158 THE FAIRY-FOLK OF THE BLUE HILL.

done but to allow the wilful prince to do as he
wished, so, with a sigh of despair, she took him
up and carried him to the spot where the
night before the fairy of the brook had ap-
peared to them.

Once more the prince repeated these
lines : —

“Fairy of the stream so fair,
Wilt thou kindly tell me where,

How far distant it may be
To the waters of the sea?”

As before, the column of mist appeared in
the distance and floated on the stream until it
reached the prince, and the fairy of the brook
from within the mist answered: —

“Seldom is it, prince, that we
Grant that mortals mermaids see.
A wilful child must have its way,
And we cannot say thee nay.
But this mark well: let not a word
Or cry, while on the way, be heard.
If thou shouldst speak or cry, all’s lost,
And from the bark wouldst thou be tossed.”

With these: words, the form of the fairy of
the brook was once more veiled in mist and
receded down the stream.