"Never mind, never mind, no harm ever came yet of giving alms to the
poor."
The years passed by, and Snowflower never once saw the mysterious
minstrel again, and she soon forgot all about him. She grew up into a
most beautiful maiden; and when she was seventeen, there was no one to
compare with her in the whole country. She was dazzling like the snow on
the mountains, and soft as the blush that steals over them in the dawn,
and her eyes were like the pools that reflect the sky in the hidden
places of the hills. So beautiful was she that the fame of her spread
far and wide, and the King thought that she would make an excellent wife
for his only son, who was just old enough to marry.
So he sent one of his courtiers in disguise to the village in the
mountains; he was to find out whether what the people said about
Snowflower was true or not.
He came to the village and saw Snowflower, and when he returned to the
palace once more, he told the king that Snowflower was far more
beautiful than what men told of her, and that it was indeed impossible
to describe her, for she was more beautiful than all mortals, but like a
fairy or a dream-child. When the King heard this, he set out with many
of his courtiers for the village in the hills, and they found Snowflower
sitting and spinning at the door of the blacksmith's shop.
The blacksmith and his wife were astonished and frightened when they saw
all these grand folk coming to their home, and when the King said that
he wished his son to marry their daughter they could hardly speak for
surprise. The King's son was as fine and as brave a lad as any in the
land, but it was settled that he was not to marry till he was
twenty-one, and now he was only twenty. So the King said he would come
back in a year's time and fetch Snowflower.
The blacksmith was of course delighted at his good fortune; but
Snowflower said that she did not wish to leave her native village, and
her father's home, and that she was quite happy where she was. And her
mother, remembering what the fairy had said, and how Snowflower had
given away the copper coin, was frightened, and she and Snowflower cried
bitterly together. But the blacksmith said this was nonsense, and
laughed at the two women for being so silly.
After a year had gone by, the King sent a whole train of courtiers to
fetch Snowflower, and they put her on a pony and they brought her to the
city and the palace of the King.
It was arranged that the wedding should be held a few days after her
arrival.
Snowflower was given a gorgeous room in the palace looking out on to a
wide courtyard, round which there were statues and colonnades; and
splendid preparations were made for her wedding ceremony.
She was introduced to the Prince directly, and he fell in love with her
at first sight. As for Snowflower, she knew not whether she loved the
Prince or not, but she thought she had never seen so charming and
handsome a person before, and she would have been quite happy but for a
home-sickness which never left her, for she longed for the sight of the
snowy mountains, the green valleys, and the little village where she was
born; and she felt that she could not live for ever far away from the
snows, and the streams, and the flowers of the great white hills.
She had gone to bed early and fallen asleep at once, but towards
midnight she was awakened by a sound which seemed to be familiar to her;
she ran to the window and looked out into the courtyard, whose pillars
were gleaming in the moonlight. Again she heard a sound, and then on the
midnight wind there were borne into the room the notes of a song which
she thought she had heard once before, long ago, in her home in the
hills. It was a hoarse voice, which seemed to come from far away; a
mournful voice and sweet, but in spite of its sweetness there was a
strange spell in it and something which called for and demanded
submission. She listened, and now, although she knew she had heard it
before, she could not tell when or where; it was different from
anything she remembered, and more beautiful; and yet, as she listened,
her heart beat fast, and she knew not whether it was the voice of a
friend or an avenging foe who was singing that hoarse serenade.
She withdrew from the window in fright, but the song grew louder; it
called her with sound like that of bugles on a field of battle in the
evening when the fight is ended--silvery, manful, and triumphant.
And then her heart beat faster than ever, for she knew that the voice
was that of a lover; and she knew that she could not resist his song.
And she looked once more out of the window, and there in the courtyard,
dark against one of the gleaming pillars, she saw a tall man muffled in
a black cloak, a man whom she recognised. She ran back from the casement
and called out in a great terror, but nobody answered her call.
Then across the cobblestones of the yard she heard the tramp of loud
footsteps, as though a knight in armour were walking across it; and
presently she heard the same heavy tramp on the wide marble steps that
led up to her room. Nearer and nearer they came, till she heard a rap
like that of a great sword against her door. He knocked so loudly that
the noise was like thunder, and yet no one in the palace seemed to be
disturbed. She tried to call out once more, but her voice died away in
her throat; she tried to run, but she remained motionless.
Then the door was opened wide. And there entered, muffled in a dark
cloak so that you could only see his eyes, the minstrel to whom she had
given the heart-shaped copper coin that used to hang over her father's
hearth. And then all at once she knew that the minstrel was not a foe
but a friend, and she stretched out her hand and grasped his hand.
As soon as she did this he threw aside his cloak, and there stood before
her a wonderful knight in armour, whose face was bright as snow and
whose eyes were like stars. And he took her in his arms and carried her
down the broad steps into the courtyard, and there a horse was waiting,
and he mounted it and set Snowflower in front of him, and they galloped
away through the gates, through the city, and over the plains beyond.
The next day Snowflower could not be found anywhere, and although the
whole kingdom was searched far and wide, no trace of her was discovered.
When Snowflower went away from her village, the blacksmith's wife was
very sad, although Snowflower had promised to visit her often. But when
she woke up on the morning that Snowflower should have wedded the
Prince, she was astonished to see that the little copper coin was
hanging once more over their hearth, and she felt quite happy once more;
for she knew now, although she could not tell why, that all was well
with Snowflower.