ess flew to the window, and to her
horror saw the arrows lying about amongst the bloodstained brambles.
Distracted with terror she slipped down the stairs and out of the
tower, and ran for some time along a path, when with great good luck
she met the husband of her own nurse, who had only just learned of her
imprisonment, and was on his way to try and find out whether he could
serve her. The princess begged him to get her some men's clothes while
she awaited him in a little wood close by. The good man was overjoyed
to be of use, and started at once for the nearest town, where he soon
discovered a shop where the court lackeys were accustomed to sell
their masters' cast-off clothes. The princess dressed herself at once
in the disguise he had brought, which was of rich material and covered
with precious stones; and, putting her own garments into a bag, which
her servant hung over his shoulders, they both set out on their
journey.

This lasted longer than either of them expected. They walked by day as
far as the princess could manage, and by night they slept in the open
air. One evening they camped in a lovely valley watered by a rippling
stream, and towards morning the princess was awakened by a charming
voice singing one of the songs of her own childhood. Anxious to find
out where the sound came from, she walked to a thicket of myrtles,
where she saw a little boy with a quiver at his back and an ivory bow
in his hand, singing softly to himself as he smoothed the feathers of
his shafts.

'Are you surprised at seeing my eyes open?' he asked, with a smile.
'Ah! I am not always blind. And sometimes it is well to know what sort
of a heart needs piercing. It was I who sent out my darts the day that
you and the emperor met, so, as I have caused the wound, I am in duty
bound to find the cure!'

Then he gave her a little bottle full of a wonderful salve with which
to dress the emperor's wounds when she found him.

'In two days you can reach his palace,' he said. 'Do not waste time,
for sometimes time is life.'

The princess thanked the boy with tears in her eyes, and hastened to
awake her guide so that they might start, and set off at once on their
way.

[Illustration: THE BOY IN THE VALLEY]

As the boy had foretold, in two days the tower and walls of the city
came in sight, and her heart beat wildly at the thought that she would
soon be face to face with the emperor, but on inquiring after his
health she learned, to h