the talisman and which one the false hand. So because she had to act
quickly, she put one of the hands under the pillow, brought the other to
the Prince and told him her story. But so well matched were the little
hands, that even the Prince was far from certain that he had not got his
own hand back again.

And now came the seventh day, the day on which Dragondel, the blue dog,
and all the wicked Enchanter's friends were to sail to Lantern Land for
the marriage ceremony. The iron ship, made gay with a thousand small
scarlet lanterns, stood ready to carry them over. The Enchanter and his
company got in, and the vessel left the island.

The Prince stood watching the ship from the top of the cliffs. What
anxiety was in his heart! If Dragondel still possessed the true
talisman, he would cross the whirlpool safely, and marry the beautiful
Queen of Lantern Land.

The vessel sped on. It was now at some distance from the island.

"All is lost," thought the Prince with a sinking heart; "Dragondel has
the true talisman." And in his bitterness he was about to throw the
little golden hand which lay in his pocket down into the sea.

Suddenly the air became filled with a terrible moaning; the sea became
troubled; the whirlpool awoke. And the Prince saw the red lights of the
Enchanter's ship whirled round and round, faster and faster, till they
disappeared forever in the waters of the sunless sea.

As for the Prince, he soon found another boat, and taking with him the
talisman, his fellow servants, and the black cat and her kittens, he
returned to Lantern Land, married the Queen, and lived happily ever
after.

THE ADVENTURES OF FLORIAN

[Illustration: Boy walking through forest following a small ball.]

Once upon a time there lived in an old and ruinous house by the shore of
the wild sea, a widowed nobleman and his only child, a daughter named
Isabella. They were very poor in spite of their high birth, so poor that
one by one the fields and woods of their little domain had been sold in
order to buy the bare necessities of life. Knowing that his death would
leave Isabella quite alone in the world and practically penniless, her
father brought her up more like a boy than a girl; she could ride a
horse as gracefully as an Amazon, she could swim like a born mermaid,
and even outdo her father in his favorite sport of fencing. Yet so sweet
was the gentle nature which the girl had inherited from her mother, that
this stran