knock upon the door. It was the Prince, and behind him were
gathered his own, the good and true, according to her wish. How could
she meet him in her peasant's garb? A quick thought came to her. She
took the third egg and smashed it on the floor, saying: 'I wish that I
may come face to face with my Prince in all the dazzling splendour that
befits a princess.'

Instantly there was a flash as if a fairy wand had cleft the air. And
there stood Florine, the most splendidly royal figure you could imagine.
She was beautiful beyond words--so beautiful that the wonderful jewels
in her hair and on her lovely dress, on her neck and arms and tiny
shoes, could never have got their beauty from any one but her.

She opened the door, and stepped back with a cry of delight. As she did
so, she placed her hand to her breast where she felt the frail little
box that contained the fourth and last egg.

In another moment she was in the Prince's arms, and the pressure of that
embrace crushed the box and broke the egg.

'I wish,' she cried on the instant, raising her lips to his, 'I wish
that you will love me for ever!'

BASHTCHELIK (OR, REAL STEEL)

A SERBIAN FAIRY TALE

The aged Tsar was dying, and his three sons and three daughters were
standing round his bed. He had yet strength to give his last commands,
which were extraordinary.

'It is my will, O my sons,' he said, 'that you give my daughters in
marriage to the first suitors that come to demand them. Question me not,
but fulfil to the letter this, my last injunction. If you fail, my curse
will fall upon you.'

These were the Tsar's last words before he died. It was approaching the
hour of midnight when he passed away; and, when the dawn found his sons
and daughters weeping for grief, they were startled by a dreadful noise.
Came a loud beating against the palace gates, and instantly an awful
tempest sprang up around the palace. Peal on peal of thunder roared, and
vivid lightning flashed. The whole place rocked and swayed and trembled
to its foundations. Then above the fearful din came a loud voice: 'In
the name of a King, open the gates!'

'Do not open!' cried the eldest brother.

'See to it that you do not open!' insisted the younger one. But the
youngest disregarded them both, and rushed to the gates.

''Tis I will open!' he flung back to them as they followed at his heels.
'Though the earth dissolve, what have we to fear? We have done no
wrong!'

With this he