neck gracefully and spreading her diamond-sprinkled
wings. "I can see my reflection in the water, and I'm
sure there is no bird nor beast, nor human as
magnificent as I am!"

"How shall we get back to the island, your Majesty?"
pleaded Ervic.

"When my fame spreads throughout the land, people
will travel from all parts of this lake to look upon my
loveliness," said Coo-ee-oh, shaking her feathers to
make the diamonds glitter more brilliantly.

"But, your Majesty, we must go home and we do not
know how to get there," Ervic persisted.

"My eyes," remarked the Diamond Swan, "are
wonderfully blue and bright and will charm all
beholders."

"Tell us how to make the boat go -- how to get back
into the island," begged Ervic and the others cried
just as earnestly: "Tell us, Coo-ee-oh; tell us!"

"I don't know," replied the Queen in a careless tone.

"You are a magic-worker, a sorceress, a witch!"

"I was, of course, when I was a girl," she said,
bending her head over the clear water to catch her