not perceive Pedro, who, thinking she was a mermaid, and
might therefore cast a spell over him, hid behind a ledge of rocks, and
was able to see and hear her without being seen.

Pedro heard her singing the following words--

"I am daughter of a king
Who rules in Aragon,
My messengers they bring
Me food to live upon.
My father thinks me dead;
My death he did ordain,
For that I would not wed
A wicked knight of Spain.
But those whom he did send
To kill me in this place,
My youth they did befriend,
But cruel is my case."

"Is it even so," said Pedro to himself, "that this lovely maiden is the
daughter of a king? If I render her assistance I may incur great danger,
and if I leave her to die it will be a crying shame; what, then, am I to
do?"

As he was thus pondering in his mind, he heard a flapping of wings, and,
looking in the direction whence the noise came, he saw a pair of
perfectly white pigeons bearing a small basket between them, strung on a
thin golden bar, which they held at each end between their beaks.

Descending, they deposited the basket by the side of the princess, who
caressed them most tenderly, and then took from the basket some
articles of food which she greedily ate (for she had not eaten since the
previous morning), and after having finished the contents she again
sang--

"I am daughter of a king,
Who thinks that I am dead;
Here on this beach I sing,
By pigeons I am fed.
Thank you, my pretty birds,
Who are so kind to me.
But what avail my words?
Oh, I a bird would be!"

This wish was no sooner uttered than Pedro, much to his astonishment,
saw that the lovely princess had been turned into a white swan, with a
small gold crown on the top of its head.

Expanding her wings, she gradually rose high above him, attended by the
pigeons, and all three flew out to sea; when suddenly Pedro observed a
magnificent ship not far from the coast, whose deck was of burnished
gold, and her sides of ivory fastened with golden nails. The ropes were
of thread of silver, and the sails of white silk, while the masts and
yards were made of the finest sandal-wood.

To the ship the three birds flew, and no sooner did they alight on the
deck than Pedro observed that they were three beautiful maidens.

The princess sat on a richly ornamented chair, and the other two maidens
on velvet cushions embroidered in gol