he magic jewel was round his arm like a bracelet, and no one
saw it, for he kept it hidden up his arm under the sleeve of his buff
coat.

Now that Muscadel was a man, of course, he read the newspapers, and in
them he saw the King's advertisement, which was still appearing every
day.

'Dear me!' said Muscadel; 'of course the Princess couldn't get back to
her right size when I had taken the magic jewel away. I never thought of
that. Flies are thoughtless little things. And, by the way, taking that
jewel was stealing. Very wrong indeed. But I didn't know that when I was
a fly. So _I'm_ not a thief, and no more was the fly, because he didn't
know any better.'

That evening he had a little talk with the captain of the King's
archers, and in the morning the captain called on the King very early
and said:

'Sire, there's a crack-brained chap among my archers who says he can
make the Princess her right size again. Of course, it's all tommy-rot,
your Majesty, if I may be pardoned the expression, but I thought your
Majesty would like to know.'

'Oh, let him try,' said the King wearily; 'it's something to find
someone who even thinks he can do it.'

So next day Muscadel, the archer, put on his Sunday clothes and went up
to the palace, and a great, red-faced, burly fellow he was.

The King and all the Court were assembled to see the archer make the
Princess her own size again, though nobody believed he could do it.

The King was on his throne, and Pandora, still flower-fairy size, was
sitting on one of the carved gold flowers that adorned the throne's
right arm.

The archer bowed to the King and the Court, and to the Princess, though
he could not see her.

Then he looked round the crowded throne-room and said:

'Look here, your Majesty, this will never do.'

'Eh?' said the King.

'Magic can't be done in this sort of public way. I must be left alone
with the Princess. No; I can't have anyone bothering round. Not even
you, your Majesty.'

The King was rather offended, but the Princess got to his ear and
whispered, and then he gave the order for the throne-room to be cleared;
and when that was done, he set the tiny Princess on the table, and went
away himself and shut the door honourably behind him.

[Illustration: "On the table stood the dazzling figure of a real
full-sized princess."--Page 359.]

Then the archer said:

'Little Princess, you can be made your right size again if you will do
just what I tell you