old dame in her dress of tow. To her wonderment and grief she saw there was no silken robe in waiting, only a string of beads to clasp around her white throat. Each bead in the necklace was like a little shrivelled seed, and Olga's eyes filled with tears of disappointment.
"Obey me and all will be well," said the old woman.
"When thou reachest the castle gate clasp one bead in thy fingers and say:
"'For love's sweet sake, in my hour of need,
Blossom and deck me, little seed.'
Straightway right royally shalt thou be clad. But remember carefully the charm. Only to the magic words, 'For love's sweet sake' will the necklace give up its treasures. If thou shouldst
forget, then thou must be doomed always to wear thy gown of tow."
So Olga sped on her moon-lighted way through the forest until she came to the castle gate. There she paused, and grasping a bead of the strange necklace between her fingers, repeated the old dame's charm:
"For love's sweet sake, in my hour of need,
Blossom and deck me, little seed."