Their old companions were well cared for; and they loved their king and queen just as well as when they were children of the shore with themselves; for the good queen loved her people, and never ceased to labor for their happiness. The holy fire had never grown dim; and Myrtle, the noble-hearted Myrtle, thought and acted always with his beloved queen. In all things they went hand in hand and heart in heart; and dwellers upon the remotest borders of their kingdom found reason to bless the reign of King Myrtle and Queen Rose.
The story is ended, but there is one thing which some might care to know.
One day, as the king and queen were sitting in their private chamber, talking of the long ago, the king said: “My dear Rosebud, why was it that the Green Fairy, as she must have had the power, did not find some way of informing your parents where you were hidden, or did not come to your rescue?”
“She is here,” said a voice near them,—“she is here to answer for herself.”
They turned quickly, and there, in her own proper form, stood the Green Fairy, who spoke as follows:—
“The Green Fairy,” said she, “wished to prove whether the child Rosebud could be as gentle, as sweet-tempered, when in poverty, and exposed to harsh treatment, as when living in a palace, the idol of a court. The little fisher-boy may answer that question for himself.”
But the Green Fairy was not so entirely neglectful of the little girl. Something she could tell of a fine-feathered bird, which guided her through the woods. Something, too, of a bird-song, heard by a little girl standing alone in a dark passage.
“To the left now turn the key,
Three times three, three times three.”