open spaces, and flags flying everywhere. The daffodils attracted a great deal of attention as they made their way, blushing and a little frightened, through the crowds of soldiers, court ladies and attendants. At the door of the largest and most gorgeous tent stood three beautiful princes dressed in silver.

When they saw the maidens approaching, hand in hand, they gave a cry of joy and ran forward to greet them.

“Dear beautiful princesses,” they cried, “welcome to our court! May we ask your names and the country you come from?”

The cuckoo, perched on a tent-pole hard by, answered for them. “These are the Princesses Daffodil, daughters of the great King of Goldenland. They have come very many days’ journey to be present at your revels.”

Think of the cuckoo telling such a dreadful story and those naughty daffodils not contradicting him!

When the princes heard the cuckoo’s words they were almost beside themselves with joy, for, as it happened, there was a real King of Goldenland (but the cuckoo did not know it), and he had three daughters of the same age whom the Silver princes were anxious to see. They dropped on one knee, kissed the maidens’ hands very prettily, and then led them, blushing and delighted, into the royal tent.

The king was out, but the queen received the daffodils very graciously.

“Triplet,” she said significantly, and it was the princes’ turn to blush.

Then the young people visited all the beautiful tents, and the great ballroom where there was to be a ball that night, and the princes whispered to the maidens that they would dance with no one else. When they had tasted the cowslip wine from the fountains and eaten lots of wonderful sweets the daffodils declared they were quite tired; so the princes put them into hammocks with little monkeys to swing them, and the happy hours wore on until the evening.

The maidens had had a beautiful tent assigned to them by the queen, and they found lovely dresses of cloth of gold with shoes and stockings to match, all ready for them. They looked so beautiful when they were dressed that the colour of their feet did not seem to matter at all.

All that night they danced with the princes, and everyone was charmed with their beauty and grace, especially the king, who had not received a single answer to his advertisement. At the great 

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