King Alla was nearly heart-broken when he read these bad tidings, but
he wrote back to wait all things till he returned, and to harm neither
Constance nor her son. Back rode the messenger to Donegilde once
again. She played her tricks over again and got him sound asleep.
Then she took the king's letter and put one in its place commanding the
governor to put Constance and her child aboard the ship in which she
came to these shores and set her afloat.

The good governor could hardly believe his eyes when he read these
orders, and the tears ran over his cheeks for grief. But he dared not
disobey what he supposed was the command of his king and master, so he
made the vessel ready and went and told Constance what he must do.

She, poor soul, was almost struck dumb with grief. Then, kneeling
before the governor, she cried, with many tears,--

"If I must go again on the cruel seas, at least this poor little
innocent, who has done no evil, may be spared. Keep my poor baby till
his father comes back, and perchance he will take pity on him."

But the governor dared not consent, and Constance must go to the ship,
carrying her babe in her arms. Through the street she walked, the
people following her with tears, she with eyes fixed on heaven and the
infant sobbing on her bosom. Thus she went on board ship and drifted
away again.

Now, for another season, she went about at the mercy of winds and
waves, in icy waters where winds whistled through the frozen rigging,
and down into tropical seas where she lay becalmed for months in the
glassy water. Then fresh breezes would spring up and drive her this