A WREATH OF WHITE ROSES. 121

crossed in the ferry-boat to Castle Dangerous. The darker the night
grew, the more plainly did Primrose notice these queer faces which
bobbed up out of the water and grinned at her.

“Oh, what shall I do? How very, very frightened I am!” she
moaned. ‘Oh, I can’t stay at this side of the stream, I must get
across to the other. Something tells me that I shall find the wicked
lady’s cottage at the other side of the stream.”

“Ha, ha, ha!” laughed some of the wicked little men down in
the water.

“And how are you going to get to the other side?” shouted
a voice.

The moment Primrose heard this voice a queer thing happened :
she began to get that cool collected sort of feeling which had helped
her so much while at Castle Dangerous.

“You had better come down to the edge of the stream by the steep
bank,” shouted one of the little men ; “it is very narrow, and you can
hop over to the other side and climb up the bank that way. There is
no other manner whatever by which you can get across. Come, come,
come: don’t be lazy! don’t be frightened! Come, come, come!”

“Come, come, come!” shouted thousands of other little voices.
They made such a queer kind of harsh medley that Primrose put up
her hands to her ears to shut out the horrid sound. As she did so she
suddenly heard a gentle and very sweet voice say low in her ear—

‘“« Find the silver cord, walk over on it; don’t be at all afraid, it will
bear you up and bring you to the other side in safety.”

Primrose looked round eagerly to find out who was speaking, but
she could not see anyone.

The gentle little words, however, filled her with fresh hope and
courage, and she ran eagerly along the bank looking for the silver cord.

In about ten minutes she found it; it hung like a line of light
from one side to the other of the steep embankments. The moon,
which was rising now in the sky, shone full upon it, and it certainly
looked slender enough and-frail enough to strike awe to the heart of
even a braver child than Primrose. For one minute she clasped her
hands, and great fear filled her heart.