The king left his daughter, and, deeply concerned, sought his wizards.

"My daughter has been born thousands of years before her time," he
declared, petulantly. "The stars have played a trick on me, and have
sent me my great-great-great-great ever so much great granddaughter
out of her turn."

The magicians did not laugh at this: they thought it a wonderfully
sage remark, and after much mysterious whispering among themselves and
consultation of old books, and gazing into crystals, they informed the
king that the stars foretold that Princess Solima would marry a poor
man!

They flattered themselves on their cleverness in arriving at this
conclusion, which they deduced from the princess contempt for
princes.

King Zuliman's patience was exhausted by this time. In a towering
rage, he told his daughter what the wizards had said, and when she
merely said, "How nice," he swore he would imprison her in his
fortress in the sea.

His majesty meant it, too, and at once had the fortress, which stood
on a tiny island miles from land, luxuriously furnished and fitted up
for his daughter's reception. Thither she was conveyed secretly one
night, but to her father's disgust she made no protest.

"I shall be free for a while," she said, "of all the absurd flummery
of the palace."

II.

The people were sad when the princess disappeared. She had been good
and kind to them, had understood them, and they did not know whether
she had died, or had deserted them without a word of farewell, though
that was hardly possible. All that they knew was that the king
suddenly became morose and sullen. Strangely enough, he began to take
an interest in the poor. He asked them funny questions--for a king.
How did they earn money? What was their occupation? Had they any
pleasures? And what were their thoughts?

Young people laughed, but old men said the king intended to promote
laws which would do good. Anyway, the king's interest did make his
subjects happier, and the officers of state became very busy with
projects and schemes for improving trade, providing work and for
educating children.

"They do say," remarked one old woman, who kept an apple stall in the
market place, "that a law will be passed that the sun should shine
every day, and that it should never rain on the days of the market.
Ah! that will be good," and she rubbed her hands at the prospect of
not having to crouch under a leaky awning when the rain came pelting
down, or ov