terrible one when the three spinstress Sisters
twist and coil thereon the thread of our destinies and the strings of
our hearts.

The seven godmothers could modify, but could not annul Alcuine's decree,
and thus the fate of the Princess was determined. "Aurore will prick her
hand with a spindle; she will not die of it, but will fall into a sleep
of a hundred years, from which the son of a king will come to arouse
her."

CHAPTER II

ANXIOUSLY the King and Queen consulted, in respect of the decree
pronounced upon the Princess in her cradle, all persons of learning and
judgment, notably Monsieur Gerberoy, perpetual secretary of the Academy
of Sciences, and Dr. Gastinel, the Queen's accoucheur. "Monsieur
Gerberoy," Satine inquired, "can one really sleep a hundred years?"
"Madame," answered the Academician, "we have examples of sleep, more or
less prolonged, some of which I can relate to Your Majesty. Epimenides
of Cnossos was born of the loves of a mortal and a nymph. While yet a
child he was sent by Dosiades, his father, to watch the flocks in
the mountains. When the warmth of midday enveloped the earth, he laid
himself down in a cool, dark cave, and there he fell into a slumber
which lasted for fifty-seven years. He studied the virtues of the
plants, and died, according to some, at the age of a hundred and
fifty-four years; according to others at the age of two hundred and
ninety-eight.

"The story of the seven sleepers of Ephesus is related by Theodore
and Rufinus, in a manuscript sealed with two silver seals. Briefly
expounded, these are the principal facts. In the year 25 of our Lord,
seven of the officers of the Emperor Decius, who had embraced the
Christian religion, distributed their goods to the poor, retired to
Mount Celion, and there all seven fell asleep in a cave. During the
reign of Theodore the Bishop of Ephesus found them there, blooming like
roses. They had slept for one hundred and forty-four years.

"Frederick Barbarossa is still asleep. In the crypt beneath a ruined
castle, in the midst of a dense forest, he is seated before a table
round which his beard has twisted seven times. He will awake to drive
away the crows which croak around the mountain.

"These, madame, are the greatest sleepers of whom History has kept a
record."

"They are all exceptions," answered the Queen. "You, Monsieur Gastinel,
who practise medicine, have you ever seen people sleep a hundred years?"

"No, madame," re