er they
watched it. The king could bear the sight no more, and, besides, now
that the healing ointment in the shoe had been removed the pain in his
foot was as bad as ever; he gave a sudden cry, staggered, and fell over
the bulwarks into the water.

In an instant the river was covered with bobbing heads all swimming
their fastest towards the king, who had been carried far down by the
swift current. At length one swimmer, stronger than the rest, seized
hold of his tunic, and drew him to the bank, where a thousand eager
hands were ready to haul him out. He was carried, unconscious, to the
side of his daughter, who had fainted with terror on seeing her father
disappear below the surface, and together they were place in a coach and
driven to the palace, where the best doctors in the city were awaiting
their arrival.

In a few hours the princess was as well as ever; but the pain, the
wetting, and the shock of the accident, all told severely on the king,
and for three days he lay in a high fever. Meanwhile, his daughter,
herself nearly mad with grief, gave orders that the white slipper should
be sought for far and wide; and so it was, but even the cleverest divers
could find no trace of it at the bottom of the river.

When it became clear that the slipper must have been carried out to
sea by the current, Diamantina turned her thoughts elsewhere, and sent
messengers in search of the doctor who had brought relief to her father,
begging him to make another slipper as fast as possible, to supply the
place of the one which was lost. But the messengers returned with the
sad news that the doctor had died some weeks before, and, what was
worse, his secret had died with him.

In his weakness this intelligence had such an effect on the king that
the physicians feared he would become as ill as before. He could hardly
be persuaded to touch food, and all night long he lay moaning, partly
with pain, and partly over his own folly in not having begged the
doctor to make him several dozens of white slippers, so that in case of
accidents he might always have one to put on. However, by-and-by he saw
that it was no use weeping and wailing, and commanded that they should
search for his lost treasure more diligently than ever.

What a sight the river banks presented in those days! It seemed as if
all the people in the country were gathered on them. But this second
search was no more fortunate than the first, and at last the king issued
a pro