“No; in that hole we will find the magic charm that will restore the Princess to her own form,” said the young man. “The witch disappeared in the blue mist.”
“Let us hurry and find the magic charm,” he said, dropping into the hole, and the peasant followed him.
There was a ladder down which they climbed, and down they went until it seemed they would never reach the bottom.
But at last their feet touched something firm and soft and they stood in a beautiful room on a carpet of blue velvet.
The room was hung with velvet the color of sapphire, and the chairs were of burnished gold with velvet seats.
A gold fountain played in the middle of the room and the water fell into a basin of sapphire.
“This is the magic fountain,” said the youth. “You must throw the little mouse into it if you wish to bring back the Princess.”
The peasant took from his pocket the trembling little mouse. “It is frightened,” he said. “I hate to throw it into that deep water.”
Without replying the youth grabbed the mouse from the peasant and threw it with great force into the fountain and it disappeared from sight.
“Oh, you have killed it!” said the peasant, looking into the deep-blue water with frightened eyes.