FAR AWAY IN THE DISTANCE HE SAW THE PALACE OF THE GREAT BRONZE KING 88 KNEELING BESIDE A LOW OAK CHEST HE TOOK A RUSTY KEY AND FITTED THIS INTO THE WORN KEYHOLE 106 “YOU MUST TAKE ME TO THE BRONZE KING’S DOMAIN” 116 SO SHE SANG ONE AFTER ANOTHER THE SONGS THAT SHE AND DAVID HAD LOVED 122 “THIS WAY, RUTH, THIS WAY,” WHISPERED DAVID 128 THEY TOLD ONE ANOTHER OF ALL THAT HAD TAKEN PLACE 138 “WELCOME, CHILDREN,” SHE SAID, “WELCOME TO YOUR COTTAGE” 150 THE FOREST BEYOND THE WOODLANDS CHAPTER I DAVID David was the son of an honest wood-cutter. He lived with his father in a little cottage on the border of the woodlands. Away, away as far as the eye could see stretched great tree-covered hills and mountains. This vast area was called, by the people of the country, the Dark Forest. Some feared the mysteries of this unknown and unexplored region, for there were many stories and superstitions concerning giants, gnomes, and elves who dwelt within its shaded wilderness. But David, ever since he could remember, had always had a friendly feeling for the rough, hard bark of a pine or oak tree; and the fringed softness of the paper birch had been a delight to him ever since the day he first noticed its ragged beauty--a late summer afternoon on which, as he returned to his father’s cottage, the setting sun touched the whiteness of the tree-trunk beneath the cool green of its shining leaves. “Some day I shall go far into the Forest,” he would say to himself. “Who knows what treasures I may find?” David grew fast and was strong, for his life in the woodlands was one to make any boy well and happy. He learned his father’s trade, and in a short time, although he was not nearly full grown, he could wield an axe as well as many a grown man; in fact, he could put some men to shame, for his skill was far greater than that of the average boy of his age. One day, while walking along a narrow path used by the wood-cutters, he met an old, old woman. Her dress was brown and made of a coarse homespun. A large basket strapped to her back was filled with pieces of firewood which she had been gathering. When she saw David she called to him. And as he approached her he noticed how beautiful she was; for, although her clothes were ragged, that mattered little--her face seemed more kind and beautiful than any he had ever seen. Her hair--one lock had fallen from beneath the brown cap that she wore--was white as driven snow. Her eyes were the soft colour of oak leaves in winter, and so filled with gentleness that David could only stand and look at her.