e had
not deprived her of her reason!

All day long the two remained together, and when Eglantine grew hungry
she was led by the white doe to a part of the forest where pears and
peaches grew in abundance; but, as night came on, the maid of honour
was filled with the terrors of wild beasts which had beset the princess
during her first night in the forest.

'Is there no hut or cave we could go into?' asked she. But the doe only
shook her head; and the two sat down and wept with fright.

The fairy Tulip, who, in spite of her anger, was very soft-hearted, was
touched at their distress, and flew quickly to their help.

'I cannot take away the spell altogether,' she said, 'for the Fairy
of the Fountain is stronger than I; but I can shorten the time of your
punishment, and am able to make it less hard, for as soon as darkness
fall you shall resume your own shape.'

To think that by-and-by she would cease to be a white doe--indeed, that
she would at once cease to be one during the night--was for the present
joy enough for Desiree, and she skipped about on the grass in the
prettiest manner.

'Go straight down the path in front of you,' continued the fairy,
smiling as she watched her; 'go straight down the path and you will soon
reach a little hut where you will find shelter.' And with these words
she vanished, leaving her hearers happier than they ever thought they
could be again.

An old woman was standing at the door of the hut when Eglantine drew
near, with the white doe trotting by her side.

'Good evening!' she said; 'could you give me a night's lodging for
myself and my doe?'

'Certainly I can,' replied the old woman. And she led them into a room
with two little white beds, so clean and comfortable that it made you
sleepy even to look at them.

The door had hardly closed behind the old woman when the sun sank below
the horizon, and Desiree became a girl again.

'Oh, Eglantine! what should I have done if you had not followed me,' she
cried. And she flung herself into her friend's arms in a transport of
delight.

Early in the morning Eglantine was awakened by the sound of someone
scratching at the door, and on opening her eyes she saw the white doe
struggling to get out. The little creature looked up and into her face,
and nodded her head as the maid of honour unfastened the latch, but
bounded away into the woods, and was lost to sight in a moment.

Meanwhile, the prince and Becasigue were wandering throug