he creature in his arms, laid her gently
down upon them, and sat beside her, feeding her from time to time with
the softest grass he could find. She ate contentedly from his hand,
and he almost fancied she understood all the sweet things he said to
her, and so time passed till it grew dusk.

"My pretty hind," said he, "I will go in search of a stream where you
can drink, and then we will take our way home together." But while he
was absent she stole away, and had only time to reach the cottage when
the transformation happened, and it was not a hind but a weeping
princess who threw herself on the bed beside the faithful Gilliflower.

"I have seen him!" she cried. "My Prince Warrior is himself in this
forest: he was the hunter who has pursued me these two days, and has
taken me at last. But he did not slay me: he saved and caressed me.
Ah, he is gentler and sweeter even than the image in my heart."

Here she began again to weep; but Gilliflower consoled her, and they
went to sleep, wondering much how this adventure would end.

The prince, returning from the stream, missed his beautiful white
hind, and came back to Becafico full of grief, mingled with a certain
anger at the ingratitude of the creature to whom he had been so kind.
But at break of day he rose, determined again to pursue her. She,
however, in order to avoid him, took a quite different route. Still,
the forest was not so large, but that at last he saw her, leaping and
bounding among the bushes. Seized by an irresistible impulse, he shot
an arrow after her; it struck her, she felt a violent pain dart
through one of her slender limbs, and fell helpless on the grass. When
the prince came up to her, he was overcome with remorse for his
cruelty. He took a handful of herbs and bound up her wound, made her a
bed of branches and moss, laid her head upon his knees, and wept over
her.

"My lovely hind," said he, "why did I wound you so cruelly? You will
hate me, when I wish you to love me." So he tended and cherished her
all day, and, towards nightfall, he knotted a ribbon round her neck,
with the intention of gently leading her home. But she struggled with
him; and the struggle was so sore that Gilliflower, coming out in
search of her dear mistress, heard the rustling, and saw her hind in
the hunter's power. She rushed to rescue her, to the prince's great
astonishment.

"Whatever consideration I owe you, madam," said he, "you must know
that you are committing a