d groaning. "Ah, me!" said
he, "my heart sadly forebodes trouble."

Sure enough, before three days had passed a bidding came to the prince
to make ready to sup with the queen that night.

When evening drew near a troop of horsemen came, bringing a white horse
with a saddle and bridle of gold studded with precious stones, to take
the prince to the queen's palace.

As soon as they had brought him thither they led the prince to a room
where was a golden table spread with a snow-white cloth and set with
dishes of gold. At the end of the table the queen sat waiting for him,
and her face was hidden by a veil of silver gauze. She raised the veil
and looked at the prince, and when he saw her face he stood as one
wonder-struck, for not only was she so beautiful, but she set a spell
upon him with the evil charm of her eyes. No one sat at the table but
the queen and the prince, and a score of young pages served them, and
sweet music sounded from a curtained gallery.

At last came midnight, and suddenly a great gong sounded from the
court-yard outside. Then in an instant the music was stopped, the pages
that served them hurried from the room, and presently all was as still
as death.

Then, when all were gone, the queen arose and beckoned the prince, and
he had no choice but to arise also and follow whither she led. She took
him through the palace, where all was as still as the grave, and so came
out by a postern door into a garden. Beside the postern a torch burned
in a bracket. The queen took it down, and then led the prince up a path
and under the silent trees until they came to a great wall of rough
stone. She pressed her hand upon one of the great stones, and it opened
like a door, and there was a flight of steps that led downward. The
queen descended these steps, and the prince followed closely behind her.
At the bottom was a long passage-way, and at the farther end the prince
saw what looked like a bright spark of light, as though the sun were
shining. She thrust the torch into another bracket in the wall of the
passage, and then led the way towards the light. It grew larger and
larger as they went forward, until at last they came out at the farther
end, and there the prince found himself standing in the sunlight and
not far from the seashore. The queen led the way towards the shore, when
suddenly a great number of black dogs came running towards them, barking
and snapping, and showing their teeth as though they would te