to herself she might yet be in greater need, and she walked on and on, though nearly dead with cold and fatigue, till late in the afternoon.  Then at last, far before her still, she saw gleaming the lights of a city, and, encouraged by the sight, she gathered her courage together and pressed on, till, at the door of a little cottage at the outskirts of the town, she sank down with fatigue.  An old woman, with a kind face, came out of the house and invited her to enter and rest.

“‘You look sorely tired, my child,’ she said.  ‘Have you travelled far?’

“‘Ah yes!’ replied the poor Princess, ’very far.  I am nearly dead with fatigue;’ and indeed she looked very miserable.  Her beautiful fair hair was all tumbled and soiled, her poor little feet were scratched and blistered, her black dress torn and draggled—­she looked far more like a beggar-maiden than like a princess.  But yet, her pretty way of speaking and gentle manners showed she was not what she seemed, and when she had washed her face and combed her hair, the old woman looked at her with admiration.

“‘Tis a pity you have not a better dress,’ she said, ’for then you could have gone with me to see the rejoicings in the town for the marriage of our Prince.’

“‘Is your Prince to be married to-day?’ asked the Princess.

“‘No, not to-day—­to-morrow,’ said the old woman.  ’But the strange thing is that it is not yet known who is to be his bride.  The Prince has only lately returned to his home, for, for many years, he has been shut up by a fairy spell in a beautiful palace in the north, and now that the spell is broken and he is restored to his parents, they are anxious to see him married.  But he must still be under a spell of some kind, they say, for though he has all that heart can wish, he is ever sad and silent, and as if he were thinking of something far away.  And he has said that he will marry no princess but one who can catch three golden balls at a time, as if young princesses were brought up to be jugglers!  Nevertheless, all the princesses far and wide have been practising their best at catching balls, and to-morrow the great feasts are to begin, and she who catches best is to be chosen out of all the princesses as the bride of our Prince.’

“The poor Princess listened with a beating heart to the old woman’s talk.  There could be no doubt as to who the Prince of this country was.

“‘I have come but just in time,’ she said to herself, and then she rose, and thanking her hostess for her kindness, said she must be going.

“‘But where are you going, you poor child?’ said the old woman.  ’You look far too tired to go farther and for two or three days all these rejoicings will make the country unpleasant for a young girl to travel through alone.  Stay with me till you are rested.’

“The Princess thanked her with tears in her eyes for her kindness.  ’I have nothing to reward you with,’ she said, ’but some day I may be able to do so’ and then she thankfully accepted her offer.