her the secret, and also told her of the
skein, which was the only thing that could show the way. After that
she never rested till she had found out where the king kept the skein.
Then she made some little white silk shirts, and as she had learned
witchcraft from her mother, she sewed a spell into every one of them.
And one day when the king was gone out to hunt, she took the little
shirts and went into the wood, and the skein showed her the way.

The six brothers, who saw some one in the distance, thought their
dear father was coming, and ran to meet him, full of joy. As they
approached, the queen threw one of the shirts over each of them, and
when the shirts touched their bodies, they were changed into swans,
and flew away over the wood. The witch's daughter went home quite
happy, and thought she had got rid of all her stepchildren; but the
one little girl had not run out with her brothers, and the queen knew
nothing about her.

Next day, the king came joyfully to visit his children, but he found
nobody except the little sister.

"Where are your brothers?" asked he.

"Oh, dear father," she answered, "they are gone, and have left me
alone," and then she told him all that she had seen out of her window;
how her brothers were turned into swans, and had flown away over the
wood; she also showed him the feathers which they had dropped into the
courtyard, and which she had picked up.

The king was grieved, but he never thought that the queen had done
this wicked deed; however, because he dreaded lest the little girl
would be stolen from him likewise, he wished to take her away with
him. But she was afraid of the stepmother, and begged the king to let
her stay one night more in the castle in the wood.

The poor little girl thought, "I cannot rest here any longer, I will
go and look for my brothers."

And when the night came, she ran away, and went straight into the
wood. She went on all through the night, and the next day too, till
she was so tired that she could go no further. Then she saw a little
house, and went in, and found a room with six little beds; she did not
dare to lie down in any, but crept under one of them, laid herself on
the hard floor, and meant to pass the night there. But when the sun
was just going to set, she heard a rustling, and saw six swans come
flying in at the window. They sat down on the floor, and blew at one
another, and blew all their feathers off, and took off their
swan's-skins lik