At length one of the very oldest of the sages remembered the prophecy about which the King had dreamed on the night of the storm, when Alonzo came to the island. "There can be no doubt," he observed, "that the first part referred to the stranger who had rendered such signal service to the state, for which service he received, as guerdon great, the hand of the Princess. "`But a sea-monster shall prey On his reward that day,' "Means, evidently, that a sea-monster will carry off and prey upon the Princess, who was his reward." The King and all his councillors acknowledged, with deep grief, that they saw the true interpretation of the prophecy, and from that time forth no one in the Island of Gracia doubted that the Princess had been carried off by a sea-monster. STORY SIX, CHAPTER NINE. The mighty Spirit of the Storm bore in his arms the gentle Serena rapidly across the ocean, till at length they arrived in front of a palace of crystal, which stood so completely at the very edge of the sea, that the walls which were reflected on its tranquil surface seemed to rise directly out of it. No words can describe the beauty and elegance of its architecture, the gracefulness of its delicate pillars, and the light tracery-work of its innumerable arches, all of the same pure, glistening substance, extending on either side, in a succession of airy colonnades, as far as the eye could reach, and, arch above arch, rising almost, it seemed, to the skies. No mortal workmen could have raised that wonderful edifice. The portals flew wide open as Borasco and the Princess approached, and placing her on the crystal steps which led down beneath the water, he conducted her forward through a hall, which surpassed in beauty and magnificence even the exterior of the building, so light and airy, so richly adorned at the same time was it with polished coral and delicate tinted shells, and emeralds, and precious stones of every description.