er shoulder, and
tried in all the ways a dove knows to show its affection for her. Celia
in return stroked it gently, although she, of course, had no idea who
it was. Indeed, Celia seemed delighted to have found a new friend, and
said softly:

"I am glad you have come to me, and I will care for you and love you
always."

Celia did not expect the dove to understand what she said. The hermit
understood, however, and asked her whether she really meant it.

"Ah! Celia," Prince Darling exclaimed, "with my whole heart I hope you
do mean it!" And the astonished Celia turned and saw Prince Darling
himself standing before her.

"Celia will not stop loving you now, Prince Darling," said Fairy Truth,
who had been disguised as the hermit all this time. "She has loved you
from the beginning, and now that you have started on the road to
goodness I know she will gladly join her fate with yours."

Then Celia and Prince Darling threw themselves at the Fairy's feet, and
thanked her a thousand times over for bringing them together again
after all their trials.

"Come, my children," said the Fairy, "if you had not helped me I could
not have brought this to pass. And now, let's go back to Prince
Darling's kingdom, for I know King Suliman is waiting eagerly for a
chance to give back the throne."

The Fairy had scarcely stopped speaking when they found themselves in
the royal palace. King Suliman was overjoyed to see the Prince return,
and gladly yielded the throne to him again.

When the Prince was crowned King for the second time he also put on
again the little gold ring which he had thrown away so long before. He
and Celia gave their whole hearts to the effort to govern the kingdom
justly and kindly. You will know that they succeeded very well, when I
tell you that the magic ring never again pricked Prince Darling's
finger.

[Illustration: "PRINCE DARLING FLEW RIGHT UP TO CELIA"]

[Illustration: "ONCE UPON A TIME THERE LIVED"]

RUMPELSTILTSKIN

ADAPTED FROM THE GRIMM BROTHERS

Once upon a time, in a kingdom far away from here, there lived a miller
who was very proud, and a King who was exceedingly fond of money.

The miller had a lovely daughter, and he could not say enough about her
beauty and cleverness. He used to tell all the men who brought their
wheat to his mill, to be ground into flour, of the wonderful things
this daughter could do "to perfection."

One day, in a fit of boasting, the miller told the s