said they.

Once again the Prince gave a great ball in the hope that his unknown
beauty would come to it. All happened as before; as soon as the
sisters had gone Cinder-Maid went to the hazel tree over her mother's
grave and called out:

"Tree o'mine, O tree o'me
Shiver and quiver, dear little tree;
Make me a lady fair to see,
Dress me as splendid as can be."

And then the little bird appeared and said:

"Cinder-Maid, Cinder-Maid, shake the tree
Open the first nut that you see."

And when she opened the nut in it was a dress of silk green as the sea
with waves upon it, and her shoes this time were made of gold; and
when the coach came out of the tree it was also made of gold, with
gold trappings for the horses and for the retainers. And as she drove
off the little bird from the tree called out:

"Be home, be home ere mid-o'night
Or else again you'll be a fright."

Now this time, when Cinder-Maid came to the ball, she was as desirous
to dance only with the Prince as he with her, and so, when midnight
came round, she had forgotten to leave till the clock began to strike,
one--two--three--four--five--six,--and then she began to run away down
the stairs as the clock struck, eight--nine--ten. But the Prince had
told his soldiers to put tar upon the lower steps of the stairs; and
as the clock struck eleven her shoes stuck in the tar, and when she
jumped to the foot of the stairs one of her golden shoes was left
behind, and just then the clock struck TWELVE, and the golden coach,
with its horses and footmen, disappeared, and the beautiful dress of
Cinder-Maid changed again into her ragged clothes and she had to run
home with only one golden shoe.

You can imagine how excited the sisters were when they came home and
told Cinder-Maid all about it, how that the beautiful lady had come in
a golden coach in a dress like the sea, with golden shoes, and how all
had disappeared at midnight except the golden shoe. "Ah, wouldn't you
have liked to have been there?" said they.

Now when the Prince found out that he could not keep his lady-love nor
trace where she had gone he spoke to his father and showed him the
golden shoe, and told him that he would never marry any one but the
maiden who could wear that shoe. So the King, his father, ordered the
herald to take round the golden shoe upon a velvet cushion and to go
to every four corners where two streets met and sound the trumpet and
call out