s of every sort, that enabled him to see all that was
happening, not only on the earth, but under the sea.

Nur, for such was his name, tried many of these spectacles before he
could discover anything about Youri de Blanchelande.

'There he is!' he cried at last. 'He is sitting in the palace of the
Undines, under the great lake; but he does not like his prison, and
longs to be back in the world, doing great deeds.'

It was true. In the seven years that had passed since he had left the
castle of Clarides to go with Abeille to the blue lake, Youri in his
turn had become a man.

The older he grew the more weary he got of the petting and spoiling he
received at the hands of the green-haired maidens, till, one day, he
flung himself at the feet of the Undine queen, and implored permission
to return to his old home.

The queen stooped down and stroked his hair.

'We cannot spare you,' she murmured gently. 'Stay here, and you shall
be king, and marry me.'

'But it is Abeille I want to marry,' said the youth boldly. But he
might as well have talked to the winds, for at last the queen grew
angry, and ordered him to be put in a crystal cage which was built for
him round a pointed rock.

It was here that King Loc, aided by the spectacles of Nur, found him
after many weeks' journey. As we know, the gnomes walk slowly, and the
way was long and difficult. Luckily, before he started, he had taken
with him his magic ring, and the moment it touched the wall the
crystal cage split from top to bottom.

'Follow that path, and you will find yourself in the world again,' he
said to Youri; and without waiting to listen to the young man's
thanks, set out on the road he had come.

'Bog,' he cried, to the little man on the crow, who had ridden to meet
him. 'Hasten to the palace and inform the Princess Abeille that Youri
de Blanchelande, for seven years a captive in the kingdom of the
Undines, has now returned to the castle of Clarides.'

* * * * *

The first person whom Youri met as he came out of the mountain was the
tailor who had made all his clothes from the time that he came to live
at the castle. Of this old friend, who was nearly beside himself with
joy at the sight of the little master, lost for so many years, the
count begged for news of his foster-mother and Abeille.

'Alas! my lord, where can you have been that you do not know that the
Princess Abeille was carried off by the gnomes on the