rs again.

This day's adventure, however, did not turn out like yesterday's,
although it began like it; and indeed to-day is very seldom like
yesterday, if people would note the differences--even when it rains.
The princess ran through passage after passage, and could not find the
stair of the tower. My own suspicion is that she had not gone up high
enough, and was searching on the second instead of the third floor.
When she turned to go back, she failed equally in her search after the
stair. She was lost once more.

Something made it even worse to bear this time, and it was no wonder
that she cried again. Suddenly it occurred to her that it was after
having cried before that she had found her grandmother's stair. She
got up at once, wiped her eyes, and started upon a fresh quest.

This time, although she did not find what she hoped, she found what was
next best: she did not come on a stair that went up, but she came upon
one that went down. It was evidently not the stair she had come up,
yet it was a good deal better than none; so down she went, and was
singing merrily before she reached the bottom. There, to her surprise,
she found herself in the kitchen. Although she was not allowed to go
there alone, her nurse had often taken her, and she was a great
favourite with the servants. So there was a general rush at her the
moment she appeared, for every one wanted to have her; and the report
of where she was soon reached the nurse's ears. She came at once to
fetch her; but she never suspected how she had got there, and the
princess kept her own counsel.

Her failure to find the old lady not only disappointed her, but made
her very thoughtful. Sometimes she came almost to the nurse's opinion
that she had dreamed all about her; but that fancy never lasted very
long. She wondered much whether she should ever see her again, and
thought it very sad not to have been able to find her when she
particularly wanted her. She resolved to say nothing more to her nurse
on the subject, seeing it was so little in her power to prove her words.

CHAPTER 6

The Little Miner

The next day the great cloud still hung over the mountain, and the rain
poured like water from a full sponge. The princess was very fond of
being out of doors, and she nearly cried when she saw that the weather
was no better. But the mist was not of such a dark dingy grey; there
was light in it; and as the hours went on it grew brighter and
bri