path.

He felt, however, that great prudence was necessary, or he
himself might become the victim of some enchantment; and he was
thankful to slip past the dragons, and enter a beautiful park,
with clear streams and sweet flowers, and a crowd of men and
maidens. But he could not forget the terrible things he had
seen, and hoped eagerly for a clue to the mystery. Noticing two
young people talking together, he drew near thinking that he
might get some explanation of what puzzled him. And so he did.

'You swear,' said the Prince, 'that you will love me till you
die, but I fear your faithless heart, and I feel that I shall
soon have to seek the Fairy Despair, ruler of half this island.
She carries off the lovers who have been cast away by their
mistresses, and wish to have done with life. She places them in
a labyrinth where they are condemned to walk for ever, with a
bracelet on their arms and a cord round their necks, unless they
meet another as miserable as themselves. Then the cord is pulled
and they lie where they fall, till they are buried by the first
passer by. Terrible as this death would be,' added the Prince,
'it would be sweeter than life if I had lost your love.'

The sight of all these happy lovers only made the Prince grieve
the more, and he wandered along the seashore spending his days;
but one day he was sitting on a rock bewailing his fate, and the
impossibility of leaving the island, when all in a moment the sea
appeared to raise itself nearly to the skies, and the caves
echoed with hideous screams. As he looked a woman rose from the
depths of the sea, flying madly before a furious giant. The