evil glance round.

"Have you all finished?" said she. "Hear, then, my wish. On the day when
she reaches her fifteenth birthday, the Princess shall prick her finger
with the spindle of a spinning-wheel, and shall immediately die!"

This terrible prophecy made the whole company shudder. The Queen gave a
cry and hugged the sleeping baby still closer to her breast.

"No, no! Have pity!" she cried. "Call down your dreadful fate on my head
if you will, but do not harm this innocent child."

At this mournful appeal there was hardly one of the guests who could
keep from tears, but the old crone only mumbled to herself as though she
were uttering a spell. Then the King leapt to his feet, his hand at the
jewelled hilt of the dagger that hung at his girdle. In another moment
he might have stretched the wicked creature lifeless at his feet, but
before he could draw the weapon from its sheath, another voice arrested
him.

"Stay your hand, O King, lest even worse befall. No mortal may strike at
a fairy and go unpunished. And, for the rest, take comfort, for your
daughter shall not die!"

Then the twelfth fairy stepped out from behind the arras where she had
been hidden. "My gift is still to come," she continued. "As far as I
can, I will undo the mischief which my sister has done. It is true that
I have not the power to prevent altogether what she has decreed. The
Princess shall, indeed, prick her finger with the spindle of the
spinning-wheel on the day when she attains her fifteenth year; but
instead of dying she shall fall into a deep sleep; and this sleep shall
last for a hundred years, and when that time is past, a King's son shall
come to waken her."

[Illustration]

CHAPTER V

SO the worst was averted, but the fate of the poor little Princess was
still terrible enough, and it was only to be expected that the King
should do his best to prevent the prophecy from coming to fulfilment.

The first thing he did was to summon all the magicians of his own and
neighbouring countries, promising a rich reward to the one who could
show him a way to defeat the old fairy's malice. The magicians came in
scores, some with long beards reaching to their feet, some without any
beards at all, some with bald heads, and some with matted hair that
looked as though it had not been combed for centuries. For days there
were so many magicians about the palace that they were commoner than
cats, and it was impossible to enter any room w