THE LOVELIEST ROSE IN THE WORLD. 137

the passages, and all aiong the ceiling in all the halls. And the
roses were various in fragrance, form, and colour.

But care and sorrow dwelt in these halls : the Queen lay upon
a sick-bed, and the doctors declared that she must die.

“ There is still one thing that can serve her,” said the wisest
of them. “Bring her the loveliest rose in the world, the one
which is the expression of the brightest and purest love; for if
that is brought before her eyes ere they close, she will not die.”

And the young and old came from every side with roses, the
loveliest that bloomed in each garden; but they were not the

   

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The Wise Man visits the Sick Queen.

right sort. The flower was to be brought out of the garden ot
Love; but.what rose was it there that expressed the highest and
purest love?

And the poets sang of the loveliest rose in the world, and each
one named his own; and intelligence was sent far round the
land to every heart that beat with love, to every class and con-
dition, and to every age.

‘No one has till now named the flower,” said the wise man.
“No one has yet pointed out the place where it bloomed in its
splendour. They are not the roses from the coffin of Romeo
and Juliet, or from the Walburg’s grave, though these roses will
be ever fragrant in song. They are not the roses that sprouted
trom Winkelried’s blood-stained lances, from the blood that flows —