through passages where Abeille had never
been before, and at length she was out in the world again. Oh! how
beautiful it all was! How fresh was the air, and how sweet was the
smell of the flowers! She felt as if she should die with joy, but at
that moment King Loc lifted her off the ground, and, tiny though he
was, carried her quite easily across the garden and through an open
door into the silent castle.

'Listen, Abeille,' he whispered softly. 'You have guessed where we are
going, and you know that every night I send your mother a vision of
you, and she talks to it in her dream, and smiles at it. To-night it
will be no vision she sees, but you yourself; only remember, that if
you touch her or speak to her my power is lost, and never more will
she behold either you or your image.'

By this time they had reached the room which Abeille knew so well, and
her heart beat violently as the gnome carried her over the threshold.
By the light of a lamp hanging over the bed Abeille could see her
mother, beautiful still, but with a face that had grown pale and sad.
As she gazed the sadness vanished, and a bright smile came in its
stead. Her mother's arms were stretched out towards her, and the girl,
her eyes filled with tears of joy, was stooping to meet them, when
King Loc hastily snatched her up, and bore her back to the realm of
the gnomes.

If the king imagined that by granting Abeille's request he would make
her happy, he soon found out his mistake, for all day long the girl
sat weeping, paving no heed to the efforts of her friends to comfort
her.

'Tell me what is making you so unhappy?' said King Loc, at last. And
Abeille answered:

[Illustration: KING LOC CARRIES ABEILLE AWAY FROM HER MOTHER]

'Little King Loc, and all my friends here, you are so good and kind
that I know that you are miserable when I am in trouble. I would be
happy if I could, but it is stronger than I. I am weeping because I
shall never see again Youri de Blanchelande, whom I love with all my
heart. It is a worse grief than parting with my mother, for at least I
know where she is and what she is doing; while, as for Youri, I
cannot tell if he is dead or alive.'

The gnomes were all silent. Kind as they were, they were not mortals,
and had never felt either great joys or deep sorrows. Only King Loc
dimly guessed at something of both, and he went away to consult an
old, old gnome, who lived in the lowest depth of the mountain, and had
spectacle