The Dove Maiden’s Story. 135

was now cheerful and happy; she called the child Snowdrop,
and they gathered flowers together in the meadow, while Aunt
Katrine scrubbed. When the little girl had grown sufficiently
large she was dressed in the star-spangled robe, shoes, and sil-
ver cap which her mother had worn before her. Aunt Katrine
was very much pleased with Snowdrop in this becoming cos-
tume. The dove maiden led her to the meadow, where she
loved to sit near the spot where she had been captured. The
Snyders had never heard a word of her story, but now she de-
cided to tell it to Snowdrop, who listened with bright, intelli-
gent eyes.

“«T dreamed. about my sister last night, she said. ‘ Per-
haps if we wait patiently here she will come and pay us a visit.

“*But how will she come?’ asked Snowdrop.

“«She will fly here with her beautiful white wings, just as I
did, returned the dove maiden with a sigh. ‘ Attend, my child,
while I tell you about your grandfather and relatives in the
East. The King of Selgrobia is my father. He has a brilliant
court thousands of miles away from here, where the palm-trees
grow. I have a brother who is a Crown Prince, and will some
time be king. My sister and I were the only daughters, and
we were twins. We were born with little gold chains about our
necks, studded with jewels, and clasped with a diamond button.
These were gifts of the fairy king at our birth, and would en-
able us to become doves whenever we wished to fly away. The
Queen, our mother, considered this a very dangerous gift; and,
fearing we would avail ourselves of the chance thus granted us,
she carefully hid the two chains away in a casket. We were
brought up in the palace, yet seldom visited the state apart-