So they ran; but what was their dismay when they found that the
cradle was empty; and though they sought high and low, not a trace
of Rosanella could they discover. The Queen was inconsolable, and
so, indeed, was the King, only being a man he did not say quite so
much about his feelings. He presently proposed to Balanice that
they should spend a few days at one of their palaces in the
country; and to this she willingly agreed, since her grief made
the gaiety of the capital distasteful to her. One lovely summer
evening, as they sat together on a shady lawn shaped like a star,
from which radiated twelve splendid avenues of trees, the Queen
looked round and saw a charming peasant-girl approaching by each
path, and what was still more singular was that everyone carried
something in a basket which appeared to occupy her whole
attention. As each drew near she laid her basket at Balanice's
feet, saying:

'Charming Queen, may this be some slight consolation to you in
your unhappiness!'

The Queen hastily opened the baskets, and found in each a lovely
baby-girl, about the same age as the little Princess for whom she
sorrowed so deeply. At first the sight of them renewed her grief;
but presently their charms so gained upon her that she forgot her
melancholy in providing them with nursery-maids, cradle-rockers,
and ladies-in-waiting, and in sending hither and thither for
swings and dolls and tops, and bushels of the finest sweetmeats.

Oddly enough, every baby had upon its throat a tiny pink rose. The
Queen found it so difficult to decide on suitable names for all of