e floating island now," said the herald, "and before you
is the palace of the Princess Crede."

At that moment the queen came out through the palace door, and the
prince was so dazzled by her beauty, that only for the golden bracelet
he wore upon his right arm, under the sleeve of his silken tunic, he
might almost have forgotten the Princess Ailinn. This bracelet was
made by the dwarfs who dwell in the heart of the Scandinavian
Mountains, and was sent with other costly presents by the King of
Scandinavia to the King of Erin, and he gave it to the princess, and
it was the virtue of this bracelet, that whoever was wearing it could
not forget the person who gave it to him, and it could never be
loosened from the arm by any art or magic spell; but if the wearer,
even for a single moment, liked anyone better than the person who gave
it to him, that very moment the bracelet fell off from the arm and
could never again be fastened on. And when the princess promised her
hand in marriage to the Prince Cuglas, she closed the bracelet on his
arm.

The fairy queen knew nothing about the bracelet, and she hoped that
before the prince was long in the floating island he would forget all
about the princess.

"You are welcome, Cuglas," said the queen, as she held out her hand,
and Cuglas, having thanked her for her welcome, they entered the
palace together.

"You must be weary after your long journey," said the queen. "My page
will lead you to your apartments, where a bath of the cool blue waters
of the lake has been made ready for you, and when you have taken your
bath the pages will lead you to the banquet hall, where the feast is
spread."

At the feast the prince was seated beside the queen, and she talked to
him of all the pleasures that were in store for him in fairyland,
where pain, and sickness, and sorrow, and old age, are unknown, and
where every rosy hour that flies is brighter than the one that has
fled before it. And when the feast was ended the queen opened the
dance with the prince, and it was not until the moon was high above
the floating island that the prince retired to rest.

He was so tired after his journey and the dancing that he fell into a
sound sleep. When he awoke the next morning the sun was shining
brightly, and he heard outside the palace the jingle of bells and the
music of baying hounds, and his heart was stirred by memories of the
many pleasant days on which he had led the chase over the plains and