r hair, and said in a gentle voice:

"But, dear child, your father is old, and must leave you soon. It is
a great honour for his little girl to be chosen by the king for his
bride. Do not be afraid, but look at him and see how handsome he is
and how kind he looks."

Then Kadali-Garbha looked at the king, who smiled at her and looked
so charming that her fear began to leave her. She still clung to
her father, but no longer hid her face; and Mana Kanaka begged
Kadali-Garbha to let him send her away, so that he might talk with
the king alone about the wish he had expressed to marry her. The king
consented to this, and Kadali-Garbha gladly ran away. But when she
reached the door of her home, she looked back, and knew in her heart
that she already loved the king and did not want him to go away.

It did not take long for the matter of the marriage to be settled. For
Mana Kanaka, sad though he was to lose his dear only child, was glad
that she should be a queen, and have some one to take care of her when
he was gone. After this first visit to the little house in the forest
the king came every day to see Kadali-Garbha, bringing all kinds of
presents for her. She learnt to love him so much that she became as
eager as he was for the wedding to be soon. When the day was fixed,
the king sent several ladies of his court to dress the bride in
clothes more beautiful that she had ever dreamt of; and in them she
looked more lovely even than the first day her lover had seen her.

Now amongst these ladies was a very wise woman who could see what
was going to happen; and she knew that there would be troubles for
the young queen in the palace, because many would be jealous of her
happiness. She was very much taken with the beautiful innocent girl,
and wanted to help her so much that she managed to get her alone
for a few minutes, when she said to her: "I want you to promise me
something. It is to take this packet of mustard seeds, hide it in the
bosom of your dress, and when you ride to the palace with your husband,
strew the seed along the path as you go. You know how quickly mustard
grows. Well, it will spring up soon; and if you want to come home
again, you can easily find the way by following the green shoots. Alas,
I fear they will not have time to wither before you need their help!"

Kadali-Garbha laughed when the wise woman talked about trouble coming
to her. She was so happy, she could not believe she would want to
come home ag