Page:On a pincushion.djvu/236

This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
Through the Fire.
223

then the room was filled with smoke, through which Jack could see nothing. He felt frightened, and inclined to cry; but in a minute or two he heard the soft voice of the Princess, calling to him,—

“Jack, Jack!” and he saw the smoke clearing away.

There, in the middle of the room, stood the Princess Pyra—the same, yet not the same; and beside her was Prince Fluvius, like himself in face and figure, and yet altered. His arm was about the Princess, and she leaned her head on his shoulder.

She was no longer surrounded by flames, and the weird brightness had passed from her face and dress.

Her hair looked softer and glittered less, and her eyes no longer seemed to burn, but beamed on Jack with a soft, mild light. The coloured catherine-wheel had disappeared from her bosom, and in its place was a bunch of real water-lilies. The Prince was no less changed. His eyes were bright and clear, his hair had lost its wet gloss, and was dry and curly; his clothes looked crisp and firm.

This article is issued from Wikisource. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.