,
stood the Princess Madge, who had slipped into the cell unnoticed.

The man sprang to his feet, clasped the little hands in his, and said:

"I know not what you mean, sweet lady, when you say that you are mine;
but oh, you are passing beautiful!"

"Papa," called the princess, "this is quite dreadful. Quick, take off
that ugly soldier's coat and tell him who we are and all about it!"

The king, starting as if from a dream, threw off the rough coat and hat
and stepped forth into the beam of sunlight, resplendent in gold and
ermine.

"Thou dost not know me, my man? I am the king. Hast thou not read our
last proclamation?"

"No, your Majesty; I never do read proclamations."

[Illustration: I am Perfectly Content]

"Then thou didst not know that the hand of the princess is offered to
the first contented man who enters the palace?"

"No, your Majesty; I knew it not."

"Then know it now, and know, too, that thou art the man. To thee I give
my daughter, together with half my kingdom. No, no--not a word. Thou
deservest her. May you be happy!"

The prisoner, almost dumb with astonishment, almost dazed with joy,
knelt and kissed the princess's white hands, then looked into her eyes
and said:

"Ah, well it is for me that I saw you not until now, for I should have
been miserably discontented until you were mine!"

THE FLYING SHIP

_A Russian Tale_

Once upon a time there was a Princess who was always wanting something
new and strange. She would not look at the princes who came to woo her
from the kingdoms round about, because, she said, they all came in the
same way, in carriages which had four wheels and were drawn by four
horses. "Why could not one come in a carriage with five wheels?" she
exclaimed petulantly, one day, "or why come in a carriage at all?" She
added: "If one came in a flying ship I would wed him!"

So the King made proclamation that whoever came to the palace in a
flying ship should wed the Princess, and succeed to the kingdom. As the
Princess was very beautiful and the kingdom very rich, men everywhere
began to try to build ships that would fly. But that was not so easy.
They could build ships that would sail--but flying was quite another
thing!

On the far edge of the kingdom dwelt a widow with three sons. The two
elder, hearing the proclamation, said that they wanted to go to the city
and build each a flying ship. So the mother, who was very proud of these
sons, and quite convin