He could not leave the place. What if she should come the next night! He would gladly endure a day's hunger to see her yet again; he would buckle his belt quite tight. He walked around the glade to see if he could discover any prints of her feet. But the grass was so short, and her steps had been so light that she had not left a single trace behind her.

He walked halfway around the wood without seeing anything to account for her presence. Then he spied a lovely little house with thatched roof and low eaves, surrounded by an exquisite garden, with doves and peacocks walking in it. Of course this must be where the gracious lady who loved the moonlight lived. Forgetting his appearance, he walked toward the door, determined to make inquiries, but as he passed a little pond full of gold and silver fishes, he caught sight of himself and turned to find the door to the kitchen. There he knocked and asked for a piece of bread. The good- natured cook brought him in and gave him an excellent breakfast, which the prince found nothing the worse for being served in the kitchen, While he ate, he talked with his entertainer and learned that this ws the favorite retreat of the Princess Daylight. But he learned nothing more, both because he was afraid of seeming inquisitive, and because the cook did not choose to be heard talking about her mistress to a peasant lad who begged for his breakfast.

As he rose to take his leave, it occurred to him that he might not be so far trom the old woman's cottage as he had thought, and he asked the cook whether she knew anything of such a place, describing it as well as he could. She said she knew it well enough, adding with a smile, "It's there you're going, is it?"

"Yes, if it's not far off."

She gave him full instructions, and her left her with many thanks.

Being now refreshed, however, the prince did not go back to the cottage that day. He remained in the forest, amusing himself as best he could but awaiting the night anxiously in the hope that the princess would again appear. Nor he dissappointed, for as soon as the moon rose, he spied a glimmering shape far across the glade. As it grew nearer, he saw it was she, indeed--not dressed in white as before; in a pale blue like the sky, she looked lovelier still. He thought it was that the blue suited her yet better than the white; he did not know that she was really more beautiful because the moon was nearer full. In fact the next night was the full moon, and the princess would then be at the zenith of her loveliness.

The prince feared for some time that she was not coming near his hiding place that night; but the circles in her dance ever widened as the moon rose, until at last they embraced the whole glad, and she came still closer to the trees where he was hiding than she had come the night before. He was entranced with her loveliness, for it was inded a marvelous thing. All night long he watched her but dared not go near her. He would have been ashamed of watching her, too, had he not become almost incapable of thinking of anything but how beautiful she was. He watched the whole night long and saw that as the moon went down, she retreated in smaller and smaller circles, until at last he could see her no more.

Weary as he was, he set out for the old woman's cottage. He arrived just in time for her breakfast, which she shared with him. He then went to bed and slept for many hours. When he awoke, the sun was down, and he departed in great anxiety lest he should lose a glimpse of the lovely vision. But whether it was by the machinations of the wicked fairy, or merely that it is one thing to go and another to return by the same road, he lost his way.

I shall not attempt to describe his misery when the moon rose and he saw nothing but trees, trees, trees. The moon was high in the heavens befor he reached the glade. Then indeed his troubles vanished, for there was the princess coming dancing toward him, in a dress that shone like gold. She was of course still more beautifull than before. Like an embodied sunbeam, she passed him and danced away into the distance.

Before she returned in her circle, clouds had begun to gather about the moon. The wind rose, the trees moaned, and their lighter branches leaned all one way before it. The prince feared that the princess would go in, and he should see her no more that night. But she danced on, more jubilant than ever, her golden dress and her sunny hair streming out upon the blast. She waved her arms toward the moon and, in the exuberance of her delight, ordered the clouds away. The prince could hardly believe she was not a creature of the elements after all.

By the time she had completed another circle, the clouds had gathered deep, and there were growlings of distant thunder. Just as she passed the tree where he stood, a flash of lightning blinded him for a moment, and when he saw again, to his horror, the princess lay on the ground. He darted to her, thinking she had been struck, but when she heard him coming, she was on her feet in a moment.

"What do you want?" she asked.

"I beg your pardon. I thought--the lightning--" said the prince, hesitating.

"There is nothing the matter," said the princess, waving him off rather haughtily.

The poor prince turned and walked toward the wood.

"Come back," said Daylight. "I like you. You do what you are told. Are you good?"

"Not so good as I should like to be," said the prince.

"Then go and grow better,"said the princess.

Again the disappointed prince turned and went.

"Come back," said the princess.

He obeyed and stood before her, waiting.

"Can you tell me what the sun is like?" she asked.

"No," he answered. "But where's the good of asking what you know?"

"But I don't know," she rejoined.

"Why, everybody knows."

"That's the very thing: I'm not everybody. I've never seen the sun."

"Then you can't know what it's like till you do see it."

"I think you must be a prince," said the princess.

"Do I look like one?" said the prince.

"I can't quite say that."

"Then why do you think so?"

"Because you both do what you are told and speak the truth. Is the sun so very bright?"

"As bright as the lightning."

"But it doesn't go out like that, does it?"

"Oh, no. It shines like the moon, rises and sets like the moon, is much the same shape as the moon, only so bright that you can't look at it for a moment."

"But I would look at it," said the princess.

"But you couldn't," said the prince.

"But I could," said the princess.

"Why don't you, then?"

"Because I can't."

"Why can't you?"

"Because I can't wake. And I never shall wake until--"

She hid her face in her hands, turned away, and walked in the slowest, stateliest manner toward the house.

The prince ventured to follow her at a little distance, but she turned and signaled him to halt. Like a true gentleman-prince, he obeyed at once. He waited a long time, but as she did not come near him again, and as the night had now cleared, he set off at last for the old woman's cottage.