GREAT BLUE LOTOS-FLOWERS WERE COVERING THE BRINK TO THE WATER’S EDGE _Frontispiece_ “OH!” CRIED THE LITTLE BOY, “I SEE A DARK THING FAR AWAY IN FRONT” 10 A THING WHICH LOOKED LIKE A HUMAN FIGURE WAS LYING BY A FIRE 20 THEN SHE TURNED HALF-STARTLED AND SAW THE PRINCE 42 THE SORCERER AND THE PRINCESSES 48 THE PROCESSION WAS SEVERAL MILES LONG 56 SHE FOUND HER SITTING AT THE WINDOW WATERING HER FLOWERS 70 A DEADLY COMBAT THEN ENSUED 96 THE DOVECOTE 102 MADDY NOREY SHOWS THE QUEEN THE ROOM BEHIND THE FIERY ROSES 108 “NOW I AM SIMPLY PERFECT,” SAID SHE 122 THAT IS THE MOST CHARMING GIRL I HAVE EVER SEEN 128 HE RAN FORWARD AND HELD HER IN HIS ARMS 142 THE DAFFODIL PRINCESS 146 INSIDE THE HUT THE WITCH WAS SITTING BY THE FIRE 152 IN THE VERY MIDDLE OF THE FEAST THE PRINCE STOOD UP IN HIS PLACE, CALLING ON ALL TO LISTEN 158 HE CAME DOWN ON A WEATHERCOCK, WHICH WAS FIXED ON TOP OF A LARCH-TREE 164 _THE GOLDEN HEART_ _&_ _Other Fairy Stories_ THE GOLDEN HEART The night lay clear upon the North Sea, but now and then a soft wind came floating by; it whistled through the rigging of a fishing smack in which a little boy lay under a tarpaulin, peeping over the side of the boat down into the water below. His father had told him to be still and to go to sleep, so he lay looking up at the spangled sky above, and the masts rocking to and fro against the stars as the boat swayed about. Sometimes he thought the tall, dark forms looked like black arms trying to reach the bright lamps and put them out. He did not feel sleepy as he lay by himself and he began to wonder, as he gazed into the water, how deep it was down there, and whether the little fishes among the shells and seaweeds were ever told by their fish-fathers to go to sleep, and, if so, whether they found it as hard to do as he did. Presently he saw the eyes of a great shining fish staring up at him. It opened its mouth as if it wished to be friendly, but hardly knew how to begin, so the little boy plucked up courage, though he had never met a fish before and was not quite sure how to address one. “Is it very cold in the sea?” he inquired shyly.