to the king.

The war was soon over, and the king returned to his people, who welcomed
him with shouts of joy. But when the princess from her window saw that
her betrothed was not among the attendants riding behind her father, her
heart sank, for she knew that some evil must have befallen him, and
she feared the Red Knight. She had long ago learned how clever and how
wicked he was, and something whispered to her that it was he who would
gain the credit of having carried back the sword, and would claim her as
his bride, though he had never even entered her chamber. And she could
do nothing; for although the king loved her, he never let her stand in
the way of his plans.

The poor princess was only too right, and everything came to pass
exactly as she had foreseen it. The king told her that the Red Knight
had won her fairly, and that the wedding would take place next day, and
there would be a great feast after it.

In those days feasts were much longer and more splendid than they are
now; and it was growing dark when the princess, tired out with all she
had gone through, stole up to her own room for a little quiet. But the
moon was shining so brightly over the sea that it seemed to draw her
towards it, and taking her violin under her arm, she crept down to the
shore.

'Listen! listen! said the mermaid to the prince, who was lying stretched
on a bed of seaweeds at the bottom of the sea. 'Listen! that is your old
love playing, for mermaids know everything that happens upon earth.'

'I hear nothing,' answered the youth, who did not look happy. 'Take me
up higher, where the sounds can reach me.'

So the mermaid took him on her shoulders and bore him up midway to the
surface. 'Can you hear now?' she asked.

'No,' answered the prince, 'I hear nothing but the water rushing; I must
go higher still.'

Then the mermaid carried him to the very top. 'You must surely be able
to hear now?' said she.

'Nothing but the water,' repeated the youth. So she took him right to
the land.

'At any rate you can hear now?' she said again.

'The water is still rushing in my ears,' answered he; 'but wait a
little, that will soon pass off.' And as he spoke he put his hand into
his breast, and seizing the hair wished himself a bee, and flew straight
into the pocket of the princess. The mermaid looked in vain for him, and
coated all night upon the sea; but he never came back, and never more
did he gladden her eyes. But the princess felt t