curious little gold bottle--"you
must pour a few drops on to your remaining shoe, and whenever you do
so it will change in a moment into a boat, a horse, or a fish, as you
desire it."

"How am I to start, and where am I to go to?" asked the Princess,
trying not to feel frightened at the prospect before her.

"Launch your shoe as a boat, and float on till you meet the Sea-Troll,
who is an old friend of mine. Explain your errand to him, and say I
begged him to direct you and give you a passport. And now one last
word before I leave you. Never, _whatever_ happens, cry again; for
there is nothing worries me so much, and I want to finish my sleep
comfortably."

With these words the old Troll collected his long grey beard which had
strayed over the sand-hill; and folding it round him, he disappeared
in the hole again.

Princess Sidigunda did not give herself time to think. She ran down to
the edge of the water, took off her golden shoe, and poured some of
the contents of her Godfather's flask over it.

It changed immediately into a boat, into which the Princess stepped
tremblingly; and it floated away over the blue water until the little
Princess, straining her eyes eagerly, lost sight of her home, and the
land faded away into a mere streak upon the horizon.

"I wonder when I shall meet the Sea-Troll and what he's like," thought
Princess Sidigunda. "I suppose I shall be able to recognize him
somehow."

As she thought this, she noticed that some object was rapidly floating
towards her. It did not look like a boat, and as it came nearer and
nearer, she could see that it was a large shell, on which an old man
with a long beard was seated cross-legged, surrounded by a crowd of
laughing Sea-children. They clung to the sides of the shell, swum
round it, or climbed up to rest themselves on its crinkled edges.

"Who are you, and what are you doing here?" cried the old man in a
gruff voice.

The Princess trembled; but she seized her veil and the little flask,
and holding them out she repeated her Godfather's message.

"I'll see what I can do, though really these children wear me out!"
said the Sea-Troll. "I can't keep my eye on all of them at once! You
had better go down to the Sea-city, and ask if they've carried your
shoe there. If not, the Troll-writers will tell you where it is. Show
this to the city guard, and they will direct you to the Palace." He
gave the Princess a flat shell on which some letters were engraved.