"I must go to the army. With a bleeding heart I part from you; but, I pray you, change yourself again into a basil-plant and remain so until my return. Show yourself to no one, whoever it may be, who enters this room. And on my return, if God wills, I will ring this little bell, and then do you again take on your present form." When he had once again kissed her she changed herself into a basil-plant, and he rode away. But two maidens who loved the Prince, and who of late had found themselves neglected and forgotten, soon learned the cause of their sorrow--namely, that the Prince had chosen another maiden. Therefore they agreed to force their way into the Prince's room and search for some token of her. When they were there they found nothing except his clothes and the basil-plant, and in it they saw nothing remarkable. They rummaged all around the room, trying to find some clew to the whereabouts of the maiden, and one of them in her restlessness took the little bell in her hand and rang it. The sorrowing golden-haired maiden, believing that it was the Prince who rang the bell, immediately changed herself back into human shape and suddenly appeared between the two. At first they were all alike embarrassed, but the two trespassers soon perceived that they had found what they sought, and they seized the poor little creature, killed her, and carried her body into the mountains. In the evening the servant who had charge of bringing the maiden her supper found no basil-plant there, but in its place a horrible pool of blood. In a moment he saw the great danger of his position, and fearing the wrath of the Emperor's son when he should return home, he fled away with all speed. But to return to the maiden. An old woman who was going along among the mountains found the headless body and the head lying near, and, feeling compassion for the young creature, she gathered certain herbs with which she called the maiden back to life. When the poor child again awoke to life and found herself in the depths of the mountains, she fell upon the old woman's neck and promised that she would never abandon her. But the old woman answered, "My dear little daughter, go, in God's name, wherever you like! I, a poor old worn-out woman, can hardly support myself, to say nothing of you. But you are young and strong, and, with God's help, will get on nicely." But the maiden answered her, "Neither now nor ever, so long as God lives in heaven! You have called me back to life, and it is my debt and duty to love you till death. We shall surely make our way in the world. I will sell my golden hair, and will buy food for you; and when my hair is all sold I will gather herbs in the mountains and feed you."