while the Invisible Prince was turning over in his mind how he
could best deliver Rosalie. As, since he had been touched by the
Giant's ring, he had the power to live in the water as well as on
land, he at once dived into the fountain. He perceived in one corner a
door leading into the mountain, and at the foot of the mountain was a
high rock on which was fixed an iron ring with a cord attached. The
Prince promptly guessed that the cord was used to chain the Princess,
and drew his sword and cut it. In a moment he felt the Princess's hand
in his, for she had always kept her magic pebble in her mouth, in
spite of the prayers and entreaties of the Prince of the Air to make
herself visible.

So hand in hand the invisible Prince and Rosalie crossed the mountain;
but as the Princess had no power of living under water, she could not
pass the Golden Fountain. Speechless and invisible they clung together
on the brink, trembling at the frightful tempest the Prince of the Air
had raised in his fury. The storm had already lasted many days when
tremendous heat began to make itself felt. The lightning flashed, the
thunder rattled, fire bolts fell from heaven, burning up the forests
and even the fields of corn. In one instant the very streams were
dried up, and the Prince, seizing his opportunity, carried the
Princess over the Golden Fountain.

It took them a long time still to reach the Golden Isle, but at last
they got there, and we may be quite sure they never wanted to leave it
any more.

THE CROW[13]

Once upon a time there were three Princesses who were all three young
and beautiful; but the youngest, although she was not fairer than the
other two, was the most loveable of them all.

About half a mile from the palace in which they lived there stood a
castle, which was uninhabited and almost a ruin, but the garden which
surrounded it was a mass of blooming flowers, and in this garden the
youngest Princess used often to walk.

One day when she was pacing to and fro under the lime trees, a black
crow hopped out of a rose-bush in front of her. The poor beast was all
torn and bleeding, and the kind little Princess was quite unhappy
about it. When the crow saw this it turned to her and said:

'I am not really a black crow, but an enchanted Prince, who has been
doomed to spend his youth in misery. If you only liked, Princess, you
could save me. But you would have to say good-bye to all your own
people, and come and be