that the fragrant breath of the
Princess seemed to meet his nostrils, and yet his lips did not meet
hers.

Again they circled round while all stood still and tense. Again the
chestnut steed rose to the leap, and, this time, the lips of Ivan met
those of the Princess in a long sweet kiss, for the chestnut horse
seemed to linger in the air at the top of its leap while that kiss
endured.

Then, while the Princess looked after, horse and rider reached the
ground and disappeared like lightning.

Instantly the host of onlookers swarmed in.

'Who is he? Where is he?' was the cry on every hand. 'He kissed her on
the lips, and she kissed him. Look at her! Is it not true?'

It was true, for Princess Helena the Fair, with a lovelight in her eyes,
was leaning down and searching, with all her soul, even for the very
dust spurned from the heels of her lover's horse. But she could see
nothing, and sank back within her shrine, treasuring the kiss upon her
lips; while the people, dissatisfied, but wondering greatly, melted
away. Among them went the splendid brothers, seeking how they could sell
their well-trained horses to advantage, for they had both been
frantically near to the Princess's lips.

Whither had Ivan flown on the chestnut horse? Loosing the reins--he
cared for nothing but the kiss--he let his steed go, and presently it
came to a standstill before his father's grave. There he dismounted and
turned the horse adrift. As if its errand was completed, it galloped
off; a rainbow came down to meet it, and, closing in, seemed to snatch
it up in its folds. Ivan was alone before his father's grave.

Once more he bowed himself in prayer. Once more his father appeared
before him.

'Thou hast done well, O my son,' he said. 'Thou hast fulfilled my dying
wish, but my living wish is yet to be fulfilled. To-morrow Helena the
Fair will summon the people and demand her bridegroom. Be thou there,
but say nothing.'

With this Ivan found himself alone.

On the following day there was a great gathering at the palace, and, in
the midst of it, sat Princess Helena the Fair demanding her
bridegroom--the one who had leapt to her lips and won her from all
others. Her heart and soul and body were his. The half of her kingdom to
come was his. She, herself, was his;--where was he?

Search was made among the highest in the land, but, fearing a demand for
the repetition of the leap and the kiss, none came forward. Ivan sat at
the back, a humb