ed with glittering scales; their curly tails extended far over
the land; flames darted from their mouths and noses, and their eyes
would have made the bravest shudder; but as the Prince was invisible
and they did not see him, he slipped past them into the wood. He found
himself at once in a labyrinth, and wandered about for a long time
without meeting anyone; in fact, the only sight he saw was a circle of
human hands, sticking out of the ground above the wrist, each with a
bracelet of gold, on which a name was written. The farther he advanced
in the labyrinth the more curious he became, till he was stopped by
two corpses lying in the midst of a cypress alley, each with a scarlet
cord round his neck and a bracelet on his arm on which were engraved
their own names, and those of two Princesses.

[Illustration: In The Labyrinth of Despair]

The invisible Prince recognised these dead men as Kings of two large
islands near his own home, but the names of the Princesses were
unknown to him. He grieved for their unhappy fate, and at once
proceeded to bury them; but no sooner had he laid them in their
graves, than their hands started up through the earth and remained
sticking up like those of their fellows.

The Prince went on his way, thinking about this strange adventure,
when suddenly at the turn of the walk he perceived a tall man whose
face was the picture of misery, holding in his hands a silken cord of
the exact colour of those round the necks of the dead men. A few steps
further this man came up with another as miserable to the full as he
himself; they silently embraced, and then without a word passed the
cords round their throats, and fell dead side by side. In vain the
Prince rushed to their assistance and strove to undo the cord. He
could not loosen it; so he buried them like the others and continued
his path.

He felt, however, that great prudence was necessary, or he himself
might become the victim of some enchantment; and he was thankful to
slip past the dragons, and enter a beautiful park, with clear streams
and sweet flowers, and a crowd of men and maidens. But he could not
forget the terrible things he had seen, and hoped eagerly for a clue
to the mystery. Noticing two young people talking together, he drew
near thinking that he might get some explanation of what puzzled him.
And so he did.

'You swear,' said the Prince, 'that you will love me till you die, but
I fear your faithless heart, and I feel that I