, and
expired. The servants of the palace, one and all, ran away pell-mell,
and left the dark castle to its fate. Little by little the advancing
water crept from the walls to the balconies, from the balconies to the
towers, and from the foot of the towers to their very tops. Finally, all
the moon could see as it shone upon the flood was the weather-vane of
the highest turret of all. You should have seen the little waves ripple
and break about it! And finally, even the weather-vane disappeared under
the black waves.

Locked in his secret treasure-room, opening the jewel coffers one after
the other, the King remained quite ignorant of the disaster. For some
time no sound reached him in his hidden retreat, because the door of the
treasure-room was very thick and strong. Suddenly he heard behind him
the sound of falling water, and turning toward the door, beheld streams
of water gushing through the passages between the door and its frame.
Horror-struck, he watched the door burst from its locks and hinges; a
roaring cascade of cold sea-water came pouring in the room, and a moment
later the whole castle crumbled and fell to pieces.

Now, when the King had met his deserts, the people of the country, who
greatly respected the merchant, offered him the crown; but he refused it
and conferred it on his two elder sons. Thus it came to pass that the
country had two kings. Each brother in turn reigned for six months of
every year, and spent the other six under the sea with the golden-eyed
people of the waters.

As for the sailor lad, he sailed the sea for many years, and finally
married a pretty niece of the Witch of the Sands. Then, like all
sailors, he went to the country to live. His house is built of gray
stone, ivy climbs over it, and apple orchards lie beneath its windows.

And the all lived happily ever after.

End of Project Gutenberg's The Firelight Fairy Book, by Henry Beston

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