THE SALT OF LIFE

so beautiful, but she set a spell upon him with the evil
charm of her eyes. No one sat at the table but the queen
and the prince, and a score of young pages served them,
_ and sweet music sounded from a curtained gallery.

At last came midnight, and suddenly a great gong
sounded from the courtyard outside. Then in an instant
the music was stopped, the pages that served them hurried
from the room, and presently all was as still as death.

Then, when all were gone, the queen arose and
beckoned the prince, and he had no choice but to arise
also and follow whither she led. She took him through
the palace, where all was as still as the grave, and so
came out by a postern door into a garden. Beside the
postern a torch burned in a bracket. The queen took it
down, and then led the prince up a path and under the
silent trees until they came to a great wall of rough stone.
She pressed her hand upon one of the great stones, and it
opened like a door, and there was a flight of steps that
led downward. The queen descended these steps, and
the prince followed closely behind her. At the bottom
was a long passage-way, and at the farther end the prince
saw what looked like a bright spark of light, as though
the sun were shining. She thrust the torch into another
bracket in the wall of the passage, and then led the way
towards the light. It grew larger and larger as they
went forward, until at last they came out at the farther
end, and there the prince found himself standing in the
sunlight and not far from the sea-shore. The queen led
the way towards the shore, when suddenly a great number
of black dogs came running towards them, barking and
snarling, and showing their teeth as though they would
tear the two in pieces. But the queen drew from her

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