last, when they were quite weary, the princess cried out suddenly
that nothing would content her but to bathe in the marble pool, which
certainly did look very inviting; and they all went gaily to this new
amusement. The princess was ready first, but scarcely had she slipped
over the rim of the pool when down--down--down she sank, and vanished in
its depths before her frightened playmates could seize her by so much as
a lock of her floating golden hair!

Loudly did they weep and wail, running about the brink of the pool,
which looked so shallow and so clear, but which had swallowed up their
princess before their eyes. They even sprang into the water and tried
to dive after her, but in vain; they only floated like corks in the
enchanted pool, and could not keep under water for a second.

They saw at last that there was nothing for it but to carry to the king
the sad tidings of his beloved daughter's disappearance. And what great
weeping and lamentation there was in the palace when the dreadful news
was told! The king tore his robes, dashed his golden crown from his
head, and hid his face in his purple mantle for grief and anguish at the
loss of the princess. After the first outburst of wailing, however, he
took heart and hurried off to see for himself the scene of this strange
adventure, thinking, as people will in sorrow, that there might be some
mistake after all. But when he reached the spot, behold, all was
changed again! The glittering grotto described to him by the maidens had
completely vanished, and so had the marble bath, the bower of jasmine;
instead, all was a tangle of flowers, as it had been of old. The king
was so much perplexed that he threatened the princess's playfellows with
all sorts of punishments if they would not confess something about her
disappearance; but as they only repeated the same story he presently put
down the whole affair to the work of some sprite or goblin, and tried to
console himself for his loss by ordering a grand hunt; for kings cannot
bear to be troubled about anything long.

Meanwhile the princess was not at all unhappy in the palace of her
elfish lover.

When the water-nymphs, who were hiding in readiness, had caught her and
dragged her out of the sight of her terrified maidens, she herself had
not had time to be frightened. They swam with her quickly by strange
underground ways to a palace so splendid that her father's seemed but
a poor cottage in comparison with it, and w