Part 32

Presently the Princess came upstairs and passed by the lad without so much as a glance, but his heart leaped within him, she was so beautiful.

She opened the door to go in, and the lad put on his turban of darkness and slipped in after her, but the Princess did not know that because he was invisible. She closed the door tight and sighed three times, and then a great black demon stood before her, and he was terrible to look upon, he was so huge and ugly.

"Oh, my dear Lala," said the Princess, "let us be off at once. I do not know why, but I feel so frightened, just as though some misfortune were about to come upon me."

"That is nonsense," said the demon. "But do you seat yourself upon my head, and we will be off at once."

The demon wore a buckler upon his head, and now he stooped, and she seated herself upon it, but the lad was quick and sprang up and took his place beside her.

"Ai! Ai!" cried the demon, "but you are heavy to-day, Princess."

"I do not know what you mean," answered the Princess. "I am no heavier and no lighter than I was last night."

Then the demon flew out through the window and away through the night so fast that the lad had much ado to keep from falling off.

After a while they came to a garden the like of which the lad had never seen before and never expected to see again, for the leaves of the trees were of silver, and the branches were of gold, and the fruits were emeralds and rubies.

As they passed through it the lad stretched out his hand and broke off a twig and put it in his bosom. Then all the trees in the garden began to sigh and moan.

"Child of man! Child of man! why do you break and torture us?"

The Princess shuddered. "Some one besides ourselves is here in the garden," she cried.

"That cannot be, or we would see him," answered the demon, but he was frightened and flew on faster than before.

Presently they came to another garden and it was even more wonderful than the first, for here the trees were of diamonds, and the fruits of every kind of precious stones you can think of.

As they passed through it the lad stretched out his hand and broke off a twig. Then all the trees began to sigh and moan.

"Child of man! Child of man! Why do you break and torture us?" they cried.

"Oh, my dear Lala, what did I tell you?" asked the Princess. "I am afraid"; and she trembled all over her body.

The demon answered nothing, but he flew on even faster than ever.

Soon after they came to a magnificent palace, and the demon flew in through a window and alighted. Then the Princess and the lad leaped down from the buckler, and the demon was glad to have the weight off him. After that he vanished.

The Princess opened a door and went into another room, with the lad close behind her, and there was the King of all the demons, and he was so huge and black that the demon Lala was nothing to him.

"My dearest dear one, why are you so late to-night?" asked he of the Princess.

"I do not know what was the matter," answered the fair one, "but something is terribly wrong"; and she told him all that had happened.

The Demon laughed at her. "You are nervous," said he. "But come! You have not kissed me yet."

He came close to the Princess to kiss her, but the lad stepped between them and gave the Demon such a push that he almost fell over; at the same time he himself gave the Princess a kiss upon the cheek.

"Why do you push me away?" cried the Demon, and he was very angry.

The Princess began to tremble again. "I did not push you," said she. "Moreover, some one kissed me on the cheek. I am sure somebody is in the room with us."

The King Demon looked all around, but he could see nobody. Then he called a slave to bring the Princess the jeweled slippers she always wore when she came to his palace.

The slave brought the slippers on a golden cushion, and they were crusted over with pearls and precious stones. He knelt before the Princess, and she took one and put it on, but at the same time the lad took the other and slipped it in his bosom. The Princess and the Demon did not know what had become of it. They hunted everywhere, but they could not find it.