they won. All Marsella admired
the goodness and generosity of the king. To whatever he wanted,
his counsellors agreed; and because of his good judgment, his reign
was peaceful.

Time came when the queen gave birth to a child. The whole kingdom
rejoiced, and a great feast was prepared. "Let the feast last
six months," said Zetnaen, chief adviser. The new baby was a girl
of peerless beauty. The holy bishop was summoned to baptize the
child. As the Virgin Mary was the patron saint of the king and queen,
they asked the worthy prelate to name the little princess Maria;
and so she was named.

One day the king went to hunt in the mountains. There was no forest or
cave that the party did not visit. All the animals in the mountains
were thrown into confusion when they heard the great noise. Bears,
tigers, and lions came out of their dens. As soon as these wild beasts
reached the plain, they began to pursue the king and his men. The noise
and confusion cannot be imagined. By the help of God, the king and his
men put to flight their savage foes; and when the chase was ended,
nobody had been hurt. After the hunters had been gathered together
by the sound of the trumpet, they all returned home, thankful that
no one had been injured. The king, however, had unwittingly lost his
favorite reliquary.

When King Palmarin reached Marsella and discovered that his locket
was missing, he at once sent many of his soldiers back to look for
it. They searched all parts of the mountain and even the valley. At
last they returned to the capital, and said to the king, "We, whom
your Majesty commanded to look for the reliquary, have come to tell
you that, after a thorough search through the entire forest and valley,
we have not been able to find it." The king was very sad to hear this
report; but he kept his sorrow to himself, and did not reveal his
heart to his counsellors. He grieved, not because of the value of the
reliquary, but because it had been handed down to him by his father,
whose will and recommendations it contained.

As time went on, the king forgot his lost reliquary. He ceased
looking for it. His daughter the princess was now grown up. She was
beautiful, happy, good-natured, and modest. Those who saw her said
that she was not inferior even to Elsa, Judith, or Anne Boleyn. Now,
the king wished his daughter to marry, so that there might be some
one to inherit his throne when he died. He made his desire known to
his counsellors. He