. There it spread and grew,\nuntil to-day the earth is full of its treasures in gold and silver\nmines.\n\nOne day, Ethelda, light-hearted and happy, had loitered behind for a\nmoment, to gather some tiny green ferns creeping between the rocks. She\nwas stooping to pluck one, when suddenly she felt herself rudely seized.\nLooking up, she saw it was the black dwarf who had her within his grasp.\nShe tried to get away, but his grip was like iron on her delicate arm.\nShe could not move, and realizing her utter helplessness, she screamed\naloud. Her agonizing call reached her husband, but too late for him to\naid her. For the black dwarf stamped violently upon the ground, which\nopened wide, and with her in his arms he sank into the opening, which\nimmediately closed over them. Then Ethelda fainted.\n\nWhen she recovered, she found she was in a large vaulted chamber, in a\nbig cave. The light was very poor, but she could see the ugly black\ndwarf watching her steadily. For a moment she thought she would die of\nfright, and then she remembered that, as a Moon maiden, she had the\npower to protect herself from harm. In that instant her courage returned\nand strengthened her. Softly she repeated the words of the charm she had\nlearned in the nursery of the Moon palace, and had sung at her mother\u2019s\nknee. In a low, musical voice she chanted:\u2014\n\n  Rays of the Moon, brilliant and bright,\n  Protect me by day, protect me by night.\n  Naught can harm me when in your embrace,\n  Protect me you must, as child of your race.\n  Send but the halo seen often about you,\n  And I promise, sweet mother, I never shall doubt you.\n\nAs she sang, a beautiful halo formed gradually about her, such as you\nsometimes see about the moon, and in the centre of this great shining\nspace Ethelda stood alone.\n\nWhen she moved, her white and silver dress flashed in long sparkling\nrays, like the moonlight on the water. The black man covered his eyes to\nshield them at first from the blinding light, for it was like the sudden\nflashing of midday into the darkest night, and the cave became very\nbright. He looked on surprised, not understanding Ethelda\u2019s words, and\non finding what she had done he was completely astounded. He stepped\nforward quickly to snatch her from the glowing circle, but found he\ncould not reach her side. Then he became furious and called his imps,\nwho swarmed to his assistance; but when they approached the maiden, a\nbarrier of iron seemed to stand before them. They could not break it\ndown at all, nor could they penetrate the beaming circle. Ethelda was\nsafe from any harm except imprisonment.\n\nThe dwarf soon abandoned all thought of reaching her, and in truth he\nnever really meant to harm her, but had stolen her to marry her. So he\ndetermined to try kindness to win her love, and though he kept her a\nprisoner, he was not otherwise unkind. In many ways he tried to please\nher.\n\nFor years he had been fitting up a wonderful cave, hoping some day to\ninduce a lovely maiden to accept and marry him. But he was so ugly and\nrepulsive that all the Earth maidens shunned him. Still he had gone on\ndecorating the cave, determined to steal a wife if necessary.\n\nHe had gone to the Earth festival with the intention of finding a wife\nthere, but when his eyes fell on the Princess Ethelda he forgot all the\nother maidens. He thought her gloriously beautiful, and determined to\nsteal her, although she was already married. Therefore, he made up his\nmind that the Moon Princess should love him and forget her husband. On\nthat account he tried to be kind. Every morning he sent her a beautiful\ngift, and then soon after paid her a visit and asked her to marry him.\nEach day her reply was the same,\u2014that she loved her husband and hated\nhim, but if he would restore her to her husband, and show her her home\nin the starry skies, she would forgive his stealing her. At these words\nthe dwarf would go into a great rage and leave the room, but every day\nhe would return, hoping she had changed her mind.\n\nAt last he conceived a great idea by which he thought he could win her.\nDay and night he worked over it, and one morning, when it was completed,\nhe invited her in to see a room he had fitted especially for her to\noccupy. He thought she would be so pleased at what he had done for her\nthat she could no longer refuse him.\n\nWhen he opened the door and bade her enter, she was amazed and delighted\nin spite of herself. Round and beautiful in shape was the room. Great\nstalactites and stalagmites hung from the ceiling and grew from the\nfloors,\u2014all a mass of shining light, for they were of purest white\ncrystal, and shone like the sun. The room was richly furnished, and\nevery comfort seemed there; but all of this was not what she saw to\nadmire. It was a darker room beyond that absorbed and enchanted her. Her\neyes beheld what she thought at first was her own beautiful home again.\nQuickly she passed into it. Blue as the heavens she had left was the\nlofty ceiling she gazed into. She stared with fresh wonder at the\nbejewelled stars, and with beating heart watched their brilliant rays.\nShe expected every moment to see the Moon sail past in silver glory. But\nthe radiant splendor of her mother\u2019s Moon palace was absent, and then\nEthelda recognized with a great pang that it was not really the sky she\nsaw at all.\n\nThe countless clusters of stars overheard had been gathered only with\nuntold labor. The dwarf had stationed his numerous slaves to watch the\nheavens all the night, and when a shooting star fell they seized and\nbrought it straight to him. Gradually, therefore, toiling and working in\nthis way, they built the famous Star Chamber in the great black cave for\nthe Moon Princess.\n\nEthelda\u2019s disappointment was very keen when she learned the truth. Still\nshe loved the Star Chamber better than any other spot in her prison, and\nshe visited it often.\n\n\n\n\n                               CHAPTER XI\n              HOW THE SUN PRINCE RESCUED THE MOON PRINCESS\n\n\n                      [Illustration: (unlabelled)]\n\nIn the meanwhile Prince Dorion, distracted with grief, was trying in\nevery way to dig down deep enough to rescue his beloved bride. But the\nstones would not yield. He had seen his darling disappear in the hands\nof the hideous black dwarf, and he often came to that place to mourn.\nNight after night he visited it, hoping a miracle would restore Ethelda\nto him there. But all day he searched the world for her.\n\nThe Earth, mortified by this outrage to her hospitality, tried to help\nhim. Her granddaughters, the mermaids, had sought information from every\npart of the globe, but as yet without success. The Moon Princess had\ndisappeared from the face of the Earth completely. The year passed, and\nsorrowful and sick at heart the Sun Prince bade his companions adieu. He\ndetermined to abide upon the Earth until he found Ethelda. What was his\namazement, therefore, when the knights and maidens refused to leave him.\nThey would wait with him, they said. The loss of his bride had bound\nthem more closely together. The Sun\u2019s rays looked down appealingly and\nthe Moon ladder glittered temptingly, but they bravely turned their eyes\naway. They built a beautiful city near the Ocean, where they could see\nthe Moon ladder more plainly, but they had lost the right to climb its\nshining steps, for the twelve months had expired.\n\nPrince Dorion searched every day for his bride. He consulted a wise\nwitch living alone in a deep forest, but she shook her head sadly, and\nalways replied in these curious words:\u2014\n\n    \u201cSearch as you please,\n    But not among trees\n  Shall the fair Princess be found.\n    Go from the water\n    To the Moon\u2019s daughter;\n  There lies she in prison bound!\u201d\n\nNever a word more would she utter, and the poor Prince would puzzle\nhimself about how he could reach the Princess. But he continued his\nsearch. He would often go to the spot where his beloved had disappeared.\nA stately tree, as slender as the Princess, had sprung up there. Its\nwaving green branches swayed gently, and stretched out with delicate,\ntender leaves. Its trunk wore the white and silver dress of the Moon\nmaiden, and stood like a ghost to mark the place.\n\nThe Earth people ever after called it the Silver Birch. At its foot a\nbeautiful little spring had bubbled up, and its crystal-clear waters had\nformed a tiny stream that gurgled over the rocks, seeking to reach the\nsea. In its shining depths he sometimes saw the Moon\u2019s ladder, and he\nfancied the clear blue eyes of Ethelda looked out wistfully at him. But\nit was only the blue patches of sky overhead.\n\nOne night, sad and depressed, he sat beside the Ocean. The great\nthrobbing sea seemed to soothe him a little. While he sat there thinking\nof Ethelda, and almost despairing, a mermaid floated shoreward. Resting\nher beautiful arms on the white gleaming sand, she spoke to him.\n\n\u201cO, Prince of the Sun,\u201d she began, \u201cI have news for you\u2014news of your\nlost bride.\u201d\n\n\u201cNews of my beloved Ethelda?\u201d cried the Prince, joyously.\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d answered the mermaid, \u201cyour Ethelda is safe and unharmed. I have\nseen her.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou have seen her?\u201d cried the Prince. \u201cO favored mermaid, take me to\nher at once.\u201d\n\n\u201cMighty Prince,\u201d replied she, \u201cI have come to show you the way. Do you\nremember the bubbling stream you have often sat beside? It was formed\nfrom Ethelda\u2019s tears. Those crystal drops arose even through the rocks\nto comfort you; but deeper down ran the stream, cutting into the Earth\nuntil it formed a dark and gloomy river to lead you back to her. I found\nthis stream and followed it\u2014straight from the crystal spring into a dark\nand gloomy cave. There Ethelda lives and waits for you.\u201d\n\nA moment more and Prince Dorion was swimming beside the little mermaid.\nThey swam along the coast until a dark line showed them where the river\njoined the ocean. And after many a turn and twist in the black river,\nthey reached Ethelda\u2019s cave.\n\nThe Moon Princess sat within the vaulted Star Chamber alone. What a\nradiant creature she was! Her silver halo surrounded her, and she was\nchanting in a musical voice the pretty words which had caused it to\nform. The Sun Prince\u2019s eyes dwelt lovingly upon her, but he was amazed\nto see overhead the stars shining in the clear blue vault of heaven.\n\n\u201cEthelda,\u201d he cried softly; and his heart leaped with love at the sight\nof his bride, and bounding forward he reached her side. In another\nmoment she lay in his arms, sobbing and laughing for joy.\n\n\u201cBeloved, you are unhurt?\u201d he questioned anxiously.\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d she answered, growing calmer. \u201cI am unharmed; and in a way he was\nnot unkind. But he wished me to marry him, and so kept me in this gloomy\ncave, hoping I would consent.\n\n\u201cSee, beloved, even the stars above us he stole to comfort me and win my\nlove. Every shooting star that fell from the heavens was brought here\nand placed in that high ceiling. They shine so brightly there that the\nblackness of the ceiling seems almost blue, and sometimes I almost\nbelieve I am gazing into the skies. But, beloved, nothing comforted me\nin your absence. I have sat weeping here, forming this river of tears to\nbring you to me.\u201d\n\nPrince Dorion pressed her tenderly to his breast at these words, and\nwhispered: \u201cDry your tears now, sweetheart, you will not need them\nlonger, for I shall take you for ever away from this hideous prison.\u201d\n\nSilently he carried her to the mermaid\u2019s side, and softly they slipped\naway.\n\nBut before Ethelda left, feeling herself safe again within her husband\u2019s\narms, she slipped out of the Moon\u2019s halo and left it in the famous Star\nChamber of the black cave. There it stays for every one to see, lighting\nthe room with its silver rays in company with the glorious stars which\nthe black dwarf stole and placed there.\n\nBack again into the golden sunshine Ethelda came, and once more the\nbeautiful Moon shone down caressingly upon her. Freed from the black\ndwarf\u2019s spell, and with her loved companions, she soon recovered from\nher long imprisonment, and was lovelier and more joyous than ever. She\nhad almost forgotten those trying days and the black dwarf\u2019s cruelty,\nbut the Earth Queen had not.\n\nHer Majesty summoned the dwarf and all his wicked followers to court for\ntrial, and he did not dare to disobey her summons. Ethelda and the Sun\nPrince were invited to hear his sentence; and an awful punishment it was\nthat was put upon him. He was condemned to live always in the dark cave\nwhere he had kept Ethelda prisoner. With his followers he would never\nagain be allowed to see the Sun or the Moon; never again could he behold\nthe face of the Earth.\n\nThe Moon Princess shuddered as she heard the dreadful sentence, for to\nher darkness was the worst of punishments. She turned to the Earth Queen\nand said impulsively: \u201cOh, your Majesty, be not so cruel! Sentence them\nto anything rather than eternal darkness.\u201d\n\nSo the Earth Queen, listening to the tender pleadings of the gentle Moon\nmaiden, relented; but still the dwarf\u2019s crime must not be dealt with\nlightly. She consented, however, to allow the culprits to see the Sun\nand the Moon, but they were destined to become the slaves of the\nmermaids, and live always in the water. Then, fearing they might forget\nthey were put into the water to expiate their crime (for the mermaids\nwere kind-hearted and good), she changed them into fishes, and marked\nevery one with the shining colors of the Sun and Moon. Even now, if you\nnotice carefully the pretty fish swimming in the sparkling water, you\nwill see the fiery red color of the sun blending with the delicate\nsilver tints of the moon. These markings of gold and silver they must\ncarry for ever as evidence of their slavery, and in punishment of their\nwicked deed. In other respects they are not unhappy.\n\nEthelda and the Sun Prince dwelt always after upon the Earth, but they\nloved it, as you know. The Moon Mother, looking down and seeing their\njoy, and how contented they were, gradually became reconciled to their\nremaining. As a proof of her forgiveness and friendliness to them and\ntheir descendants, she has left the Moon ladder down. She has never\ntaken it away since the night the bridal party walked down its\nshimmering silver stairs. Every night, between the mystic hours of dusk\nand the rosy dawn, somewhere in the heavens, that splendid white palace\nis shining, and its bright ladder is stretching down in a flood of\nglory.\n\nSince then, maybe (who knows?) other Moon maidens have walked down those\njewelled steps to a honeymoon on the Earth.\n\n\n                                THE END.\n\n                      [Illustration: (unlabelled)]\n\n\n\n\n           _Mrs. Harrison\u2019s Previous Successful Fairy Books_\n\n  Prince Silverwings, and Other Fairy Tales. _Fourth Edition._\n  The Star Fairies, and Other Tales. _Second Edition._\n  Both volumes illustrated in color by Lucy Fitch Perkins. Small 4to,\n          $1.25 _net_.\n\n               A. C. McClurg & Co., Publishers, Chicago.\n\n\n\n\n                  _By Edith Ogden Harrison, Author of\n                          \u201cThe Moon Princess\u201d_\n\n\n                           Prince Silverwings\n                        _and Other Fairy Tales_\n\n                             THIRD EDITION\n\nMrs. Harrison made her literary _debut_ in this very attractive volume,\nwhich is of the kind that is sure to be always popular. There are seven\nstories in the book, and they are all told in a singularly direct and\nunaffected manner, with the engaging simplicity that is so appreciated\nby young readers. The pictures by Mrs. Perkins are in delicate tints,\nand show a charming fancy and imagination.\n\n\u201cThe stories are set forth in simple and serene English. They have a\ngreat deal of prettiness, and a delicate fancy wavers over them as the\nsun glints on a wall. The book is in pictorial ways extraordinary ...\ndelicately colored, exquisitely executed fancies that make palpable the\nillusive dreams of fairy land.\u201d\u2014_Chicago Tribune._\n\n             _Illustrations in Color by Lucy Fitch Perkins_\n                               $1.25 Net\n                    A. C. McClurg & Co., Publishers\n\n\n\n\n                  _By Edith Ogden Harrison, Author of\n                          \u201cThe Moon Princess\u201d_\n\n\n                            The Star Fairies\n                           _and Other Tales_\n\nMrs. Harrison\u2019s first book, \u201cPrince Silverwings,\u201d captured the public\ncompletely because it was, in a way, a revival of the old-fashioned\nfairy book, the simple little tales that young children really enjoy.\nThis second collection of stories is written with the same idea of\npleasing the smallest of readers,\u2014direct, simple language and always, of\ncourse, the \u201chappy ending.\u201d The book is dedicated to \u201cthe little readers\nof \u2018Prince Silverwings,\u2019\u201d and they are sure to find it quite as\ndelightful as that charming collection. Mrs. Perkins\u2019 pictures are\noriginal and artistic in coloring, and go admirably with the text.\n\n\u201cThe child who has not known the delight of an acquaintance with the\nbright little twinkling sky fairies may be introduced by these dainty\nlittle tales unearthed by Mrs. Harrison. The illustrations are exquisite\nlittle mural plates by Lucy Fitch Perkins, and the cover design and its\ntreatment are very attractive.\u201d\u2014_Chicago Evening Post._\n\n             _Illustrations in Color by Lucy Fitch Perkins_\n                               $1.25 Net\n                    A. C. McClurg & Co., Publishers\n\n\n\n\n                          Transcriber\u2019s Notes\n\n\n--Copyright notice provided as in the original\u2014this e-text is public\n  domain in the country of publication.\n\n--Silently corrected palpable typos; left non-standard (or amusing)\n  spellings and dialect unchanged.\n\n--In the text versions, delimited italics text in _underscores_ (the\n  HTML version reproduces the font form of the printed book.)","title":"The Moon Princess: A Fairy Tale","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":28686}