' Once upon a time,
there was a fair, forlorn princess on a milk-white steed. She was lost
in a forest. It was, though the princess did not know it, an enchanted
forest. And there was a cruel giant who had seized twenty-seven fair,
forlorn princesses whom he had made his serving-maids. They could be
freed only by a magic ring worn by a gallant knight who did not know
about their danger. Anne stopped in the middle of her story, keeping
mouse-still so as not to frighten a robin beside the hedge.
She gave a start when a voice near her piped out, "Tell on, little girl,
tell on; I like that story."
Anne looked around. No one was in sight.
"If you don't tell on, I'll cry. Then mother will punish you," said the
shrill little voice.
Anne stood up and looked all about. At last she discovered the speaker.
He was a small boy who had climbed a low-branching apple-tree on the
other side of the hedge. A smaller boy was walking beside a
white-capped, white-aproned nurse at a little distance. Anne had made
believe that the brown-stone house was the castle of the wandering
knight who was to return and rescue the enchanted princesses. It had
been closed all the summer and Anne was surprised and grieved to see now
that it was open and occupied by everyday people.
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