“‘What does it mean?’ said Asgard tenderly, lifting the Silver Princess from her knees. ‘Why are you so unhappy? I love you with all my heart, little Princess. Will you not consent to marry me? Ask your sisters to spare you, for I cannot live without you.’ “‘Alas,’ she replied, ‘my sisters have gone for ever from my sight. When you first touched me I became a mortal like you, and I cannot now return to them.’ “‘O, little Princess, do not be sad,’ replied the Prince, ‘for you have made me so happy by remaining. Surely you will not refuse now to marry me?’ “‘No,’ replied the Silver Princess, smiling through her tears. ‘I am an earth maiden now, and I love you. But though I am happy to be with you, I am sorry to lose them. Our dear mother warned them that some day I would love a mortal, and they have feared you since the night I spoke to you in the desert. That was the condition I could not tell you,’ she added shyly. ‘Your touch would make me mortal, and as you lifted me in your arms when I fell, I became an earth maiden and lost my fairy nature. But you have solved the riddle of your country, for when we enter it together, you will find that rain will follow. My sisters love me dearly, and for my sake will forgive your people. They will follow me to my new home, and though we shall never see them again, the reflection from their brilliant dresses will glow in the sky. As the rainbow, they will arch the heavens when we arrive, to show me they are near to welcome us.’ And sure enough, when Prince Asgard and the beautiful maiden of the silver dress (who was called Hyndla) entered the land of lotus flowers and acacias, they saw, arching the heavens, a magnificent rainbow. “The people greeted them with cries of joy, and gave them a magnificent wedding, for they were grateful to Princess Hyndla and her seven sisters, and they had learned all about her in messages from Prince Asgard. On the day he and the Princess Hyndla appeared, a great white cloud hovering over the city suddenly turned black, and fell in millions of sparkling drops upon their fields, and the splendid rainbow soon afterward arched the skies. “The Princess Hyndla grew more beautiful each day, and as she was wise as she was charming, you may be sure her husband loved her dearly. Together they planted row after row of handsome trees to remind them of Hyndla’s forest home; those green trees brought cool shadows, and when the clouds floated low to kiss them, the broad branches caught and held the moisture. Ever after, rain frequently fell in the land. “Years later, when the children of Hyndla and Asgard were old enough, they played in the palace gardens, and romped merrily beneath those same shade trees, and sometimes they whispered lovingly to each other the romantic story of their beautiful mother and her rainbow sisters.” CHAPTER VI HOW THE SUN PRINCESS CAME TO THE EARTH [Illustration: (unlabelled)]