Then Dessauer put his hand into his bosom and drew out a chain of gold—the necklace of the woodman, in-deed—and laid the two side by side. He uttered a shrill cry as he did so.
"The belt of the lost Princess!" he cried; "the little Princess of
Plassenburg!"
And, laying them one above the other, each group of six bars read thus:
[Illustration: o o o H o o o H o o o H o o o | | | o o o E o o o E o o o E o o o The Necklace | | | o o o L o o o L o o o L o o o
o o o E o o o E o o o E o o o | | | o o o N o o o N o o o N o o o The Belt | | | o o o E o o o E o o o E o o o]
With delight on his face, like that of a mathematician when his calculations work out truly, Dessauer reached over his hand for the papers also, but my father stayed him.
"Who may you be that has a chain to match mine?" he asked, with his mighty hand on Dessauer's wrist.
"I am the State's Chancellor of Plassenburg, and it needed but this to show me our true Princess."
"Here, then," said my father, "is more and better."
And he handed him the papers.