TWILIGHT LAND

aside a piece of good luck for the sake of a pretty face.
‘Now are you afraid of me ?” said he.

‘No, I am not,” said she; and she reached out her
hand as though to give itto him. But, instead of doing
so, she snatched up the piece of blue glass as quick as a
flash.

“ Now,” said she, “it is my turn ;” and then the prime-
minister knew that his end had come.

She blew her breath upon the piece of blue glass and
rubbed her thumb upon it. Instantly, as with a clap of
thunder, the great red Genie stood before her, and the
poor prime-minister sat shaking and trembling.

“Whosoever hath that piece of blue crystal,” said the
Genie, ‘that one must | obey. What are your orders,
O princess ?”

“Take this man,” cried the princess, “and carry him
away into the desert where you took those other two, and
bring my father and Jacob Stuck back again.”

“To hear is to obey,” said the Genie ; and instantly he
seized the prime-minister, and, in spite of the poor man’s
kicks and struggles, snatched him up and flew away with
him swifter than the wind. On and on he flew until he
had come to the farthest part of the desert, and there sat
the king and Jacob Stuck still thinking about things.
Down he dropped the prime-minister, up he picked the
king and Jacob Stuck, and away he flew swifter than the
wind. On and on he flew until he had brought the two
back to the palace again; and there sat the princess
waiting for them, with the piece of blue crystal in her
hand.

“You have saved us!” cried the king.

‘You have saved us!” cried Jacob Stuck. “Yes, you
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