l about him, and saw only the apple-orchard as it was twenty years
ago, and the beautiful girl playing at ball. A sudden silence round him
made him look up, and he found the eyes of the assembly fixed on him.

'It is true; it is he who is my son, and not the other,' he said with
an effort, 'and let every man present swear to acknowledge him as king,
after my death.'

Therefore one by one they all knelt before him and took the oath, and a
message was sent to the false prince, forbidding him ever again to
appear at court, though a handsome pension was granted him.

* * * * *

At last the ceremony was over, and the king, signing to his newly found
son to follow him, rose and went into another room.

'Tell me how you knew all that,' he said, throwing himself into a carved
chair filled with crimson cushions, and the prince told of his meeting
with the old woman who had brought him the jewels from his mother, and
how he had sworn before a priest to marry her, though he did not want to
do it, on account of the difference in their ages, and besides, he would
rather receive a bride chosen by the king himself. But the king frowned,
and answered sharply:

'You swore to marry her if she saved your life, and, come what may, you
must fulfil your promise.' Then, striking a silver shield that hung
close by, he said to the equerry who appeared immediately:

'Go and seek the priest who lives near the door of the prison, and ask
him where you can find the old woman who visited him last night; and
when you have found her, bring her to the palace.'

* * * * *

It took some time to discover the whereabouts of the old woman, but at
length it was accomplished, and when she arrived at the palace with the
equerry, she was received with royal honours, as became the bride of the
prince. The guards looked at each other with astonished eyes, as the
wizened creature, bowed with age, passed between their lines; but they
were more amazed still at the lightness of her step as she skipped up
the steps to the great door before which the king was standing, with
the prince at his side. If they both felt a shock at the appearance of
the aged lady they did not show it, and the king, with a grave bow, took
her hand, and led her to the chapel, where a bishop was waiting to
perform the marriage ceremony.

For the next few weeks little was seen of the prince, who spent all his
days in huntin