they
should not say of her that she had not told the truth. The queen felt
grieved at Walpurga's vehemence and the serious charges she made
against the people of her neighborhood.

After a little while, she said to Walpurga:

"They tell me you sing so beautifully. Sing something for me, or,
rather, for the child."

"No, dear queen, I can't do it. I'd like to, but I can't. I don't know
any but silly songs. The good ones are all church songs."

"Sing me one of those that you call silly songs."

"No, I can't; they're lonely songs."

"What do you mean by lonely songs?"

"I don't know, but that's what they call 'em."

"Ah, I understand: they can only be sung when one is solitary and
alone."

"Yes, I suppose that's it; the queen's right."

Although the queen endeavored to induce her to sing, Walpurga protested
that she could not and finally became so agitated that she burst into
tears. The queen experienced some difficulty in pacifying her, but
succeeded at last, and then Walpurga, taking the child with her,
returned to her room.

On the following day Walpurga was again summoned to the queen, who
said: "You're right, Walpurga. You can't sing to me. I've been thinking
a great deal about you. The bird on the tree doesn't sing at one's
bidding. Free nature cannot be directed by a baton. You needn't sing
for me. I shall not ask it of you again."

Walpurga had intended to sing to the queen that day. She had chosen her
prettiest songs and now the queen actually ordered her not to sing, and
even compared her to a bird. "Palace folk," thought she, "are queer
folk."

"I understand," continued the queen, "that in your neighborhood they
believe in the Lady of the Lake. Do you believe in her, too?"

"Believe in her? I don't know, but they tell of her. Father saw her
three days before he died, and that was a sure sign that he would soon
die. They say, too, that she's the Lady of Waldeck."

"Who is the Lady of Waldeck?"

"She's the Lady of Woerth."

"What is Woerth?"

"A bit of land in the middle of the lake, with water all round it."

"Do you mean an island?"

"Yes, an island; we sometimes call it that, too.

"And what is the story of the Lady of Waldeck?"

"Once upon a time, many thousand years ago, there was a man, and he was
a knight by the name of Waldeck, and he was a crusader. He and lots of
emperors and kings went off to our Saviour's grave in the Holy Land. He
left his wife at home and before he went