er come back to him. He had laid down
his life for the poor villagers. Having fulfilled his task in their
desolate home, the brave young helper sickened and died.

When this was known, the old King lifted up his voice and wept, and the
Princes, and the nobles, and all the people present joined in his
sorrow. Then it seemed to be found out, that the dead Prince had been
of the three brothers the most beloved. Then, when the weeping had
continued for a long time, the Princess Faith stepped forward, and in
few words told the story of the year. Then silence, only broken by
bursts of sorrow, fell upon all. And then the Councillor rose up from
his seat at the right hand of the King, and said:

"We have heard, O King, the words of the Princes who searched the Past
and the Future for the Age of Gold. The lips that should have spoken
for the Age we are living in are forever closed; but in the beautiful
statement of our Princess we have heard the story they had to tell.

"Can there be even one in this great assembly, who has listened to the
story of the Princess, and does not know that the Age of Gold is found,
and that it was found by the Prince whose dead body is here?

"O King, and ye Princes and peers and people, it was the daily teaching
of the Sainted Lady, our Queen, that the Golden Age is the time when
Christ is present in our life. In every form in which Christ's
presence can be felt, it was felt in the village for whose helping the
dear Prince laid down his life.

"A time of great misery had come to that village. The harvest, year
after year, had failed. Poverty fell upon the people. Then, last and
worst of all, came the pestilence. Through the story told by the
beloved Princess we can see that faith in God began to fail. The
people cried out in their agony: 'Has God forgotten?' And some, 'Is
there a God at all?'

"It was in the thick darkness of that time the Prince visited them. He
met them fleeing from their home. He gave up his own plans that he
might help them. His coming into the village, into the very thick of
its misery, was like the morning dawn. He was summer heat and summer
cheer to the people. The clouds of anxiety and of terror began to
lift. The shadow of death was changed for them into the morning. He
made himself one with them. He went from house to house with cheer and
help. The burden seemed less heavy, the future less dark, that this
helper was by their side. Best of all,