hrieks from the wood a little way off caused him to hasten
with all his speed in that direction. He soon perceived a knight on
horseback with a bow slung to his back, struggling to lift a woman on
to his saddle. The knights' surprise at the sight of a man in this
desolate spot caused him to drop the woman's arm, and she rushed to
take shelter behind her defender, who, to his amazement, then
recognised his step-mother.

'How did you come here?' he asked coldly, more than half regretting
that he had not left her to her fate; but she read what was in his
heart, and fell on her knees before him.

'Oh, forgive me my wickedness,' she cried, 'for indeed I have repented
of it long ago, and come to the aid of your father who has been sorely
smitten by that mad archduke from whom you have just saved me! There
is no time to pursue him,' she added, as the prince started at the
sound of the vanishing hoofs; and as they pushed their way along the
path she told him all that had happened since they had last met.

'From the moment that the king knew of my cruelty to your sister,'
said she, 'he vowed he would never see me again, and left the court in
search of you both. I followed him secretly, but not being able to
gain any tidings of him, consulted the Mother of Sheaths, who took me
to rest in that island where the palm trees are waving. There she
showed me a lovely princess who, under a spell, was forced daily to
take the form of a crocodile, and when the dreaded moment arrived the
skin appeared before her, and, shudder as she might, some unseen power
impelled her to wrap herself in it and plunge into the sea. It is to
this island I am leading you; but first we must find your sister, for
on her presence hangs the life of the white fox--if, indeed, he is not
dead already.'

'The white fox!' exclaimed the prince. 'What do you know of him?'

'Not much,' answered the queen; 'but, since I arrived on the island,
he was always with us, and charmed us all. Yesterday we missed him,
but in the evening a little boat drifted up on the sands, and in it
lay the fox, covered with blood. While his wounds were being tended in
the palace with all the care imaginable, I set out to consult a
wizard, who told me that I must enter the skiff and seek for the
prince and princess of Lombardy, and that if, in twenty-four hours, I
could bring them into the presence of the fox, his life would be
saved. On a rock along the beach I found your father with an a