6 WHISPERS FROM FAIRYLAND. [1.

In short, she behaved in every respect as if she had
been a mad woman, and upon the King’s attempting
to pacify her, she so far forgot her wifely duties as to
box his royal ears, and with another wild shout of
‘My child, my child!’ relapsed into her fainting fit;
from which the King thought it was by no means
desirable that she should speedily revive, if the same
scenes were to be re-enacted on her recovery. So
they carried the poor Queen up to her bed-room, and
left her quiet there until she came to once more, and
appeared somewhat less agitated. Then the King
paid her a visit, and, the first frenzy of grief being
‘over, the royal pair wept in each other’s arms over the
disaster which they both had to endure.

The servants, messengers, and soldiers who had
been sent to scour the country all returned without
any tidings of the missing Prince. The wells were all
examined, the ponds all emptied, the rivers dragged,
but nothing could be found nor any trace of Prince
Merry discovered by the searchers. For three days
and three nights the search was continued in every
direction, and at the end of that time the King and
Queen no longer ventured to hope that their beloved
son would be restored to them.

But what, in the name of all that was mysterious,
could possibly have become of him? The wild beasts
in that country were few and far between, and if any
savage animal had seized the boy, his cries would
surely have attracted the attention of the maid and
soldier, and even if this had not been the case, some
marks of his seizure, such as blood, torn raiment, and
signs of struggling would surely have been left behind.