Page:Stories of Prince Lupin.pdf/14

14 from being devoured by them; when, hearing somebody cry, “Hem! hem!” she lifted up her eyes, and beheld a little yellow man on a tree, half a yard high, picking and eating oranges.

“Ah! queen," said the Yellow Dwarf, (for so he was called on account of his complexion, and the orange-tree he lived in), "how will you escape the lions? There is but one way: I know what business brought you here! promise me your daughter in marriage, and I will save you.” The queen thought she could not but look upon so frightful a figure with horror, yet was forced to consent; whereupon she instantly found herself in her own palace, and all that had passed seemed only as a dream; nevertheless, she was so thoroughly persuaded of the reality of it, that she became melancholy.

The young princess being unable to learn the cause of her dejection, resolved to go and inquire of the Desert Fairy; and, accordingly, having prepared a cake for the lions, she also set off for her abode. It happened that All-Fair took exactly the same rout her mother had done before her; and coming to the fatal tree, which was loaded with oranges, she had a mind to pick some! therefore, setting down her basket wherein she carried the cake, she plentifully