“But throw it carefully,” begged the little boy, “or the Prince won’t catch it.”
The Prince smiled. “Now,” he called.
“But, before I do so,” said the Princess, “I must tell you this; if you take it, it will bring you pain and sorrow—perhaps more than you can bear. Can you really accept it? Are you willing to take the trouble that must come?”
The Ugly Prince simply held out his hands. “Throw,” he said.
The little boy thought he had never seen anybody look so noble as he did, standing there with his outstretched hands and his masked face turned up to the lovely, sad figure above him.
A flash pierced the air, and the Heart lay safe in the hands of the Ugly Prince.
“And now,” he said as he held it, “remember that there is nothing I will not do for your sake; whatever this thing tells me to do, that will I do; wherever it tells me to go, there will I go; and, as long as there is life in me, I will not rest until I have accomplished my end.”
The evil birds were now seen returning over the waters, and at the sight of the ship lying anchored under the rock, they were dreadfully disturbed, and made such a flapping of wings that the witch came up from her lair to see what could be the matter. When she saw the vessel her fury knew no bounds, and when she observed that the Golden Heart was gone, she nearly wrung the old cormorant’s neck.
“The next time you go away,” she cried, “I will sit here and watch myself! And, as for you,” she went on, turning to the Princess, “you need never think you can escape, for you shall be guarded day and night!”
But the Princess said nothing.