Michael followed, and entered the ball-room in their train. Everywhere
were mirrors, lights, flowers, and damask hangings.
The Star Gazer was quite bewildered at the magnificence of the sight.
He placed himself out of the way in a corner, admiring the grace and
beauty of the princesses. Their loveliness was of every kind. Some were
fair and some were dark; some had chestnut hair, or curls darker still,
and some had golden locks. Never were so many beautiful princesses seen
together at one time, but the one whom the cow-boy thought the most
beautiful and the most fascinating was the little Princess with the
velvet eyes.
With what eagerness she danced! leaning on her partner’s shoulder she
swept by like a whirlwind. Her cheeks flushed, her eyes sparkled, and
it was plain that she loved dancing better than anything else.
The poor boy envied those handsome young men with whom she danced so
gracefully, but he did not know how little reason he had to be jealous
of them.
The young men were really the princes who, to the number of fifty at
least, had tried to steal the princesses’ secret. The princesses had
made them drink something of a philtre, which froze the heart and left
nothing but the love of dancing.