places!"

Princess Sidigunda looked surprised.

"Will the children who took my shoe be asleep?" she enquired
anxiously.

"Not they!" said the brown Troll crossly, "I wish they would be!
Children under twelve _never_ sleep. It's like having a crowd of live
eels always round me! I'd put them to sleep when they were a month
old, and not let them wake till they came of age, if I had _my_ way!"

The Princess felt rather frightened of this savage little brown man.
She was afraid to ask any more questions, though she longed to know
why he and his companions were not asleep too.

"Go straight down the street," commenced the old Troll abruptly, "out
of the green gate, along the road to the open country. Turn your shoe
into a horse, and don't stop till you reach the Crab-boy's hut. He
will direct you."

"That sounds simple enough," thought the Princess, "but I wish he
would tell me a little more!"

The brown Troll, however, refused to open his mouth again, and
Princess Sidigunda was obliged to start off upon her wanderings, with
no more guide than the few words he had chosen to speak to her.

She ran down the silent street, and out at the green gate; the
Fish-sentry allowing her to pass without objection. As soon as she
reached the country road, she walked more slowly. She particularly
wanted to see the beds with the Sea-babies, which the old Troll had
spoken about.

For some distance she noticed nothing except wide sandy plains dotted
with rocks, shells, and waving forests of giant seaweed--huge fish
darting about in all directions--but at last the scenery grew wilder;
and close to the road side she came upon a grove of oysters, each
half-open shell containing a Sea-child, whose head and arms appeared
above the edges of the shell, while its feet and body were invisible.

Beside them sat an old woman, grey and wrinkled; with a small switch
in her hand, with which she occasionally touched the Sea-babies as
they leaned too far from their shells, or as their laughter rose too
noisily.

The little Princess stopped and looked at the children curiously; and
the old woman stepped forward and made a polite curtsey.

"They are rather noisy to-day," she said deprecatingly. "The
oyster-nurses have gone out for a holiday, and I have to keep the
whole bed in order!"

"I should like to wait and play with them," said the Princess, "but I
really am in such a hurry--I've lost my golden shoe."

"Oh, you're going to the Crab-boy,