the walls, and flashed upon the
jewels on fair ladies' fingers, and fell upon the marble pavement in a
pool of gold.

And then, you know, when the merriment was at its height, something
happened! There was a sudden cry, and a harsh voice, like the croaking
of a raven, sounded through the room.

"Be merry, my lords and ladies," cried the voice. "Laugh while you may,
but remember that tears may follow laughter."

A hush fell upon all the brilliant assembly. The Queen turned pale and
shuddered. The King rose hurriedly from his place, and he and all the
guests turned to look at the strange figure that had suddenly appeared
in the doorway.

They saw an old woman bent almost double with age, her grey head with
matted hair sunk deep between her shoulders. Her face was white and
twisted with anger, and her green eyes flashed spitefully.

Slowly she advanced towards the dais, and stretching out her arm,
pointed her finger at the gold plates and the gold caskets set before
the fairy godmothers. "There's one," said she, with a harsh laugh,
"there's two, there's twelve! Did you not know, O King, that there were
thirteen wise women in your kingdom, and the thirteenth the wisest and
most powerful of all? Where, then, is the plate and the casket set for
me?"

The King began to make excuses, imploring the angry old fairy to forgive
him for his neglect, and begging her to sit down and join them in their
festivities. "For," said he, "I am sure you are very welcome."

"Is it so, indeed?" said the thirteenth fairy. "I am not too late, then,
though the feast is all but done. I shall eat off silver while my
sisters eat off gold, and there is no curiously-shaped casket for me. No
matter, I am content, because I am in time, and I shall dower the
Princess with the gift which I have brought for her!" And here the
spiteful creature uttered another of her sneering laughs, which made the
blood of all the guests run cold.

By dint of much coaxing the King at last managed to persuade her to sit
down, and the feast proceeded. But a chill had been cast over the
assembly, and nothing was quite the same as it had been before. The old
crone muttered and mouthed over her food, now and again smiling to
herself as though she were cherishing some secret and evil triumph. The
other fairies cast anxious glances at her, for they feared her malice,
and the youngest fairy of all, who happened to be seated at the end of
the table, presently rose up quietl