ride
away.

At length the old witch, who had just had a severe tongue-lashing from
her daughter for not punishing the Prince of Zagabondiga after that
prince had failed to ask her for a dance, could endure her daughter's
scolding no longer, and resolved to catch the first prince who came past
her garden, and force him, willy nilly, to accept her ugly daughter.
Into her trap poor Florizel had walked, and the witch, hoping to bend
him to her will by terrifying him, had thrown him into a deep dungeon.
The ugly daughter had immediately peeked through the key-hole of the
prison, and fallen in love with Florizel at first sight.

The witch was just considering what to do next, when her lion-headed
servitors informed her that one of the company had resisted her
enchantment, and was wandering about the garden. So the witch put on her
cloak of invisibility, and going down to the garden, found poor Florian
wandering disconsolately under the trees. She saw at once that it was
the little golden bird which had protected him from her magic; and being
afraid of the charm and yet unable to work the poor lad any harm while
the bird was in his possession, she decided to rid herself of Florian by
transporting her castle, gardens and all, over to the other side of the
world. So she uttered a spell, and everything disappeared.

When Florian woke the next morning, and found that the castle was gone,
his heart sank. Nevertheless, he did not despair, but taking from his
pocket the little scarlet ball which his master the Enchanter had given
him, he put it on the ground, and bade it guide him back to the
Enchanted Garden.

The little ball immediately began rolling ahead at Florian's own pace;
at night it glowed with a scarlet fire. Day after day, month after
month, the scarlet ball rolled on; it led Florian over hill and down
dale, through the land of the men who have only one eye, through the
country of the dwarfs, and the valley of the talking trees, never
stopping till it reached the gate of the witch's garden.

A year, meanwhile, had gone by, and during that year the witch had done
everything she could to induce Prince Florizel to accept her ugly
daughter. First she had tried frightening him, then she had tried to win
him by giving splendid fetes, then she had tried terrifying him again;
but as the Prince was neither to be terrified nor cajoled, she came to
her wits' end. Finally she told the Prince that, if he were not willing
to ac