whatever lad it was, had disappeared. No one ever knew what had happened to them. No trace of them was ever left.
Eleven lads had disappeared in this fashion, till those that were left began to doubt, and didn't want to watch. They didn't want girls for whom so many young lads had been sacrificed.
And so, one by one, they all went away, leaving the princesses in the hands of Fate. Why should they lose their souls for a woman's head?
At this, the Emperor lost hope, and never dared to encourage anyone to try again. He was grieved that all the young lads who were so willing to free his daughters should be lost. And so he had to go on buying twelve pairs of white silk slippers daily. Poor Emperor! He was so worried, for he saw that his daughters would never marry; their hair would grow white before they would be able to put the wedding crown upon their heads.
However, it couldn't be helped!
········
Our Lad, the Gardener's boy, was getting on with his work. The princesses were pleased with his bunches of flowers, the Gardener was pleased with his industry. When he handed the flower-bunches to the princesses, he never raised his eyes to them; but when he handed the last bunch to the youngest princess, I don't know why, he used to blush like a peony, and his heart beat so hard that he thought it would jump out of his breast. The girl noticed this, but she only thought the Lad was shy.
So to-day, and so to-morrow, aei, aei, the Lad saw that she stood too high for him to touch. However, can you stop your heart? You see, it beat no less in him for that he was a Gardener's boy, and it pushed him towards her, blast it!
He wanted to watch the princesses too, but then he thought of all the other lads, and became discouraged.
One day, the Youngest Princess happened to mention to her sisters how the Lad who gave them the flowers blushed, and how handsome he was. Whereupon her eldest sister began to scold her, and to laugh at her.
"Dare your heart soften?" said she.
The Lad's heart told him to go to the Emperor and ask to watch his daughters too, but dare he do that, he, a poor Lad,
