is paid.
He that flies hither through the air,
Must bring a dark-faced maid.
While he that through the sea doth swim,
Must bring a cockle-shell with him.
By order, M. R.

"'He that through the sea doth swim,
Must bring a cockle-shell with him.'

Well, here it is," said the King. "So I will just walk in."

This time the old man did not appear, and the King walked straight into
the garden, holding the shell in his hand.

"Ah-h-h, this is the garden I should like to have, perhaps the Princess
could have it transplanted to my palace," said the King. "What a
number of gardeners they must employ here!"

"No, only myself," said a soft voice behind him, "a few Bees, a few
Byrdes and the nymphs Wynde and Worta."

The King turned, but could see no one, though he thought he caught a
glimpse of a gold skirt among the bushes.

He threw down the shell by the path, and running forward, cried--"Oh
Princess, come with me to my back-yard, and make it into a lovely
garden such as this."

Then, for one moment through the arching branches of the trees, there
appeared before him a maiden so beautiful that he was almost blinded
with the sight of her. She was all gold and shining, like the pictures
of Queen Elizabeth. She was smiling, too, but oh, so sadly!

"I will come," she said, "but you, yourself, must prepare the place for
the garden. When it is ready I will smile on it and you. Till then,
though I will come back with you and tell you what to do, you will
never see my face."

As she spoke, a veil of mist shrouded her face and her shining golden
dress. The flowers grew dim, the fruits ceased to shine, the fair
maids to curtsey, the fountains to play, and the birds to sing. The
King shivered. "I thought that when you came I would have my garden at
once," he muttered.

"Come," said the Princess gently.

Together they swam back to the Palace. The King was angry and
disappointed, but the beautiful picture of the golden Princess smiling
at him through the trees was fixed for ever in his mind. He began to
think that he would not mind doing a little digging, if only he might
see her face again. The first thing to be done the next day was to
dismiss all the gardeners; and of all the court only Sir Richard Byrde
and Sir Hunny Bee were allowed to stay in the back-yard, where the King
was going to work with his own hands.

Sometimes in the long days that followed, the Princess sent out her two