wed
looked dismayed at this: they thought the wand must be wrong; or even
if it was right, they could not climb a precipice.

But still Mopsa walked on blindfold, and the wand pointed at the rock
till it touched it, and she said, "Who is stopping me?"

They told her, and she called to some of her ladies to untie the
handkerchief. Then Mopsa looked at the rock, and so did the two Jacks.
There was nothing to be seen but a very tiny hole. The boy-king
thought it led to a bees' nest, and Jack thought it was a keyhole, for
he noticed in the rock a slight crack which took the shape of an
arched door.

Mopsa looked earnestly at the hole. "It may be a keyhole," she said,
"but there is no key."

CHAPTER XVI.

FAILURE.

We are much bound to them that do succeed;
But, in a more pathetic sense, are bound
To such as fail. They all our loss expound;
They comfort us for work that will not speed,
And life--itself a failure. Ay, his deed,
Sweetest in story, who the dusk profound
Of Hades flooded with entrancing sound,
Music's own tears, was failure. Doth it read
Therefore the worse? Ah, no! so much to dare,
He fronts the regnant Darkness on its throne.--
So much to do; impetuous even there,
He pours out love's disconsolate sweet moan--
He wins; but few for that his deed recall:
Its power is in the look which costs him all.

At this moment Jack observed that a strange woman was standing among
them, and that the trainbearing fairies fell back, as if they were
afraid of her. As no one spoke, he did, and said, "Good-morning!"

"Good-afternoon!" she answered, correcting him. "I am the black fairy.
Work is a fine thing. Most people in your country can work."

"Yes," said Jack.

"There are two spades," continued the fairy woman, "one for you, and
one for your double."

Jack took one of the spades,--it was small, and was made of silver;
but the other Jack said with scorn,--

"I shall be a king when I am old enough, and must I dig like a
clown?"

"As you please," said the black fairy, and walked away.

Then they all observed that a brown woman was standing there; and she
stepped up and whispered in the boy-king's ear. As he listened his
sullen face became good tempered, and at last he said, in a gentle
tone, "Jack, I'm quite ready to begin if you are."

"But where are we to dig?" asked Jack.

"There," said a white fairy, stepping up and setting her foot on the
grass just