t him out of the
room, so busy was he in watching the lovely unknown. Certainly it was
very delightful to be able to see her whom he loved at any moment he
chose, but his spirits sometimes sank when he wondered what was to be
the end of this adventure.

The magic mirror had been for about a year in the Prince's possession,
when one day a new subject of disquiet seized upon him. As usual, he was
engaged in looking at the girl, when suddenly he thought he saw a second
mirror reflected in the first, exactly like his own, and with the same
power. And in this he was perfectly right. The young girl had only
possessed it for a short time, and neglected all her duties for the sake
of the mirror. Now it was not difficult for Saphir to guess the reason
of the change in her, nor why the new mirror was consulted so often;
but try as he would he could never see the face of the person who was
reflected in it, for the young girl's figure always came between. All he
knew was that the face was that of a man, and this was quite enough to
make him madly jealous. This was the doing of the fairies, and we must
suppose that they had their reasons for acting as they did.

When these things happened Saphir was about eighteen years old, and
fifteen years had passed away since the death of his mother. King
Peridor had grown more and more unhappy as time went on, and at last he
fell so ill that it seemed as if his days were numbered. He was so much
beloved by his subjects that this sad news was heard with despair by the
nation, and more than all by the Prince.

During his whole illness the King never spoke of anything but the Queen,
his sorrow at having grieved her, and his hope of one day seeing her
again. All the doctors and all the water-cures in the kingdom had been
tried, and nothing would do him any good. At last he persuaded them to
let him lie quietly in his room, where no one came to trouble him.

Perhaps the worst pain he had to bear was a sort of weight on his chest,
which made it very hard for him to breathe. So he commanded his servants
to leave the windows open in order that he might get more air. One day,
when he had been left alone for a few minutes, a bird with brilliant
plumage came and fluttered round the window, and finally rested on the
sill. His feathers were sky-blue and gold, his feet and his beak of such
glittering rubies that no one could bear to look at them, his eyes made
the brightest diamonds look dull, and on his