“Ah,” replied the Fire Fairy, “that is indeed our dear Princess. A flame she is, and a flame she must remain, until that prince comes at last who alone can set her free.” Then he told Prince Radiance the story of the spell that had been cast upon her in her cradle; told him of the wondrous Veil that lay hidden in the Wise One’s ancient chest; told him also of the many princes who had vainly sought to see it, that they might deliver the Princess. “I, too, must go,” exclaimed Prince Radiance. “Who knows but I may be more fortunate than they. Tell me at once where this Wise One is to be found.” Filled with the hope that this at last might be the true prince, the fairy told him exactly how to find the Wise One’s hut, and the Prince hurried away. He had not gone far, however, when what was his joy to hear once more, soft and faint at first, but clearer and stronger as he proceeded, that voice that had so charmed him a little while before. Eagerly, scarce daring to breathe, lest he should startle the Princess, and drive her from him, the Prince hastened toward her. She was poised at the foot of a great fire-oak, her flame seeming to wax or wane as the music rose or fell. So silently the Prince advanced that he stood beside her before she was aware. “Princess! Princess White Flame!” he cried low, “Here am I, Prince Radiance, come to serve you. Say that you are willing that it should be so.” At the sound of his voice, the singing of the Princess ceased suddenly. Flashing and trembling at the unexpected appearance of this stranger, she seemed about to take flight. “Nay, do not leave me,” he besought her. “Tell me, rather, that I too may seek to deliver you from the cruel spell that binds you thus.” So did his face glow with the love that her voice had awakened in his heart, so did his own voice thrill with tenderness, that a soft and roseate flush passed over the whiteness of the flame, as if in answer. Yet she spoke no word. “I know what I must do,” pursued the Prince. “A fairy has told me. Even now I was on my way to seek the Wise One, and happily to bring forth the mystic Veil. Do you bid me go?” He paused, and waited for the Princess to speak. [Illustration: “Here am I, Prince Radiance, come to serve you.”] “Yes,” she whispered softly, “go. But ah--if you should not see this Veil--what then?” “Then--ah then,” he answered quickly, “I will return to you, and gaze upon your pure and beauteous flame, and listen to your magic voice, till love shall make keen the eyes that were too dull before. Say that you will await me here!” Again a rosy flush overspread the whiteness of the Princess. “I promise you,” she said. “When you return, you will find me waiting.”