gnomes crowded round and helped Abeille to step out of
it.

Before her stood a little man not half her size, but splendidly
dressed and full of dignity. On his head was a crown of such huge
diamonds that you wondered how his small body could support it. A
royal mantle fell from his shoulders, and in his hand he held a lance.

'King Loc,' said one of the forest gnomes, 'we found this beautiful
child asleep by the lake, and have brought her to you. She says that
her name is Abeille, and her mother is the Duchess des Clarides.'

'You have done well,' answered the king; 'she shall be one of us.' And
standing on tiptoe, so that he could kiss her hand, he told her that
they would all take care of her and make her happy, and that anything
she wished for she should have at once.

'I want a pair of shoes,' replied Abeille.

'Shoes!' commanded the king, striking the ground with his lance; and
immediately a lovely pair of silver shoes embroidered with pearls were
slipped on her feet by one of the gnomes.

'They are beautiful shoes,' said Abeille rather doubtfully; 'but do
you think they will carry me all the way back to my mother?'

'No, they are not meant for rough roads,' replied the king, 'but for
walking about the smooth paths of the mountain, for we have many
wonders to show you.'

'Little King Loc,' answered Abeille, 'take away these beautiful
slippers and give me a pair of wooden shoes instead, and let me go
back to my mother.' But King Loc only shook his head.

'Little King Loc,' said Abeille again--and this time her voice
trembled--'let me go back to my mother and Youri, and I will love you
with all my heart, nearly as well as I love them.'

'Who is Youri?' asked King Loc.

'Why--Youri--who has lived with us since I was a baby,' replied
Abeille; surprised that he did not know what everyone else was aware
of, and never guessing that by mentioning the boy she was sealing her
own fate. For King Loc had already thought what a good wife she would
make him in a few years' time, and he did not want Youri to come
between them. So he was silent, and Abeille, seeing he was not
pleased, burst into tears.

'Little King Loc,' she cried, taking hold of a corner of his mantle,
'think how unhappy my mother will be. She will fancy that wild beasts
have eaten me, or that I have got drowned in the lake.'

'Be comforted,' replied King Loc; 'I will send her a dream, so that
she shall know that you are safe.'

At this Abeille