ithout surprising one or
the other of them, sitting in deep reflection and looking as wise as
only a magician can look. But nothing came of their thinking, and one
after the other they gave up the task and departed, having first asked
for their travelling expenses.

At last there came a wizard who was wiser and more venerable than all
the rest, and when he heard what was required of him he said he would go
home and consult his secret books which contained the magic lore of all
the ages, and which had been written by the greatest of all the
magicians, Merlin himself.

Home, then, he went, to his cell, which was in a rocky cliff on the side
of a mountain, and having uttered the word of power which unlocked the
massive door, he entered and prepared to begin his researches.

[Illustration]

Now the books of magic lore which Merlin had written were in many
volumes, and everything in them was set down in alphabetical order, so
that it could be found easily. The old wizard, therefore, turned first
of all to the word _Princess_. Five hundred pages were devoted to this
subject, and, truly, there was a great deal of very interesting
information. As thus:--

PRINCESS: How to transform Goosegirl into.

Spell for causing Princess to be surrounded
with high walls of bronze, which may by no
means be broken down except by the notes of a
certain trumpet (_q.v._).

(Now _q.v._ are the first letters of two magic words which are to be
found in all dictionaries and encyclopaedias to this day).

PRINCESS: Enchanted ring for.

A new and improved method by which she may be
changed into a fawn together with any members
of her family according to desire, and all of
them transformed back again into their proper
shape.

PRINCESS: An excellent device for causing a
Princess to grow tall or short by eating of a
mushroom, with directions how to find the place
where the mushroom grows, and precautions to be
taken lest by over-much nibbling she disappear
altogether.

And so on. But there was never a word about how to prevent a Princess
from falling into a charmed sleep through pricking her finger with the
spindle of a spinning-wheel.

So when he had read all through the five hundred pages, the venerable
wizard turned to the word _Sleep_, in the hope that he would meet with
better fortune.

And there was much