Slave, indeed!" answered the dwarf, with a sneer of the deepest contempt; "I am no slave of yours, great king; you are my slave, my plaything. I blow you hither and thither as I please. Poor mortal! you strut and fume as if you were allpowerful, and yet you are but contemptibly weak, whilst I have grown daily in strength, until at last, I can overpower you at my will, and cast you into the dust of abasement."

Overawed by the fierceness of the dwarf, the king felt how powerless he had become, and hid his face within his hands.

A light pull at his sleeve by the dwarf made him look up, and he beheld a veiled female standing before him. She dropped the veil from her face, and discovered the dazzling beauty of the gardener's daughter. The king started, as he looked upon that face, full of innocence and timidity, and could not speak for wonder.

The vile whisper of the dwarf was scarcely heard as he hissed into his ears, "Fool, seize her! She is now in your power, and we shall triumph!"

The fair girl fixed her eyes upon the bad adviser of her young sovereign; and such was the pure light which shone from them that he became almost invisible.

"Great king," said she, "extending her hand

towards him, "I have no fear or mistrust in thus standing alone and defenceless in your presence, although you have listened to the advice of the tempter by your side. I have dared to do this in the full confidence of your yet untarnished honour, and the belief that you will not sully the name of a line of illustrious kings, or live to be despised by the people that have been, like myself, taught to believe you all that is good.

"That you should keep this good name, have I, in some way, endangered mine; for I have ventured here to preserve your secret and to plead to your mercy for my good brother.

"Here is your ring, great king; take it, that your weakness may be hidden for ever from your people; and I shall be happy in knowing that I have saved you from falling into the misery of despising yourself."

The king stood humbled and ashamed before the young girl who had acted so nobly towards him, when his intentions had been nothing but evil against her.

He took the ring from her hand. As he did so, their eyes met; but his fell before her unembarrassed look, and he felt how much he had indeed fallen from what was pure and good.

She saw the bad spirit approach him. The young king thrust him on one side.

"Persevere, my king; struggle with the cvil that would sink you in despair," said she; "he will become a giant if you yield to his will, and ultimately destroy you. You see how quick he is of growth. You have but to nerve your heart with virtuous resolution, and he will sink again into insignificance, and you may destroy him beneath your heel."

The evil genius had become dumb: he struggled to speak, but in vain. He wavered as smoke agitated by the wind, then shrunk into his original nothingness, as the young king crushed him without effort beneath his foot, and knelt before his preserver.

He feared to lose so noble and so good an adviser, and resolved to place her on his throne; he sent for her injured brother, summoned his ministers before him, and proclaimed his intention of making her his queen; not to raise her, for her nobleness and virtue placed her higher than any earthly throne could do, but to show his estimation of her virtues, and his own contrition for encouraging a wrong thought until it had become too powerful for him, and thereby nearly caused his destruction.

THE DWARF AND THE WOOD-CUTTER.

CHAPTER I.

ON the borders of a dark forest there lived a woodman, with his wife and little son. The roof of his cottage was so covered in green moss and straggling lichen, that you would not have distinguished it, had it not been for the tiny casements that looked out from the green shades and winked at you, like two little bright eyes; and, now and then, a wavering, meandering, blue cloud of smoke that wound itself like a snake, in and about the overhanging branches, much to the annoyance of the young birds that had not risen early or had idly gone to bed too soon. Although, to some people, this little hermit cottage might appear silent and dull, to many it would have been most charming; for it spoke of peace and repose, broken only by an occasional song or two from the little feathered choristers, or by the soothing sound of the prattling brook, that, in its

sparkling playfulness, leapt a flowery bank or rolled over, in sport, the pebbles of its bed.

In this arboured retreat, then, lived the wood man and his wife, with their little son. They both loved that little son with all their hearts, for he was beautiful to look upon: he had such rosy lips to kiss, and his flowing locks curled to his waist; yet he had a fault, and they both knew it: he was idle. Although but a little child, he was big enough to go with his father and assist him to bind the wood that he felled; but he always cried to stay at home, and lie upon some sunny bank, where he could indulge in the full luxury of idleness. This behaviour gave them both much pain, as they feared that his fault would grow upon him, and that he would, in the end, become a worthless man, causing them an unhappy old age, instead of being a comfort to them when they needed it.

in

After many attempts to cure him of his bad habits by love and persuasion-for they loved him too well to chastise him-they gave him up despair. The father wended his way despondingly into the forest, whilst the mother gazed with tears of sorrow upon her idle child, as he lay reclining on a bank, playing listlessly with a pendant blossom which hung temptingly within his reach.

The father, meanwhile entered the gloom of

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