Then looking at her feet, she said:
"Little brother, when we go again to the lake, we will put on boots."
The sun had by now declined in the radiant sky. A breath of wind fanned the necks and the cheeks of the young travellers who boldly, and with fresh alacrity, pursued their travels. To walk more easily, they held each other by the hand and sang, and they laughed to see their two black shadows, likewise united, moving in front of them. They sang:
Marian the maid,
Demure and staid,
Went riding to the mill,
She placed her load
Of corn, and rode
Upon her donkey Bill.
But Bee stops. She cries:
"I have lost my slipper, my satin slipper."
And it was as she said. The silk bows of the little slipper had got loose as she walked, and it lay all dusty in the road.
Then she looked behind her, and seeing the towers of the castle swimming in the distant mist, she felt a pang, and tears came into her eyes.
"The wolves will eat us," she said, "and our mother will never see us again, and she will die of grief."
But George brought her slipper to her and said: