r
blue eyes opened in wonder. "You shall be my queen," he said, "and none
in all the wide world shall separate us."

Then he sent a messenger to the princess who was coming to meet him,
saying he was sorry he must ask her to return home, as the maiden that
he loved and was going to marry was with him in the forest.

And the next day the bells pealed loud and far, and at the royal wedding
the lion was an honored guest, because it had at last been proved that
he spoke the truth.

THE TWELVE DANCING PRINCESSES

Once upon a time there was a King who had twelve daughters, each more
beautiful than the other. The twelve princesses slept in a large hall,
each in a little bed of her own. After they were snugly settled for the
night, their father, the King, used to bolt the door on the outside. He
then felt sure that his daughters would be safe until he withdrew the
bolt next morning.

But one day when the King unbolted the hall door, and peeped in as
usual, he saw twelve worn-out pairs of little slippers lying about the
floor.

"What! shoes wanted again," he exclaimed, and after breakfast a
messenger was sent to order a new pair for each of the princesses.

But the next morning the new shoes were worn out, how no one knew.

This went on and on until the King made up his mind to put an end to the
mystery. The shoes, he felt sure, were danced to pieces, and he sent a
herald to offer a reward to any one who should discover where the
princesses held their night-frolic.

"He who succeeds, shall choose one of my daughters to be his wife," said
the King, "and he shall reign after my death; but he who fails, after
three nights' trial, shall be put to death."

Soon a prince arrived at the palace, and said he was willing to risk his
life in the attempt to win one of the beautiful princesses.

When night came, he was given a bedroom next the hall in which the royal
sisters slept. His door was left ajar and his bed placed so that from it
he could watch the door of the hall. The escape of the princesses he
would also watch, and he would follow them in their flight, discover
their secret haunt, and marry the fairest.

This is what the prince meant to do, but before long he was fast asleep.
And while he slept, the princesses danced and danced, for, in the
morning, the soles of their slippers were once more riddled with holes.

The next night the prince made up his mind that stay awake he would, but
again he must have fa