was a rampart of orange and lemon trees, and all the streets were
paved with gold.

The King of this beautiful island had one son, for whom a life of
adventure had been foretold at his birth. This so frightened his
father and mother that in order to comfort them a Fairy, who
happened to be present at the time, produced a little pebble
which she told them to keep for the Prince till he grew up, as by
putting it in his mouth he would become invisible, as long as he
did not try to speak, for if he did the stone would lose all its
virtue. In this way the good fairy hoped that the Prince would
be protected against all dangers.

No sooner did the Prince begin to grow out of boyhood than he
longed to see if the other countries of the world were as
splendid as the one in which he lived. So, under pretence of
visiting some small islands that belonged to his father, he set
out. But a frightful storm drove his ship on to unknown shores,
where most of his followers were put to death by the savages, and
the Prince himself only managed to escape by making use of his
magic pebble. By this means he passed through the midst of them
unseen, and wandered on till he reached the coast, where he
re-embarked on board his ship.

The first land he sighted was the Island of Roses, and he went at
once to the court of the King, Rosalie's father. The moment his
eyes beheld the Princess, he fell in love with her like everyone
else.

He had already spent several months in this condition when the